http://www.muchmusic.com/insidemuch/stuff/metric_prepare_to_live_it_out.asp
http://ilovemetric.com/
Metric's Emily Haines claims that she'll never tour in a van in the middle of winter again. Ever. But that's a lesson you learn when you're a band with infinite talent, but not enough people are quite yet aware of it. You tour with calculated abandon and eventually, the audience starts listening. And for Metric, slowly but surely that audience is multiplying. "I think it would be cool if this band [grew to be] huge. I think it'd be great." Emily pauses, "I'd probably freak out. That's always been the thing with Metric, we have this aspiration to kind of like bust in there, like the 'Wedding Crashers'," she laughs.
Emily's cell phone neighs like a horse. "That's the coolest ringtone ever," James Shaw, Metric's guitarist and co-founder states with certainty. Also cool: the fact that Metric is currently putting the final touches on their upcoming album, Live It Out, which will be released on September 27th. Following our conversation, they're off to meet with Micah Meisner, who'll be directing the video for their first single, "Monster Hospital". Micah is also known as K-OS' number one director, and you may remember that Emily popped up in his video for "Man I Used To Be".
So about that new album. This time 'round, all four members of the band - Emily, James, Joules and Josh - have been able to add a bit of their individual stylings, according to James. He reveals that the material is more extreme; "The edgier moments are more edgy and the quieter, chiller moments are more than they used to be." As for Emily's lyrics, she concludes that "anyone who's been to a Metric show in the last year will be getting exactly the record they're expecting."
For the first time, Metric did everything on their own. No engineers, no fancy studios - James produced the album, and he also built the Toronto studio they recorded in. It just so happened that the streetcar tracks outside their recording space were like, the busiest in the city. In the dead of winter, they found themselves insulating the window with blankets, trying to improve the sound of the room. Even so, the streetcar noise was relentless. Anxious about the space's acoustics, Metric continued to plug away in their homemade studio. Somehow, in the end, it turned out. James still seems in awe of their accomplishment. "Even the guy who's mixing the record with me right now says, 'I can't believe the drums were recorded in that room, that doesn't make any sense. It's not supposed to work like that.'"
In November 2004, Emily and James moved back to Toronto from LA. For the album's sake, the move offered Emily seasonal inspiration. "Going through all the seasons definitely influenced [the album] for me. Like, some of the songs were written last summer and then you know, recording them in the dead of winter, and then hearing them now in the sweltering heat...it's kind of one of the reasons that I wanted to come back here, it gives your life depth when you are forced to go through those differences." It doesn't mean that she'll be singing about daffodils and lakes; a preview of some new tracks assures us that Emily's still the lyricist that we're accustomed to. "Buy this car to drive to work; drive to work to pay for this car", she sings on "Hand Shake High". "If there is any theme in the record, at least for me, I feel like it's demons, inner and external. And I think we all wrestled them to the ground, stabbed them in the heart with steely knives."
When Metric performed in Toronto earlier this year, they played four consecutive sold out shows. This is the kind of response that Metric thrives on, a rabid interest in the Canadian music scene which is helping them, and others, push new boundaries. Of course this includes Emily and James' involvement with indie ubergroup Broken Social Scene. Even though the local music community transcends genres, everybody seems to get along famously. "That's what I think makes it work, is that we aren't all doing the same thing. You know, it's kind of like you can have a band for every single mood. It's hard to imagine that it could be any better."
