{"id":10079,"date":"2015-01-07T06:44:45","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T14:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=10079"},"modified":"2015-01-05T13:48:35","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T21:48:35","slug":"metzs-fury-strikes-a-chord-with-larger-audience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2015\/01\/07\/metzs-fury-strikes-a-chord-with-larger-audience\/","title":{"rendered":"Metz\u2019s fury strikes a chord with larger audience"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fact that a band as noisy and chaotic as Toronto noise-rock three-piece Metz are even remotely popular is actually quite astounding. That they\u2019ll be in town on January 20 opening up for Montreal\u2019s Death from Above 1979 at a sold-out show with a nearly $50 ticket price? Even more astounding.<\/p>\n

But Metz aren\u2019t some hip, pretentious buzz band trying to sound loud so bros can spill beers over each other in the pit; this is bona fide grime and muck, born and bred in sweaty basements and illegal warehouse spaces, raised on a steady diet of The Jesus Lizard, Unwound, Drive Like Jehu, and probably some Pissed Jeans, too (all noisy bands). So, are Metz just as shocked as we are that they made it out of the underground and into the foreground?<\/p>\n

\u201cTotally, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re out of that yet,\u201d explains Metz guitarist\/vocalist Alex Edkins. \u201cWe still do basement shows and small shows, but now we also get the chance to do bigger shows, too. We kind of look at both as having their own pros and cons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Metz<\/a>
Metz are disorienting Canada\u2019s music scene with their abrasive take on noise rock (photo by Robby Reis).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One con would be that ticket price, for sure, but a band as riff- and distortion-heavy as Metz (not to mention Edkins\u2019 pained howls and wails) getting exposure to a whole new group of music fans, the kind who frequent larger clubs and festivals over the DIY punk shows the band was raised on, can only be a positive thing, for the band and for anyone who comes across their impassioned noise fury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely think it\u2019s cool that we have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to play for more people. It\u2019s definitely something that wasn\u2019t expected when we set out to make this kind of music, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d laughs Edkins. \u201cThat never really crossed our minds, in any way, shape, or form; it\u2019s been this slow growth over the years, and now it\u2019s here, and we just plan to continue going until it doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key to the band\u2019s relative success, says Edkins, is keeping things in perspective and doing everything on their own terms. Very content to determine their own fate, Metz continues to keep their band close to its humble roots in the Toronto underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a pretty self-running machine; we keep everything close and we do almost everything ourselves,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have a booking agent and a label, but we make all of the other decisions ourselves. So we\u2019re just doing it our way, and being honest with the music and the people we meet and interactive with, and trying to have as much fun as we can with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone misguided enough to think that Metz\u2019s aural obliteration is some kind of gimmick needs to examine the logic behind such claims. If popularity were your goal, why on Earth would you play music as horribly awesome as Metz?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obvious to us, and I think it would be obvious to most people, that this is not some hair-brained scheme to be popular, because if it was, I think we\u2019re doing everything wrong,\u201d says Edkins. \u201cThe way we are approaching this is doing the things that we like, and we feel really fortunate that other people have latched onto it, but it is a surprise, and it was never our intention. But we definitely embrace it at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metz (with Death From Above 1979)
\n8 pm Tuesday, January 20
\n$49.50 (sold out), Sugar
\natomiqueproductions.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fact that a band as noisy and chaotic as Toronto noise-rock three-piece Metz are even remotely popular is actually quite astounding. That they\u2019ll be in town on January 20 opening up for Montreal\u2019s Death from Above 1979 at a sold-out show with a nearly $50 ticket price? Even more astounding. But Metz aren\u2019t some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-january-7-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10081,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10079\/revisions\/10081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}