1997–2003: Formation and demo EPs as Blaik Small Mercies were established in 1997 in
Brisbane by Steve Blaik (a.k.a. Steve Martin) on lead vocals (later on guitar), Marty O'Brien on drums, and Danny Procopis on lead guitar – all attended local secondary schools, St. Laurence's College (Blaik) and
Padua College (O'Brien and Procopis). The trio were initially named Psybin Trip before changing to Blaik (styled as blaik). By 1999 the band were renamed Seventh Avenue and also included Simon O'Connor on rhythm guitar and Shaun Spooner on bass guitar and backing vocals – both also from Padua College and both were ex-Nobenn, another Brisbane group. During 2001 Seventh Avenue were finalists for the Brisbane Rock Award, which earned them the right to play at
Queen Street Mall Basement. They met
John Woodruff (Savage Garden, Evermore), after he had heard their early demos, who became their next manager in 2001. In 2002 the band's name returned to Blaik, In June 2003 they recorded with Bruce producing at Rockinghorse Studios,
Byron Bay. Blaik released a five-track
EP,
Is This Life?, in November that year.
2004–2006: Small Mercies and Off the Record Under the name, Small Mercies, in May 2004 they signed with Modern Music. on 10 September 2004 on Sony BMG and Modern Music. Their producer was Dave Nicholas. "Pellet Gun", a track from the EP, was issued as a single, it was co-written by Blaik, O'Brien, O'Connor, Procopis and Spooner. It was added to the
Triple J play list and in October 2007 it appeared on
Power On – Rock Hits 2007, a various artists' compilation album. By 2005 the band's line-up was Blaik, Procopis, O'Brien, and Jeff Reeves on bass guitar. The recording was mixed by Tim Palmer, who had worked with Pearl Jam and U2. The album was released on 24 May 2008, which reached the top 60 of the
ARIA Albums Chart. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2007 "Innocent" was nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Single. It also appeared on the ARIA End of Year Charts: Top 50 Australian Artist Singles 2007. "Innocent" was used on the TV promo ad for United States series,
Prison Break. Small Mercies supported tours by headlining bands,
Hinder (October 2007),
Nickelback and
Daughtry (May 2008). In April 2008 they travelled to the US to perform at the
Tribeca Film Festival in New York,
Musexpo in Los Angeles and backing
Goo Goo Dolls at the
Rose Bowl. Through the rest of 2008 they toured Australia to promote the album. By December 2010 Small Mercies had disbanded. In June 2014 Blaik performed as a solo artist after having been in a duo, the Associates, with Stuart McLean. ==Musical styles and influences==