Meter by meter: Metric builds on its fan base, reputation

The Metric piece came out today in the Union-Tribune. You can read a portion of the interview I did with Emily Haines in Q&A form in a previous post. This is the third time I've spoken with Haines. She wasn't her most articulate, sounding a bit distracted. Walking around New York City on a cell phone will do that to you. But she's obviously in touch with the art world, name dropping Olivier Assayas (director of the movie "Clean," which Mteric appeared in) and Guy Maddin (whose films inspired Haines' solo disc "Knives Don't Have Your Back"). And she ended up giving me good quotes for the story, so it all worked out.

One thing I didn't include in the story or the Q&A: She talked a bit about warming up for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden. When I asked what it was like to hang out with Mick and the boys, she said they met, but only briefly. "They run a pretty tight ship."

Here's the story:

Metric, and its fans, gets a gift from the past

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 27, 2007

Nobody knows which street to take / He took the easy way / What was the easy way? sings Metric frontwoman Emily Haines in her sweetest voice on the title track from the Canadian quartet's long-lost debut disc. In terms of the music business and Metric's steady rise to fame, there is no easy way.

Splitting time between flats in London and Brooklyn, Haines and her partner, Jimmy Shaw, meticulously crafted and assembled the 10 tracks on “Grow Up and Blow Away.” Recorded in 2001, Haines (daughter of poet Paul Haines) and Shaw (who studied trumpet at Juilliard) thought the album would represent the first chapter in their careers as Metric. After six years of sitting on the shelves of the record label Rykodisc, “Grow Up and Blow Away” became the latest chapter instead of the first.

“This work symbolizes the innocent and naive period of beginning to try to be musicians for a living and all of the obstacles that we've encountered on the way,” recalled Haines in a recent phone conversation from New York City as her band prepared for a North American tour. “When I listen to that music, I think of how pure and sweet our vision was of how it could be. Since then, we've really taken matters into our own hands.

DETAILS
Metric, with Crystal Castles
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $12.50-$14.50
Phone: (619) 671-3700
Online: www.hob.com

“We realized it's probably a blessing that we weren't handed (a contract) and then became recording artists in 1998. When I listen to ('Grow Up and Blow Away'), it's like listening to my little sister that I don't have.”

Metric purchased the album and released it on Last Gang Records this year, giving listeners a glimpse into the early, concentrated version of Metric. Recorded before the addition of drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winstead, “Grow Up and Blow Away” shines a light on Metric's roots. Wrapped in layers of synths and drum machine percussion patterns, Haines' seemingly effortless melodic sense and Shaw's ability to construct songs around her melodies carry the disc.

Along with providing the seeds for Metric's intellectual pop, the project also gave Haines a more realistic sense of the music industry. In other words, there is no easy way: “Those (were) the days that we thought we could just sit in our house and make music and other people would do the legwork for us. We quickly realized that was never going to be a life that we could handle. Instead of listening to people who said that we had to look for someone to help us realize our potential, we just did it ourselves. I'm really glad we made that decision.”

Since the recording of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has steadily grown a fan base through the infectious keyboard-driven pop of 2003's “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now” and the more guitar-oriented rock of 2005's “Live It Out.” After the disappointment of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has found itself in a nice groove: opening for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden, the Juno Awards, spots at the Coachella music fest, solid record sales and enthusiastic crowds at shows. Recognizing the dangers of typecasting, Haines didn't want to get stuck in the groove.

“I see it all the time with musicians: You get stuck in a rut,” Haines said. “It's like playing a role in a sitcom. You become a one-dimensional character if the only way you function is in a particular role.”

In the past year, Haines released her first solo record, “Knives Don't Have Your Back” by Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, a somber, stripped-down affair highlighted by Haines' compositions on the piano. Winstead and Scott-Key formed the side project Bang Lime and released “Best Friends in Love.”

“It's part of the (band's) concept that everyone should be able to develop,” Haines said. “It just really worked out well this year. It gave everyone a chance to breathe and do some other things. And so coming back to start writing the new Metric record has benefited enormously from that.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Street Scene '07 through the lense, part deux

I wanted to add a few more images from the Street Scene experience.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:



Air:



Louis XIV:

Street Scene '07 through the lense

Here's a collection of images taken over the weekend at Street Scene:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12209388@N04/sets/72157602159960713/

Also, here are a few favorites from SS'07....

