After having trouble adapting its multi-layered music to the
live setting, Metric wanted its new album to be something it could
perform with confidence for its audiences.
“I’m not really sure that we knew what our sound
was,” said guitarist and producer James Shaw, noting the
development undergone during the band’s significant touring
schedule after the release of its 2003 album “Old World
Underground, Where Are You Now?”
“We made sure we could actually play (the new songs),
versus overdubbing,” Shaw said.
Upon returning home to Toronto the group built a studio in
Shaw’s house and recorded an album of live full-band takes.
The result of this new approach was the recently released
“Live it Out” and an accompanying tour, which reaches
the El Rey Theater for a sold-out show on Friday. “Live it
Out” is the latest development in a busy year for the
Toronto-based band.
Both Shaw and singer Emily Haines moonlight as members of Broken
Social Scene, a collective that fields collaborations from members
of Toronto groups such as Do Make Say Think and Stars.
Broken Social Scene released a self-titled album in October,
with Haines taking lead vocals on the song “Swimmers.”
The collaboration is nothing new for Metric, whose members have
long been intimately connected with the thriving Toronto scene.
“It’s a giant family of people,” Shaw said.
“Nobody believes there’s only room for one band’s
success. The more any of us gain success, the more we all do
““ it’s completely symbiotic.”
Both Shaw and Haines grew up in the city, where they befriended
people such as Torquil Campbell and Amy Milan (who would later form
Stars) and Kevin Drew (a founder of Broken Social Scene) before
meeting each other in 1998.
After some time in New York recording demos and trying to garner
major-label interest, the group returned to its hometown and began
receiving praise for its first full-length album, “Old World
Underground, Where Are You Now?”
With the backing of label Everloving Records, the band members
took their new songs on tour.
“We earned fans the real way,” Shaw said. “It
was definitely a building thing. We had enough money to be out on
the road, but there was no push behind the band.”
The group, which also includes bassist Joshua Winstead and
drummer Joules Scott-Key, decided to change labels.
Now on Last Gang Records, Metric is finally receiving a
promotional push that should help a wider audience hear their
simple, accessible sound, featuring tight guitar riffs, keyboards,
electronic touches and Haines’ endearing vocals.
Equally influenced by new wave and by the diverse Toronto scene,
Shaw considers the band a beneficiary of a change in mainstream
radio aesthetics.
“It started with The Strokes four years ago,” Shaw
said. “They weren’t an indie band ““ they were on
RCA ““ but they had an indie aesthetic, they wore indie
clothes. There was such a groundswell, (program directors) had to
play it on radio. They were scared of losing their jobs if they
didn’t play it. It’s knocking down the
walls.”
Shaw also named the crossover success of Montreal-based Arcade
Fire as a major turning point, especially for fellow Canadian
groups.
In some respects, achieving the commercial explosion of The
Strokes or Arcade Fire is just the luck of the draw, though the
fickle music industry seems to have rewarded hard-working bands
such as Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie in the last few
years.
Shaw believes the prominence of pop acts such as Christina
Aguilera is due to a lack of exposure for more substantive groups,
which have only recently begun receiving accolades.
“You don’t have to be smart to sell a million
records. You just have to be on the radio,” Shaw said.
Still, the band members are proud of the fan base they have
carved out for themselves, thanks to the rigorous months on tour,
and plans on spending much of the next year on the road.
Though for many, the relatively grungy life of a working
musician lacks the appeal of rock stardom, the band is able to
appreciate it.
“I really enjoy traveling,” Shaw said. “It
gives me a lot of security to be moving all the time.”