Oh Mercy (Interview)

Not only does Alexander Gow of Oh Mercy have a bunch of gigs across Australia to prepare for, he also has the new album, Great Barrier Grief, to promote – the band’s first since co-songwriter Thomas Savage decided to downsize his role in the group. BEN HARLUM caught up with Alex to discuss his busy schedule and the album – which is available now.

Do you feel you had more control with this album compared to the first?
It was less of a collaboration process but in terms of using the word ‘control’, I wouldn’t say that. I think I had the same amount of control in terms of the vision for this new album as I did for our first one, I was just lucky enough to have Thomas writing with me back then. This time, I’m still lucky because Thom played guitar on the album which was great.

I believe he has a couple of songwriting credits on there as well.
Yeah, he certainly does.

Recording the second album is a pretty wild beast – you want to change things up but make sure it sounds like the same band. Did you consciously try to change things up?
I tried not to think about how people would like the second album in the context of the first. I think all you can do is develop yourself as a songwriter and singer, and hope that the people who found something in the first album that they could connect with, can find something similar with the second.

How did you manage to get Ken Done onboard to do the cover art for you?
I had always wanted a nude on the cover and, when we were recording the album in Santa Monica, I fell in love with these amazing murals that were so beautifully amateur. I told my manager about them, and we decided to track down Ken. We managed to catch Ken on a good day, shared ideas and the cover is what he came up with. It was awesome.

Great Barrier Grief is in stores and online right now, and you can catch Alex and his team at the Oxford Arts Factory on March 25th and The Corner Hotel on April 8th.