>> A lot of humility, or you know, us just being level-headed, even though we are artists and you know, we are in a genre where you can be free and as wild as you'd like.

We're still grateful and level-headed people because of our families.

So we bring that into the band, you know?

We still pray before shows and studio sessions, things like that.

So definitely shout out to our family, shout out to mom and dad.

Thank you, Mom.

Thank you, Dad.

I love you all.

[ Intense music plays ] >> Welcome to "DMV: The Beat."

Powerful, proud and unapologetically raw Black rock.

This is the story of Uncle Mary.

[ Guitar plays ] >> [ Screaming ] [ Rock music plays ] [ Screaming ] ♪♪ >> ♪ You tell me, I don't belong ♪ ♪ If you don't know you're never gone ♪ >> I was originally born in Texas, raised in Georgia, so Southern girl, born and bred, and I moved to the DMV area in 2016.

Got my start in music in Texas, and my mom, as she likes to tell it, she thought that I had colic when I was a baby, because I would scream at the top of my lungs, and then she found out that, "Oh, no, she's actually just a singer."

And then that started to develop into just more music outlets.

I started playing piano at the age of 9, and eventually in 2011, my junior year of high school, I picked up the guitar, started playing.

So I've just been musically inclined my entire life.

Interested in, you know, just the different vibrations and melodies.

>> I'm Congolese and European.

Migrated to DC from Africa, I think, in like '95.

Yeah, and I guess how I found metal -- or not even metal, like vocals, it was pretty much just random.

I've always been into rock music and you know, especially Go-Go's was a major influence for me even wanting to do any type of live band anything.

>> I'm from Maryland.

I grew up and I bounced around all sides of Maryland from Mitchellville to about Greenbelt, from the north side to the south side, so... >> Yeah, me, pretty much same thing, PG in Maryland.

Definitely bounced around all around DMV, though.

A lot of my family's deep South Virginia.

Towards the later years, I moved to DC, New York Avenue.

So technically, I lived from Maryland, Virginia, and DC all at once.

>> For a long time, I didn't think that I had started until later in the years, but I found some old recordings and things, like family videos, and apparently, I was in it from the time I got out of the womb.

So it's been a nice journey for my whole life.

>> Yeah, see, I don't know if I loved it.

My mom was always a singer.

She was in the church, singing all the time, so I had no choice but to be around music, but I don't think I turned to love it until this popular video game at the time, "Guitar Hero."

I played the jacks out of it until somebody told me, "You know, you should just pick up a real guitar."

And I was like, "Okay."

>> See, that's how it went.

>> Yeah, a hobby turned into a lifestyle.

>> Well, I'm a true Washingtonian.

I grew up on 9th Street Northwest.

I went to Shaw Middle School.

I went to Garrison Elementary School.

I went to Langdon, then I went to Coolidge.

I went to Duke Ellington.

So DC basically gave me all of my education, my friends, the rec centers.

Yeah, I remember being young and we would walk across the city and get to know everybody and have a good time.

But yeah, I love DC.

>> So when I met Lesa in high school, we were in the guidance counselor office, trying to figure out our new schedules.

And she had the coolest outfit on.

It was like this blue plaid, pleated, really "Clueless" ensemble.

And it's funny, because it was mixed with a little bit of like, rock edge to it and I was like, "Oh, my God.

Who is this girl?

Like, she looks so cute, so cool."

And then we ended up having algebra together, and she was very, very nice to me.

I was really reserved and I was like, "Who is this girl?

She's so extra.

I don't want to talk."

And Lesa was super persistent and that's how-- and we realized we lived about two blocks away from each other, and then we became like, so close, and she's the love of my life since then.

>> Uncle Mary is homage to my late Uncle Gregory Fletcher, who passed away from AIDS, and he was the rockstar of my family.

He played the bass guitar.

He played everything, actually.

He was also in a band, and I didn't get a lot of time with him, but I did see him a few times.

And just hearing how everybody spoke about him and like, his aura.

And he was handsome, a beautiful Black man.

You know, I just, I don't know, I wanted to dedicate the Uncle part to him.

And Mary is paying homage to my grandmother, who, like I said, is the head of my family, and we all get our musical talents from her.

So I just put "Uncle" and "Mary" together, and that's how we got "Uncle Mary."

[ Intro to "Have Your Love" plays ] >> ♪ The stars don't shine when you want them to ♪ ♪ That's not the way it work ♪ ♪ And I know that time don't stop for nobody ♪ ♪ Only heals the hurt ♪ ♪ I'm tryna figure out where did we go wrong?

♪ ♪ What did I to do you?

