Small Mercies

Small Mercies were an Australian alternative rock band from Brisbane, Queensland. They formed in 1997. They used the names, Seventh Avenue and Blaik, before adopting Small Mercies in 2004. Their final line-up was Steve Blaik on lead vocals and guitar, Marty O'Brien on drums, Danny Procopis on lead guitar, and Jeff Reeves on bass guitar. Small Mercies released two EPs, ''Is This Life?'' (2003) and ''Off the Record'' (2004), and one studio album, ''Beautiful Hum Top 40 and was nominated at the ARIA Music Awards of 2007 for Breakthrough Artist – Single. By December 2010, the group had disbanded.

History

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. This performance attracted Shawthing Entertainment's Greg Shaw, who became their manager. The band worked with Stuart Stuart (The Veronicas), Dave Nicholas (INXS, Sting), Trey Bruce (Faith Hill) and Randy Staub (Nickelback, Metallica) on song writing or recordings. They met John Woodruff (Savage Garden, Evermore), after he had heard their early demos, who became their next manager in 2001. He recommended them to Sony BMG.

In 2002 the band's name returned to Blaik, they released material on their official website, such as a four-track, ''Blaik Sampler'' (December 2002), which includes an early version of "Innocent". 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. Note: user may have to supply information, e.g. at "Words:" blaik

2004–2006: Small Mercies and ''Off the Record''

Under the name, Small Mercies, in May 2004 they signed with Modern Music. They released a five-track EP, ''Off the Record'', 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. Note: User may have to click 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:' e.g Pellet Gun; or at 'Performer:' Small Mercies 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.

2007–2010: ''Beautiful Hum''

Small Mercies contacted their next producer, Matt Wallace