Merce Lemon‘s latest album, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild, is a product of rediscovery and reconnection with nature. Wrapped in lively guitars and sweetly melodic songs about blackbirds and blueberries, the album bursts forth from a calm, pastoral chaos. It may seem erratic or impulsive, but in truth, Merce is fully aware of where she’s coming from and deeply curious about what lies ahead. Her sound is rooted in a profound reverence for nature, as if by honouring it, she’s charting a more confident path through the turbulent emotions of the heart.
After releasing her 2020 album Moonth, Merce took a step back during the lockdown era, reassessing everything— even music, her long-time source of comfort, felt fragile. “I got dirty and slept outside most of the summer. I learned a lot about plants and farming, just writing for myself, and in that time, I slowly accumulated songs.” That insatiable creative drive, supported by the community she always relied on, found new life through the inspiration that came from getting her hands dirty—literally and metaphorically. Digging into the earth, as well as into herself, she unearthed what had been lying dormant all along. From this deeply grounded rediscovery, infused with nature’s magic, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild blossomed.
We caught up with Merce Lemon to chat about the record, how songs are inspired by specific moments and being open to change.
Watch or read the interview below:
Montreal Rocks: How was your weekend?
Merce Lemon: Pretty chill. I just got home from Burlington and also just not really being home for a month, so readjusting.
Montreal Rocks: OK. So I’m in Montreal, so you were kind of close, just over the border.
Merce Lemon: Yeah, my partner lives in Burlington, Vermont, and I always forget my passport when I visit. And they all go to Montreal all the time, so that is definitely on my list.
Montreal Rocks: Well, I’m happy to hear it. So I only discovered your music quite recently. I know you’ve been making music for a long time. I think it was on a playlist. And then usually when I listen to playlists of new music, I’m like, listen to a little bit and then skip, listen to a little bit and then skip. And then it got to your song, and I was like, oh, what’s this? Since then, I’ve been back and listened to everything. And now we have new music as well, so I’m excited. But I know you had a really interesting upbringing, musically, and with your family and all that. What can you tell me about how things all started for you musically?
Merce Lemon: Just that it was kind of always a part of my life. Music was pretty ingrained into going to shows since I was a little kid, my family hosting touring bands, both my parents playing in bands throughout my childhood. So yeah, just always a very creative space, always music playing in the house, which is funny because now I actually am a person that usually doesn’t listen to music at home at all. Really quiet house. And I listen to music in the car more than anything, because I do end up—I’m driving a lot in my life. So then being home, I really enjoy silence. But yeah, so just pretty much immersed in it. Not really like—I didn’t really have to seek it out. I mean, I definitely found bands that my parents didn’t know, but it was almost like the opposite of some people, where their parents listen to mainstream stuff and they have to find the weird stuff. I had to find the mainstream stuff, look for the pop and stuff.
Montreal Rocks: So what kind of music were your parents playing?
Merce Lemon: You mean like them playing or just that we listened to?
Montreal Rocks: In their bands, what kind of bands were they in?
Merce Lemon: The band my dad was in was kind of like folk, but pretty raw rock and roll folk vibe, like very lyric-driven music. I think my mom too, like a little punkier, but yeah, like melodic, raw, heartfelt music.
Montreal Rocks: You mentioned that was your first memory. So as a young kid, how did you feel about that kind of music? Because that’s not what most kids are brought up on. Did you gel with it pretty quickly?
Merce Lemon: Yeah, I think it was just like—I don’t think I ever thought about whether I liked it or not. It was just so a part of my life. But I definitely did like it and was very—I mean, like most of the music my parents—so much of the music that I love is heavily influenced by what my parents played for me growing up. And yeah, I feel lucky that I didn’t have to seek that out as much.
Montreal Rocks: Are they still playing? I know your dad played in your band for a while, right? Is he still playing with you?
Merce Lemon: He’s not playing with me anymore, but he did play in my band for like four years. He plays in a different band now. The band he was in my whole life, like most of my life, is called the Working Core. They just had a little reunion show, but for the most part, he has a new band that he plays in here.
Montreal Rocks: Do you just play guitar, or have you dabbled with other instruments too?
Merce Lemon: I keep it pretty simple. I played clarinet in fifth grade for a few years, like I was in band, but—and learned how to read music, but that has definitely left me. I still have my clarinet, which was my grandfather’s clarinet. I would be curious to learn another instrument, but for the most part, I kind of use guitar as—I just kind of use it because I want to make songs. I’m not like—I wouldn’t say I’m an amazing guitar player, which is maybe not something to say out loud, but—
Montreal Rocks: Hey, some of the best rock and roll stars don’t necessarily play that well. They just play with passion.
