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By Nick Christian I meet the band for a late lunch in Hove’s Sanctuary Café (a self-consciously up-market eatery) shortly before their recent gig at Concorde2. Although the Metric four are not averse to being interviewed, because they form such a complete unit they make for a daunting presence. The reason the disparate elements of their music seem to tessellate so seamlessly is because the four members of the band do likewise. I’m not only an outsider but also a journalist, seeking to separate the seams to take a look inside, to make judgements and form opinions. So although the band are friendly they’re hard work, but having to battle through a layer or two of good-natured resistance – interspersed with frequent interruptions of ‘We love Brighton’ - gives more value to their answers when they give them. I wonder, having reached the end of what must have felt like an endless series of shows and promotions how do they maintain the energy and enthusiasm, and get up on stage every night to perform at their peak? ‘Sometimes you keep going because you have to. And sometimes you keep going because you want to’ says Shaw Haynes continues: ‘We always seem to find the energy. Even when I’m tired, when it comes to playing the show, ten minutes before I go on I find the exhaustion dissipates. People that have made the effort to come to our shows deserve the respect that could only come from us giving everything.’ Thirty months of touring must put a strain on the relationships but the band is unequivocal in their commitment to each other and ‘to the project’, as Haines refers to the band. ‘We’re all very different but we all have a very open-minded approach to writing and collaborating; we don’t draw boundaries around our different roles and it works really well like that.’ Josh Winstead says, ‘The band has been consistently changing from day one but we’re not afraid to let that happen and it wouldn’t work if we were.’ Just as the members of Metric support and bounce off each other, there’s a network of support available in the bands around them that accounts for the wealth of musical talent and inspirational songwriting that has been pouring out of Canada of late. ‘We all have each other’s backs and we all really like each other’s music so there’s this sense of bringing our friends along and that’s contributed to what has been viewed as a ‘movement’’ says Haines. ‘And people in Canada responded to that really well’ adds Shaw, ‘buying tickets and going to shows; when people really care and believe what you’re doing is worthwhile, it spurs you on to achieve all that you can.’ When
the band talk about the gradual trajectory their career has taken thus
far I suggest that the current conditions of the musical environment in
Britain especially may be just right to allow them to have a real impact.
Shaw’s response is? ‘It’s not that we’ve latched
onto a trend, more that the trend has started paying attention to us’ It’s
always far more difficult to talk to a band when they’re all together
than separately; they all seem to either take a back seat or talk over
each other. Metric don’t present such a problem but, as a group,
from an outsider’s perspective, the bonds are just a little too
close to get as far beneath the surface as one might like. However, the
very attributes that make Metric such an awkward interview subject when
all together is precisely the same that makes them such a joy to experience
on stage. |
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WHEN
OIB MET METRIC