Spring Break
The Daily OrangeLocal band aims to play Texas festival
By Erinn Connor
Posted: 2/5/07, 9:37 PM EST Section: Feature
After the EP release, the band got the chance to play on the 2006 Warped Tour in Buffalo, N.Y., and continued touring into Canada.
"We've had some pretty crazy experiences touring," Mecum said. "We've slept on the stage that we played in Toronto. And we slept in a place that was a renovated funeral home, in the room where they used to do visitations and stuff."
Although all of the band members are SU alumni, the last time they played at SU was when they opened for Liz Phair in 2004.
"Syracuse is one of the birthplaces of hardcore, and it has a great blues and jazz scene too," Merritt said. "Aux Records is really all there is for rock. We're trying to be proactive and help the rock scene develop and bring it back to life here in Syracuse."
The closing of bigger to midsize venues in Syracuse also helped local bands like Merit. Since Planet 505 on Westcott Street closed, there are only a few smaller venues in downtown Syracuse that cater to the local scene.
"There are pockets of fans from all different scenes in Syracuse," Nelson said. "It's tough to bring them all together to come and see bands live."
The band suffered a blow when local station K-Rock discontinued its three-hour local band radio show after giving Merit a year of heavy support.
"You could hear a ton of local bands on K-Rock," Mecum said. "All the songs had smoking production and were so good because the bands knew they could be on the radio with an audience. It was really heartbreaking when they stopped doing the show."
Merit already began work on its third full-length album, and is doing a February tour that goes down the coast to Georgia.
"Our first album was kind of eclectic, and the second one was a lot more focused," Merritt said. "We've been writing non-stop for the third album, and we're really excited about the material on this one. There's a lot more cohesion, and it's almost thematic."
The band's latest split EP is available for free download at ReverbNation.com/Merit, in conjunction with the South by Southwest contest. By clicking the "Become a Fan" button on the Web site, the band gains points toward being eligible for judging by the industry panel.
"We've had some pretty crazy experiences touring," Mecum said. "We've slept on the stage that we played in Toronto. And we slept in a place that was a renovated funeral home, in the room where they used to do visitations and stuff."
Although all of the band members are SU alumni, the last time they played at SU was when they opened for Liz Phair in 2004.
"Syracuse is one of the birthplaces of hardcore, and it has a great blues and jazz scene too," Merritt said. "Aux Records is really all there is for rock. We're trying to be proactive and help the rock scene develop and bring it back to life here in Syracuse."
The closing of bigger to midsize venues in Syracuse also helped local bands like Merit. Since Planet 505 on Westcott Street closed, there are only a few smaller venues in downtown Syracuse that cater to the local scene.
"There are pockets of fans from all different scenes in Syracuse," Nelson said. "It's tough to bring them all together to come and see bands live."
The band suffered a blow when local station K-Rock discontinued its three-hour local band radio show after giving Merit a year of heavy support.
"You could hear a ton of local bands on K-Rock," Mecum said. "All the songs had smoking production and were so good because the bands knew they could be on the radio with an audience. It was really heartbreaking when they stopped doing the show."
Merit already began work on its third full-length album, and is doing a February tour that goes down the coast to Georgia.
"Our first album was kind of eclectic, and the second one was a lot more focused," Merritt said. "We've been writing non-stop for the third album, and we're really excited about the material on this one. There's a lot more cohesion, and it's almost thematic."
The band's latest split EP is available for free download at ReverbNation.com/Merit, in conjunction with the South by Southwest contest. By clicking the "Become a Fan" button on the Web site, the band gains points toward being eligible for judging by the industry panel.
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