About Me
Our album "Alive Again" is available for purchase online through I Tunes, Interpunk, and CD Baby; click on any of the images below.Download from I Tunes!Purchase online from Interpunk!Purchase online from CD Baby!THE BAND
Formed in early 2003, Full Minute of Mercury has proven that it is like no other band in the DC area. Combining a do-it-yourself punk rock mentality, pop sensibility, and a stage show chock full of acrobatics and guitar tricks, FMHg bridges many genre gaps, playing bills with everyone from college rock/indie/pop punk bands to hardcore and metal acts. Full Minute of Mercury has not only breathed new life into the DC music scene, but has also helped unify it by bringing bands of many different genres together - ultimately becoming to many what Jim Testa, founder/editor of Jersey Beat magazine calls, his "favorite band on the planet."
THE SOUND
Full Minute of Mercury's sound draws from many influences in the punk, new wave, metal, emo, hardcore, pop, and alternative genres, but by no means is a cross genre band - Full Minute has created a sound unlike any other. The Washington Post writes, "While it's pretty easy to give most bands a clear-cut label -- synth-pop, heavy metal, pop-punk -- FMHg can, and does, run through all of those genres within a single song. Sometimes it works really well, giving them a sound that no band in the country -- let alone D.C. -- can claim. And other times it sounds like -- how to put this? -- the music playing during a montage in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," On Tap Magazine sums it up best: "One of the most original and accessible sounds out there today." While it is near impossible to delineate an exact point of reference for FMHg's sound, fans of the band have described them as everything from "Cleo & Cambria" (Letters to Cleo meets Coheed & Cambria) to "if Kelly Clarkson's song-writing team listened to more Iron Maiden in their formative years" to "The Darkness meets Damone meets Reggie and the Full Effect."
THE SHOW
In the past three and a half years, Full Minute of Mercury has booked and played hundreds of gigs up and down the east coast (VA, MD, DC, DE, NY, NJ, PA, CT, NC, and SC), without so much as a manager or booking agent, both headlining their own shows and opening for such diverse national acts as top 40 80s hair bands Dokken, LA Guns, Kix, and Firehouse; Multi-Platinum 70s/80s rocker Eddie Money; Legendary ska band The Pietasters (Hellcat/Moon/Fueled By Ramen Records); Female fronted rockers The Start (Nitro/Geffen Records); Juliette and the Licks (featuring Hollywood Actress Juliette Lewis and ex-Hole, ex-H20 - Fiddler Records); Zolof the Rock n' Roll Destroyer; Sting's son's alternative rock band Fiction Plane (MCA Records); Bottom Line (Maverick Records); 90s alternagirl icons Veruca Salt, 80s new wave rockers The Smithereens; hip hop phenomenons Gym Class Heroes (Fueled By Ramen Records), The Naked Beggars (featuring Jeff Labar and Eric Brittingham from Cinderella); Fosterchild (Kevin Miller from Fuel's new project); female-fronted emo rockers Paramore (Fueled By Ramen Records); The Dollyrots (Lookout/Blackheart Records); and seminal 70s rockers Starz (who Kiss and Bon Jovi both list as influences). In addition, the band also played a Congressional fundraiser for Jim Moran (D-Virginia) and the Mobilize America's Youth rally on Capitol Hill. In DC, FMHg is considered by many in the press to have the best live show in town, combining the highfalutin nature of the 80s hair metal live show (complete with guitar throws, stick tricks, playing behind the back, with their teeth, and enough tongue-in-cheek choreography to make even the most jaded scenester crack a smile) and the all-out chaotic live show that has been perfected by bands such as Dillinger Escape Plan and Story of the Year. Timeout.com calls Full Minute of Mercury "DC's hottest indie band." The Post Express simply writes, FMHg are "ridiculous . . . ridiculously good."