Merce Lemon: Yeah, I’m just like self-taught and very driven by melody and lyricism, and the guitar is the accompaniment that I need to that. And I think it lends well to how I play my songs, but I have a hard time learning other people’s songs.
Montreal Rocks: Yeah, but you do play covers sometimes.
Merce Lemon: Occasionally. We do a Bonnie Prince Billy cover of “I See a Darkness,” and I think I’ve done a George Jones cover and a Lana Del Rey cover.
Montreal Rocks: Which Lana song?
Merce Lemon: “The Mariner’s Apartment Complex” from the Norman F***ing Rockwell album. I love that album. There was a time when I was still in the band with my dad, and we played a Halloween cover set, and I did a Lana Del Rey song, a Black Sabbath song, a Bonnie Prince Billy song. I was trying to pull from many genres.
Montreal Rocks: All those are completely different, but I think that’s what makes your sound so unique. You draw from all different areas of music and make something that’s completely yours, I think. And I think that’s why it kind of drew me in straight away. It’s nice when you discover an artist and then find they have a back catalogue to dive into.
So you’ve released two songs from this record. Usually, people release the catchiest, shortest songs as singles. That’s not what you did. I think they’re the longest songs on the album. How did you decide which ones to release first from this record?
Merce Lemon: I know. I was actually having that thought the other day because the next, the third single, I guess, is like maybe a three-and-a-half-minute song. And I was like, I guess that’s more like a classic single song. But “Backyard Lover” just felt like it spoke to the whole album very well. It’s like, this is the direction we’re going, kind of song to introduce you to the whole energy of the album. I just thought it spoke to all parts of what the other songs are bringing to the table. And then “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild” is the name of the album and also probably the most separate song from that album—definitely kind of the outlier. So I just wanted a very eclectic mix of all of that. They all still feel connected, but all of the different sounds that I’m bringing to the table. You can find the shorter bangers on there, you know, like singles are funny. I hope people just listen to the whole record, you know?
Montreal Rocks: The title track is also the last track on the album. It’s the closer. I feel people are usually quite deliberate about which song is the first song, which song is the last song. Did you know when you wrote that song that it was going to be the closer? You said that was the outlier.
Merce Lemon: It was the last song I wrote. It felt like a different direction, where I was like, I wonder if this is the direction my next album will take me, but this is still attached to this album. I think I tried putting it in the middle, but it didn’t make sense anywhere except the end, which is kind of how I’ve been. When I play it live, it’s often the last song we play too, because it’s just kind of like an epic slow burn. And it just feels like an appropriate ender. It didn’t really feel right anywhere else.
Montreal Rocks: So there was quite a big jump in sound from your first album to your second album. And from what I’ve heard so far, it feels like things have switched up again. How do you feel your sound has progressed since your last record?
Merce Lemon: It feels just like an organic growth. Never like… I don’t think it’s ever been like, I haven’t gone into it thinking, “I want it to sound this way or that way.” It’s just been following my growth. And also, different people have played on all of these albums, so it’s very influenced by the other musicians on it, which is always cool. Like, my songwriting is changing, but also how I interact with the people I’m playing with is very influential to the sound. So yeah, each album has had a different band.
And yeah, I would be bored if they sounded the same forever. I wouldn’t want to listen to an artist that never changed. So I hope people are open to the change. But I also think the soul of it has stuck through all of them, you know?
Montreal Rocks: I saw a video of you playing live, and I think it was from about a year and a half ago, beginning of 2023. I saw some of the songs from this record you played, and I think you mentioned that you recorded an album in that video. Does that mean this album has been finished for a long time?
Merce Lemon: Yeah, like a lot of these songs we’ve been playing live for at least two years. And the album we recorded a year and a half ago, if that’s the right timing, it was in March.
Montreal Rocks: I think that’s when the video was from—March 2023.
Merce Lemon: Yep, that’s when we recorded it—at the beginning of March. So it must have been right after.
Montreal Rocks: So why so long? Why did we have to wait?
Merce Lemon: That’s a great question. I think we’re just… the label that I’m on, we were just trying to give it the attention it deserved. We just felt really confident in the album as a whole and wanted to make sure that we had everything we needed to release it, which… yeah, I don’t know. I guess we were like… yeah, I don’t have a great answer for that. I was getting impatient, to be honest.
Montreal Rocks: So how do you feel now? We’re actually in September, so your album comes out this month. How are you feeling?
Merce Lemon: I keep forgetting that and keep reminding myself. I’m excited for it to be out. It’s funny to hold on to something for that long. And I know a lot of my friends and people have heard it in full, but just to know that, yeah, I know these songs inside and out, have been playing them for so long, but knowing it’s new for a ton of other people is really exciting.