Clouds over Street Scene (day one):



Social D by Greg Meier:



Air by me:



More Air by me:



Spoon by me:



Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:



I should have more by the end of the day, and I'll share them with you as soon as their uploaded.

Street Scene, Day Two: Redemption, But Too Late?

If you book the bands, they will come. And you know what, people did come on Sunday to Street Scene. Maybe it's not the 50,000 people a night during the festival's heyday, but it's not the doomsday graveyard crowd which shuffled around Coors Saturday either. I'd say a good 15,000-18,000 people attended on Sunday. When you get past all the corporate trappings of the Live Nation-era of Street Scene ($10 for parking, crazy amount of sponsorships and no encores), there were a bunch of positives on Sunday.

First, the booking was much better on Street Scene's second day. Spoon (they should have headlined the mainstage). Steel Pulse (roots rock reggae at its best). Louis XIV (sounding more like a legit rock 'n' roll band than ever). Air (moody and a nice change of pace). Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (awesome indie rock). Arctic Monkeys (bringing British sneer and rock riffage). I didn't even make it to the early stage: Sondre Lerche, Brett Dennen, Dios and Elvis Perkins. (I'll be uploading a bunch of photos all day today). The bands in general were more interesting and better suited to pulling crowds by the scruff of their necks into music fest bliss.

Is Street Scene dead? After Saturday, I thought this was Street Scene's death knell. More eclectic booking on Sunday may have bought Street Scene another year. But please, can we call it something different?

Street Scene, Day One: Rain-soaked and lacking punch

When I spoke with Social Distortion's Mike Ness to help preview this year's version of Street Scene for the OC Register, Mike suggested that organizers just move the festival to Tijuana and let it live on streets again. I couldn't agree more. As their early Saturday set drew to a close, Honeycut's lead singer asked "So where's the streets? I thought this was Street Scene?" Exactly.

Instead, this year we have Rob Hagey teaming with Live Nation, filling the lineup with a bunch of whiney emo-pop bands and soaking festival-goers for every penny. Of course, this is me and my mood after walking two or three miles total to avoid paying $10 for parking. I mean, honestly, I can't remember any shows at Coors that I've paid 10 bones to drive by bored teenagers pointing me to dusty lots which allowed me to park 10-15 minutes walk from the front gate. Just when I thought the Coors parking/traffic situation couldn't get worse, they want to charge me for their crappy parking lots and ill-planned mouse mazes they call roads, the closest thing to a street this year's Street Scene will experience.

Inside, I didn't have too many qualms with Coors. The lineup completely sucked on Saturday. I won't go into the horrors of the band Shut Up Stella and Army of Me. On the bright side: B-Side Players were solid and Mad Caddies had their moments. I couldn't stick around for the "headliners" Muse, so I can't report on the mainstage.

The first four hours of Street Scene '07 were a complete bomb. I'm sure more people made it eventually, but I think there were about 5,000 people there through 4 p.m. Years past, this was always the best time to catch Street Scene. The afternoons always afforded get unexpected finds, courtesy of Rob Hagey and his booking crew. And varied too: gospel, blues, Brazilian, jazz, funk, soul, rock, punk. Around any corner, you could stumble on great things spanning a mind-boggling set of genres. Not so this year. Maybe it was all the walking, but I feel simply tired thinking on Saturday's SS experience. Tired of being milked of money, and most of all, tired of all the corporate meddling with San Diego's best music festival.

But hey, the rain was nice. With a clear sky emerging around 3 p.m., I could see the hills of Tijuana in the distance and think: only if...

Over the Rhine at Anthology

I have to admit something: Before my editor at the U-T suggested I write about Ohio band Over the Rhine, I had very little exposure to the husband-wife team of Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist. In doing research about the songwriting team, I discovered a huge catalogue of great songs, with adept execution on vocals by Berquist and Detweiler on piano and guitar.

My wife Lisa and I haven't made it to Anthology yet, so we were excited to check out this show and this relatively new venue downtown on India and A. Nice venue, but probably too pricy and fancy to really make us feel at home. We got stuck on the second floor standing room only area, with an obstructed view of the stage. Drink prices were hefty ($11 dollars a glass for the cheapest red wine), but the waitstaff was attentive. The sound was flawless, but when you can't see the stage, the experience is like listening to a live CD with an awesome stereo. Over the Rhine are extremely talented and they put on a great show, equally at home with the traditional American songbook and classic country sounds. Detweiler told stories and Berquist was radiant and spot-on with her vocals. At Anthology, it's either pony up for the good seats or stay at home.