♪ ♪ So many games, so many emotions ♪ ♪ That you put me through ♪ ♪ I bet you will see the day, one day you ♪ ♪ I know you'll feel it burning ♪ ♪ Can't blame you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I keep trying ♪ ♪ I keep trying ♪ ♪ I keep trying ♪ >> ♪ Enough is enough ♪ >> ♪ Then why I can't have it all?

♪ >> ♪ Whoa ♪ >> ♪ I can't have it all ♪ >> ♪ Whoa ♪ >> ♪ I can't have it all ♪ >> ♪ We've been through enough ♪ >> ♪ So why I can't have your love?

♪ >> ♪ Whoa ♪ >> ♪ Still can't have your love ♪ >> ♪ Whoa ♪ >> ♪ Still can't have your love ♪ ♪ How far down do I have to fall ♪ ♪ And how far down do I have to go?

♪ ♪ For your love, for your love ♪ ♪ For your love, for your love ♪ ♪ For your love, for your love, oh, oh ♪ ♪ It's nights like this when I want ya ♪ ♪ It's not fair, you're never there ♪ ♪ Shouldn't never ever have to ask you to go far ♪ ♪ I should've never let you into my heart ♪ ♪ Up and down like a coaster, coasting on my love ♪ ♪ Now I'm down ♪ ♪ You're having heart burnt straight out the toaster ♪ ♪ Now you're testing how far you can throw my love ♪ ♪ I bet you will see the day, one day ♪ >> I've always wanted a rock band, but for a few reasons, I never actually started a rock band.

I was in a place in my life when things were like, really, really low, and as a writer -- because I do write all sorts of music -- I was writing songs to myself at the table, and when it came to putting the music behind it, rock music was the feel that was needed to support what I was writing.

My best friend Gabrielle, Gabrielle Hights, she's also in the band, she came over to the house.

I told her and showed her what I had and she was like, "That's dope."

And I was like, you know, "Let's start a rock band."

She was in it, boom.

So it started at the table.

From there, I met -- oh, I was asked to do an all-women's empowerment, it was like, a seminar, something like that, and I was asked to sing.

And I told the person that asked me to do it, I said, "Well, I'm going to come out as a rock artist.

Is that okay?"

She said, "It's okay."

So I needed somebody to get in the band with me, so I had Chuck come.

>> That's when we started talking, we started doing things, you know?

She had told me about other shows she was trying to put on, but we started off as friends.

We did-- He was there too.

We just did, like, a one-off show with her, trying to do something, opening for another friend of ours' business.

And then we just kept talking, me and her, and we started dating.

And that was one of the things she was talking about in that same phase was, she always thought about a rock band, but she kind of said it as, like, passing by.

And I gave her the advice of, you know, why does it have to be just an idea?

Maybe I could help you out if you really want to do this, if you want to take it seriously.

I know some people in the area.

Because at the time, I was a musician that knew quite a few people.

I was like, "Yeah, we could do this.

No problem."

And so and behold, now we're here.

[Laughs] We got a whole unit.

It's really sort of-- I did not, to be honest, I did not think it was going to get this.

I thought it was just kind of like, something fun to do, but the internet has demanded that we do something a little-- we do something with this.

"Get Out" was a way of working it.

This is beautiful and awesome, but also toxic in a way.

"Get Out," when I wrote that song, we were fighting.

I was mad at her that day, and I wrote the entire song that night, mad at her.

And I just wrote the song, but I had no lyrics.

I was just playing how I felt.

And I labeled the song "Get Out."

The was the name of the actual track, no lyrics, "Get Out."

She took it.

In her lyrics, it's pretty much her saying her piece, but not so much just tailored towards me.

She won't say it full out, but it was me, but also a lot of other people as well.

She was just like, "You can't control me, you can't say nothing to me."

All the lyrics are from her.

[ Intro to "Get Out" plays ] >> [ Screaming ] [ Screaming ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> ♪ Don't tell me I don't belong ♪ ♪ What you don't know, you'll never know ♪ ♪ Is it your destiny to kill my heart ♪ ♪ Kill all my fantasies from the start ♪ ♪ Leave me inside, leave me inside ♪ ♪ I love mazes I have in my mind ♪ ♪ If I stop dreaming, will I survive?

♪ ♪ If I stop living for me, I will die ♪ ♪ It's not for you to understand ♪ ♪ Darkness in me is my best friend ♪ ♪ Your contagious pessimist vibes ♪ ♪ Out on the prowl for my brilliant mind ♪ >> [Screaming] ♪ Destroy the puppet master ♪ ♪ He only brings disaster ♪ ♪ Destroy the puppet master, he only brings disaster ♪ >> ♪ Leave me inside ♪ >> I found Uncle Mary through this page on Instagram called Punk Black.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> That's how I found them.

