Danica Mercer

My Bio. For you, by me.
The way I see it, I probably know myself better than most people, and well, we've done the "fancy bio" thing and that was all well and good, but it just didn't feel like me. I could get you quotes from people saying nice, interesting things about me and my music, but I find all of that a little on the "contrived" side... really, as Gwen would say, "I'm just a girl in the world." So. New approach. Here goes nothing....
I've been singing for a long time. I'm not Mariah Carey. I'm not Pat Benatar. But I'm sure I fall in between there somewhere. I started writing songs in college and thought I was good at it for about 5 minutes. Surprisingly enough I kept writing anyway. I've got my share of unheard songs. Some of them are acceptable, some of them are crap and some of them make me proud.
"Avelut" was my first EP project. For those inquiring minds out there, it's a Hebrew word meaning "Mourning." No, I'm not Jewish, and no, neither of my parents are dead. The songs on the EP came in ebbs and flows. One was written in a day, One in a few weeks, and another was finished in the studio. There is obviously little method to my madness, but that's life sometimes I guess.
We recorded everything one week in late July of 2007. My producer, Andrew Osenga, and my band and I had some fun putting this music together. In the end, I walked away with a first project that was a proper starting point.. in my opinion anyway, obviously.
"What is it about?" Well. I'd rather you decide what it means to you, because that's one of the things I love most about music: 10 different people can hear a song and get 10 different things from it. But that said, primarily it's a collection of songs that reflect my various attempts at song-writing. Not all of the songs are about me, but I can obviously relate to them, or else I wouldn't have wasted time with them in the first place. These songs are my attempt to honestly share what I see in myself, and in the world around me.
"What kind of music is it?" I'm actually still figuring that out! Several people compare me to Norah Jones.. probably because I am female and use a piano now and then.. but that's fine. Norah is cool. So far most everything falls in the folky/bluesy/jazzy/rocky genre. I suppose that's completely unhelpful... I'll say this: I love Patty Griffin's songwriting. If I could be half the writer she is, then I will consider myself a success. I think Cat Steven's "Teaser and the Fire Cat" is timeless music to see the world with. I'm amazed at how U2 can take one sentence and turn it into a song that you just can't turn off. I believe Fiona Apple is inventive and fearless. Oddly enough, even though I may not be a fan of all of it, Jam Band and Jazz music continue to challenge my musical brain and remind me to take risks. There is a special place in my heart for most scores and instrumental soundtracks, and I respect Ringo Starr for making "Goodnight Vienna" and knowing how to have fun.
These being my influences, hopefully my music will model all of these things over time.
"What's next?" Who knows? More music. More exploring. More musical exploration. More traveling. More writing. In short: MORE. How American of me! Really, if I can have anything out of life, it would be this: music, travel, helping people/changing the way people see the world and, if it exists: deep, honest, selfless love.
We'll see what happens. Stick around.
Are you a narcissist for writing all of this? Possibly. Who isn't? Actually, I hope not. The way I see it, I wish I knew this much about everyone who cares to listen to my music and I wish I knew half this much about the musicians I admire. I suppose this makes me a curious person... Anyhow. Thank-you. Thank-you for stopping by. Thank-you for listening and thank-you for caring about any of this. It means much.
As the Beatles say:
love love love,
~Danica
(day-nick-uh)