SETTLE PETAL: Metropolis interview!

 

PART 1 - "THE INTERVIEW"

 

1 - What is your earliest musical memory and what pushed you towards pursuing a career in the music business?

 

Thirdy - “I remember being six or seven and hearing 'Don't Look Back In Anger' on the radio. I was amazed at how different it was compared to all the pop music I was used to. I was only young but even then I knew I had heard an actual band for the first time. In terms of perusing a career in music, I have always been interested in playing guitar and was surprised at how easy song writing came to me. If I'm being honest I'm a bit of a music freak. I watch way too many music documentaries and know so many pointless music and Beatles facts. I've watched the anthology so many times I've lost count."

 

Daniel - “I remember listening to Guns n Roses for the first time and thinking that they were a cool band. I think that they were the first band I had seen that made me want to join a band. They had the attitude but also had the music to back it up. Ever since then I've been interested in bands and playing music."

 

Suthy - "Earliest memory is buying the American Idiot album and going home listening to it for the first time. That album made me pick up a guitar and learn the whole thing."

 

2 - Had you been involved in any other bands or musical ventures before Metropolis?

 

Daniel - “Me and Thirdy were in a band together in our teens called 'Rapture of Vertigo'. We played mostly everywhere in Dundee and headlined a few places. We were even offered to support The Seahorses (minus John Squire) in London but it was costing too much to make it. We were mostly a rock band at that time but struggled to grow the fan base as we were only a four piece with one guitar. I remember playing a gig at Dexters (now Non-Zeros) and we supported a five piece from Glasgow and noticed how thin we sounded with one guitarist. Thirdy's a great guitarist but I think he tried to do too much himself. It was a great experience though and its a view that you need to get yourself out there and see what you have to work on."

 

Suthy - "I had been in a few bands, but nothing that was really taking off. I met Thirdy on a sound production course at college and we hit it off straight away, swapping our guitar techniques."

 

3 - How did Metropolis begin?

 

Thirdy - "When 'Rapture of Vertigo' ended, me and Danny came to the decision that we needed to change our style and expand to two guitars. I knew that my old songs were musically sound but lacked the commercial edge needed to expand the fan base. So after going back to the drawing board I worked harder on my song writing and started to come up with a whole range of songs scoping different genres whilst still keeping a commercial twist. When everybody first joins a band you always say 'nah we want to sound as uncommercial as possible' but from experience you learn that you've got to appeal to a wide audience or labels simply won't look at you. Its about finding a middle ground between keeping your music true to you and being accepted by the general public. Loads of bands would disagree with us but in the end you have to do what you have to do, especially if you don't want to be playing pubs for the rest of your life."

 

4 - Where did the name Metropolis come from?

 

Daniel - "Stole it from a film, thought it sounded cool."

 

5 - How would you describe the sound of Metropolis?

 

Thirdy - "I'd say Metropolis is the sound of numerous genres coming together. We try to make music that everyone can enjoy. I would like to think that we can't be pigeon holed as a band. We have a bit of everything ranging from indie and rock to britpop and sixties R&B."

 

6 - You've made some of your demos available through Soundcloud. One of these is called "Gone" - a promising sounding tune. What is the song itself about and what influenced it?

 

Thirdy - "'Gone' is a song about the breakup of any relationship. There are times when circumstances and people change and you simply have to concede that whatever you have is gone. I think at the time there were a lot of relationships around me going down the tubes and the lyrics came naturally. The song started when I was trying to come up with something that resembled the new Scottish sound (Twin Atlantic, WeCameFromWolves etc.) I felt that this was something missing from our set and we could do with trying to hit that market. It's a very close to the bone track and I was really happy with the way it ended up. Its been one of our most listened to tracks and is definitely a single contender."

 

7 - Do you have any 'rituals' before you go on stage?

 

Suthy - "We actually haven't played a gig together yet. Rehearsed a lot and recorded demos but still missing a drummer."

 

Thirdy - "Usually I just keep myself to myself and have a few swift drinks to kick the nerves. You always get those nerves before going on."

 

8 - Any live dates coming up?

 

Daniel - "We're hoping to be gigging as soon as we secure a drummer. If we get a drummer we'd hope to be gigging fully within three months." 

 

9 - Any new songs in the pipeline?

 

Thirdy - "I've had the album finished for a good few months now. It's been a progression over the past couple of years and I am now very confident in the songs that we have."

Suthy - "There is always material being worked on and we always strive to write good, original sounding material so yeah, there is always something new on the way."

10 - When can fans expect the next official release?

Suthy - "We're in the middle of recording three new songs. We hope to have them up within the next month."

11 - Who would be your dream collaboration?

Suthy - "Foo Fighters."

Thirdy - "I would love to work with Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Noel Gallagher."

12 - Who would be in your dream super group?

Thirdy - "Ginger Baker on drums, Paul McCartney on bass, Clapton and Marr on guitars, Liam Gallagher (Morning Glory era) on vocals."

Suthy - "Dream super group would be Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums, Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold) on lead guitar, Billie Joel Armstrong (Green Day) on rhythm guitar, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass and Jenna McDougall (Tonight Alive) on vocals."

Daniel - "Jim Morrison on vox, Squire and Slash on guitars, John Entwisle on bass, Tommy Lee on drums."

PART 2: "THE QUICKFIRE ROUND"

1 - Favourite Beatle?

Thirdy - "Macca."

Daniel - "Harrison."

Suthy - "McCartney."

2 - Favourite band?

Thirdy - "Beatles."

Daniel - "Oasis."

Suthy - "Foo Fighters."

3 - Favourite new band?

Thirdy - "The Vaccines."

Daniel - "Haim."

Suthy - "Tonight Alive."
4 - Favourite song?

Thirdy - "Don't Look Back in Anger."

Daniel - "Halo, Foo Fighters."

Suthy - "Roadhouse Blues, The Doors."

5 - Favourite album?

Thirdy - "Revolver."

Daniel - "LA Woman."

Suthy - "American Idiot."

6 - Vinyl, CD or download?

Thirdy - "Download."

Daniel - "CD."

Suthy - "CD."

7 - Style icon?

Thirdy - "Johnny Marr."

Suthy - "Chris Shiflett." 8 - Favourite clothing brand? Thirdy - "Lyle & Scott."

Daniel - "Converse."

Suthy - "Vans."
9 - Favourite film?
 Thirdy - "Gone In 60 Seconds."

Daniel - "Terminator."

Suthy - "Iron Man."
10 - Favourite TV show?

Thirdy - "Dexter."

Daniel - "Sopranos."

Suthy - "Big Band Theory."

11 - Who would play you in a film of your life?

Thirdy - "Chuck Norris."

Daniel - "Christian Bale."

Suthy - "Jack Black."

12 - Favourite food?

Thirdy - "Chips and cheese."

Daniel - "Pizza."

Suthy - "Dominoes."
13 - Football team?

Thirdy - "Dundee United."

Daniel - "Dundee FC"

Suthy - "Baltimore Ravens/Celtic."
 
Hope you enjoyed this feature on Metropolis! Check out our previous feature on Two-Bit Sister!

 

Check out Metropolis here - https://www.facebook.com/metropolisdundee

 

You can also like our Facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords

 

AB Records