After two years of relentless touring for their previous album "Old World Underground, Where Are You?", Metric has come to a conclusion or two. "Touring is like camp," claims James. "You know when you used to go to camp, and you're like, 'I just wanna go home!' and then you get there, and you end up working a day job to like, go back to camp? That's what it's like." And just like camp, when you start singing the same songs over and over again, you adapt them to keep your sanity. "We had to change [the songs] to keep ourselves entertained. You're gonna find a whole bunch of other things to do, and the songs will evolve. If we didn't have to tour for two years after making the record, I would do it the opposite way. I would play the songs for two years and then record them because the record would inevitably be better. But you can't really do that." Still, they're in love with their new album; Emily calls it a "full-blown painting". After all the work they put into it they can't wait to take it on the road and for their fans to hear it. In September, they'll embark on a two month tour. "We're doing like every city you can name in North America," James says.
http://ilovemetric.com/
08/05
Ok hi were not sleeping weve finished the new record...its epic! The album is called Live it Out and its being released by Last Gang in Canada on September 27 and in the USA on October 4. You can hear a bit of our first single Monster Hospital and read an exclusive interview with jimmy & emily at MTV.com. Or you can just go for a walk or read a book or call your mom and tell her you love her and wait until the record comes out to hear it the way you want to. Heres what we wrote for our official press release:
Our new record Live it Out is an expression of each of us as individual musicians. Its a record of questions and struggles as opposed to the answers and observations of Old World Underground... We recorded it ourselves in Canada without having to explain or justify our decisions to anyone. A lot of people have supported us throughout our various misadventures, coming to see us play in all sorts of strange venues and searching to find stores that actually carry our stuff. Without them we would have been unable to continue making music at all. We wanted to make an album for those people, and we did. The result is 10 spontaneous and heartfelt songs that fucking rock.
Alright then. All our Fall Tour dates have now been confirmed, check out the Live page soon for a concert in your town. Were bringing The Lovely Feathers from Montreal on the entire tour! Other openers include The Organ, Jason Collett, Death of a Party and Arts&Crafts most recent signing The Most Serene Republic.
see you soon xooxxo
One of the best bands making music right now. Can't wait to hear this album.NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
DATE CITY VENUE
Sep 22 Guelph ON University of Guelph / Peter Clarke Hall
Sep 23 Hamilton ON McMaster University / Quarters
Sep 26 Kingston ON Stages
Sep 29 Toronto ON The Phoenix Concert Theatre
Sep 30 Ottawa ON Capitol Music Theatre
Oct 1 Montreal PQ Club Soda
Oct 2 Boston MA Paradise Rock Club
Oct 3 Providence RI Century Lounge
Oct 5 New York NY Bowery Ballroom
Oct 6 Brooklyn NY Southpaw
Oct 7 Philadelphia PA First Unitarian Church
Oct 8 Washington DC 9:30 Club
Oct 10 Carrboro NC Cats Cradle
Oct 11 Atlanta GA The Loft
Oct 12 Birmingham AL Zydeco
Oct 13 Nashville TN Exit/In
Oct 14 Cincinnati OH Top Cats
Oct 15 Cleveland Heights OH Grog Shop
Oct 17 Detroit MI Magic Stick
Oct 18 Chicago IL Empty Bottle
Oct 19 St. Louis MO Creepy Crawl
Oct 20 Lawrence KS The Bottleneck
Oct 21 Omaha NE Sokol Underground
Oct 22 Minneapolis MN Ascot Room @ The Quest
Oct 23 Winnipeg MB Ramada Conference Centre
Oct 24 Saskatoon SK Louis Pub / Univ of Saskatchewan
Oct 25 Regina SK Riddell Centre / Univ. of Regina
Oct 26 Calgary AB MacEwan Hall / Univ of Calgary
Oct 27 Edmonton AB The Starlite Room
Oct 30 Vancouver BC The Commodore
Nov 1 Seattle WA Crocodile Cafe
Nov 2 Portland OR Doug Fir Lounge
Nov 3 San Francisco CA Slims
Nov 4 Los Angeles CA El Rey Theatre
Nov 5 San Diego CA The Casbah
Nov 7 Tempe AZ Big Fish Pub
Nov 8 Tucson AZ Plush
Nov 10 Austin TX The Parish
Nov 11 Dallas TX Gypsy Tea Room
Nov 12 Houston TX Meridian
Nov 13 New Orleans LA One Eyed Jacks
Nov 15 Tampa FL The Orpheum
Nov 16 Fort Lauderdale FL Culture Room
