Band Bio:
Great bands sound amazing on record, but even better live insists the mercy kiss front man Aryn Moore. You have to also have a personal connection to the audience that goes beyond their liking your songs - they have to relate to you as people. If you can reach people like this, they will support you for your entire career, no matter what.
It may seem odd for an unsigned band to wax poetic about career longevity and the makings of a great band, but the Los Angeles indie rockers aren t going to sell themselves short.
Moore and multi-instrumentalist Bay Dariz formed the mercy kiss back in 2003 in Dariz’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a sonic reaction of sorts to the local success of their former band, and for the duo, it was a chance to start a new project from scratch, building the group exactly the way they wanted to. Along the way they picked up Moore s good friend, explosive drummer Ian Finch, and the mercy kiss was on the go.
So many bands lose control of their career early on because they don t know what kind of band they want to be and they have no idea how to succeed on their own, says Dariz. When we started this band, we decided that we were going to do everything ourselves, and we have.
This DIY attitude has led to the release of four CDs all produced, recorded, and mixed by the band. In keeping with their indie status, the mercy kiss also maintain their own website, design all of their merchandise, and have self-booked and promoted several cross-country tours.
In fact, 2005 was a big year for the hands-on band. The Mercy Kiss appeared in a Pepsi/iTunes Superbowl commercial, and ads for Best Buy and Polaroid, and they released two EPs. By the end of the year they had spent nearly 6 months on the road connecting with people one show at a time.
Having such a personal approach helps the mercy kiss form a closer bond with their audience. When people look at our T-shirts and find out that I drew the pictures on them, they re surprised but it also drives home the point that this band and the music we create is our passion, says Dariz.
Their personal connection with their audience has also led to an explosion of popularity on the music-destination website MySpace. “We’ve made a promise to respond to every message we get on MySpace, and although I can personally spend 10-12 hours a day on the site, it’s worth it because it shows people that we really care about them. I don’t know how many times we’ve gotten messages telling us that we’re the only band that ever responds to them, and I tell them it’s the least we can do!”
The band spends an enormous amount of time, energy, and creativity on their music, and their intensity pays off. At a recent show, someone from the opening band asked me how we got so tight, recalls Dariz. I told him that we live together and we rehearse every day. We take this all very seriously, but it s also what we enjoy doing most.
And The Mercy Kiss hopes to keep on doing it for a long time expanding their exponentially-growing fan base, touring constantly, and pushing the limits of what people expect from a three-piece band all to the backbeat of some pretty damn good music.
Left to Right: Aryn, Ian, Bay
Band Website and Myspace Profile:
http://www.themercykiss.com
http://www.myspace.com/themercykiss
MySpace - Blessing or a Curse?
A HUGE blessing! we’ve met so many amazing people through myspace, and it’s helped us reach an enormous amount of people that we wouldn’t have otherwise reached. However, it can be very time-consuming, and it can be hard to balance time on myspace with time working on new songs, etc
Sounds like:
Your new favorite band.
Influences:
U2, Bowie, Third Eye Blind - we pretty much listen to *everything* and take something from it.
Ultimate Goal as a Band?
Make great records, tour the world, and inspire others to do the same.
Best Gig?
There have been a lot! Typically, our hometown shows in Milwaukee and Ohio are amazing, but La Crosse, WI and Spokane, WA are easily some of our favorite cities to visit.
Worst Gig?
The Sterling Hotel in Allentown, PA. Let us never speak of it again!
Upcoming Gigs:
May 16th at the Key Club in Hollywood, CA. We’re working on our new record right now, so that might be our last show until we’re done.
If you could tour with any band/musician, who would it be?
U2 would be number 1, but honestly, there are so many good bands out there we’d like to tour with! We always tour on our own, and have local support at the shows, but it would be great to be on a huge tour like that!
What sets you apart from other bands of today?
There’s nothing as disappointing to me, as a fan, than falling in love with a record, going to see the band, and realizing that it was all “studio magic”. Some of the most popular rock bands out there right now are just terrible live, and we work REALLY hard on our live show. Our goal is to sound better in concert than on record, and we’ve had a lot of people tell us that we’re successful at that.
Also, we spend a good amount of our time communicating with fans, especially on myspace. We ask their opinions on things and actually listen to them! I’m going to be designing our new line of merchandise soon, and I fully intend on asking our fans to help us pick out the designs that will get produced. It can be hard to maintain so many relationships and conversations [we have 20,000 myspace friends and answer every message!], but at the end of the day it’s totally worth it!
Parting words/message to the fans?
Right now we’re working on our first record with an outside producer, and we really feel that it will be the record that really puts us on the map. I personally wanted to thank all of the thousands of amazing fans who write us and support us even though we’re not some big huge band! I promise that we’ll continue to work harder than anyone and make all of you very proud 
The Mercy Kiss are the best band that I’ve seen live, ever. I’ve gone to a couple of their shows at the Real Bar. The first time, I met them, and we talked for a while, and hung out. Second time, we spent half an hour catching up, and stuff.
They’re one of the bands I can honestly say that I will continue to follow for some time. They’re great guys and talented musicians.