That Bowling Team That Rocked The House: An Interview With NYC’s Planet Mercury
By Dan Dellechiaie | August 26, 2026
Photo credit: Brian Cohen
There’s a time and a place for pop punk: whenever and wherever Planet Mercury are performing. No further introduction is necessary for this outstanding band. knifetwister records new york orbited Planet Mercury following the release of their Planet Mercury EP.
Alright, I gotta ask. What’s with the bowling shirts?
We always wanted to have a uniform. We figured if people don’t remember our music, they might remember that bowling team that got on stage and rocked the house.
What’s Planet Mercury’s origin story? How did you guys meet? Where does your band name come from, beyond the obvious astronomical reason?
Michaela: Strangely enough, we mostly met each other on the Internet. The original singer, bass player, and I met on Craigslist. The bass player went to school with our original drummer. A few lineup changes and member retirements later, we found our final drummer Paul on Craisglist. Chris stepped up to sing and play guitar (and now bass) to become the Planet Mercury you know and love today!
Talk to me about your latest single “Paycheck.”
Michaela: “Paycheck” was written about an old manager that I had at my first “big girl” job. After a bad day at work, the manager came out to my car and made a complaint to me after I was clocked out and leaving the parking lot. I went home and immediately had the proper itch and irritation to write a song about work culture. It basically pokes at people who make their miserable jobs their whole lives and forget that there’s a whole other life to live outside of work.
What’s each of your favorite songs on your brand new Planet Mercury EP and why?
Chris: I can’t help but feel like I’m in the desert whenever I hear “Poison”: real desperado-type stuff. I’m a sucker for auxiliary percussion and always have a blast locking into the groove for the verses.
Paul: “Heaven” is the song that probably required the most arranging. It was a process to get to the final version you can hear on the EP, but I love working songs out with my friends. Plus, it’s the most fun to play on drums. I really love the bridge section where I get to play some paradiddle nonsense over the heavenly soundscapes.
Michaela: It’s hard to pick a favorite truly, my inclination is to say “Poison” as well, but I’m going to pick “Rat Race.” It’s a song written about the ups and downs and highs and lows of loving music and being a performer. The song was originally called “Good Days/Bad Days” after the line in the bridge, but “Rat Race” felt more fun and playful similarly to the feeling of the music. The last line really summarizes the whirlwind of being a musician. At the end of the day, that’s the message. Listen to the song to find out ;)
Photo credit: Brian Cohen
It’s been five years since your LP, It’s an Odd Feeling, Feeling at Odds. Great title, by the way. What has changed with Planet Mercury since then and what has stayed the same?
As it happens in life, you blink and five years have flown by. Around the time of the LP, we were griming it out in sweaty basements and traveling across the country for weeks at a time. And then the world was rocked by COVID right when we were putting all the bells and whistles on the record.
We have seen a handful of lineup changes in the years since, performed at our first wedding (!!!), and underwent a move to NYC in 2025. Along the way, we’ve enjoyed experimenting sonically in the studio and finding new sounds with our engineer/producer extraordinaire: Mike Dwyer. Now we’re griming it out in the city, where even the sweat costs money.
You guys covered two of my favorite songs “Dancing On My Own” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” Very different tracks, very good covers. How do you guys choose which songs to cover? What are some songs you wanna cover?
Choosing cover tunes can range from someone at rehearsal saying, “Hey guys we should cover this” to someone bringing a demo or arrangement to rehearsal and seeing if it sticks. But we really do all have to love it to get the process going.
The Under the Covers EP was a collection of songs that we have all loved for various reasons and came together similarly. Michaela had a demo she made of “Dancing on My Own” that she showed us while we were on the road in California. We hit the ground running when we got home. Chris has an affinity for the Man in Black. So when he was filming a cowboy movie and learning old country tunes he brought “Folsom Prison Blues” to the gang, and they didn’t outright say “no.”
Covers usually see the light of day after going through this process for us. Playing a wedding in 2025 upped our cover count, and we’ve since fallen in love with the Jonas Brothers’ rendition of Busted’s tune “Year 3000.” Yes, you are reading that right, the JoBro’s did NOT write that song. You should absolutely listen to the original. Be on the lookout for songs you would expect to hear at a millennial wedding on Under the Covers 2…maybe.
Photo credit: Kelly McCready
Which Muppet are each of you and why?
Paul: I have to say Animal. I just think any drummer has to. The constant obsession with hitting things with sticks, the way he eats, sleeps, breathes drums to the point that it limits his vocabulary is too real to ignore.
Michaela: I would be Rowlf the Dog for sure. He is most things that have encompassed who I am: piano, a dog, dry humor. What more could you ask for?
Chris: Fozzie the Bear. I was more of a Sesame Street guy. Wokka Wokkkaaaaaaa!
You are one of the most upbeat rock bands I've seen in New York. Could you talk about your positivity?
We can’t help but smile when we’re doing what we love with who we love, ya know? We’ve been lucky to be surrounded by an incredible musical community in whatever city we’re calling home at the moment and to feel that support from our bandmates. The audience gives us a certain satisfaction that shows on stage.
Whenever we take the stage or plug in for rehearsal, the music and camaraderie keeps us in the moment regardless of how bad a million other things might suck that day and that is special. We want people who listen to us to feel the same way, it’s bad out there but in here right now it’s not. There is no way that feeling can last forever, but we live for the spaces and the times where it can.
Photo Credit: Brian Cohen
Who are your favorite bands to play with, your comrades, your day ones?
Shoutout to our day ones from back in MA: Whenzdaze, Driveways, Townies, Hush Club, and the whole crew that would come out to pack the Middle East on a Saturday and make it feel like we were playing Fenway. Also: to all the bands that we’ve shared the road with, shoutout Conversation from Toronto, Townies when they hosted us in Cali (I’ll never forgive myself for cracking Nolan’s crash cymbal when he let me borrow it), and Goalkeeper who we always seemed to serendipitously end up on the same bill with in the randomest venues.
We’re still making tons of friends in NY, but shoutout every band that we've shared stages with, shared drinks with, and shared members with. Check out NOTNORTH, Garret Elias, Believe In Ghost!, Zach Ludlow, Cellophane Kiss, Emily has Fallen, LXE, and Kenny from Arlene’s Grocery for putting up with us and the entire cast of characters listed above.
Anything you’d like to add that we haven't talked about already?
Play with people. Keep AI out of music and art. Don’t trust the government. Never deny yourself from getting the Led out…ever.
Anyone you'd like to thank?
We have to shoutout Mike Dwyer, our producer/engineer/life coach/host who lets us stay in his basement when we record, give him a follow @thebunkerrecordings.
Thanks to our families for putting up with all the noises we made as teenagers. We may be older, but the noises stay the same.
Thanks to Arlene’s Grocery for being our home away from home when we were still based in MA, for keeping that energy now that we’re local, and for having the best house kit this side of the Mississippi.