INTERVIEW: Mercia

Following Mercia’s first official release and remix of I Still want in 2021, the Coventry based artist offers a full EP which consists of 5 pieces which explore and reflect his home town within the setting of breakbeat and UK bass. 6am starts off the exploration with ethereal atmospheres and lush piano before exploding into a full bodied breaks journey. 95 Bones’ remix follows this with a club ready acetate driven flip of the original which continues the story. The title track City Of Villains and Kiddah remix adds further spark to the package with a searing sub bass which is riddled with deep energy a syncopated reese bassline sharp breaks and shining accents before the EP is rounded off by the bubbling and energetic Hill Cross Flyover which closes out this journey channeling how we’ve all been feeling this past year waiting for the return of the dance; it carries Strictly Rhythm influence and a prescient vocal motif.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing Mercia and this has been the result.

Hello ! Where can we find you now? How did you start your day?
Hi nice to meet you. So I’m currently based in Coventry but DJ’ing up and down the UK.

When did the idea of ​​starting a project start to take shape? Has it always been something you wanted to do?
So the project started in the depth of lockdown. I’ve been producing for a few years before the COVID pandemic but I never had the time to produce a full ep. It kind of gave me the time and clarity of what I wanted the project to be during them 18 months. Yes it has always been something I’ve wanted to do. I think as a 10 year old seeing the likes of my brother doing all over the world, I felt like wanted to be part of that.

How would you define the sound of your latest work? What is the concept behind?
It’s weird recently. I typically find inspiration from what I’m digging at that point. I would like to say it’s my own sound inter-winding the UK Jungle and breaks scene which has took off recently but with also the melodic elements from by past experience with piano and classical music. 

What artists are you interested in these days?
Marc Brauner, Bicep, Maceo Plex, Barry Can’t Swim, Kerri Chandler, TSHA

How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you?
What I like to do is start with a concept and throw ideas on top of it – regardless of genre and from there see if it fits. There is a lot of trail and error but when you hit that sweet spot of combining different genres it is rewarding. 

How would you define your sound?
I don’t like to pigeon hole myself to one genre but for Mercia I would define it as left field club music.

Can you tell us something about your current or future projects?
So I have a few more tracks that are near completion for Mercia. I also have another alias under Lielow which is more house and garage orientated, so keep and eye! 
https://soundcloud.com/merciadj

Artist: Mercia
Title: City Of Villains
Label: Motoring Records
Cat #: MTG008
Format: Digital
Genre: Breaks / Breakbeat / UK Bass
Release Date: 15/04/2022
Buy / Pre Order:

https://www.beatport.com/release/city-of-villains/3707235