And I was just looking at the band and I was, "Aw, man.

everyone's shredding.

This is really nice."

Then I think somebody either in the comments or it was like, on the captions said, you know, that it was a DC, DMV band.

I was like, "Huh, oh, yeah.

I'm in the city."

I haven't had like -- at this point, I was like, I'm going to just shoot for it and be like, "I'm a metal vocalist.

You guy want somebody to scream on some tracks?

Or would you be interested in it?"

I wasn't doing any music or anything at that time and I was, kind of, I guess, a little bit depressed because of not doing music.

And I was like, there's a whole band right here.

I could just be like, oh, these people are ready to go, and you know what I'm saying?

Like, squeeze the way in.

>> Hmm.

>> You know?

>> Great, wow.

I didn't know you found us on... >> You know, literally, that's how I found y'all, for real.

It was on Punk Black.

>> That's crazy.

>> Then I reached out to Lesa, on there, on the page, and then from there, it was just like, "Oh, yeah, I do metal, you know what I'm saying?

Blah, blah, blah.

Here's a clip of like me screaming and blah, blah, blah."

So, shout out to Punk Black.

>> [Laughs] Shout out.

>> For having that like, gateway to Uncle Mary.

>> We did an audition for Tiny Desk, and of course, Tiny Desk is more of like, an acoustic feel, so you know, I'm always outside of the box.

I was like, "Hey, guys.

Let's audition for Tiny Desk and let's do one of our metal songs."

And we tried our best to like, make it acoustic as possible, but we still had Andres, like, screaming in the corner and I'm like, you know, I was trying to sit still, but by the end of the song I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

But you know, I was like, "Hey, if we don't get it, we don't get it.

But I promise you, we're going to make our presence known with this video and let people know we're here."

And it worked.

♪ Imaginary inside, who I am to me ♪ ♪ Take me ♪ >> [Screaming] >> ♪ You can't take me ♪ >> Oh, my gosh, whew.

When our video went viral, I was completely out of the loop.

I just remember it being posted.

I don't even remember the name of the page, if I'm being honest.

But I just remember Lesa calling me, "Gab, oh, my gosh.

Our video, we've got like, 110,00 views."

I'm like, "Girl, what are you talking about?"

Like I'm not -- I'm over here thinking she's talking about on the Uncle Mary page itself, but no, it was actually another music page kind of similar to Punk Black.

Do you remember the name of the page?

>> No.

>> No, okay.

I don't remember the name of the page, but yeah, they posted us and I was just like, "Oh, my God.

This is insane."

It's one thing to know that what you have is very unique and is going to captivate audiences all across the board, but it's another thing to actually watch it come to fruition.

And it was just like, oh, my gosh, this is what we've been working so hard for.

This is what we've been trying to get everyone to see.

And it's like, "Wow, this is really happening."

You know, like, it's one thing to talk about going viral, but then when it actually happens it's like, "Oh, my God!"

[Laughs] Like, this is -- this is real.

Is this what it's like to go viral?

Okay.

>> Personally, what Uncle Mary does for me is take me to church.

It's like, the spirit comes down, the worship is on, and also, as somebody who is classically trained in music and has done directing and producing, when I listen to them, there's nothing that makes me think they should have done it differently or, "It would have been better this way."

I know, with Uncle Mary, the performance and the music are going to be consistent and they're going to be great and I'm going to love every moment of it.

They give me the experience as a listener and a fan and an audience member that is really hard for somebody as technical as me to find, and that just-- It's such a freeing feeling, to just be completely in the experience of hearing and sharing the music.

>> Growing up in church, as a musician, is kind of important to understanding the spirit that's involved in music.

Music is a very spiritual experience.

And even rock music, the roots of rock music, the roots of blues music, all of that kind of came from soul.

It came from the experience that one had growing up and how that experience and the energy from that life was transferred into a musical context.

And so, when church is involved and God and the spiritual aspect of it, it sort of allows you to bring forth a different type of musical energy.

And as far as we're concerned, all of us having grown up in church or at least have experienced church a certain way, to be able to bring some of the church feel, some of the church energy, some of, you know, the gospel, it does kind of help us to create something a bit more unique and you know, to be able to do that is something I'm proud of.

I'm proud of all of us for being able to share that experience in the way that we play.

>> Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I honestly just ditto that one.

>> [Laughs] >> That's a real moment.

That's exactly it.

>> Uncle Mary does mean a whole lot to me.

You know, they came at a time like, I was like depressed and not doing any music or feeling any motivation towards like, being creative.

>> Mmm-hmm.

