Following the breakup of the Canadian indie rock band Blue Pine in 2001, members Mercer and Michael Rak reunited to form a new group.

Recruiting Mercer's roommate Spencer Krug and wife Melanie Campbell, the four began writing music under the moniker Frog Eyes.

Mercer also began writing music on the side for his solo project Blackout Beach, and in 2004, released the album Light Flows the Putrid Dawn through Soft Abuse Records.

In 2006, Mercer teamed up with comrades Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade) and Dan Bejar (of Destroyer and The New Pornographers) to form the supergroup Swan Lake.

He also announced the band's first LP, titled 5 Dreams, and released a single: "Rope off the Tigers.