A Chat with On Mercury (28.07.26)
The solo project of multi-talented, US-based Spence deBry, On Mercury explores human experience with moving melodies. We speak with On Mercury to discuss his album, Golden Age, inspiration, and much more.
OSR: On Mercury is your solo project. A quick question: why did you choose a moniker instead of performing using your name, Spence DeBry? Does this stage name have a specific purpose or was it merely a whim?
On Mercury: It was definitely a purpose-driven choice. As an inpatient psychiatrist, my day job involves helping people through some of their darkest moments, which occasionally includes getting death threats roughly once a week before we get them stabilized and feeling better. If a patient googles their doctor, I’d rather they see my clinical background than my latest synth hook. On Mercury acts like a superhero alter ego: it keeps my medical world professional and gives my musical side total freedom without mixing up the two.
OSR: How did On Mercury come about? What drew you to music? Also, did you always want to be a musician?
On Mercury: I got my start playing in college bands, which was easily some of the most fun I had back then. I loved every group and every person I played with. But then medical school and residency hit like a brick wall. Music completely vanished – the only playing I did for years was for my daughter to get her to stop crying when she was sad.
It wasn’t until I finished training and landed my first real job that I looked around and realized, “Wait, didn’t I used to have hobbies?’” I wanted to play again, but all my old bandmates had moved away or moved on. One brutally cold, dark winter, I decided I needed a project to keep myself sane. I took six songs I’d written back in college, wrote six new ones, and decided to do it all myself – recording, producing, and mixing. That turned into my first album, Straightjackets Will Not Be Enough.
Fast forward to my latest release, Golden Age, and I’m three albums in. I’ve completely fallen in love with the entire solo process, taking a faint initial idea and building it all the way into a finished product.
OSR: You recently released your album Golden Age, and I read that this album is two years’ work that nearly didn’t make it to production. You then mention that the “go ahead” with Golden Age was inspired by your neighbour and violinist, Kim. What did she say or do to prompt you to go ahead and record the album?
On Mercury: Kim and I actually play together a few times a year in a neighborhood band. She plays fiddle and mandolin, I play bass, and it was put together by our neighbor Wilf – a sweet older guy who loves singing classic country and western songs. We mostly do it because Wilf is great and it means the world to him.
One fall, we were setting up at a neighborhood chili cook-off, waiting on Wilf to arrive. Kim – who had previously played fiddle on my 2025 single Leaving Rome – asked if I was working on any new material. I told her I had about 12 tracks written, but I was stalling because switching gears into the recording, mixing, and production phase takes so much heavy lifting. She just looked at me and said, “Sounds like you should just do it.” It was so ridiculously simple and direct, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Sometimes you just need someone to hand you a reality check and tell you to stop overthinking, stop being dumb, and get to work.
OSR: Speaking about the album. What is Golden Age all about? Is there a particular theme or backstory to the album?
On Mercury: I’ve always been drawn to songs that tell a real story. I genuinely don’t know how to write a poppy “baby, baby, baby” track – it’s just not in my DNA. Instead, I write about the life I’ve lived and the human condition I observe around me every day. At its core, Golden Age is an exploration of loss, redemption, and the complicated choices we make when we’re stuck in between the two.
The opening track, ‘Sinner’s Soothe’, dives into the messiness of making mistakes and trying to change – especially that internal friction where part of you wants to reform, but you’re secretly hoping people will still love you through the ugliest parts of the process. Another track, ‘Wild-Eyed Hurricane’, is told from the perspective of someone who keeps making bad calls, living with the constant dread of abandonment once people see who he really is.
I think that’s a universal fear. So much of human behavior – and so many of our worst, most unhealthy habits – stems from trying to guard against the fear of rejection if our true selves are exposed. Golden Age is really about that space: accepting that inside, we’re all deeply flawed, but still desperately hopeful.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Golden Age? Also, what does it mean to you?
