When David Ventura Garcia first heard Mercury's demos, he was drawn to his voice and the unique thematic quality of his lyrics. His first conversation with Mercury was enough to let him know that this artist was creatively driven to write songs with strong hooks and let the lyrics draw you in. When they met up at a coffee shop to talk about his catalog of songs, it was clear that Mercury had been thinking about his next move towards becoming a pop artist for quite some time. For the record, Mercury has plans to be a star.
The spirit and drive behind Mercury's talent was enough to convince Garcia that Transient Mic could kickstart Mercury on his quest. Armed with the tracks released by Beat Stars producers, Mantra, The Martianz, LTTB, JPrana and TheMartianz, Mercury set out to create his debut EP. With Jeremy Fowler at the console and Mercury behind the microphone, the Transient Mic team set out to laydown the foundation for an album of five original songs interspersed with five interludes. Mercury's intent was to create a narrative arch supported by five songs and five interludes that deal with the issues of mental health, heartache, identity, and empowerment.
“Mercury's ability to connect music to emotion and transfer all of that energy across the narrow span of an EP speaks to his artistic talent and creative focus.” -David Ventura Garcia
The recording of the BioHazard EP was a true effort of commitment. Most of the key players held down day jobs to make ends meet which meant that recording and mixing would be done on weekends and after hours. From a musical perspective, the framework for the songs was already in place with the beat tracks that Mercury licensed from Beat Stars, an online digital music marketplace where producers and artists are able to link up without ever sharing a studio. Artists pay a licensing fee to download a beat, leaving it open to other artists to use as well.
Garcia wanted to weave in other instrument tracks with these beats and arrange them in a way that would make each song and interlude unique within the flow of BioHazard. He enlisted Anthony Garcia to work on the album as both musician and arranger. Anthony's abilities as a trained guitarist and piano player are heard throughout the EP, and his arrangement skills expanded the album's depth. David Garcia also lent his talent for creating soundscapes within each interlude to help to drive the narrative forward.
Fowler transformed Anthony's arrangements into MIDI files and assigned the instrument patches that gave each song and interlude a thematic depth. Accomplished violinist-Theresa Britt- and professional sax player- Matt Maldonado- added their own touches to the album. JDub recorded the vocal effects and finalized the mixing and mastering in his north Austin studio.
“Maybe it's my biology that tempts me toward doing different things [or] maybe it's that my DNA is just a damned helix of delinquency... [or] maybe it's in my genes to be an awkward mixture of tart and sweet... [or] maybe it's engraved in my code that when tampered with, I just might explode.” - Mercury
With the EP finally completed, Mercury found himself in the strange position of trying to launch his aptly-titled debut album in the middle of a pandemic. Unknowing (or perhaps knowing full well),Mercury had managed to tie his debut of BioHazard into the fabric of 2020 when the rules of engagement were constantly overturned and revamped and at a time when the artist is without a live audience.
Social distancing complicates the promotion a pop / dance album with complex themes. Nevertheless, the energy and immense talent in this debut only mark the beginning of what is surely to be a prolific and impactful catalog of songs. New voices must be heard. Fortunately, Transient Mic was there to help when Mercury needed the support to create, to put an idea to song and jumpstart his musical career in the process.