Formation (1989–1990) Mercury Rev was formed in 1989 by students at the
University at Buffalo, partially inspired by the
drone music of composer/
media studies professor
Tony Conrad (then working as a teacher at the university, and a strong artistic influence on co-founder Grasshopper). The line-up gradually coalesced around Donahue, Grasshopper, vocalist/keyboard player
David Baker and flute/French horn player Suzanne Thorpe; subsequent additions were bass guitarist/in-house producer
Dave Fridmann (a music production student at SUNY Fredonia, who began by recording the band and subsequently added enough bass guitar and sonic effect parts to make himself a full band member), and a late addition in the form of drummer Jimy Chambers (who joined towards the end of initial recording sessions to "effectively serve as the frame around Mercury Rev's musical splatter"). The band was initially formed to score its members' student films, At this early stage, several members also had other musical interests which prevented consistent Mercury Rev activity. Donahue worked as a gig promoter for other bands' concerts in Buffalo, which brought him into contact with
The Flaming Lips in 1989: he then toured with them as guitar technician before formally joining as lead guitarist in time to play on their 1990 album
In a Priest Driven Ambulance.
The David Baker years: Yerself is Steam and Boces (1991–1993) Mercury Rev's debut album was 1991's
Yerself is Steam. Once referred to as "soundtracks to actual movies, composed by a band that didn't really exist," it originated as the collective's attempts to devise and perform musical scores for student films showing in local galleries, or for existing nature documentaries which they'd watch on television and jam to. Bassist John DeVries substituted for Fridmann at an increasing number of live shows, including an Ireland-and-England tour in the autumn of 1992, with Gerald Menke taking over live bass duties by 1993. Despite considerable critical acclaim, Mercury Rev's early releases gave them little more than
cult popularity, Later in 1993, the band embarked on a tour to support the release of
Boces, including some
Lollapalooza shows during the summer. At the Lollopalooza gig at Greenwood Village, Colorado on June 26, the band were forced off the stage for being too loud and "out of control" following an objection by the Mayor of Denver. David Baker parted company with Mercury Rev after the
Boces tour, citing musical and personal disputes.
Transitional period: See You on the Other Side (1995–1997) The band's first post-Baker album,
See You on the Other Side (1995) contained a variety of styles, including a sprawling psychedelic opening track and noise rock numbers like "Young Man's Stride" (for which a music video was released), but also more melodic songs, such as "Sudden Ray of Hope". By this time the live band included organist Adam Snyder and brothers
Jason and
Justin Russo of psychedelic rock band
Hopewell (as bassist and keyboardist respectively). Donahue and Grasshopper, in particular, were failing to communicate with each other and struggling with their individual drug and relationship problems. At the same time, he was invited to guest on a
Chemical Brothers track called "
The Private Psychedelic Reel". This in turn inspired him to repair his musical and personal friendship with Grasshopper. and began recording in the
Catskill Mountains. The personnel for the album was a loose core of Jonathan Donahue, Grasshopper and Suzanne Thorpe, joined by Dave Fridmann and by former drummer Jimy Chambers, and augmented by local musicians (including two former members of
The Band:
Garth Hudson and
Levon Helm). The involvement of the latter shifted the band's musical focus closer to roots and acoustic music. At the secondary recording and mixing stage, Donahue, Grasshopper and Fridmann opted not to use their previous method of distorted guitar and electronic overdubs and instead began to use strings, horns and woodwinds, resulting in more of a
chamber pop sound while retaining a psychedelic tinge. The 1998 release of the resulting ''
Deserter's Songs album met with acclaim, and made Mercury Rev unexpected pop stars. In the UK, NME magazine made Deserter's Songs'' their
Album of the Year. Donahue's earnest, high-pitched vocals and concentration on relatively concise, melodic songs gave the band's material an entirely new feel and much increased popularity (''Deserter's Songs'' spawned three UK Top 40 singles: "
Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp", "Opus 40" and "
Goddess On A Hiway"). Both Suzanne Thorpe and Jimy Chambers left Mercury Rev following the recording of the album, with the tours promoting ''Deserter's Songs'' featuring the return of the Russo brothers and Adam Snyder (although all three would depart the live band during 2000). Jeff Mercel, who'd played on ''
Deserter's Songs'', also joined as touring drummer, and would soon become a full band member. Thorpe has also returned for occasional band revisitations of the Harmony Rockets project, including one at the 2009
All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England. Chambers would later form the band Odiorne. David Bowie producer
Tony Visconti arranged strings and provided
Mellotron parts for the album, which also featured contributions from Jason and Justin Russo. However, the Russo brothers did not join the band on tour this time, their places being taken by bass player Paul Dillon and by multi-instrumentalist Carlos Anthony Molina on keyboards, augmented by second keyboard player Michael Schirmer.
Recent activity: The Light in You, ''Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited, Born Horses'' (2015–present) Mercury Rev's first studio album in seven years,
The Light in You, was released on October 2, 2015, through
Bella Union. It reached number 39 on the UK albums chart. This was the first Mercury Rev album not to be co-produced by Dave Fridmann. At this point the band were officially a duo of Donahue and Grasshopper, with Molina, Miranda and Chandler still regularly contributing but as part of a set of support musicians. Although Molina and Miranda's involvement with the band had ceased by 2016, Chandler had become a full member of Mercury Rev by the time that the band released ''
Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited'' in February 2019. This was a reworking of
Bobbie Gentry's 1968 album
The Delta Sweete, featuring instrumentation by Mercury Rev and a different female guest singer on each song.
Lucinda Williams, actress
Carice van Houten,
Beth Orton and
Norah Jones were among the vocalists. The album achieved a Top 40 position in the UK chart, peaking at number 32. 2021 saw further changes to the Mercury Rev line-up, with keyboard player Marion Genser joining the band as a full-fledged member. On June 4, 2024, Mercury Rev announced their latest studio album,
Born Horses, which was released on September 6, 2024. The first single from the album, "Patterns," was also released on the day of the announcement. The band's line-up changed again that year, with Joe Magistro taking over on drums, and guitarist/flugelhorn player J.B. Meijers (who'd already made some band contributions in 2018) joining. ==Musical style==