Here's the preview which ran on Thursday in the Union-Tribune:

Over the Rhine: Songs shaped by memory

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007

A conversation with Linford Detweiler feels like story time with a reclusive artsy uncle: filled with equal helpings of childlike wonder and hard-earned wisdom.

And the musician's stories lately revolve around his childhood. Specifically, he's been contemplating how our earliest memories can influence the work we chose to do.

“A couple of my friends who are also artists and I have talked about how our earliest memories have foreshadowed what we ended up doing with our lives,” Linford said in an interview from his home outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, an old farmhouse on a sprawling plot of land called Nowhere Farm.

“My friend, Michael Wilson, who is a black-and-white photographer and photographs a lot of musicians, his earliest memory is lying in his bedroom as a boy. When the headlights would go past his bedroom window, these black-and-white shadows would go around the top of his room. He would watch those black-and-white shadows and imagine a circus train going by. He ended up making black-and-white photographs for a living.

DETAILS
Over the Rhine
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., Little Italy
Tickets: $20-$30
Phone: (619) 595-0300
Online: www.anthologysd.com

“My earliest memory that I can really put my finger on is the sound of a trumpet. So, my earliest memory ended up being reflected in the title of this project.”

Detweiler is telling the story behind the 2007 album “The Trumpet Child,” his 11th studio work in collaboration with his wife, vocalist Karin Berquist. Together, they form Over the Rhine, named for a formerly tough neighborhood (now gentrified) in Cincinnati where the duo lived during the late-1980s: “It was considered a bad part of town and there were a lot of empty buildings. I was really drawn to it because there was a scary beauty down there.”

Since the early beginnings in the 'hood bearing its name, Over the Rhine's career has flown just below the radar of popular consciousness. Despite 18 years and 23 albums (including live recordings, compilations and Detweiler's three solo discs), the couple's brand of quiet coffeehouse country and dark Southern Gothic acoustic balladry never found a foothold on radio stations. Much like the Cowboy Junkies (with whom Detweiler and Berquist have toured), there isn't a radio format suited for well-crafted acoustic music.

But good music usually finds a home. In Over the Rhine's case, home comes in the form of a devout fan base and critical acclaim.

On “The Trumpet Child” – the latest OTR album to garner good reviews – Detweiler and Berquist choose lush horn parts along with bittersweet string arrangements to bring a classic, timeless feel to the entire album.

“We wanted to gather really interesting musicians in a room and really invite people to something that felt like an evening of music unfolding,” said the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Detweiler. “We wanted to open the American songbook a little wider in terms of our influences on this record and reference a pre-rock 'n' roll era in the music: Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart, where the language was kind of playful and interesting melodies with horns and strings.”

No matter if hit singles come or not, Detweiler and Berquist will continue writing and singing songs. Not because they need the trappings of pop stars, but because it makes them better people.

“Writing is something that if I stay engaged in, I live my life with my eyes more fully open,” said Detweiler, who performs two shows at the new jazz dinner club Anthology on India Street Saturday. “I think that's what we all battle, this sense of going through life half awake. So, songwriting is something that we've built into our lives that we hope enriches us and helps us to live more soulfully. It helps us to live more intentionally and just to be aware of the stories that we're writing with our lives.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Street Scene invading town this weekend

It's not the same festival five years ago or even last year, but San Diego's signature music festival is coming to Coors Amphitheatre this weekend. The lineup isn't as strong this year, and the only street is the one that will be choked with traffic leading to the outdoor amphitheatre in Chula Vista, but Street Scene is here. I wrote previews for both the Union-Tribune and the OC Register, along with a slew of profiles for SignOnSanDiego.com's Street Scene feature.

I'll be there this weekend taking photos and joting down notes.

Here's the Union-Tribune piece:

Stop me if you've heard this one ...

... the Brits are coming! English bands – the Invasion, Take II

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007

It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play ... actually it was more than four decades ago.

The Beatles stormed America in 1964, launching the first British Invasion on these shores, and Brit bands have occupied the minds of music aficionados on this side of the pond ever since.

