Not so much a product of the local scene as a response to it, Mercies May’s relationship to Minneapolis
over the past decade could be easily characterized as "love/hate". Between bouts of wanderlust, traveling and living in for months and years at a time in cities across the globe, Mercies has periodically returned to haunt dive bars and open mic nights across the twin cities, constantly evolving, reinventing the wheel in a manner of speaking, as a lyricist, producer and musician.
Making the move to Sweden at the tail end of 2002, Mercies found himself readily immersed in the Gothenburg’s decidedly eccentric nightlife. Moving up through the crowds, and quickly up the ranks, he found himself embraced by audiences and musicians alike, taken in by a wide and varied cross-section of genres. From Reggae to Soul to Jazz to Klezmer, he became the "go to" collaborator for a bevy of musicians impressed by his versatility, charisma, and eagerness to think "outside of the box".
In just two short years the seed had been planted.
By 2004, after an almost weekly regiment of local performances, alongside such burgeoning talents as Yukimi Nagano, Jose Gonzalez, HIRD, Swellsession, Ernesto, and The Nazarenes, Mercies found himself releasing a highly regarded music video for the single "don’t waste my time", and performing as a featured artist at the Gothenburg International Film Festival.
Bewteen car accidents, magazine articles, recording sessions, and an endless stream of high profile performances, 2006 came as nothing short of an epiphany. Mercies released his first book of poetry "Anatomy of a Dying Star", with acclaimed swedish poet Johannes Anyuru under the pseudonymn Brokenword, and built momentum with the group as well as his solo career, showcased by performances at the Stockholm International Poetry Festival, the MADE festival 2006, Scandanavium Arena Gothenburg, The Museum of World Kultur, and even Southern Theater Stockholm as part of a split bill with visionary poet Ursula Rucker.
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