“IT’S GONNA BE PRETTY MAD” | BACKSTAGE AT TRNSMT WITH KERR MERCER

INTERVIEW | KERR MERCER by Ella Dowell

Rising pop artist Kerr Mercer made his main stage debut as the opening act on day 3 of TRNSMT festival. Despite his main stage set, support slots with major artists, and numerous sell-out gigs across the country; the Lanarkshire singer/songwriter has only started releasing music in the last year! Kerr and I caught up after his set at TRNSMT to talk a bit about the festival, Paolo Nutini and future plans.

A 17 year old Kerr Mercer made his TRNSMT debut on the BBC introducing stage back in 2023, and has seen nothing but success since. I asked him how it felt to have performed on the main stage, he replied: “Pretty mental, yeah. This is the third year I’ve been here in a row, and every single time I keep getting asked to play a bigger stage, and I’m like, ‘This is mental!’ Honestly, it was ridiculous. Yeah. It was mad.” He was absolutely beaming with gratitude, it was refreshing.

Among it being a big milestone in his career, opening the main stage had other perks too: “Cause I was on quite early, I’m lucky enough that I can kinda just chill out now. Like, last year I was on a bit later on the King Tut’s stage, so I was kinda stressing the whole day. Now I’m like, ‘My job’s done!’” Said Kerr. “I can just relax, have a couple of pints, go and see Skye Newman– I’m gonna have fun!”

Kerr Mercer has supported some big names, from Tom Walker to Teddy Swims; I was interested to find out who his dream support slot would be with. When I asked him, I was met with an almost instantaneous “Paolo Nutini. 100%.” He then told me how he had in fact been in contact with Paolo recently: “He actually sent me an email last month analysing some of the lyrics from my song ‘Alcohol’, and said he loved it! He also said we should meet for a beer, so that’s really special.” I could tell he had looked up to Paolo for a long time. “If you ever go on tour again Paolo, please let me come support you, please! Or I’m gonna leak your email,” he laughed.

We then chatted more about the TRNSMT lineup, and what else he was going to do with his day at the festival: “I’m definitely gonna go and see Skye [Newman]. I love CMAT, I think she’s absolutely amazing, it also just looks like she has so much fun on stage. So I’m gonna go and see CMAT, and then obviously I’ll stay for big Capal-dog.” – ‘Big Capal-dog’ is, of course, Lewis Capaldi.

And speaking of…exciting times lay ahead for Kerr Mercer, as he was preparing for another massive support slot with Lewis Capaldi in Leeds the following week. He is also supporting him for British Summertime Festival at Hyde Park: “It’s gonna be pretty mad,” said Kerr.

…But that’s not all: “I’ve got an EP coming out after that, and then a few more festivals for the rest of the summer, so it’s gonna be a busy summer, I’m looking forward to it!”

Kerr and I had a great laugh during our interview; he is a grounded musician, and his success is deserved. He shows great pride and determination toward his craft, and I’m certain that his busy summer will only catapult him even further!

‘Stop Me Dead’ – the latest single from Kerr Mercer – is OUT NOW.