On Mercury: The title Golden Age is definitely tongue-in-cheek. When we talk about a ‘golden age’, we tend to polish it up, but real life – and real connection – is usually pretty messy. The cover art actually tells the whole story. My wife loves the beach and the sun. I, on the other hand, got sunburned so many times as a kid that I find the sun completely abrasive. But I go because I love my family. So on the cover, she’s the carefree one soaking up the sun, and I’m the guy sitting next to her on the sand in a full spacesuit.
The title track touches on that exact contrast: the salt eats through everything, you’re hot and sticky, and you know you’re eventually going to burn out. But at the end of the day, I’d still rather be sweating in a spacesuit next to her than be anywhere else on earth.
What I hope people take from the album is an appreciation for those messy compromises. Almost every song walks that fine line between the ideal, the reality, the fears, and the absurdity of life. It’s about recognizing that a ‘golden age’ isn’t a flawless fantasy. I hope people listen to it and realize that perfection isn’t required for something to be meaningful – the gold is in the mess itself.
OSR: Do you feel that Golden Age is a good representation of you at the moment, both as a musician and individual?
On Mercury: It absolutely is, but probably not in a polished, celebratory way. The truth is, I live in a fair amount of discomfort most days – physically, mentally, socially, spiritually, you name it. I think I hide it pretty well, and frankly, I have good reasons to. Being 100% authentic isn’t what every situation calls for; sometimes you have to read the room, put on the suit, and do what’s required.
We all live inside those contradictions. Golden Age reflects what I’ve been sitting with behind the scenes. I’m pretty flawed, and life is often uncomfortable, but you keep moving forward anyway. Hopefully that spacesuit holds up and gets me through this tough patch.
OSR: The album weaves together numerous genres. Why the shift in styles instead of sticking to a “tried and tested” sound?
On Mercury: You’re not the first person to ask me that! The honest answer is that I just write whatever song comes to me. Most mornings, I wake up with a tune or a line stuck in my head, and over time, I get to know that song by exploring where it wants to go. I want the music to grow naturally out of that process, rather than forcing every idea into a pre-packaged box. I don’t think I could stick to a single formula even if I tried – it would feel artificial.
Plus, I absolutely love road trips, and I love listening to music on long drives. The best road trip albums are the ones with genuine variety that keep you awake and engaged across every mile. That’s what I wanted Golden Age to be – an album you can put on for a long drive that keeps shifting gears so you never get bored.
OSR: If you were to introduce a new listener to your music, which song would you recommend?
On Mercury: I’d probably start them with ‘Six Shooter’. Musically, it’s a great entry point to my overall sound, but lyrically, it digs into something a lot deeper. The core idea is about having six shots to fix your life, but realizing the tools you’re using are bound to destroy you in the process. Just because you’ve relied on a specific mechanism to survive or solve your problems your whole life – especially if that tool is aggression or violence – doesn’t mean it won’t end up burying you in the end. It’s a song about the tragic irony of our favorite defense mechanisms becoming our ultimate downfall.
OSR: If you had to describe On Mercury in a single sentence, what would it be?
On Mercury: Honestly, I don’t think anything worth making can be truly captured in a single sentence.
In my day job, when patients ask me for their diagnosis, I can give them a few medical terms, but those words never do them justice. They are better described in a story several paragraphs (or pages) long, filled with the specific events, choices, scars, reactions and relationships that brought them to this moment.
On Mercury is the same way. It isn’t a one-liner pitch; it’s an evolving story about surviving the friction of real life, keeping your armor on when you need to, and finding enough hope to keep moving forward.
OSR: What advice do you have for new and upcoming musicians?
On Mercury: It’s a really strange time to be a musician. There’s more noise out there than ever before, and breaking through it to get heard is an extraordinarily tough battle.
My advice comes down to redefining what success looks like. If your primary goal is fame, fortune, or going viral, you’re setting a bar that depends almost entirely on algorithms and luck – things you have zero control over. But if your goal is simply to love the process of writing, recording, and playing music, then you’ve already won. Focus on the joy of creating from start to finish. If you genuinely love the craft, you’ll be successful every time you finish a track, regardless of what the rest of the world does with it.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
On Mercury: Sure do. Bob Marley was right: everything is going to be alright!
Many thanks to On Mercury for speaking with us. Find out more about On Mercury on his official website, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