Montreal Rocks: Is there one song we haven’t heard yet that you’re excited for people to hear?
Merce Lemon: Yeah, I guess there’s a few. I’ve been playing most of these live, but there are a few that we play live a lot less. I think the next single, “Crow,” is the oldest song on the album—the oldest one I’ve written. It’s the one I’ve been playing the longest, and often the one people ask me about. So I’m excited to see how that grows.
I’m excited to see how that is received. And then also, “Birdseed,” which is the first song on the album. It’s a really fun song. A lot of the songs are a little more morose, you know, there’s some sadness to it. I think “Birdseed” is probably the happiest opener.
Montreal Rocks: There are definitely elements of humour in your songs, even in the sad songs.
So tell me, how do you get to a song? What’s your process?
Merce Lemon: It’s always kind of changing, but a lot of collaging of lyrics that accumulate over time. Sometimes I start with lyrics, sometimes I start with the melody. Sometimes I write five one-minute songs, and it becomes one. And sometimes I’ll just sit down and write a whole song in one sitting, which is also really cool when it just comes out cohesively. But a lot of the songs are collaged or inspired by specific moments, but then built upon that.
Montreal Rocks: You’re collecting lyrics on a daily basis, maybe just jotting them down?
Merce Lemon: Yeah, like in my phone notes a lot or in a notebook. It comes in waves. I’m not always in super creative mode, but little phrases. Even for the song “Will You Do Me a Kindness,” that whole song came from a phrase in this YouTube video that my friend showed me. So there are little things like that where it has nothing to do with the YouTube video, but the phrase really stuck with me and inspired me, and a song just unraveled from it. Sometimes you just need one little image or phrase to build upon.
Montreal Rocks: Does the title ever come first?
Merce Lemon: Um… I guess with “Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild,” that might have… actually, I don’t think the title came first. I don’t think the title ever comes first, honestly. Usually, the song has to be finished for me to know how to portray it, I guess.
I guess with “Will You Do Me a Kindness,” that phrase came first. But I didn’t know if the song was going to be called that.
Montreal Rocks: So, when you look through the tracklist for this record, there’s one song title that intrigues me—”Slipknot.”
Merce Lemon: Yeah, I was wondering if you were going to mention that.
Montreal Rocks: Yeah. So tell me about that song. Why is it called “Slipknot”?
Merce Lemon: That song has nothing to do with the band Slipknot, which I will admit, I don’t even know if I would recognize if I heard it. It’s more referring to the actual knot that’s tied. But I did put the words together like “Slipknot.” I think if I was actually referring to the knot, it would have to be two separate words. But when I wrote it like that, it looked really dark. I was like, “This looks…” It was alluding to suicide in a dark way that I wasn’t trying to portray.
Because in the song, it’s not about that. It’s kind of about… “Slipknot” in that song is not referring to tying a knot you’d hang yourself with. So I was like, “How do I be playful with this?” For some reason, putting the words together changed the feeling. I think somewhere, maybe in the vinyl insert, I wrote it separately.
But yeah, I’m excited for you to hear that one.
Montreal Rocks: So, let’s go back to your parents for a second. Is there any advice they gave you that you particularly hold on to?
Merce Lemon: Hmm… I don’t know if I can think of something specific they’ve said. But just that they’ve always created a space where I could be myself and pursue the arts, in a way that not everybody’s family is supportive of. I didn’t really jive with school, so I didn’t go to college, and there was never pressure for that.
They just created an environment where someone can explore themselves and feel supported in that. I feel very lucky.
Montreal Rocks: Who would be your dream artist to open for on tour?
Merce Lemon: I would love to open for Bonnie “Prince” Billy.
Montreal Rocks: I thought you might say that.
Merce Lemon: Yeah, that would be a dream.
Montreal Rocks: If someone had never heard your music before, is there one song you’d want them to listen to first?
Merce Lemon: Hmm… I feel like “Backyard Lover” is a good one. I know it’s newer, but I feel proud of that song. Maybe that or “Will You Do Me a Kindness?” And then they can skip around.
Montreal Rocks: Well, that’s what I did. I discovered the new stuff and then started going back.
Last question—what’s great in your life right now?
Merce Lemon: Hmm, that’s a good question. What is great? I have so much to be thankful for. Just the privilege to be able to play music and share it—I feel very lucky, and I don’t take it for granted.
And also, it’s my favourite part of the farm season, which I call “Ratatouille Season”—when eggplants, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes are all in season at the same time. So I made a Ratatouille stew the other week, and that’s how I celebrate this part of the season.
WATCH ME DRIVE THEM DOGS WILD IS OUT SEPTEMBER 27TH VIA DARLING RECORDINGS
Share this :
