 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
MERCY LADY DAY are... Darren (lead vocals, keyboard) Home Town: Reno, Nevada Started Playing Music: Age 4 Musical Influences: Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles Darren was born in Reno but spent most of his youth in LA. Darren is not only gifted in the execution of his craft, but also in the orchestrating, mixing and production side of his music. This, together with a very uniquely distinctive voice, leaves an audience with a memorable and lasting impression of him. While living in Southern California, several hip-hop and rock artists, aware of his youth, dynamism as well as his studio skills, asked Darren to give production value and solo singing to some of their current CDs in production. At 13, as a birthday present from his dad, Darren was taken to a recording studio in San Francisco to record six of his original songs. The recording engineer at the time was totally amazed at the fact that the entire session was conducted in one take. By the time he was 14, Darren so impressed Jonathan Cain of the band Journey, that after a session in his personal recording studio he commented, "Boy do we have a tiger by the tail!" It was six years later that Jonathan again recorded the first "Mercy Lady Day" demo, which was heard by Stevie Wonder associate Gordon Bahary becoming the catalyst in sending Darren, Pontus, Pluyd and Randy to New York to record with Gordon to produce the first five tracks of their upcoming debut album. Pluyd (bass) Home Town: Las Vegas, Nevada Started Playing Music: Age 13 Musical Influences: Flea, Geddy Lee, Steve Harris, Cliff Burton Pluyd is the only Las Vegas native in the band. He started playing bass at the age of 13 after a friend introduced him to Led Zepplin. He played for about a year, then put down his bass to pursue a rap career, but after a few years he realized that his real passion was in playing the bass. His return to the bass has been non-stop since he was 17. He has played around the the Las Vegas music scene since 1993 but never really found that magic the he was looking for until he met Darren during the summer of 2000. In October 2000, the band really came together and they began to get serious. Something in the music touched him as he had never been touched before. Thus begun something very special. Pontus (drums, percussion) Home Town: Stockholm, Sweden Started Playing Music: Age 9 Musical Influences: Neil Peart, Jimmy Chamberlain, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zepplin, the Beatles Pontus was born in Stockholm, Sweden, where he lived until the age of 4 when his family relocated to the United States. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where he got his first taste of music, taking piano lessons at the age of 9. He enjoyed the piano, but not nearly as much as another instrument he picked up along the way...the drums. He started playing percussion in the 4th grade. His music teacher, Gary Hillquist, said that the drums were his instrument. Mr. Hillquist was his biggest inspiration and will always be fondly remembered. He's been part of several rock bands where he learned his rock and funk chops. After high school he relocated to Tucson, Arizona to pursue a degree in microbiology at the University of Arizona. He was miserable there and after two years, he quit college and concentrate his efforts on music. While still in Tucson he played in a punk rock band called Pathos; the music was not his favorite, but it helped give himself more direction toward rock funk. He moved to Las Vegas in 1999. He met up with Pluyd and Darren in October of 2000 and the vibe, musical direction and attitude immediately clicked; they began playing together at a torrid pace, practicing everyday of the week and loving it. Randy (guitar) Home Town: Los Angeles, California Started Playing Music: Age 16 Musical Influences: Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Eddie Hazel Randy is a native of Los Angeles, California. He was introduced to music at a very young age by his mother Isabel, a singer who performed with the likes of Etta James and Dr. John. By the age of 16, he picked up the guitar and that was all she wrote. He began playing around LA for a few years with local bands, then went to New York were he teamed up with a signed act named Cassius Slade (Pony Canyon Records, produced by Steve Salas and Sugarpop). The LP went gold in Japan. A few years later the band broke up and Randy moved on to tour with acts such as P-Funk Allstars, Fishbone, the Dave Barry Project and Space Zero (produced by Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind). Randy came to Mercy Lady Day in a very unconventional manner. He did a phone audition with the band already in New York city, recording their demo CD with Gordon Bahary. The band loved his stuff and asked if he could get on a plane right away to New York to join them. He made all of the necessary arrangements and was on a plane within a couple of days. The band and he were and instant hit. Check out the artist's website: http://www.mercyladyday.com/ Track List: 1. Society 2. Flow 3. Sunshine 4. Bitch 5. Visions 6. Frozen with Fear 7. Breakin' Down the Walls 8. Step 9. Individuality 10. Magic Child 11. Everyday Life Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
|