Before forming his band Sound and Fury, Luke Metcalf moved around a lot, getting kicked out of 3 different high schools for various incidents, then being thrown out of his house. He worked all summer, then went to California by bus to meet up with a friend. The next year was spent scrounging for good times in the land of the "next", "the next high", "the next drink", "the next lay", "the next meal", often in that order. Some may think okay, so he had a hard life, what makes Luke Metcalf different? Of course there are some who have gone through similar hardships. But for the ones like Luke, who don't give up on their dreams and make those dreams into reality is truly amazing.
Today, Luke Metcalf is living his rock and roll dream with his band, SOUND AND FURY. A band, that is all about power chords and no-bullshit rock 'n roll, total sonic assault. To help Luke's desire to create stripped down straight up whiskey drinking rock n’ roll, Luke recruited guitarists Daz and Griffin, ex- Age of Electric bassist John Kerns, and drummer Chris Avalos, to play the music he lives to create. The Rocker and I spoke with Sound and Fury front man, Luke Metcalf, to talk about his band, his music and how they intend to rock the world. Here is how it all went down.
AAM: Let's talk about your debut release. Just after one listen, it's like you’re unleashing a wild animal from its cage.
LUKE METCALF: Wow, thanks guys! That is what we wanted to do, unleash an animal of a release. Glad to hear you guys are digging the record.
AAM: Our first impression was early AC/DC mixed with The Sex Pistols with a dash of The Ramones thrown in for good measure.
LM: All of us in the band grew listening to classic rock like AC/DC as well as a lot of the punk bands like The Sex Pistols. We wanted to incorporate our influences in our music and give an even more bombastic edge to it and I believe we did that.
AAM: We understand it wasn't that smooth as far as making your record. You went through some rough times.
LM: That is true. There were lots of ups and downs with this record. I had no money, no job and no place to live but I got lucky and got a job on a farm the same day I got kicked out.
AAM: What was it like putting the record together?
LM: I originally started out as a drummer, then I switched to guitar. I just couldn't find any bands that wanted to play the music I wanted to play. So after a few years I started to record the original ideas of the songs you hear on the album. I recorded them all on a crappy Fostex recorder in my basement. I played everything, the drums, the vocals, the guitars and the bass. I couldn't play lead guitar, so what I did, was record the songs with spaces where the guitars solos would go. It's no exaggeration that I spent a solid year in that basement at least ten hours a day every day writing the songs and recording the tracks, playing all the instruments.
AAM: As far as a band goes, are you satisfied with the guys in band?
LM: They are great, the guys are awesome! I'm really psyched about how the music and lyrics that I spent so much time writing and composing have turned out.
AAM: How would you describe Sound and Fury's music?
LM: Sound and Fury's music is ferocious! Like a wild wolf, let out of its cage. That's what we're all about, creating no-bullshit Rock N' Roll to get down and dirty and party your ass off to! That's what we're all about.
AAM: You guys are based in Toronto right? What’s the music scene like in Toronto?
LM: Toronto is pretty good, right, there’s lots of musicians and lots of rock clubs to play at. It’s certainly a place where you can meet musicians and put together a band and play clubs and stuff. It’s good. Montreal is close by and that city has a good music scene too, it’s more of a party town than Toronto, though not as big. There’s lots of young people living there because there are various schools there, which explains the party town vibe. There’s a lot of good music that’s coming from these two cities. I think it’s an exciting time for music.
AAM: You guys must be itching to get on the road and unleashing Sound and Fury to the masses. What can we expect?
LM: Most definitely, we love playing live! We don't take ourselves that seriously. This is about going out and getting crazy, for kids who want to go out and have a good time. I wanna party with the kids who live for rock n roll, no bullshit, down 'n dirty, ferocious rock 'n roll. People who really sincerely live for that music and don't give a shit about anything else. We can't wait to hit the road, kick some ass and party with the people that come out to the show.
AAM: As far as touring goes, who would like to hit the road with?
LM: Well, we’re huge fans of DC, Sabbath and stuff, but we can tour with anyone I think. We just wrapped up some touring with Sum 41 which was a really great experience for us. We met some great people and some of them became fans. We’ll try to do our best to play all ages shows, because the truth is most of our fans are high school aged kids. We like playing mid-size venues so we can still get close to the audience, where if you play bigger venues that’s lost. There’s a bunch of younger bands doing all ages theater tours and that’s the kind of tours we wanna be a part of. I like playing to the kids they come out to see a show and they’ll come out to see all the opening bands. These kids will show up to the venue like two hours early and stay till the end. That’s loyalty man and they wanna get their money’s worth. They want the complete experience and I just love that.
AAM: For some who has never seen Sound and Fury live, what can they expect hear and see?
LM: Sound and Fury is very high energy. The cool thing about the band, it's not like there's a lead singer and guitarist and everyone else just sits in the background. Everybody's high energy. We just like to, as much as we can, stir the audience into a frenzy. For us, we're throwing a party, and it's not us and then the audience, we're all in it together - when it's like that, that's the best.
Luke Metcalf promises that SOUND AND FURY will stab conformity through the heart and celebrate the spoils with the devoted fans that hitch a ride to their powerful, adrenaline-pumping sound. Get ready for the rampage. Toronto's Sound and Fury is the feral wolf, perched on its haunches, fangs bared and poised to pounce, tearing the strips of rock 'n roll tedium from the world and spewing it back with snarling intensity. The Rocker and I along with All Access Magazine would to thank Luke Metcalf for doing this interview. Go for throat Luke! See you when you come to L.A.
