the mercury wheel

With influences spanning punk to soul to contemporary pop, The Mercury Wheel started life backing northern soul legend, Nolan Porter for one of his rare LA appearances. Comprised of members José Rendón, Andrew Calara, and Clifton Weaver, The Mercury Wheel members have deep roots in LA’s musical landscape through DJ’ing/club promotion and band memberships.

Drummer José Rendón played with garage punk legends The Sloths and The Unclaimed as well as DJ’d for Latin soul night, Barrio Funky before settling in with The Mercury Wheel. He can still be found guest DJ’ing around town as well as playing with Nolan Porter. Bassist/vocalist Andrew Calara’s unironic love of contemporary pop, hip hop, and top 40 sounds led to DJ gigs for many indie/local band nights at fabled venue, The Airliner. In The Mercury Wheel, he gets to flex his musical and songwriting muscle with his contributions. Guitarist/vocalist Clifton Weaver has been a part of some of LA’s most storied club nights (e.g. Funky Sole, Transistor, Club Underground) as well as played in quite a few notable bands. He brings his knowledge and love of ‘60s soul, pop, jazz and other sounds to the table and unashamedly wears those influences on his compositional sleeve.

Notably, playing shows for Qvolé Collective & NanceArte Production, they’ve been featured at Echo Park Rising, the tribute to Charles Bradley, and continue to steadily build their live reputation. Most recently, they’ve shared the stage with San Diego garage/psych luminaries, The Loons and have also performed with The Quarter After, Tashaki Miyaki, and Magic Wands. More than just another retro kitsch act, The Mercury Wheel’s music is truly greater than the just the sum of their influences.