The Mercury Tree

This experimental Portland trio, formed in 2006, specialize in creative overuse of their effect pedals. Their latest material includes extensive live looping work, creating huge enveloping layers of sound. At best, they fuse the oddball rhythms and technicality of progressive music with a genuine sense of melody and emotion.
A lot has changed with The Mercury Tree since they played Seaprog 2014. They’ve released an album called Permutations, toured extensively around North America, and morphed into a marvelously cohesive trio. They’ve also been exploring the world of microtonal tuning, utilizing custom instruments built for 17 notes per octave. And they’ve done it without losing sight of what it means to write good tunes.
Personnel:
- Ben Spees — Guitar, voice, keyboard
- Connor Reilly — Drums
- Aaron Clark — Bass, backing vocals (2014)
- Oliver Campbell — Bass, vocals (2018)
Links to artist websites:
- The Mercury Tree Official Site
- The Mercury Tree on Facebook
- The Mercury Tree on Bandcamp
- The Mercury Tree on Twitter
Links were good as of when the artist performed. Some may no longer work.
Performances:
- Seaprog 2014 — Day One
- Seaprog 2018 — Day Three