THE BUZZ
For calendar year 2003, Full Minute was the top downloaded band on mp3.com for Washington, DC. In November of 2003, Full Minute of Mercury finished recording their first studio demo. Within hours of their release, Full Minute's singles "Dream in Drop D" and "Next to Me" simultaneously held the number one and number two slots on washingtonpost.com's top downloads list, with "Dream" receiving a Washington Post Editor's Pick and being named "Song of the Week" two weeks in a row. The song later went on to receive editor's top pick for the Best Songs of 2003 and received yet another Washington Post editor's pick for the week of June 10, 2004. On December 14, 2003, FMHg made their radio debut on DC101 with the song "Next to Me." For the song "Ready to Go", Full Minute of Mercury was chosen by Pitchfork Media, MakeoutClub, and Buddyhead as one of three finalists for the best DC indie band to open up for the Suicide Girls first ever live burlesque tour. After a nationwide voting poll, Full Minute of Mercury won and played the opening slot at the Black Cat in DC to a sellout crowd on February 2, 2004. In October 2004, Full Minute of Mercury released their second demo, featuring the single "Now or Never." A week later, the song made its radio debut on Z104. Since then, the singles "Dream in Drop D," "Next to Me," and "Now or Never" have received regular airplay on DC101 and Z104. The band also played the WHFS 99.1 sponsored "Girls Kick Ass" show in November '04, has been featured on over 40 podcasts, numerous college radio stations, and is spun frequently on the UK-based internet radio station, Pulse Unsigned.
THE LATEST
In August of '05, Full Minute of Mercury played several dates on the 2005 Warped Tour, opening for such bands as The Offspring, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy. Five weeks later, they released their debut full length, "Alive Again." The single "That Song (Is Stuck In My Head)" was spun on DC101 the following week. Since then, several tracks on the record have been picked up by area stations as the album continues to receive rave reviews. In a recent Jersey Beat review, Oliver Lyons writes: "FMHg are posed to blow up big. Big time . . . Give a listen to "After You," "Five Days 'Till Tomorrow," "The Battle," or "Ready to Go" and you'll be just as confused as I am why these folks are not signed to Reprise and being blasted into our homes via MTV every five minutes." Bigyawn.net, DC's version of Pitchfork Media named "Alive Again" one of the best DC CDs for 2005 and writes, "they were, are, and will continue to be your guilty pleasure." After a year of touring in support of "Alive Again," FMHg regrouped with a new line-up. On December 24, 2006, FMHg's Christmas song "Bah Humbug," which showcases new vocalist Rachel Melnykovich, made its debut on DC101. Weeks later, Rachel recorded back-up vocals for the Bret Michaels (of Poison fame) song "Go To Far," which will be the theme song to his up and coming VH-1 celebreality show. On March 8th, 2007, FMHg released a "sneak peak" demo showcasing 3 of the songs from their yet to be titled follow up to "Alive Again," expected out June of 2007. In between recording sessions, FMHg is hitting the road hard to promote the album and headlining numerous local shows. To be continued . . .
QUOTABLES
Here's what just a couple people in the press have to say about us:
"Remember the name, Full Minute of Mercury, my favorite band on the planet."
-Jim Testa, Founder/Editor of Jersey Beat Magazine
"and, from Washington, DC, the utterly amazing Full Minute of Mercury (generally abbreviated by the cognoscenti as FMHg; even though I was forced in high school to memorize the Periodic Table - it was shorter then - it took me a little while to get it), who combine power pop, cheese metal and the choreographed moves of a Broadway dance troupe into a breathtaking and intoxicating spectacle that, sadly, because of the lateness of the hour, only a few privileged people witnessed. But they tour regularly up and down the East Coast, so there's no excuse for missing them. Indeed, you'd be foolish if you did."
-Larry Livermore, Founder of Lookout! Records (discovered Green Day, Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel, and more!)
"Ridiculous. Ridiculously good . . . they have the looks and the hooks to match their ambition."
-Tim Follos, Washington Post Express
"Bottom line is, they were, are, and will continue to be your guilty pleasure"
-Eric Boucher, BigYawn.net - best DC CDs of 2005
"DC's hottest indie band."
-Timeout.com
"One of the most original and accessible sounds out there today."