Enter Street Scene, San Diego's signature music festival.
As festival founder Rob Hagey skewed the demographic younger every year since 2000, the Brit indie pop quotient has increased. In 2005, Kasabian and Hard-Fi represented. The following year, Bloc Party, Editors, The Futureheads and Nine Black Alps all made the journey to San Diego to ply their wares.

This year, Birmingham's Editors returns, along with Arctic Monkeys, Simian Mobile Disco, Paolo Nutini and Saturday's headliners Muse.

DETAILS
Street Scene 2007When: Saturday, noon to 11:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 11 p.m.
Where: Coors Amphitheatre, Chula Vista
Tickets: $65 per day
Phone: (619) 220-TIXS
Online: www.ticketmaster.com

Every year, dozens of new bands come out of England, Scotland or Ireland, renewing the U.K.'s status as a mainstay of indie rock.

“It seems pretty vibrant, pretty colorful,” said Editors lead singer and guitarist Tom Smith during a recent concert stop in New York City. “There's a lot going on. A lot of people talk about the second coming of the golden Brit pop years. But I don't really believe that.”

Smith is right: There can't be a second coming. In fact, pop music from the U.K. never stopped influencing American bands.

British groups don't have the stranglehold on the charts as they did in the 1960s, but a constant stream of young talent continues to pour out of the U.K. And the admiration is mutual on both sides of the Atlantic: “I may not be the best person to talk to, because most of the indie bands that I take to heart or I fall in love with are American,” said Smith.

“I like Klaxons. I think they're a really interesting band. But I love The National's record. I think they're an amazing band. LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, these are the bands from recent times that I've really fallen in love with.”

Arctic Monkeys, sharing the Street Scene bill with Editors this year, rocketed into mainstream success with the 2006 disc “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,” the fastest selling debut album in British music history. Despite a general downtrend in record sales for most British bands, opportunities abound for young bands trying to get their start.

“Record sales aren't doing as much as they were 10 years ago,” said Smith, whose own band just released its second record “An End Has a Start.” “But there are more and more people going to shows. A new band on their first record will get to play Brixton Academy in the U.K. now. Years ago, you wouldn't get to Brixton until your second or third record. So, people are hungry for new music and hungry for live music. It's a good time to be in a band.”

It's a good time to be a music fan, too. With touring becoming the driving force behind a band's success, more groups are coming to the U.S. from the U.K. to tour.

“It's so hard to get on the radio here; it's nearly impossible,” said Smith. “So, you have to bring it to the people. We enjoy coming here and we always have a good time. We're aware that we're in the very early stages of the new record here,” he said.

“Of course, we'd like to be successful here. And I think given enough time we feel that American audiences will get it. I don't expect it to happen with this record. Hopefully, we can continue doing what we're doing and eventually take a bite of the big American apple.”

Despite Smith's comments, the Editors have made inroads into the American market. The band's first album, “The Back Room,” was packed with heady New Wave-layered guitars and catchy choruses, reaching No. 14 on the U.S. Heatseeker Chart. And, bolstered by the singles “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” and the title track, “An End Has a Start” climbed to No. 1 on the same chart.

More bands gaining early acceptance in their careers makes for a healthier music scene in the United Kingdom, Smith said, and that trickles across the Atlantic to the U.S.

“I can understand when the music fans get disillusioned when there's a new band every few weeks. But if you don't read the NME and you don't take that kind of music journalism to heart and you make decisions for yourself, I don't think it can be a bad thing.

“As in any era of music, if the band is good enough and they have good songs, the test of time will sort the wheat from the chaff. Won't it?”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

And here's the OC Register piece (please note that Mike Ness is a morning person, and like to conduct interviews at the crack of 9 a.m. when he's not on tour....Mike Ness!):

San Diego's Street Scene is on the move again
Pushed out of the city's downtown in recent years, the festival takes place this weekend at a new venue in Chula Vista.

By CHRIS NIXON
For the Register

For the past 23 years, Street Scene has gathered together the diverse musical interests of Southern California on the streets and open spaces of San Diego. The festival was originally located on the streets of the then-seedy downtown Gaslamp District and founder Rob Hagey helped define the area as an entertainment destination, bringing in bands such as R.E.M., Ben Harper, Wilco, Wyclef Jean and Black Eyed Peas to name just a few.

