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 Local atmospheric quintet MESMERE are ready to enthrall crowds at this weekend’s Fortitude Rising youth music festival. RAVE puts a few questions to the band about the event and their own rising fortunes.
How did Mesmere come to form in its current incarnation? Lewis Benbow (guitars) and Jamie Burrows (bass) were bandmates from childhood. After school, the pair moved to Brisbane where Lewis met Jeremy Wellard (guitars) and Maryanne Stewart (vocals) while studying jazz improvisation. When a new drummer was needed, the band grew Tim Bodisco in a test tube, crafting him into the perfect drummer
What has been a particular highlight for the band in the last 12 months? We finished making our first full-length album, An Overlong Welcome, and we received a grant from Arts Qld to work with local filmmakers RedTape Pictures to create a series of visual works to accompany our music. We’ll be showcasing them at The Globe on March 30. Given the dramatic, textured music you make, what draws you as musicians to that particular sound? We make the sort of music we want to listen to. We’re all fairly sick of the trendy, disposable music that is forced on us through radio and TV. How did you come to be involved in the Fortitude Rising event? The festival organisers listened to a whole bunch of local music and chose a range of artists they liked for the event – it’s great because the lineup is so diverse with some of the best bands around at the moment, and we’re really proud to be included. How important are events like Fortitude Rising in supporting emerging young musicians in Brisbane? Particularly given the shortage of live venues? Events such as this are vital as they provide the opportunity for bands to be heard by new audiences. Brisbane has a critical shortage of venues for both 18+ and all-ages audiences to see bands and discover new music. The Valley Mall is the heart of Brisbane’s music scene and should have a lot more mini-festivals and gigs held there. How would you describe the enjoyment you get from playing live as a band? It’s a huge adrenaline rush – there’s a whole build up of focus and energy that peaks the moment the first song begins. And it’s great to be able to be on stage and connecting with the audience and this group of fantastic musicians and friends. What would Mesmere’s ideal concert line-up be, if you could draw upon artists past and present? Pink Floyd (with Roger Waters) to headline, Jeff Buckley and Janis Joplin to perform a ‘beyond the grave’ duet. Sets from and Nick Cave and Radiohead and as an encore The Mars Volta and Tool to have a two-hour long jam together. What’s next for Mesmere in 2007? And where would you like the band to be in a year’s time? We will be touring mid year to support our album and playing shows down to Melbourne and hopefully something through regional Queensland. We’ve got some fantastic new material that we’ll be trying out live, and hopefully making it into a new record by the end of the year. Mesmere appear at Fortitude Rising in the Brunswick St and Chinatown Malls this Saturday March 10. Operator Please, Indigenous Intrudaz, Kafka, Super Delayee, Mark Lowndes, Mercy Dolls and more also feature, with dance, hip hop, and beatbox workshops all afternoon. It’s free! 12pm-10pm.
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