- Fri, 2010-10-29 10:02
Australian duo Metals are android-beat producer Digital Primate (aka Melbourne-based Christopher Coe) and ferocious soul sister Candice Butler. With their debut single Drop Your Guard in tow, I Like Music caught up with the duo to find out a little more about their music...
"I Like Music because… Its vibrations are healing, especially the brown note : )” Candice, Metals
"I Like Music because… it drowns out the internal chatter and makes me hungry. I like eating.” Chris, Metals
ILM: How would you describe the vibe of your debut single Drop Your Guard?
Candice: It's strong, cheeky……… indignant but rightfully confident………edgy but not too hard arsed.
ILM: Why was this the right track to introduce us to Metals?
Candice: Because it’s a killer track, it has a cool video and because it shows both the strength and the tongue in cheek in one :) Plus we like getting to beat up cardboard warriors………. That was the first priority.
ILM: The video is fantastic! What were some of the highlights whilst putting it together?
Candice: Aside from the bruises and scratches being covered with make up as they were inflicted on set, hahah…. my highlight would have to be the part where I went to kick the Dalek and it ripped. I therefore did the splits THROUGH the Dalek landing inside it (awesome visual I know)….. that didn’t make the final cut but it was still a highlight! For Chris I dare say his highlight would have been his oversized P-bass….. am I right chris?
Chris: Yes, I like my oversized P (bass!)
ILM: How would you describe the ethos behind Metals - what drives you to make music?
Candice: Integrity. A desire for change. The ability to laugh at ourselves. The desire to just make good music that doesn’t follow trends but makes statements. Plus we like being tour fairies and prancing around in funny costumes….or not. Generally we just like hanging out together and debating anything and everything, the music is kind of a by-product of such debate :)
ILM: Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?
Candice: Me personally: Me’shell Ndegeocello is my all time fav artist. If there is anyone I ever aspire to be like in integrity, artistic /musical/lyrical genius and expressing truth: its her. I’m also inspired by the likes of India Arie and Erykah Badu but also grew up listening to stuff like Depeche Mode and Jeff Buckley. We both have a soft spot for Die Antwoord, they’re lovely :) We both dig Betty Davis, MIA, D’Angelo etc. Chris has introduced me to lots of good techno and booty stuff, as well as things like Santogold. I know Chris is a big Joy Division fan, loves LCD Sound System and loves old school dancehall and reggae. He was incredibly stoked about finding his incredibly rare copy of the Jamaican pressing of SCIENTIST's Scientist rids the world of the evil curse of the vampires.
ILM: What do you make of the current music scene?
Candice: Auto tune drives me nuts. Blah….. Totally digging the revival of Old School Soul and Funk happening in Australia right now. Loving developments in electro soul.
Chris: I love my P-bass and my Sh101.. that’s all. I love Autotune because it really shows up who can actually sing: those who don’t use it!
ILM: What can we expect if we come to see Metals live?
Candice: Lots of tongue in cheek, a bit of attitude and lots of love..tehehehe….. We play with a 4 piece live band, and have lots of electronic gadgets on stage (including my lover the MOOOOOOOOOOOG….), and I scream and yell and rant and rave as well as croon and lullaby chant. It sometimes involves pelvic thrusting. We can get a bit crazy and go off on tangents but that’s all part of the fun :) sometimes we’re joined by astronauts, robots, monoliths, monkeys and other guests. Just depends on who we feel like hanging out with on the day really…….
ILM: Out of all the live shows you've played, which have been some of the most memorable?
Candice: I’d have to say my fav so far was the showcase gig we did for Illusive at Ormond Hall…..the venue was great, it was like a recorder recital and a barmitsvah in one, only there were a few hundred people getting trashed and screaming….. not that that doesn’t happen at your average recorder recital but eh… I wore sparkly pants. It was fun :) I think Chris’ fav so far would probably have been the Melbourne launch of Drop Your Guard at Revolver, many crazy boxwars stage antics. I got to play a cardboard key-tar…. That was also fun :)
ILM: What music have you been listening to recently?
Candice: I’ve been listening to Me’shell’s ‘the world has made me the man of my dreams’, with intermittent relapses into ‘Comfort woman’ and ‘Devil’s halo’, been listening to Electric Empire, ….and for some reason I’ve had ‘All I want is you’ by Miguel ft J Cole on repeat for a week. Also I've been smashing India Arie every morning.
Chris: I am listening to Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful songs right now because it makes me cry.
ILM: What’s been your latest musical discovery?
Candice: Hmmmmm….. probably that ‘Just McDo it’ sounds so much better with Matt playing that kick sample that he used at our last rehearsal, but on a less obscure tip, I’ve discovered the new album by ‘The Floacist’ is going to be released while we are in London ….. v exciting!!!! I F-ING LOVE her!!!
Chris: My latest musical discovery would have to be Dizz1 – a rad glitch dubstep producer from Sydney. Oh, and I found my old drum machine.. thought I had lost it!
ILM: How would you describe the Metals process of making music?
Candice: Option 1) it usually starts with a conversation about politics/relationships/the universe, then we come up with a concept for a song, Chris gives me a beat he’s slaved over for some time. I go away and write way too many words for it based on the concept discussed and add some random melodies. Chris negotiates with me to cut them down and then spends lots of time obsessing over getting the beat and instrumentation as perfectly imperfect as impossibly possible. We then come back and record vocals, mess with harmonies and often completely re-arrange the entire song. Then some weeks later we re- arrange it again. Repeat.
Option 2) as with option 1, only after the initial conversation, or lack of, I come to Chris with an essay of way too many words and a random melody, he finds/makes a beat for it and we continue with option 1.
Option 3) Chris gets out his guitar and plays something nice and pretty in an attempt to come up with a classic melody and I write a love song over it and we scrap it. Yep.
ILM: What are your future plans?
Candice: World domination. The creation of ‘planet green’ and some leisure time thrown in there somewhere after we’ve toured the universe and gone platinum several hundred times :) Also, some gardening and a treehouse.
ILM: Is there a story behind the name Metals? Where / how did it come to be?
Candice: Chris had a friend who was a ‘trend forcaster’ who said that in the previous decade popular fashion trends had all been about animals etc, and that in the coming decade it would all be about elements and metals. As a joke, he said ‘well that’s it then, let’s call it Metals’ to which I replied ‘Hell NO’. But it grew on him and our managers and after 6 weeks of healthy debate I gave in and Metals was birthed. It was like a name-gestation period really, with a lot of morning sickness on my part. I hated it but once we got the logo done, the lipstick font won me over, and once I realised that metal is not only the Chinese element for change but also represents strength, which is exactly the intent of the music, I realised it was perfect :) and so it was…
ILM: Anything else we should know?
Candice: Chris is deaf in one ear. I have a tendency to get a recurring zit in the space where my 3rd eye is, especially if I’m detoxing. Matt tells dad jokes on tour. Ehsan reads motor cycle mags on the plane and recently brought hair clippers. That is all.
