Emily, who proved to be an engaging, generous and wonderfully down-to-Earth conversationalist, spoke about the band’s response to winning the 2013 Juno Awards for Alternative Album of the Year for Synthetica and Producer of the Year for James Shaw.
“It’s always funny when people say they don’t care [about awards] as I think that’s not true,” she said. “For bands like us we are nose to the grindstone. We’ve built our company; we’ve built everything really from the bottom up over ten years…it’s really nice when someone takes a second to say ‘well done’…we really appreciate it when people take a second to recognise that you are contributing something.”
One of Metric’s greatest artistic contributions to the music scene is the quality of their lyrics. On Synthetica the band ponder the distinction between the real and the artificial. This is a band that is clearly not interested in pumping out throw-away pop.
“I’m not going to make records about being a musician,” Emily says. “Looking around and taking stock as we all rush to adapt to every new bit of technology that might possibly come our way, [I] took a look at what we might be losing in the meantime…it’s been really interesting when we are touring the record [as] a lot of themes take a minute for people to absorb particularly the lyrics. It doesn’t seem that lyrics are getting much love in the popular realm these days…but I feel it’s clicking. It’s helping people out the stuff we are addressing and questioning because a lot of people are feeling a bit disoriented in terms of, ‘What’s my real life?’”
One of the many highlights of Synthetica is the track The Wanderlust which features the much-missed Lou Reed. Emily, deeply saddened by Reed’s recent passing, says, “I feel so honoured that [the collaboration] happened. We really clicked. I was really straightforward with him. I wasn’t afraid [of him] and I think that’s part of why we hit it off. Whatever he saw in me I really felt he saw the best part of me. He saw the brave part of me, the one with integrity.”
Metric also exercise their creativity in a variety of interesting ways. For example, they contributed music to the soundtrack of David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis and to the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack.
“Working with [composer] Howard Shore was just so interesting especially on Twilight,” Emily enthused. “It was an incredible experience. He has a special amazing chamber with a fireplace, beautiful piano and library. He still writes with pencils…he gave us a little bit of direction and then Jimmy [Metric’s guitarist] and I just wrote this thing. [Shore] loved it and took that melody and wove it through the whole score which was so interesting.”
To explain her passion for taking on these types of projects, Emily says, “I don’t want to be a cut-out cardboard synth player, [so] it’s cool that these things come our way!” With many years of rich and varied touring experiences under their belts Metric are guaranteed to excite Aussie audiences when they hit our shores in December.
“[Performing live] is our greatest pride. It’s where the music really lives…basically it’s four people that have been playing together for ten years pouring every single ounce of energy they have into the music.” Emily, discussing the important connection that is forged between band and audience in the live realm, says, “When the crowd is into it and they match us I don’t think there is any better live experience to be had. It’s not bells and whistles – it’s rock’n’roll and it’s really fun! We put a lot of thought and care into curating the set list…we really put together a whole experience.
“If you are willing to give yourself over to us for an hour and a half you will be happy and you might cry. People do. It’s a beautiful thing. It takes so much heart to keep going and to get up there and to put our hearts on our sleeves as we do every night. The people who get it and are into it they feel the same thing. It’s very cathartic!”
BY GRAHAM BLACKLEY