By 2005, the Gaslamp and East Village neighborhoods had grown into upscale entertainment districts and residential areas, and the residents weren't happy about loud music blaring through their windows one weekend a year. Forced out of downtown, Hagey moved the festival to Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot. The move provided easy access to the trolley and obviously ample parking, but festival goers complained about enduring the scorching hot pavement and unofficially dubbed the show "Parking Lot Scene."

This year Hagey teamed with the Los Angeles based Live Nation to help promote the show. Street Scene was originally scheduled to take play at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. But the failure to book a big-time headliner and sluggish ticket sales forced the festival south to Coors Amphitheatre. Live Nation owns the 20,000-capacity venue. Street Scene this year will feature over 60 artists on five stages, with headliners Muse anchoring Saturday's lineup and the Killers holding down Sunday.

One thing has been constant through all the changes: Orange County's Social Distortion. Mike Ness and company have played the festival for the past five years, starting in the Gaslamp Quarter, through the years at the stadium and now in Chula Vista.

"It's kind of cool, because it feels like we've become a staple in Street Scene, wherever it's held," said a deadpan Ness.

Like many Street Scene fans who have been visiting the festival over the years, Ness misses the feel of Street Scene when it lived downtown: "I just remember doing it on Friday at 11 o'clock downtown. It was overwhelming. It literally felt like the whole city of San Diego was there standing in the middle of the street. It was like the town square almost. It felt really surreal. I don't know the word for it. It just felt really awesome."

Ness knows what he's talking about on the subject of music festivals; he's headlined many over the years. The 45-year-old singer grew up in Fullerton before forming Social Distortion in 1978. Alongside other young punks like the Youth Brigade and the Adolescents, the band quickly became nationally known in the underground punk scene.

Mixing traditional punk with country and rockabilly influences, Social D found a home on alternative radio stations in the '90s with songs like "Ball and Chain" "Story of My Life" and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."

Social Distortion started playing Street Scene at the height of its popularity. The festival was drawing over 100,000 people in 2004.

"Unfortunately, things change and you have to adapt," said Ness. "I think it's a great event. And when it finds its final place, I think it will be a long-lasting thing. But it's so important where it's held. To me, if I lived in San Diego I would want to go to a cool place and see cool bands. Unfortunately, stadiums and parking lots are sterile.

"A rock vibe is hard to create. You throw a stage up anywhere and bring in a P.A. system and some lights and you have a show. Technically that's true. But it's always nicer if you have something with a vibe."

Hagey and Live Nation are hoping Coors provides Ness' definition of "vibe." Traditionally, Street Scene's lineup came from all over the musical map: reggae, world music, funk, rock, punk and soul. Since the record setting crowds of 2004, Hagey has booked acts that appeal to a younger demographic: AFI (2004, 2006), Ludacris (2004), the Used (2005), Yellowcard (2004, 2006), Method Man (2005, Kanye West (2006) and Matchbook Romance (2006).

This year's lineup includes a slew of young rock bands that appeal to even younger audiences: Panic! at the Disco, Augustana, The Academy Is…, The Rocket Summer, Brand New Tiger Army and Gym Class Heroes. You also have a select few mainstream hip-hop acts like T.I., Too and T-Pain. Throw in some reggae and world beat (B-Side Players, Eek-A-Mouse, Steel Pulse, Ozomatli, Pepper) and a few annual favorites (Social D, G. Love & Special Sauce, Slightly Stoopid) and you have the general thinking behind this year's Street Scene.

For Ness, Street Scene marks an annual string of shows running through Southern California and the Southwest. No matter the venue, Social D pencils in the music fest every September: "We look forward to it every year. It's nice playing outdoors and the weather is usually pretty nice. It's just a show that we always look forward to."

Matt Sharp comes to town

I wrote a little piece on the real Return of The Rentals (also the name of the band's debut disc) for the U-T, who are in the midst of a comeback bid with a new EP and a new full-length on the way. The leader and former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp and I talked a few weeks ago. He spoke about cleaning out the cluttered tour van, his hiatus from the music industry and his days back in Weezer. The piece isn't my best and the folks at Night&Day chopped the end of the story. My only defense is the story came amongst one of my busiest weeks as a freelancer (five stories due).

I had a chance to check out the show at HOB with my friend Greg. Copeland warmed up, but they were a little too whiney for me. Matt Sharp and The Rentals sounded good, but the crowd was super small and some of the band members looked a bit bored (including bassist/vocalist Rachel Haden, who appeared to be searching for the nearest fire exit during the show).

