Mary In The Junkyard: London trio wins over Marina Abramović with DIY art-rock

South London indie trio Mary In The Junkyard—vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist Saya Barbaglia, and drummer David Addison—have charmed performance artist Marina Abramović and her partner, film producer Todd Eckert. After attending a gig, Eckert offered the band a place to stay and studio space in the New York home he shares with Abramović. The trio later played a private show for the couple and their peers. Abramović jokingly suggested Freeman-Taylor use a Britney mic and quipped about cutting the band in half during a divorce. The band’s debut album, Role Model Hermit, is due in July. Known for handmade props—funeral for a furry yeti at Corsica Studios, a giant moth at London’s ICA—they create tactile, fantastical worlds. Freeman-Taylor cites Paul Klee’s hand puppets and Leonora Carrington’s paintings as influences. The album cover, a collaboration with creative director Daisy Ayscough, features Freeman-Taylor in prosthetics as a mouse character. The band lives near each other in south London, using a communal rooftop as a creative hub for building creatures and testing hobbies like pole dancing and martial arts.