Glenn Mercer on his 'Feelie-ish' solo debut

As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Feelies' debut, Crazy Rhythms, we revisit an interview with the band's Glenn Mercer on the occasion of the release of his 2007 solo debut, Wheels in Motion

The Feelies’ debut album, Crazy Rhythms, was released 45 years ago, and it is the subject of a new episode of the Life of the Record podcast. Hearing band leaders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million talk about the origin of that seminal record reminded me of my own interview with Mercer about his 2007 solo debut, Wheels in Motion, for my old blog, Things I’d Rather Be Doing. I have been very slowly rescuing bits and pieces from the Internet graveyard to share here, and now feels like a good time for this, a look at Mercer’s work and thoughts during that long period when the Feelies were dormant.

Here then is the Monday Interview with Glenn Mercer from October 2007.

I was having a discussion with a friend recently about the spate of late ’80s-early ’90s indie bands reforming for a suddenly lucrative market. Meanwhile, bands that slogged on the entire time are seemingly taken for granted. Glenn Mercer¹ falls somewhere in between. The much-beloved Feelies disbanded in the early 1990s, and Mercer — who was the main voice and songwriter behind the band — continued with one of his many side projects, Wake Ooloo. That group never saw the acclaim afforded the Feelies, so when it ended in the mid-’90s few took notice.

Now, Mercer is back with a stunningly good solo album that sounds like a natural bridge between The Good Earth and Only Life, and... nothing. I either saw a small ad for it in the back of a magazine or perhaps read a short review somewhere. A record this good from a guy who fronted a band as critically acclaimed as the Feelies ought to be fighting off fans left and right. Instead, Wheels in Motion has made little dent in the indie-rock consciousness. Consider this a modest attempt to correct that oversight.

The disc (whose cover was designed, coincidentally enough, by my friend, Tod Foley) offers 11 songs that sound current at the same time they feel perfectly aligned in spirit with Mercer's two-decade old Feelies work. (A 12th track, the breezy “Sunday Morning,” is available from eMusic) You feel right at home from the start, as the acoustic guitar strums and organic drums drive the song. Things ebb and flow nicely over the course of the next nine songs, as Mercer shows off his delicate guitar work and uncanny way of creating compelling melodies with a limited vocal range. By the time he reaches the end, with an inspired medley of George Harrison's “Within You, Without You” and “Love You To,” it becomes clear that Mercer hasn't lost a step.

Part of the reason for this disc’s cohesion with the rest of his catalog is the fact that many fellow former Feelies contributed. Stanley Demeski, Anton Fier and Vinny DeNunzio — former Feelies drummers all — each played on the album, as did former Feelies and Wake Ooloo bassist and percussionist Dave Weckerman and Feelies’ bassist Brenda Sauter. The most notable absence is Mercer's guitar foil, Bill Million; he was the difference, as you'll read below, between this being Mercer’s solo debut or the Feelies' fifth LP. That’s certainly one reason why the disc has made a minimal splash. Don't let the name sway you, however; if you liked the Feelies, you’ll love Wheels in Motion.

TIRBD: It has been 10 years since you issued a disc with the last Wake Ooloo album. What have you been up to — musically and otherwise — and what drew you back to the spotlight?

GM: After the last Wake Ooloo record, I remained fairly active in music, playing with friends in various situations, all on a local, low-key level. I played with former Trypes in a band called Sunburst, I played acoustic guitar for a short time in Ruby on the Vine. Dave and I also play on a regular basis with Russ from Wake Ooloo. At that point, I didn’t really think about the “business” side of music. I soon found, however, that songs started popping into my head with little or no effort. Whenever I had a new song, I’d record a demo version and soon I had a cassette tape filled with songs. When my friends heard the tape they all encouraged me to put out a record, so I did.

Crazy Rhythms came out 27 years ago, and while your new disc sounds like something that could have been made by the group that cut that record (or, in the very least, The Good Earth), it still feels of the moment. Does the music feel different from what you were doing back them?

Some things about making a record never change and some things are always different. Recording always starts with the song, the core being the guitar and vocal, so that provides the point where you begin to work outward. The process follows, somewhat, the factors such as budget, rehearsals, technical considerations, etc., which tend to change how the work gets done. With this record, the experience was unique because it was self-produced and finished without any outside involvement. I also recorded at home, so that made it easier to slot time, but also allowed for some distractions to emerge. Overall, the biggest influence was not having any deadline; that meant for a relaxed atmosphere that I think affected the mood of the record.

Did you write new material recently for this, or did you have a backlog from over the past several years from which to draw? If it’s the latter, how did you choose what to record?

All of the songs were written between 2000 and 2004. I've never been in a position of having a backlog of songs, so I've never had to choose what to record and what to leave out.

You recruited many fellow Feelies for the recording of the record, but decided not to issue it under the band's name. Is that due to the absence of Bill Million? Do you foresee making music with him again?

While recording the demo tapes, I began to notice how much the material sounded “Feelie-ish” and it was easy to imagine what the songs might sound like played by the Feelies. That's when I started to consider getting involved with my old band mates. At one point, I even considered making it a Feelies record, so I approached Bill with the idea. His response was that he'd love to re-unite the band to perform and record, but that the time wasn’t right just now. It just didn't seem right to call it a Feelies record without Bill's involvement.

The Feelies were always known for inspired covers, and you uncork a couple here with your George Harrison medley. What led you to that choice, particularly the decision to fuse the two songs together?

I had jammed on “Within You/Without You” and it felt like something that could be arranged for western/electric instruments. I thought it was interesting that it was the least well-known song on a very well-known album. Also, the lyrics seem to fit the overall mood of the record. Adding “Love You To” was almost an afterthought. The two songs just seemed to fit together and made it more unique. When I first started recording, I hadn’t yet heard the smash-up from the Beatles Love album, or Patti Smith’s version. If I had, I might not have chosen to record it. I guess the song was in our collective conscience at the time.

You have played live a few times on the East Coast. Any plans to tour more widely? Do you enjoy live performance?

I don’t have any set plans for touring at the moment. The few shows we’ve done have gone well, but the concert/club scene has changed so much since I last toured it’s hard to work out the economics to make it worthwhile. I still enjoy performing.

1. Most of the links take you to the original destinations thanks to the Wayback Machine. When those are broken, I have removed or updated.