Anyway, here's the Night&Day piece:

After stepping back, Rentals step forward

By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007

After forging a name for himself as the bassist-songwriter in Weezer and the architect behind the retro-keyboard outfit The Rentals, Matt Sharp needed to step away from the bright lights and surreal life of a modern rock star.

So, he packed up and moved to the tiny town of Leipers Fork, Tenn., an hour southwest of Nashville.

“There was a feeling of wanting to be completely disconnected from the whole lifestyle that I had inherited,” Sharp said recently. “I wanted to disconnect from not just the music industry, but everything in general. It was time to rethink things and start over, not just with music, but with life. I wanted to get a better understanding of how to be a better person.”

So, Sharp retreated from Los Angeles to the rural South. He released a solo album of acoustic tunes. He held low-key concerts, using the Internet and postering to promote shows. Little did he know: Stepping away from the mainstream music business for five years would make this year's Rentals reunion that much sweeter.

DETAILS
The Rentals, with Copeland and Goldenboy
When: Tonight, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $22
Phone: (619) 299-BLUE
Online: HOB.com

Sharp first came to the spotlight through the indie rock-gone-pop quartet Weezer, co-writing the band's breakthrough “The Blue Album” along with popular singles like “Say It Ain't So” and “Undone (the Sweater Song).” Much like Kim Deal's success with The Breeders proved her worth to Frank Black and the Pixies, Sharp's achievements with The Rentals shed light on his major contributions to Weezer. While they are a fine rock 'n' roll band, Weezer has never been the same since Sharp's departure.

As mainstream music turned its eyes away from the metal-meets-punk of grunge, The Rentals' 1995 debut disc, “The Return of The Rentals,” marked an embracing of buzzing 1970s synthesizers and stripped-down pop sentiment. When Sharp started The Rentals with drummer Patrick Wilson (also of Weezer), Rod Cervera (guitar), Tom Grimley (keyboards), Cherielynn Westrich (vocals, moog), and sisters Petra and Rachel Haden (daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden and members of the indie rock group that dog), he had no idea the band would blow up like it did.

“When we recorded the first Rentals record, we didn't expect that there was going to be any audience at all,” recalled Sharp. “We didn't think it was even going to be released properly: maybe on some independent, maybe on some seven-inch singles. We didn't really have a big picture in mind for it.”

Fueled by the popularity of Weezer's “Blue Album,” Sharp and company found themselves riding a wave of attention.

“But by the time (the first Rentals record) was released, a lot of expectations were put on the album right away,” said Sharp. “The people who worked at the record company really thought it was going to be an instant success. The first Rentals album came out during the pinnacle of 'The Blue Album.' It came out just after 'Say It Ain't So' reached its peak and we'd already had multiple singles in Weezer. So, there were a lot of expectations for The Rentals.”

Along with a new lineup, Sharp is happy to have another crack at mainstream music.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Listening to an innocent version of you: A conversation with Emily Haines

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, mostly due to a crazy hectic writing schedule and housesitting for a couple of friends. The fruits of all the hard work have started to be printed for public consumption, with three articles in today's Night&Day, an article in the OC Register, a blurb in the Phoenix New Times and numerous profiles for SignOnSanDiego.com. You'll be able to check out everything here, with some comments from me on each story.

Today, I'm cranking out a story on Metric for the Union-Tribune. I wanted to give you a glimpse of the conversation I recently had with lead singer Emily Haines. She was in New York getting ready for a North American tour, and she had a lot to say about the crazy year or two Metric and its members have experienced since the last time I talked with her (in the wake of 2005's "Live It Out).

Here's part of the conversation:

Nixon: Since it was recorded so long ago, what goes through your head when you think about “Grow Up and Blow Away’?

Haines: Everything that work symbolizes for us is the innocent and naïve period of beginning to try to be musicians for a living and all of the obstacles that we’ve encountered on the way. When I listen to that music I think of how pure and sweet our vision was of how it could be. Since then we’ve really taken matters into our own hands. We realized it’s probably a blessing that we weren’t handed (a contract) and then became recording artists in 1998.