>> And stuck in an infinite writer's block or infinite spirit block of sound, for real.

So I'm just truly grateful to be here and I'm appreciative to be around people who like to shred and create all sorts of different sounds and who are also artists.

So for me, that's a lot of heavy blessing and vibrations.

>> Yeah, I think Uncle Mary did that for all of us, to be quite honest with you.

it gave us that belief in music all over again.

Because I think, all of us -- Oh, my God, during the pandemic, we all struggled a lot, a lot, and it was very, very hard to be a creative in the pandemic.

It was a tough time, you know?

So I think us coming together and having each other as that support, to depend on each other and just vibe out, it was important.

So yeah, Uncle Mary is everything.

[ Intro to "Impossible" plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ >> One, two, three, go.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Up is down, my world's not round when I'm with you ♪ ♪ Over is under, I control thunder, there's no rules ♪ ♪ With your love by my side, I'll never have to hide ♪ ♪ I want the walls, no doors, there's no place I can go ♪ ♪ I'll never be alone, richer than heaven's gold ♪ ♪ I just want more and more of the impossible ♪ ♪ I want a love so real, it seems impossible ♪ ♪ An inexplainable beyond the logical ♪ ♪ I want a love so real, it seems impossible ♪ ♪ Life is fast, but I'll run faster, straight to you ♪ ♪ Climb over mountains, soar over oceans, fly to the moon ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ If ever I'm afraid, I'll close my eyes and say ♪ ♪ Don't worry about it, you're stronger than you were before ♪ ♪ I'll never be alone, richer than heaven's gold ♪ ♪ I just want more and more of the impossible ♪ ♪ I want a love so real, it seems impossible ♪ ♪ An inexplainable love beyond the logical ♪ ♪ I want a love so real, it seems impossible ♪ ♪ I want a love so real, it seems impossible ♪ ♪ I can face so much, it makes me unstoppable ♪ The Anthem, the 9:30 Club, of course.

There's spots in Baltimore we want to hit, but the Anthem, I think, is the one.

Once we get there, we're looking at VH1.

We're looking at every award show.

We got our first award here in DC called The Wammie, and that just showed us, like, hey, off this one song, we're going to be on those bigger stage.

But the Anthem is like, the hit stage here.

I will go down tonight and pray at the Anthem like, [claps hands] "God, let us walk through these doors.

So I know it's coming."

>> The Wammies.

That was for "Have Your Love," right?

>> That was for "Have Your Love."

>> For "Have Your Love."

That was Best Rock Song?

>> Yeah.

>> Best Rock Song in the DMV.

I had never won an award like that before, especially in front of so many people.

Being acknowledged, you know, just by the area after working so hard, it's a great feeling.

It's a really great feeling, and ooh, we worked hard.

The rehearsal schedule, the studio.

We went to Philly for that, right?

>> To record the song?

Yeah.

>> To record the song.

We drove to Philly to record the song.

So a lot of hard work that went into that, just to be able to say, "Yo, we did it."

Like, it was great.

>> What I think is next for Uncle Mary is really Best New Artist, VMAs, BET Awards.

Their album coming up, I see them as such an influential band, and it's just a manifesting it.

I just see them winning Best New Artist at the VMAs for MTV.

>> I would say to anyone who is struggling in any kind of way, just keep at it.

Like, work hard.

I have this thing where I do where I make everything a light, and so if I can see the light, I could be the light, I could get to that light, I believe in that light.

So as painful as it can get sometimes, as frustrating, as discouraging or depressing, if you can see an inkling of a light, you win.

And all you have to do is literally push or do what it takes to get to that light.

And always stay a good person, like, be a good person.

Like, if you're in a situation where you're struggling or it's hard, don't come out of character, stay calm.

Like, really trust the process, believe in it, and put the work in behind it and whatever it is that's disrupting you or making you feel some kind of way, it'll change.

It'll change, so just be strong.

Just be strong.

I love you.

It's going to be okay.

♪ Me ♪ ♪ You can't take me ♪ ♪ You can't take me ♪ ♪ You can't take me ♪ ♪ You can't take me ♪ ♪ From all my dreams and who I am to me ♪ >> [ Screaming in unison ] ♪ Destroy the puppet master ♪ ♪ He only brings disaster ♪ >> ♪ I love the mazes I have in my mind ♪ ♪ If I stop dreaming, will I survive?

♪ >> And the beat goes on.

Thank you for watching.

>> ♪ I will die ♪ [ Vocalizing ] ♪♪ >> This program was produced by WHUT and made possible by contributions from viewers like you.

For more information on this program or any other program, please visit our website at whut.org.

Thank you.