Rufio's Scott Sellers Returns with Fully Re-recorded Version of Mercy Street's Let Me Live Now Titled Scott Sellers' Mercy Street (The Witzard Interview)
Scott Sellers is likely best-known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Rancho Cucamonga, California Pop-punk Rufio. Sellers has been active with Rufio in various incarnations with a cast of both primary and rotating members from 2000-07 when they broke up, but briefly reunited in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2015. Rufio has been largely inactive since 2010 when they releasded their final album, Anybody Out There, which was followed by one last world tour. Sellers has been sporadically active over the years since Rufio's initial demise with a number of musical projects, including BigCity with former Rufio guitarist Clark Domae & Aaron Fernandez and Mercy Street with one-time Rufio bassist Taylor Albaugh. BigCity was initailly active in the early 2000's, but didn't share any official musical releases until The Quest for Power EP in 2021. Mercy Street shared a self-titled EP in 2012 and a digital-only full-length called Let Me Live in 2014. However, both Mercy Street releases were recent pulled from Bandcamp and streaming services.
Scott Sellers—who makes and rapidly releases A LOT of solo music—shared on Facebook about a week ago, "On the Mercy Street full-length, the vocals have like a 200 [millisecond] lag and it's unlistenable for me... sooo... I decided to re-record it. The whole thing. Mixing starts tomorrow ❤️." Sellers shared another update just a few day later, "Remember this?? Gonna pop this up on Bandcamp in a couple days. Spent every second of the last week or so re-recording the entire Let Me Live full-length 😊." So, now, today, we have a fully re-recorded of Mercy Street's 2014 Let Me Live full-length now fittingly dubbed Scott Sellers - Mercy Street! Just a couple days ago, on a whim, I sent a Facebook message to Scott asking if he would like to talk about Mercy Street's Let Me Live/Scott Sellers' Mercy Street and to my complete surprise, he obliged. So, pop on Scott Sellers' Mercy Street on Bandcamp and delve into out comprehensive interview below. It has been lightly edited for general clatity. Scott Sellers' Mercy Street is now available exclusively on Bandcamp and should be coming to streaming services within the enxt couple weeks, too.
I. What do you recall from the original recording sessions for Mercy Streets' Mercy Street EP (2012) and Let Me Live (2014)?
Scott Sellers: It was a weird transition period for me. I was getting more into politics than before, I was phasing out alcohol, and I REALLY started wanting to just write music for fun again, without caring about what I "should be writing," without overthinking things, and not even thinking about the business side of music. I just wanted to write music because I [enjoyed] it. That's something I'm still doing.
II. Aside from or in addition to yourself, who else contributed to the original set of aforementioned Mercy Street recordings?
Sellers: I had the entire Mercy Street album recorded and finished. Taylor [Albaugh] (bass player for Rufio) hit me up to play bass on it, so I was like, "Rad. Do it." Aside from bass, I did everything else.
III. What did it feel like having Mercy Street your first proper musical outlet since the 2011-12 demise of Rufio?
Sellers: It felt great to write without any actual cares and still does! Another thing that's nice about doing everything myself is that there's no arguing about which part is "good" or "bad." Every part recorded is my choice and, usually, my final choice is the first idea I put down. Then, just move on to the next part.
IV. What prompted you to decide to recently re-record the entirety of Mercy Street's Let Me Live full-length?
Sellers: There's about a 200 [millisecond] delay on the vocals (due to some random plug-in I used on the vocal chain) that made it unlistenable to me. So, I decided to record it again. I like the songs, so I felt like it was a good idea. Oh! Also, it just plain sounds like sh*t to my ears.
V. How would say the re-vamped 2023 version of Let Me Live sonically differs from the original 2014 version?
Sellers: I have learned a LOT when it comes to recording and mixing over the last 10 years (10 years—holy sh*t!) so, the production side is (should be) a lot better. Also, a lot of the parts were easier to play now, since I've been writing and recording so much these last few years. Also, two of the original guitar solos were edited TO ABSOLUTE DEATH on that first recording. So, I changed those to be, actually, playable for me without feeling like I "cheated."
VI. What's your personal favorite track(s) from the Mercy Street discography and why?
Sellers: I don't really have favorites [of] my own music. I have LEAST favorites ("Fall In Line," "Say Nothing,") but mostly because they turned out different than how I imagined them in my head. Also, because of some [cheesy] lyrics that are now overused in politics in the complete opposite meaning (people that base decisions on conspiracies, anti-science, and assumptions.) I used to hate "We See The Ending" because of how empty it was, but love it now, since I added some meat to it on the new version.
VII. How does Taylor Albaugh feel about you going back and re-recording Mercy Street's Let Me Live on your own?
Sellers: He doesn't care at all. He sang on the bridge of "Caught By The Wind" again.
VIII. When you and Taylor were creating the original recordings for Mercy Street's Let Me Live, what were some of your primary sources of inspiration and influence?
Sellers: Mostly mid to late 90's Fat Wreck [Chords] stuff. It will never sound like that because of my puny voice, but I try.
IX. What's the story and/or concepts behind the cover images from the Mercy Street EP and Let Me Live?
Sellers: Let Me Live was a chick judging us doing beer bongs ("LET ME LIVE!") Pretty dumb, but fitting for the time. The EP cover art just looked cool to me, so I'm using it again because who cares. No real stories or meaning. Just stuff I liked.
X. So, is Mercy Street's Let Me Live (and the Mercy Street EP) mysteriously missing from streaming because of the quality? And do you have immediate plans to re-release your new re-recorded version across streaming platforms?
Sellers: Yeah! Anytime I listened to the Mercy [Street] stuff, I would turn it off because I hated how it sounded, so I pulled it from streaming and Bandcamp. The new one is releasing on Bandcamp April 28th and will be streaming in a couple months. I haven't planned a streaming date yet. Thanks, dude!
XI. Where will your recent string of non-album singles ("Remains," "Endless," "Now or Never") ultimately end up?
Sellers: No idea! I don't really have a game plan for my music anymore. "I recorded this song. I think I'll post it," is the extent of my "plans." I got tired of caring.
XII. Do you have any immediate plans to reunite, record, and/or release new music with Rufio, Mercy Street with Taylor Albaugh, or BigCity with Clark Domae?
Sellers: We tried a Rufio reunion last year. We were going to record a Rufio full-length (Taylor [Albaugh], Clark [Domae], Mike [Jimenez], and me,) but it didn't work out. It took months and months to get one single song finished, so we ended that project.
XIII. What's planned next for Scott Sellers?
Sellers: Right now, I'm getting together a mixing/production company called Broken Animals. I'm a bit scared of trying something new, but I would be bummed, if I got an actual job without TRYING something I enjoy doing. I want to take peoples' acoustic demos or voice notes and turn them into full-band, full-production songs. Also, I'll most likely be writing my own songs until I die. Thanks, dude!