-Shwa Losben, On Tap Magazine
"FMHg are poised to blow up big . . . big time. Give a listen to "After You," "Five Days 'Till Tomorrow," "The Battle," or "Ready to Go" and you'll be just as confused as I am why these folks are not signed to Reprise and being blasted into our homes via MTV every five minutes."
-Oliver Lyons, Jersey Beat Magazine
"Tight song-writing skills, phenominal production, and brilliant musical chops . . . [if it] were 1984, they would surely be touring the world opening for Van Halen."
-Christopher Connelly, On Tap Magazine
"We'd love to see them at the MCI Center just to satisfy our curiousity of just how crazy things can get on stage with these guys. [Full Minute of] Mercury wowed us with their energy and melted us with their oh-so-lovable charm. And we had fun - a LOT of it."
-Jim Smalley, DCist
"This is power pop at it's purest and most energising. In fact the band describes their brand of music as 80's core, progressive pop and sex metal. If that isn't a description to be conjured with, I don't know what is."
-Colin, IndieLaunchPad.com
"Full Minute of Mercury are not just a guilty pleasure, they are an addiction and quite possibly the next big thing to come out of DC."
-Ian MacGregor, DC Flood Magazine
"Full Minute of Mercury went on last to a very enthusiasitc crowd. I hadn't caught their show in a long while, and I don't know if this helps them or hurts them, but there really is no reason to see them at any small club outside the Velvet Lounge. The sound system and staff there really know what they are doing, and I can't imagine having to mix 3 keyboards, 4 vocal mics, two guitars and bass and have it not sound like complete crap. Somehow, it was done. Their set consisted of a decent mix of older songs and newer songs written for their latest CD, and I was just amazed at the crowd response. I felt guilty for crossing my arms. When the frontline of Full Minute jumped, the crowd jumped. When Full Minute's super-tight backing vocals chimed in, the crowd knew the words and sang along. There were times when I thought the Velvet Lounge was going to cave in due to all the sheer movement of the crowd. I can never tell if this band is on the verge of becoming huge, or just too off-the-wall for it's own good, but between the high-energy songs, easily learnable hooks and hilarious choregraphed stage show, I charge anyone to have a bad time seeing them."
-Here's A Hint, www.heresahint.org
"From the opening riff of the lead-off track "march of the cicada", to the last track (track 19), "now or never", this CD never lets up on being full fledged catchy pop metal...sort of...their sound, to me, is most reminiscent of pop metal without the cheese factor, but by eschewing the cheese of metal, they allow other influences to come in and flesh out this 6 piece band, fronted by a strong female voice (it's so refreshing to hear a woman in rock that does NOT try to sound like Gwen Stefani). I could ramble on trying to describe this CD, but I can best describe it simply by saying, 'This CD literally rocks!'"
-Lazlo, Lazlo's Den Radio Show
"Members of Full Minute of Mercury, who live around the Metro area, describe their music as Iron Maiden-influenced girl-pop with hair-metal flourishes and synth-punk roots. Don't try too hard to wrap your mind around that; what it means is that the band is big on frantic riffs, driving rhythms and intricate interplay between its twin harmony guitars. Add a bubble gum punk approach to the vocal melodies and on paper it might seem like a bit much, but the gestalt works well in a beautiful train wreck sort of way."
-C. Woodrow Irvin, The Washington Post
"Not since first hearing Bang Sugar Bang have I been so impressed with an unsigned band. Diverse, fun, unpretentious, no rockstar attitudes, and from end to end, a great record."
-Lollipop Magazine
"Full Minute of Mercury, on tour and handing out a brand-new, free 3-song EP, proved that they've successfully survived the replacement of their lead singer. The band brings a full-on heavy-metal attack (complete with shredding technical solos, peerless musician, aggressive stage presence, and even some inspired choreography) to pop/punk. Their songs are relentlessly catchy and - as my favorite FMoM goes - get stuck in your head. This is a band that, in a more perfect universe, would be headlining arenas; they have it all, from the songs to the style. All they need is the audience. Get with the program, people. Check them out here and catch them on tour if they head your way."
Jim Testa - Founder/Editor of Jersey Beat Magazine
