Bonnie Mercer usually garners most attention for being the guitarist of three-piece psych-sludge rockers Grey Daturas. Grey Daturas became renowned for their feedback soaked live performances which incorporated drones, hypnotic rhythmic passages and psychedelic guitar lines, all produced at extreme volumes.
Before disbanding in January 2010, Grey Daturas undertook several tours of Australia, the USA, Europe, New Zealand and Japan, released 3 full-length albums, as well as countless ancillary releases here in Australia and overseas.
Outside of the activities of Grey Daturas, Bonnie has kept herself busy with a range of solo and collaborative projects in which she further explores the worlds of unrestrained depraved feedback, hallucinatory white noise and hypnotically evolving sonic guitar experiments.
Whilst Bonnie Mercer’s recorded solo catalogue is at this stage still limited to one self-released CDR, her tracks have appeared on compilations in Australia, Canada, and the USA. Notable collaborations and performances have included:
- Contributing to Magic Dirt’s album “Roky’s Room”, and appearing in the accompanying short film “Paradise” by Glendyn Ivin (premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2008).
- Performing live in Oakland, California with Damo Suzuki (best known as singer for the German krautrock group Can).
- Participating in the Melbourne Fringe Festival’s inaugural “Guitarelay” (a unique improvisational performance consisting of 30 guitarists).
- Being an artist included in the What is Music? Festival “50/50 - Fifty artists in fifty minutes” concert (with her duo ‘Breathing Shrine’).
Bonnie Mercer has performed solo supporting notable acts such as Boris (Japan), Thrones (USA), and Black Boned Angel (New Zealand), to only name a few.
