Hello Mary’s Debut Album Is Sure To Be a “Special Treat”
Photo by Jessica Gurewitz
Nothing quite screams for attention like Hello Mary, a Brooklyn-based rock band, Hello Mary’s debut album.
The founding members, Mikaela Oppenheimer and Helena Straight have been making music together since they were 13 years old. Then, in 2019, after what was supposed to be a one-time event playing with drummer Stella Wave, they decided to create the loudest, noisiest trio in the New York rock scene. I sat down with the band to talk about their latest music videos and love for touring in preparation for their addicting new album.
Photo by Mark Shaw
[UNPUBLISHED:] Thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk to us about your newest album. We noticed that you decided to release a couple of singles (ex. “Special Treat” and “Spiral”) before the rest of the album. What about those two particular songs stood out to you enough to share them before everything else?
[HELENA:] Well, I feel like we tend to release our favorite songs as singles. “Special Treat” and “Spiral” are two very very different songs, so we wanted to give people a taste of the different songs on the album.
[STELLA:] I feel like “Special Treat” –Helena and Mikaela, let me know if you agree or disagree– is one of our more collaborative songs on the record. I remember the writing process of that song, the three of us being in Helena’s parents’ basement in Ditmas Park, where we practiced. We were all actively contributing to the creation process. It’s also just a fun track and a good last song to send the album into people’s hemispheres. And “Spiral” is my favorite song on the record. I don’t know if you’ve seen the music video, but it’s frickin awesome, it’s my fav.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I have seen it! I watched the "Spiral” music video and I am excited to watch the "Special Treat" video too! I had a chance to preview your whole album before it officially dropped and just want to say that I loved it! It’s loud, it’s electric, and I can feel the drums and bassline coursing through me as I listened. What inspired such an array of addicting music?
[STELLA:] There are two components to what’s happening on the record. One is the songwriting and the other is the three of us playing together loudly and having a blast. The noisy record is just what we wanted for the debut album. It screams for attention, right? It is loud and harsh in a cool way. But also, there is a lot of lyrical and vocal interplay and a lot of melodic bass parts. Mikaela once said that there’s a lot to pay attention to, and I completely agree. Sorry, I don’t know if that answered your question, I kinda spiraled off for a second.
[UNPUBLISHED:] No, it did! I love how you said it “screams for attention” because that perfectly sums up the album. For me, I just found it addicting and kept playing it on repeat.
[STELLA:] That's awesome!
[UNPUBLISHED:] So we all know the name of this rock band is Hello Mary, but what inspired you to title this album Hello Mary as well?
[HELENA:] Mostly just not having any other ideas for the record name. We had one that I still like and still want to use as an album name, but we kinda disagreed on it last minute. So we just decided why not just have a self-titled album?
[STELLA:] Also, I will say that I think our band name works well as a debut album name because it’s our introduction into listeners’ worlds, “Hello,” you know what I’m saying? I also just love our band name. Honestly, when I first joined the band they were thinking about changing it because they already had that name. But I was like, “you can not change this, this is so epic.”
[UNPUBLISHED:] What originally inspired that name? Why did you choose Hello Mary?
[MIKAELA:] Well me and Helena were thinking of names and we were trying to think of something with “H” and “M” because of our names and we kinda just thought of it.
[HELENA:] Yeah there were variations but that was the best one.
[STELLA:] Do y’all remember any of the variations?
[HELENA:] No.
[MIKAELA:] No, but I remember we utilized a random word generator so many times, but it never landed on Hello Mary, we thought of that one ourselves.
[STELLA:] Was it like—sorry I’m just curious because I have never asked them this– but was it one of you, in particular, that thought of the name?
[MIKAELA:] I remember that I said it! Yeah, I remember saying it as we were leaving the Q train.
Photo by Nolan Zangas
[UNPUBLISHED:] I was curious too. It’s so interesting how each band comes up with their name either for personal reasons or just something on the spot that tends to stick. What are some reactions that you hope to get from your fans after the release of Hello Mary? What do you hope to get out of it?
[HELENA:] I don’t know, I hope people like it. I hope people that liked Ginger like it, even though it is pretty different, and I hope that new people like it too.
[STELLA:] I have already gotten everything out of it because these songs have just been around for so long. I have already sat with them and been like “Wow, I’m proud.” I hope that it brings new people in and gives us new opportunities for touring, new fans, you know all the generic stuff. I think it will, I think it will.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You mentioned touring and I know you guys are playing your Record Release show with Computerwife on March 24th with a couple more shows lined up shortly after. How are you all feeling and what is your favorite part of performing on stage?
[HELENA:] With the album out, we can perform the songs that people have listened to and maybe even know so well that they’ll be able to sing along. We never really played songs from Ginger, it was all stuff on this album and some other new ones. So now it’s cool that our sets won’t be completely random or unheard of. That’s what I look forward to.
[STELLA:] I think that we are a live band before anything. I think it’s always been that way. I just have so much fun playing shows. I feel so—this is gonna sound cheesy and stupid– but I feel safe on stage with Helena and Mikaela. I feel really powerful and I know they are on the same page with me all the time.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is performing live scary? Is it exhilarating? What kind of feelings do you get when you are performing?
[HELENA:] It depends on the show for me. For some reason before some shows, I don’t feel nervous whatsoever I’m just excited. But for others, I am quite nervous.
[MIKAELA:] Me too! When I’m playing I feel like I don’t think about my nerves. I go into this trance mode and then it’s over and I’m like, “Yeah, that was fun.”
[UNPUBLISHED:] I first found your band after the release of your album, Ginger in 2020 and have watched you grow since then. From being named Rising Artists To Watch of 2023 by TIDAL to Rolling Stones saying Hello Mary is the trio behind one of 2023 sharpest, noisest debuts, this band has begun to make its mark on the music industry. What aspirations do you have for Hello Mary in the future?
[HELENA:] We wanna tour a lot, we ideally want to get an opening slot for a big awesome long tour. Also, hit Europe. Touring is one of my main goals for us.
[STELLA:] Yeah touring and more songwriting, as well. I feel like I have been locked up in my room a lot this past winter, so I have been writing a lot more. I think the same has been true for the rest of Hello Mary. I’m just so excited about what we’re doing. We love each other, we're besties, we’re going to tour the world, we’re going to keep writing awesome songs and we’re going to mature our sound by slightly changing it until we find our style, and we’re going to get better at playing instruments. I don’t know, I have just been feeling positive over the last couple of weeks.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there anything else you would like to add? Any last remarks you want to tell our readers and music listeners out there?
[STELLA:] Whenever there is this open part at the end of interviews I’m like “What do I want people to know?” But I think at the core it’s just that we love making music and we are just so honored and excited to think some people connect with us. We are just doing it for fun because we love hanging out and playing music together. So anyone who becomes part of the Hello Mary support team is loved and appreciated and hopefully, there will be a lot more of that with the new album.
