Photo by Georgia Mae
Mercury Girl is one of your late night DJ’s for KWVA Radio, her show, “Rock Bottom,” streams every Wednesday from midnight-2 a.m. Her taste in music falls under an Indie/Surf Rock vibe, heavily influenced by her upbringing in San Diego.
Born in San Diego, she and her younger brother practically inhaled the surf rock music scene. California bands like The Buttertones, Mexican Slum Rats, and Chicano Batman became important pillars in her life.
Q: “Do you think you were born in the wrong generation of music?”
Mercury Girl: “If you were to ask me that in high school I would have said ‘yes’ for sure.”
High-school Mercury Girl was a classic rock die-hard fan, rotating through “That's the Way” by Led Zeppelin, “Lovesong” by the Cure, or “Tomorrow Night" by Elvis Presley. Most importantly came her love for LCD Soundsystem – one of her favorite bands to this day.
“I was a senior in high school when I found them and I fell in love immediately,” she said. “And you know when you hear that song and you go ‘Oh my goddduhh, I’m gonna be listening to this on repeat for the next, like, indefinite future’?”
“All My Friends” was her gateway into the band, and to this day it is her favorite song by them. She admits to playing at least one song by LCD Soundsystem in about 70% of her shows. During her Wednesday show on February 11th, she shared a bit about the band and her adoration for frontman and founder James Murphy.
Surf Rock is her absolute favorite genre of music, despite being one of the less featured genres on her shows. Surf Rock is especially popular in Southern California, a subgenre of rock and roll that emerged in the early 1960s that pulls influence from the Cali surf culture. It’s guitar heavy, up beat, and bright.
Q: “Why don’t you play more surf rock on your shows?”
MG: “I love it, but Oregon weather doesn’t collab well with the SoCal surf rock sun.”
Mercury Girl plays guitar and jams out to some of her surf rock faves from time to time when she’s not working at KWVA or practicing with her band, Sloane. Mercury Girl and her other three bandmates write and play their own music, working hard to perfect a set list within a few weeks.
Each show on KWVA has a theme, so tune into Mercury Girl’s show every Wednesday from midnight-2 a.m.