By Josiah HughesOriginally from Ottawa, the now Toronto-based noise rock trio METZ have developed quite the name for themselves thanks to a killer live show and a series of seven-inches on the We Are Busy Bodies label. While they've undoubtedly amassed a decent following thanks to their own work ethic, they'll soon be facing a much larger audience thanks to a new deal with iconic Seattle imprint Sub Pop, who will release METZ's self-titled debut on October 9.
Speaking with Exclaim!, METZ's Alex Edkins explained that the band hooked up with the label the old-fashioned way. "Basically, they're the only place where we sent our music," he says. "We sent them our demos and that's kind of just how it happened."
While sending a completed album to only one source sounds a little over confident, Edkins admits that it was a total shot in the dark. "It was really a pipe dream type thing," he says. "We wanted to find a good home for the record, we had been working on it for a while. And that was definitely our number one pick."
Though the announcement is news to the rest of us, METZ have been anxiously working on this deal for quite some time. "We've kind of been keeping [the record deal] under our hat for a while. We've been doing the ins and outs and stuff like that for about two months now."
Though he tries to remain collected while discussing these business matters, Edkins can't help but exude the thrill of this new deal.
"We have been huge fans of what they've been doing for years and years and years. To be a part of that tradition and that family now, it's really pretty insane, and we're really happy.
"For the longest time, ever since I was a teenager hearing some of those early '90s grunge records and even before that with the Sub Pop 100 compilation, with things like Sonic Youth and Naked Raygun and Scratch Acid and stuff -- I'd always be seeing that Sub Pop sign. And I think all of us, all three of us, could agree that that was where we'd want to put our music out if we could."
Look out for METZ at NXNE in Toronto this weekend, followed by a show in Seattle and an appearance at Sackville's SappyFest. All currently scheduled tour dates are available below.
Also, at the bottom of the page, you can get a taste of METZ's self-titled new full-length via a brief album trailer.
Tour dates:
6/15 Toronto, ON - Wrongbar* 6/16 Toronto, ON - Phoenix** 6/22 Seattle, WA - Barboza*^ 8/3 Sackville, NB - SappyFest 8/24 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge** 8/25 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar** 8/28 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks 8/29 Washington, D.C. - DC9 8/30 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie 8/31 New York, NY - Pianos 8/01 Brooklyn, NY - Death By Audio
* with The Men ** with Archers of Loaf ^ with Kinski
Couldn't be happier for the METZ boys....couldnt have happened to a nicer bunch of fellows. Looking forward to the RECORD( Sure it'll be a killer)....best of luck.
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