The group’s frontman, Robert Taylor Wilson IV, was kind enough to indulge the Sun-Gazette in an email interview. He gave the paper permission to call him Bob Wilson.

The band features Robert Taylor Wilson IV, Vincent Leonardo, Kyle Kimball, Mike Rosey, Drew Ferry and Rip Klep. Music lovers may check them out online at face book.com/motherofmercy hc.

APRIL LINE: I learned while Googling that you share your name with a high school and a nursing home. How did you come up with the name Mother of Mercy?

BOB WILSON: We couldn’t decide on a name for a long time. So one day we just said [expletive] it and looked through everything Danzig ever did to find one that would be cool. Mother Of Mercy is the only one we could agree on.

AL: The lyrics are rather dark, but they rhyme in a traditional way. Can you talk a little bit about the process involved in writing the songs-lyrics?

BW: I think about things that are bothering me and try to have the right amount of flow with every song. I actually try to stay away from the obvious rhymes that most people come up with, but I’m no English major so it is what it is. I wrote all the lyrics up until IV, when Kyle (drummer) started helping me out since I’ve written about 70 songs for bands at this point and the well is a little dry. He wrote three songs for the new record, but with the understanding that I’d have to approve them, obviously, and he did a great job of writing based on what he knew was going on in my life lately.

AL: How long have the band members known each other?

BW: Most of us have known each other for around 10 years I guess, except Joe. He appeared from nowhere in around 2005.

AL: I noticed on Myspace that you’re going from Canada to PA to NY, where did you start? Have you been on tour before? How does that go? Do you enjoy touring?

BW: It was a three-day trek with only Canada shows that we did to play with Sheer Terror. We have toured a ton since 2007 when we started. A tour’s a tour, it is what it is. Which is usually fun. Sometimes it’s not as fun. This past weeks’ shows were fun. Hopefully the next tour is also fun.

AL: What’s your favorite sort of venue to play?

BW: Anything but basements. I hate basement shows because literally nothing cool can happen unless you’re in a band where people can just throw beer around and have fun. That’s not us.

AL: You’re really out there about your influences, listing them right on Myspace. It seems to me that a lot of bands prefer to be a little cagier about their influences. What’s your philosophy there?

BW: A lot of bands start and say stupid [expletive] like “sounds like Black Flag, Metallica, Bad Brains, and Biohazard” none of that makes any sense and no band could sound like the Bad Brains to begin with. So, to counter that, I just put [expletive] as our “influences” that we like as a band or individually. Bands like the Killers, Brand New, Handsome, Only Living Witness, Mazzy Star, whatever. I’d rather just take influence from bands doing different things than try and say we sound like Pantera or Cro-Mags or something because I’d be kidding myself. Also, Myspace is dead, why are you checking that!

AL: How long have you all been playing music together? Individually?