Alex Edkins (middle) and Metz (photo: Robby Reis)
Interview by Jason Schreurs
Once in awhile I get a rise out of interviewing bands I don’t really know too much about, and if I’m lucky it can be that springboard needed to finally hunker down with a name that’s tossed around a lot and get to know their music properly. Such is the case with Toronto noise-rock trio Metz, who I’d heard here and there, and seen some pretty legendary live footage of, but never actually spent much time with their music. I recently had the chance to speak to Metz guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins, which led to an embarrassingly obsessive listening spree on their 2012 self-titled album (currently on repeat for a period of time that I care not to admit). Boiling over with discordant noise rock as perfected by previous generations of bands (oh man, do I really need to name names? Okay, The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Drive Like Jehu, Unwound, Cows, Hammerhead, etc.), Metz add their own modern-day pep to the sound of previously troubled lives, not to mention currently troubled lives. I really like this band.
What are you up to today?
Well, it’s one of the last days of mixing our new record, so that’s what we’re doing right now.
How’s it going?
It’s good; it’s good. Like I said, we’re almost done and we’re going to master it next week, so we’re pretty excited about it.
So, is it similar to your first album, or different?
I think it’s similar in a lot of ways, and different in a lot of ways. We wanted to obviously not retread our steps; we wanted to do something new and exciting for us. I think it still sounds like us, but it’s definitely got some different types of tunes.
I have a confession to make. I haven’t actually heard too much of Metz until just recently. I’ve heard your name around a lot, but I haven’t had a chance to sit down with your band and really listen. So, I finally did a couple of days ago and it’s pretty rad. It definitely reminds me of a lot of the bands I listened to in the ‘90s.
Oh, cool. Right on.
What are the biggest comparisons you guys get? Do people frame you in the ‘90s with bands like The Jesus Lizard, or do they not get that reference because they’re a younger generation?
I think there is a lot of that. And we are flattered by the comparisons in a lot of ways, but we’ve never really considered ourselves to be a throwback or retro band in any kind of way. I think it’s pretty much the sum of its parts; all of the musical influences that we’ve had over our lives. We did grow up in the ‘90s though, so it’s part of it, for sure. But it’s not a conscious thing; it’s just a natural thing the three of us do together.
When you guys first started the band did you talk about those influences at all, or did you just set up and start playing?
No, we never talked about it. We just went in there being friends, and plugged in, and cranked it up and this is what came out.
Did you have any idea what would come out? Or did you just start jamming and see what happened?
Well, I had been playing with Hayden [Menzies], who plays drums, for a couple of years before we met [bassist] Chris [Slorach]. We started the band in Ottawa, so we kind of knew what it sounded like when we played music together. So, yeah, we didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. It was doing it for the love of making music.
I was definitely a fan of the Ottawa bands that Hayden was in, like Three Penny Opera and The Grey.
Totally, yeah, me too! [Laughs]
Metz is a heavier excursion for him. He always hit hard, but in this band it’s a lot more noisy and discordant and not as melodic.
Yeah. I think it’s a natural progression. He always had a big part in arranging his previous band’s songs, but I don’t he had as much input into the actual songs as he does now. I think this band is definitely more up his alley, you know?
So tell me a little about Metz. Because I don’t really know much about you, other than the fact that you’re fucking loud and you’re doing your thing. So what’s the mission or the goal of the band?
Well, that’s a hard one, because I don’t know if we’ve ever had a goal. We never did anything other than set out to make music that we liked, and it grew in a pretty natural way from there, in Toronto and other places. Yeah, I never really thought about that before. We just want to continue making the music that we started making and get better, really. But there’s no overarching MO, or goal or anything like that, other than to just do music in the most natural way we can. Just for the love of it, and try to keep it in that spot, and not let it be anything more complicated than that.
Do you think that energy that you guys have, and that natural feel, is what translates to people? Because you’ve gotten quite popular for a band that plays the kind of music you do. Do you think people get a sense that you’re coming from the heart and without pretension?
Yeah, I think there’s some of that. I remember going to my first punk shows and totally falling in love with the energy and community in it, so I hope that’s what people get from it. I hope they come away from a show going, “Wow! That was fun! That was exciting!” Because that’s what I always got from it.
I was reading your bio and thinking, “Oh, this is really well written, and I think this guy really gets this band,” then I realized it was Bry Webb from The Constantines that wrote it, and that made sense.
[Laughs] Yeah, he’s an awesome guy.
You guys have a pretty tight-knit scene in Toronto. I know just from visiting there over the years, it seems really cool. I think people get Toronto wrong and think it’s this pretentious, stuck-up scene, but there’s a really cool undercurrent there.
Yeah, absolutely. I think it used to be known as the city where you’d play a song and everyone would have their arms crossed, and they would be staring at you. But I think over the years it’s certainly been warm to us, and we try to be just as supportive right back to all of the younger bands, and all of the bands doing their thing. Toronto does seem really familial and warm, I’ve gotta say, and I think everyone there tries to support each other.
Metz’ self-titled album is available on Sub-Pop Records.
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