It takes me back to the early days of how everything’s changed with the distribution of music and how people get the music they want. We had no real reason to release the record. But we finally got it back. We bought it back from the company that owned it. It was owned by Rykodisc. We just constantly got requests from fans, even though you can get everything free online. I’ve personally mailed out maybe a 1,000 CD-Rs in manila envelopes to pretty much anyone who wrote in to us and requested it. If they requested it, I would send it to them.

When I listen to (‘Grow Up and Blow Away’), it’s like listening to my little sister that I don’t have.

Nixon: A more innocent version of you…

Haines: Yeah. I have no regrets. Those are the days that we thought we could just sit in our house and make music and other people would do the legwork for us. We quickly realized that was never going to be a life that we could handle. Instead of listening to people who said that we’d had to look for someone to help us realize our potential, we just did it ourselves. I’m really glad we made that decision.

Nixon: Do you feel like you’ve songwriting has developed – in terms of lyrics, melodies and song structure -- since the first album?

Haines: I don’t really think about it. You do the best with the place that you’re in at the time. Some of the stuff on the album kind of cracks me up: the kind of R’n’B vocal stylings I was doing at the time. At some point down the road, I may look back at some of the stuff that I’m doing now and it may crack me up. But I’m O.K. with that.

Nixon: I know it’s been quite a ride for the band since the last time we spoke, in terms of selling albums and being generally embraced by fans with open arms at all the shows I’ve been to. How has that ride been for you from the inside looking out?

Haines: We often joke about the fact that we’ve been on a 20-percent incline since we’ve started. We’ve never dipped from that. And we’ve never gone vertical (in terms of popularity). We just do what we do. The four of us are music fans ourselves. Right now it seems like such an obsessive time about celebrity. I feel like people are constantly trying to complicate what we do for us, and that’s just made us clearer on what we do. It’s really not that complex at all. The four of us really love making music together and we have a lot of respect for people who can let loose and have a good time at a rock ‘n’ roll show. I go to other concerts and I’m like ‘We’re lucky, our fans are the best.’ It’s definitely a two-way thing. It’s a night of your life, let’s create a feeling.

Nixon: How important was it in terms of moving forward for the band to go and do a few music projects away from Metric?

Haines: It’s part of the concept of the band, I guess. I see it all the time with musicians: you get stuck in a rut. It’s like playing a role in a sitcom. You become a one-dimensional character if the only way you function is in a particular role. The reason why this clicked when we met was because everybody was really big music fans. I’d say Metric is probably the most pop thing in any of our record collections. Our tastes are more experimental and we’re all really open-minded about music. Everyone in the band has multiple skills. Jimmy went to Juilliard for trumpet and Joules is a great bass player and Josh is is a great singer and songwriter in his own right. It’s part of the concept that everyone should be able to develop. It just really worked out well this year. It gave everyone a chance to breathe and do some other things. And so coming back to start writing the new Metric record has benefited enormously from that.

Nixon: Were the songs for The Soft Skeleton kicking around a while for you?

Haines: It’s more like the sound of those songs was kicking around. I had established a relationship with Guy Maddin, the filmmaker, and I was inspired by his movie ‘The Saddest Music in the World.’ The imagery of the film informed how I wanted my record to sound. As a songwriter, piano has always been my first instrument and I’ve always been interested in doing more ambient soundtrack kind of stuff. It’s just a natural progression. Some of the songs have been around for a while. Most of them were written while everything was happening with Metric.

Nixon: And this current tour?

Haines: We haven’t toured the States in over a year. So we just wanted to come back and say hello and develop some of the new songs. We’ve written about 10 or 15 new songs and we’re going to play a bunch of them on this tour. It’s a really nice way to work. You write a song, and then before you get too committed to anything, you let it live and breathe as a song.

One monkey's opinion: Free is my favorite number

I'd like to speak on the concept of free for a moment. I can't tell you how many times greed has gotten the better of my better judgement and I've blindly followed pronouncements declaring free items: free credit report, buy one get one free, free shot of tequila if you just step inside. Most "free" experiences end with an intern at the bank spending a half an hour trying to earn a commission, or an evening of gluttonous chowing of mediocre food, or an evening surrounded by unspeakable debauchery in the haze of cheap tequila.

Even as freelancer, free from the life of commutes to work and 10-hour days living in cubicles, I'm saddled with the unsettling doubt of where the next paycheck is coming from and the crazy isolation of working from home (filling the void of the emotional roller coaster of office politics). That's what free gets you.

