Summer Bash 2026: Mercury’s Well talk AI, New Music and the Origins of Summer Bash!

As Machine Head will tell you, it’s all about the blood, the sweat and the beers so while we’re enjoying a well earned break this bank holiday weekend and a couple of cheeky drinks, we thought it would be fun to spend a moment in the company of Liam Fogarty and Simon Davies from Progressive Death Metal trio Mercury’s Well. They’re preparing to hold their annual Hawaiian themed beach party, otherwise known as Summer Bash, at The Face Bar in Reading on 18th July so we got chatting to them about the origins of the event, taking a trip down the yellow brick road that is memory lane before looking forward to the future. Without any further much ado about nothing, here’s the interview, a link for tickets and the line up are at the end of the piece! Enjoy!

What was the idea behind the original Summer Bash show?

Liam: “The idea stemmed from just wanting to do a fun show themed around us wearing Hawaiian shirts and it grew from there.“

Simon: “The first Summer Bash was put together for us as our first headline show, based on our outfits on stage, by XL Promotions back when they were still putting on shows. When they stopped promoting, we decided to keep running it ourselves which allowed us to feel a little more in control of the event overall.“

 Liam: “As the years went on we wanted to make it bigger and better so it naturally came from just wanting to get more bands on a lineup“

Simon: “We did 2 years of the event as our DiY headliner/annual party, when we hit the 5th annual mark, we felt we wanted to go bigger with it to make it more special after the prior year’s album launch party.“

 Simon: “Hard to say really, I try and get something in the headline slots that I’m personally excited to see; so usually that will sit in a kind of heavy music space. But we also want to curate a friendly, party atmosphere so we invite friends’ bands to play regardless of genre, or bands we’re friendly with or have been impressed by at shows in the past.“

Liam: “Bow my hat to Simon, he has a great, eclectic taste of music and honestly just keeping an eye out for anything that’s interesting, regardless of genre, is the ultimate goal“

Liam: “For me, it’s still been getting to see Treehouse dressed up as Ken and Barbie performing a phenomenal set“

Simon: “The feedback that we get from each Summer Bash often leads to a lot of reflective thinking, but generally, I think I’m quite proud that it is broadly that everyone seems to have a good time.“

Liam: “Yes. Yes it is. Fuck them“.

Simon: “Absolutely. I’ve no tolerance for it, and, from the booking perspective, I will actively seek to avoid booking bands who use it.“

Simon: “Our main focus lately is on new music; we announced and performed a good chunk of a track so far titled “Haunting III” which could form part of a three track EP, however, we’ve more material than those three parts and it’s hard to say what form the next release will take at this point. I’ve jokingly said the plan is to make the next record “bigger, better and less accessible. Complain when nobody listens”“

Liam: “Things are going well and the songs are really taking shape now which is very exciting!“

Liam: “I for one will be working on painting my Cerastus Knight Lancer for my Custodes because I am nothing if not a massive fucking nerd“

Simon: “Wherever the weekend takes me I suppose. There’ll probably be a degree of chilling, but if the weather’s good it’d be nice to take advantage of that extra day. As for recommendations, as I always sign off on our occasional video updates: “stay safe, stay hydrated and keep it real”“