Sound and Fury is a new band out of Toronto, Canada that is huge on power chords and has a style that is reminiscent of early Ramones, Sex Pistols, and AC/DC. Front man Luke Metcalf has a style that reminds me of the early punk era riveting and exciting! The band features Luke Metcalf on vocals, guitarists Daz and Griffin, bassist John Kerns, and drummer Chris Avalos.
Metal Monthly is always looking for that one band that draws you in, and is on the brink of breaking out in this ever changing musical market in a huge way. Sound and Fury caught my attention from the get-go with music that is fueled from our youth, and is rebellious and dangerous at the same time!
I recently caught up with singer Luke Metcalf, to discuss the upcoming self titled release,” Sound and Fury" on Rebel Youth Records. Let's return to the dangerous punk era, as a new generation of rockers are born, and hope to bring something new to the market punk and a dash of metal combined that is fueled by the adrenaline of front man Luke Metcalf.
Luke, Thank you for checking in with Metal Monthly.Com. I had the chance to listen to your Myspace the other night and really enjoyed your songs. Your upcoming album is going to be released on June 24 on Rebel Youth Records/MRI- Red Distribution. Tell me about the song-writing approach for this album.
METCALF: Basically, I spent a longtime; I had this real simple set-up in my basement with an eight track reel-to-reel, drum set and my guitars and stuff. I was originally a drummer. Then I couldn't find anyone who was playing the kind of music, I wanted to play so I taught myself how to play guitar. Then I realized I would have to compose the music. I wanted to play my music. I started recording ideas for about a year. I wanted to get a lead guitarist, because I don't play lead guitar, I play rhythm to play some songs. My buddy Griffin came over did a great job. Then we decided to put a band together. Once I finished the music and structuring the songs. I am always writing lyrics. I kind of put it all together.
It kind of has that punk vice with AC/DC hooks running through it too.
METCALF: Right from the beginning, I am like a total fanatic 70's rock and metal. I was like my ideal band would kind of combine them. It would be a hybrid. Right from the beginning, that was my objective in the music. AC/DC is my favorite band ever. That kind of style with Sabbath combined. I mix with Ramones and Misfits and Sex Pistols.
I read that you lived in California for a while. How did that play a role in the song-writing fort this album?
METCALF: We are from Canada. Except for my rhythm guitarist is from New Zealand. Most of the lyrics I wrote about were about my experiences in High School. I got booted out a bunch of different High Schools. Then I got kicked out of my house. I went by bus down to Toronto down to California. I had a buddy living down there. We were both really broke. Basically spent the next year living homeless in East Oakland and Berkley. I was in Arizona and a little bit of time in New York. Some of the lyrics are about that.
I think too the fans can identify with that image too. I don't want to say street image but down to earth and real. Do you agree?
METCALF: Absolutely.
How long has the band been together? Did you meet in High School?
Metcalf: A couple of years now. Well my lead guitarist Griffin and I met in High School. Then I put together songs and he came on board. We auditioned guys after that. It took a little while. We found our bass player and drummer fairly quickly. But then it took a little while longer to find our rhythm guitarist. We couldn't find the right guy. I just do lead vocals onstage. So we needed a rhythm guitarist. I asked my manager to kind of put out the word to everyone I knew in the business. So he did. The first day, we had over 200 emails applications for the job. People all over the world. We checked out a whole bunch of videos of people online and stuff. This new guy Daz from Australia, originally from New Zealand, and was living in Melbourne at the time was really good. He had the right style so he flew in from Australia and auditioned and got the job and has been with us ever since. That was about a year ago.
How did you come up with the name Sound and Fury? It sounds really rebellious.
METCALF: It was funny, I went to three or four different High Schools, but the first one I was in there was one of the few classes that I actually attended was an English class. There was some essay we had to do on some piece of writing; it was a quote from Shakespeare. I really liked the way it sounded. I took it and named the band.
You said growing up you liked the 70's rock. Who inspired you as a singer?
METCALF: My all time favorite vocalist is Bon Scott from AC/DC.
I should have known that!
METCALF: Yes, he's the man.
Also, as a kid you said you were a drummer first before you became a singer and front man. Was it hard making the transition?
METCALF: It took a little while. The drumming really helped me when I started learning guitar. It kind of went like drumming helped when I wanted to compose my own songs, so I picked up the guitar and learned how to play rhythm guitar. The drumming really gave me an edge in learning how to play rhythm guitar. Then after that I was like, I had written a lot of lyrics, and said maybe I should try singing. I started working on that and that took awhile. Just practicing and wanting to sing like all my favorite singers and then develop my own style. But it definitely took awhile.
Now the band has been touring. You actually opened up for SUM 41. You made a lot of fans I bet on that tour?
METCALF: It was amazing. The fans that came out to see those shows were perfect for us. We are totally about the all age’s shows. High school kids really make up most of our fans. It was perfect for us. Because they were all all-ages shows. It was like every night, we were playing in front of packed houses. Anywhere between 1800 and 4500 kids. So we just came out to Rock! They really liked our set. It was just an amazing experience. We got to meet all bunch of cool people and have a really good time.
Do you get a lot of moshing at your shows?
METCALF: yes, a lot of time it is very high energy. The kids tend to go completely crazy.
Do you have any shows coming up?
METCALF: We are playing the Bamboozle festival on May 4th at the Meadowland Sports Complex in Rutherford, NJ. There are tons of bands on the bill. It is a big rock festival. There are some pretty big bands playing too. I think there are six stages or something. The main stage acts are all established, and the side stage acts are more up and coming.
I would kind of describe your sound as Airbourne meets AC/DC.
METCALF: Airbourne is great. They are a new band that came out recently.
How would you describe your sound? Are you trying to recapture the punk era, and infuse it with metal?
METCALF: I just want to take all of my favorite bands and mash them all up together into something new. Then just combine the elements of all of my favorite stuff. I really haven't heard anything that combined those styles in one band. That is what it is all about for me. We want to be out on the road as much as we possibly can.
Well Metal Monthly will get the word out about Sound and Fury. Is there anything else that you would like to day to the readers about the new album?
METCALF: The main thing with our music and that I love is like bands that just write albums and not just a single with a bunch of fillers. They create an album, and a single piece of work. All my favorite bands did that. They created albums. This is an album. It is very important to me make sure that there is no weak links. No weak effort on an album. It should be a complete piece of work. It should be absolutely, equally strong every step of the way through it. So that is the main thing I would say about this. This is a rock album. It is not like a couple of singles and a bunch of filler.
That is so true, and I came to that conclusion upon listening. Thanks Luke for taking time out to introduce us to Sound and Fury and The Canadian music scene.
METCALF: There are a lot of really good young bands coming up in Canada, which is great. Montreal is a great party city too. I mean that is a party town. There is a lot of great young scene. There are a ton of great musicians there as well. Thanks a lot for the support, it is awesome.