You see, people tell you nothing in life is free. And in general, I agree with them. "Free" just means you will pay with your patience, time and sanity. But last Saturday right next to Petco Park, I witnessed an afternoon and subsequent evening at the Belly Up of free music, no strings attached except maybe a few heart strings.

Celebrating its second birthday, the Southern Comfort Music Experience sounded too good to be true: Galactic, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Z-Trip, the Flaming Lips and an excellent local stage packed with SD-centric talent. Lis (my wife and eternal plus-one on the guestlist) and I went early to SCMX and secured a spot right on the barricades to check out Galactic (complete with MCs like Mr. Lif and The Coup's Boots Riley) and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The former sounded solid as always and lifted by Lif and Boots, The former looked like the aftermath of a tough night in Vegas but sounded gritty, raw and appropriately rock 'n' roll.

Just after BRMC's buzzing set, Lisa and I ran into an old friend, the verbose and wonderful Mr. Scott MacDonald. The knowledgeable Mr. MacDonald gave us two tix to Zap Mama later that same night at The Belly Up tavern in Solana Beach. We quickly accepted and scuttled home to eat dinner and prepare for even more free music.

After a rendezvous with Scott outside the Belly Up, Lis and I witnessed an incendiary set by Marie Daulne, complete with percussive vocals patterns and soul-tinged African funk jams. All in all, a very free-ing day on all fronts.

Marilyn Manson chases Alice

Shock rocker looks in the mirror and likes what he sees

By Chris Nixon
Union-Tribune
August 23, 2007

Marilyn Manson's adventures in Wonderland led him from the depths of despair, through the looking glass and the surreal world of red carpet celebrity and into a newfound period of growth and self-realization.

In the past five years, the singer-songwriter-producer-filmmaker survived a failed marriage to Dita Von Teese, the blinding lights of celebrity photographer flashbulbs and a general loss of direction in his music career. But it was during the writing of his upcoming film – a Hitchcock-esque psychological horror film titled “Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll” – that Manson regained his identity as edgy rocker and boundary-pushing artist.

“This past year – before, during and after making this last record – made me realize a lot about self image and a lot about belief in yourself and identity,” said Manson recently from a hotel room in New York City. “I was in a period where I almost decided to not make music anymore. Then I started working on my script about Lewis Carroll.

DETAILS
Marilyn Manson with Slayer
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: San Diego Sports Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway District
Tickets: $50
Phone: (619) 224-4171
Online: www.ticketmaster.com

“ 'Alice in Wonderland' in itself to me is a story about the search for identity: the girl getting smaller and bigger, and she doesn't know her name. I know now looking back that I was more than just fascinated with those things.”

Through retelling this tale of self-discovery in his own dark manner, Manson stepped away from the red carpets and the premières. He rediscovered his artistic mission: mixing mediums with his macabre take on Gothic, industrial rock.

“I started to stray from what was most fitting for me in life,” the 38-year-old singer said. “I was starting to feel obligated to fit into certain parts of the world that I don't want to. I wrote about that in a song called 'Red Carpet Grave.' It's no fault of my ex-wife's. I feel like I was expected to be more predictable or conservative in some strange sense, or just more tamed down and not being the person that I really am in order to signify my dedication and my love.

“I felt like I had to fit into this ideal role that is expected by society when you're married, and that's how you prove how you feel. The way I prove how I feel is by making music.”

Like the “shock rockers” and performance art musicians before him (Alice Cooper, David Bowie), Manson – who took his name from the buxom blond actress Marilyn Monroe and the guitar-strumming cult leader Charles Manson – used gender-bending attire and Gothic horror makeup to create an image to go along with his music in his striking videos and live shows. But for the past few years, Manson (the singer) had been in a rut. His marriage collapsed, and he went through a bit of a breakdown.

“There was a period when I didn't want to leave the house,” Manson said in his gravely voice. “I didn't really like being me. I started to feel like being me wasn't something that I had to do anymore. Maybe I didn't have anything left to say in music.

“A lot of the things that I represented seemed to become apparent to the rest of the world or seemed to become stylish to the rest of the world. It took me regaining my idea of who I was, essentially through making this record (this year's “Eat Me, Drink Me”), to realize I liked being me and I don't mind the idea of maintaining something important and powerful, in my opinion.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.