On the Rise
Hello Mary

Released in 2023 via Frenchkiss Records, their self-titled debut album as Hello Mary was a cathartic 30 minutes of gritty riffs, melodic vocals and commanding beats, peppered with the angst and urgency of three young women trying to make their mark on the world. Its conception is something the trio reflect on warmly.

Recorded in just over a week due to financial and logistical constraints, bassist Oppenheimer explains that Hello Mary was “pretty bare bones” in a way that could seem “intentional”, but it was mostly out of necessity. The result of this rushed effort, as vocalist and guitarist Straight puts it, was a “raw and straightforward” offering that embodied the emotions that the teenage songwriters were experiencing at the time. “We were all just really figuring out how to be a band,” offers drummer Wave, who recognises that these limitations were what gave the album its pressing sense of haste.

One year later, the trio are gearing up to release their second LP, Emita Ox. It retains the determined spirit of their first album, but the band took a more diligent approach when it came to recording this time. “This album feels more like what I wish was our debut,” Oppenheimer comments, “It feels a lot more representative of the music we listen to and the music we want to make.” From the thundering basslines, driving beats and visceral vocals on “0%”, to the melodic and shape-shifting nature of “Three”, to brief glitchy interludes like “Heavy Sleeper” and “Hiyeahi”, Emita Ox documents a sustained period of growth, resilience and assertiveness. It both sounds and feels like a bigger statement of autonomy for Hello Mary.

“Writing this album didn’t feel difficult,” Straight reflects. “Some of the songs are five years old, and some are as young as six months. I’d say the biggest challenge was making decisions in the studio about how we wanted the songs to sound. We’re all very critical and opinionated when it comes to our music, but we also have immense trust for one another.”

Drummer Wave believes that being more hands-on with production for Emita Ox was a key part of making Hello Mary sound more authentic. Aided by Alex Farrar (Indigo De Souza, Wednesday, Snail Mail), the trio ditched the “hit record and play the song as it is” method that they used on their first album, and opted for a more considered and deliberate approach. “We were just really digging in and treating each song as its own project within a bigger project,” she elaborates. “It was really nice to go into this record and take our time with it, put in the care and the work, add [different] instruments and figure out how to recreate it live later.”

But how did Hello Mary get to this place of experimentation and confidence? Initially, Straight and Oppenheimer met through school in the sixth grade, aged 12. Oppenheimer’s earliest memories of music are of her Mum listening to Joni Mitchell in the kitchen, and disliking piano lessons as a child. She picked up a bass guitar for the first time when she started playing in her middle school jazz band. For Straight, it was an infatuation with Taylor Swift that led her to start playing. “I heard the album Speak Now when I was about 9 years old, after my dad gifted my mom the CD for one of her birthdays,” she recalls. “We listened to it every single day and I grew extremely obsessed. I would sing her songs with my dad on guitar and learn to play the simplest ones on guitar myself.”

Despite having a solid friendship, It wasn’t until the pair were around 14 years old that they began making music together. They signed up to a music school that “makes bands”, but they disagreed creatively with the band they were initially put in, which prompted them to start doing things by themselves. Straight and Oppenheimer began sharing their own songs on Soundcloud under the name Hello Mary, with Straight’s father stepping in on drums. After a year, they were approached to play their first show. “It was a non-male show, so we were like ‘we really wanna play, but we don’t have a drummer who’s not Helena’s dad’,” Oppenheimer recalls, “Then we were like ‘well, Stella doesn’t have a band…’ and that’s kind of how we met.”

Wave was brought up in a musical household where she happily remembers there being “a lot of importance placed on playing and listening to music.” She was introduced to the drums from a young age, and became interested in guitar and songwriting as a freshman in high school. She was experimenting in other bands and developing these interests up until she joined Hello Mary.

It took a while for Wave to relax into the existing dynamic of the band. She was 18 when she began playing with Straight and Oppenheimer, who were 15 at the time, so connecting on an interpersonal level was difficult, especially as the pair were such close friends already. They did offer to change the band name in order to welcome Wave into the fold. Oppenheimer and Straight initially just wanted words that began with their first initials - “H” and “M” - and they were willing to add an “S” into the mix for Wave, but the drummer insisted on keeping the original name. “I think I’m the one that likes it the most,” Wave laughs. “I just thought the name worked. It’s not pretentious. It’s just normal.”

The trio began playing live shows together almost every weekend in New York in 2019, but it was during the Covid-19 pandemic that Hello Mary’s band mate relationship developed into true friendship, especially for Wave. “Helena and I were part of each other’s bubble,” Wave explains, “So we would spend hours writing songs together and playing. We all became a lot closer during that time.” Straight feels a similar way: “Looking back on it, I feel like that time was extremely vital for the growth of our band and songwriting abilities. Being forced to sit at home and write rather than worrying about live performances and touring was kind of a wonderful thing.”

This change in dynamic is heavily reflected on Emita Ox. The record is a thrilling, cathartic vehicle for the band to exorcise the darker emotions that bled into the songwriting. Whilst the trio are happy to describe the tracks as “deeply personal”, they are understandably cautious when it comes to sharing details about the stories that informed them. Hello Mary’s elusive approach is intentional, as they want to guard the safe space they created for each other when they were putting their feelings into music.

“The whole recording process was kind of a heavy time for me, so it felt really good to be able to express that and to have something to channel my feelings into,” Wave shares. “A lot of the material on the record follows us through the last five years of being a band. There are a lot of different timestamps that showcase different things that we went through, and that we all kind of know what the other one is talking about. But it’s not really for other people to fully know.” Wave’s feelings are also mirrored by Straight. “The most cathartic part of the process for me is bringing the songs to the band and all of us turning them into Hello Mary songs together. There’s nothing as comforting as Stella and Mikaela liking a song that I’ve brought in. It can be very nerve wracking so feeling that validation and respect is awesome.”

Playing together live is something that also brings validation to the band. Having toured supporting the likes of DIIV, Silversun Pickups and American Football across America, Hello Mary are now gearing up to play their own debut headline shows here in the UK, to support the release of Emita Ox. Having sold out their first show at The Windmill in Brixton tonight, the trio added another gig at the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston due to overwhelming demand. Oppenheimer is looking forward to sharing the eclectic and moody “Down My Life” with new crowds, whilst Wave is keen to expose them to the cleansing noise of “0%” on which she shares vocal duties. “Screaming like that is really crazy and intense to do it every night, but it does get something out,” she enthuses.

The Windmill show holds a special significance for the trio. South London band Black Midi, who regularly played the venue, were a key influence on Hello Mary’s upcoming record, as well as other British bands like Radiohead and Jock Strap. Wave in particular is looking forward to arriving in London. “There’s a very cool music community out there - not that we don’t have that here - but it feels like there’s a really big appreciation for art and music that will be fun to witness. To have our music take us across the world is so cool. We’re just really, really excited.”