Emily Haines measures Madonna vs. Kim Gordon

Metric system: Add chops to sharp lyrics

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005

'It would certainly help if more girls bothered to be good at their instruments," says Emily Haines, the shapely singer of the Canadian quartet Metric, regarding the stereotypes attractive females face in the music industry. "And there's lots of guys who don't bother either. But it amazes me that it's still pretty revolutionary to have the desire to participate in the musical world and actually want to be judged on the same basis as your peers."

Wielding a Moog synthesizer in one hand and her sharp wit in the other, Haines manages to shred the stereotypes perpetuated by the Madonnas of the world – both in her lyrics and in her quotes from a recent interview during a tour stop in North Carolina.

"The phenomenon of Madonna, my whole life being told that she is someone to admire, is so discouraging," says Haines, whose model good looks take a back seat to her skills as a musician and songwriter. "For me, there is no meat to her music. And then you have someone like Kim Gordon. She's there to play the bass and that's what she does. She's a very attractive, very sexual, very happening woman. The trick is to do what you're standing there to do, and then you won't be a model who sings."

Far from just a singing model, Haines manages to cover a wide spectrum of topics in her lyrics: art, culture and inner battles. As the lead singer and keyboardist of Metric, the 30-year-old artist creates beautifully sad songs sped up and wrapped in layers of chiming pianos and Moog synthesizers.

With her partner, guitarist James Shaw, drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winsted, Haines and Metric released 2003's "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" Produced by Michael Andrews (who teamed with Gary Jules for "Mad World" on the Donnie Darko soundtrack) and recorded in Los Angeles, "Old World Underground" twists and turns its way through 10 tight packages of infectious nu-wave-influenced indie rock. And Haines' lyrics are sharp and smart: "Old world underground I never knew you / But I've seen your face everywhere / There was a farm before we tore / The small town down / Multiply divide."

After gaining moderate attention for their excellent debut disk, Haines and Shaw relocated to Toronto to record the follow-up album. Instead of employing a producer and buying time at an established studio, the pair decided to rent a space in an older building by the tracks in Toronto and create their own studio space.

"We got this space above a bank," recalls Haines. "Streetcars go around the building constantly, so we were afraid the sound would leak. There were a lot of ways it could've gone wrong. We really wanted this to be a good record. We wanted to step it up, you know?"

The result, this year's "Live It Out," packs a punch, fueled more by Shaw's guitar than Haines' keyboard.

"That's what you get when the guitar player produces the record," laughs Haines. "But I like it; I felt it was a more natural recording. I really enjoyed working with Mike Andrews, but a lot of the extra nu-wavey stuff was a result of his vision for the band and how he makes music. But we were going for something a little different."

The sound may have shifted, but the lyrics remain rife with razor wit and intelligent introspection: "Promiscuous makes an entrance / Her mouth is full of questions / Are we all brides to be / Are we all designed to be confined / Buy ourselves chastity belts and lock them / Organize our lives and lose the key / Our faces all resemble dying roses / From trying to fix it."

"My songwriting has also adapted more to the group," says Haines, who will play the Casbah Saturday. "I was really writing with these guys in mind this time. The point of being a musician is to always be getting better. I think we feel like we've all grown as players and we just wanted to enjoy what we were playing."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

My Morning Jacket: Broemel fits nicely

MMJ carries torch for Southern rock

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005

The young upstart who signs a major label deal (in the band Old Pike), the hired gun playing sessions in Los Angeles (after the major label dumps the band) and even an aspiring actor, they're all part of My Morning Jacket.

Guitarist Carl Broemel, who has played varied and various roles during his musical career, is playing a different role now: He's creating music in MMJ, one of today's most promising young bands.

"A part of me died when my first band got signed and broke up," said Broemel from Boston as My Morning Jacket prepared to play a show at the Beantown venue Avalon. "I had a band called Old Pike in Indiana; we made a record in '98. I thought we were going to go out and conquer the world, the five of us, and make the music we wanted to make. After Old Pike broke up, I approached music as more of a job.

"After a while, it was really wearing thin and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play. I almost gave it up and got a day job until I got the call (to audition for My Morning Jacket). It's almost fulfilling the original promise of Old Pike with this band: the five of us going out and doing as much good work as we can."

My Morning Jacket – a five-piece band from Louisville, Ky. – gained initial exposure with 1999's "The Tennessee Fire" and 2001's "At Dawn," both on independent label Darla. The group's brand of strummy, harmonic Southern rock caught the eye of Dave Matthews' ATO label, which promptly signed the quintet.

Critical acclaim came after 2003's "It Still Moves," a moody collection of 12 tunes drawing on such classic influences as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young. Fueled by the songwriting and semi-falsetto vocals of Jim James, MMJ asserted itself in the forefront of a Southern rock revival started by bands like Drive-By Truckers.

As incessant touring in support of "It Still Moves" wore on, original members Danny Cash (keyboards) and Johnny Quaid (guitar) decided to quit the band. After their departure in January 2004, the band questioned whether to continue. Frontman James – along with original members Patrick Hallahan (drums) and Two-Tone Tommy (bass) – held auditions in hopes of finding the right fit. The first two musicians to walk in the room were Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster.

"They had never really played with musicians who weren't friends of theirs from Louisville," said Broemel. "I think it was an awkward situation for them and an awkward situation for us. (But), for whatever reason, it felt right."

Newly rejuvenated with Koster and Broemel on board, My Morning Jacket sought to record a new studio album. Quaid's grandparents farm on the outskirts of Louisville had served as the birthplace of MMJ's previous three studio albums. Now, the band searched for a new beginning.

With the help of producer John Lackie (Pink Floyd, Radiohead), the band ventured north to the hills of upstate New York (Allaire Studios) to lay down tracks for its next record.

This year's "Z" finds My Morning Jacket stretching out from its Southern rock roots while never allowing the past to completely disappear from the rearview mirror.

"I don't think there's any method or formula to what we did," said Broemel. "Jim wrote a bunch of killer songs and we went in and tried to make them real."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.