Sound and Fury – Luke Metcalf
Posted on June 23, 2008 at 8:00 am by admin
Less than a week before Sound and Fury’s debut self-titled album dropped into stores I was able to talk with vocalist/songwriter Luke Metcalf about his band, his influences, and his history. He was very eager to talk about his fascination for the old punk and rock and why he chose to unite the two sounds together for the brand new, old school sound of Sound and Fury.
Luke Metcalf: When I was four years old my brother played me the Beatles and I immediately thought that rock and roll was the greatest thing the human race has every created, and I still think that. So I immediately knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Way Too Loud!: To pursue a career in rock n’ roll?
Luke: Absolutely! There was no other option.
WTL: It seems like you guys are going for an old school punk rock / classic rock sound?
Luke: Yeah, that was the objective right from the beginning. We all listen to a lot of different types of music but we’re huge fans of 70’s punk and hard rock so my ideal band would be a hybrid of the two. So that’s basically what we’re doing.
WTL: I haven’t been able to find much information on Sound and Fury or yourself, can you tell me a little about your history, for instance have you been in recent bands?
Luke: Yeah! I originally started out playing drums and I was the drummer in a few different small bands just to learn how to play, [being] self taught. I realized all my favourite musicians are self taught. I realized quickly that I couldn’t find any band that was playing the kind of music that I wanted to play, and if I wanted to play that kind of music I would have to start writing the music myself. So I switched over and started playing guitar and writing lyrics and learning vocals and started writing my own songs.
Then I recorded my own songs playing drums, rhythm guitar and bass and doing the vocals, and I needed a lead guitarist because I don’t play lead guitar, so I called up my buddy
WTL: I know you’ll be asked this a lot, but where did the name Sound and Fury come from?
Luke: That was one of the few things in high school… I had some good times in high school, got kicked out of a bunch of high schools, I wasn’t really the greatest student… but I just remember one English class I was completely stoned off my ass sitting in the back of this classroom. The teacher wrote this quote up on the blackboard from Shakespeare and “sound and fury” was part of it and I always though it was cool, “sound and fury”. I remembered it years later and was like “yeah I gotta use that!” So I stole it from Shakespeare. (Laughs)
WTL: Hearing your songs I thought the name Sound and Fury totally fits with your music style.
Luke Yeah!
WTL: So your debut album is set to drop on Tuesday, what can we expect?
Luke: It’s a party album! This is an album that if you’re holding a rampaging keg party and the cops are showing up and the whole neighbourhood is outraged, we would be hoping you’d be playing this album! That’s what it’s made for. This album is made to party your fuckin’ ass off!
WTL: That kind of cancels out my next question about the “theme” of the album.
Luke: Yeah and also most of the lyrics are about my experiences in high school, for the most part, and after. And I did, and still do, a lot of partying. (Laughs) There ya go!
WTL: Tell me about Sound and Fury’s lead single, “18”.
Luke: Well, kind of a high school song just about raising hell. When I turned 18 I was like, um, you know it’s bullshit that you aren’t really considered an adult until you’re 18. I very much considered myself an adult when I was 14 because I was very aware of myself and aware of the world and very capable of dealing with it. I would really throw a lot of abuse at any authority figure that thought that they could look down on me. When I turned 18, my kind of attitude was like “I’m supposed to be an adult now but adults are all full of shit anyway.” That was just kind of my song about that.
WTL: So tell me about the video for “18”. What was it like shooting the video and who came up with the concept?
Luke: Oh, it was a blast! We just wanted to do a simple performance video and the director came up with the idea. We shot it in an abandoned cop shop and we got totally wasted, it was great!
WTL: So do you have any way of working around writers block, or was it simply not an issue this time?
Luke: To me it’s simple, you never force it. Things have they’re own natural rhythm and it’s like if you don’t feel it then you need to go out and live some adventures and you’ll have more material to work with. Don’t try to sit down and lock yourself in a room and force it, go out and live and it’ll come.
WTL: Which producer did you choose for album?
Luke: I produced it. We recorded it in our rehearsal space and I produced it with a buddy of mine.
WTL: Who would you like to tour with who’s both feasible but not obvious?
Luke: There’s no particular band right now because for us it’s all about the audience. If there’s an audience that’s coming out to party there asses off and live for rock and roll then we’re gonna have a good time. That’s all we care about; it’s all about the audience. There’s a lot of bands out there that attract that type of audience and we wanna tour with them, or all of them.
WTL: So is there anywhere in the world that you would like to tour?
Luke: Well I would like to keep touring
WTL: Sooner or later you probably will!
Luke: We’re hoping to get over there in the next few months actually. That’s definitely a big part of the plan.
Interview by Luke at Way Too Loud!
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