Words by Jonathan Stout
Alex Edkins is restless. When the pandemic hit, he had to take a forced break from the road with his main band, METZ, to focus on family and recalibration. But unable to sit still, he made a new record under the guise, Weird Nightmare. Whereas METZ’s music is often hard hitting and aggressive, the Weird Nightmare recordings instead focused on shimmering power pop, lo-fi punk and baroque psychedelia.
Now, four years since the first self-titled Weird Nightmare record, the project has returned, with a clearer focus and vision. With METZ on indefinite hiatus, Weird Nightmare has come to the forefront of Edkins’ priorities, and with that comes the more polished offering, Hoopla. Tapping the assistance of Seth Manchester for engineering and Spoon’s Jim Eno for production, the sonic lift provided by these masters can be heard immediately when the band kicks in during album opener “Headful of Rain.” Make no mistake, this album still hits with the immediacy of their first release, but has spread out into further developed sonic terrain. The teeth haven’t been dulled, rather, sharpened and shined to create a sound that’s less fitting for a bedroom and more fitting for the headlining stage.
Off Shelf: The last time we spoke was for the release of the METZ album Up On Gravity Hill in 2024. How does the release of Hoopla feel in comparison? Is it the same kind of excitement or a little different?
Alex Edkins: Every time you put something out there it’s really exciting. It’s a process – I personally really love the part of making it the most. But when you finally get a chance to share it after the roll out and the time it takes to manufacture records – it is a great feeling. So we’re super close now! It feels great every time!
This record, oddly enough, was made soon after I made Up On Gravity Hill and it was done before the last METZ tour was done. So it’s been done for a long time. I kind of sat on it for a while, in order to do some more “life” things – like not being on the road – but it’s exciting that it’s almost here!
OS: Was it hard to sit on it for so long? Were you anxious to get it out
AE: Well, you know I needed a break from the road for sure. I had to force myself to take that time. I’m not great at being idle. I want to always be making something and playing music, but it felt like the right thing to do – to give myself some time to make sense of everything and recalibrate. So no, it wasn’t difficult, although slightly against my nature to break that.
OS: I remember when we were talking about the previous Weird Nightmare record that you’d become musically restless, stretching out into various music projects outside of Metz. But I think during the pandemic a lot of us had that moment to pause and reset to try to make sense of what it means to be a musician in this day and age.
AE: And that’s changing all the time too! Even now, I think that’s different than it was in the pandemic. The ground’s shifting beneath you.
OS: Yeah, and the recording occurred during the pandemic, squeezed in between opportunities when not home with your son. This one was a bit different – going to a studio accompanied by Spoon’s Jim Eno. How did you get aligned and what made you move forward with more production?
AE: It was a fun idea, after making what’s safe to say was a pretty lo-fi record – a bedroom project using primarily SM-57 mics and my know-how. I feel like I can produce a record, but I wouldn’t call myself “an engineer”. So this time around, it was really exciting to me to say, “Let’s make a great wide-sounding record!” Seth Manchester, who did two of the last Metz records – that was sort of his doing! He said “Let’s make this sound great!”
I love the charm of lo-fi records, but this time around we really wanted it to be unequivocally a well done recording and mix. Getting linked up with Jim was due to Seth too, because he and Jim have been friends for years, and it was just one of those serendipitous things, where the week where I was going down to Providence to record with Seth, Jim had decided to pick up his studio in Austin and move it to Providence. So he was ten minutes away! It was amazing. I’m such a huge Spoon fan and fan of what Jim does – so I got on the phone with him, we chatted and I sent him some demos. Immediately, it just felt like it was going to be great, and he was down to work with me, which was an honor – quite frankly – and he brought such a great vibe to the studio every day. I can say, for sure, that this was the funnest record I’ve ever made. I had my rhythm section there, who are absolutely great players. So I really couldn’t have wished for a more streamlined and fun process to make this record in.
I think that shines through the songs too, because the vibe of the album was meant to be an uplifting sound – there are heavy concepts in there, very personal lyrics – but as far as the overall mood of the record, I wanted to establish a feeling of spring. Like when the chorus lifts at just the right time and puts a smile on your face. That’s what I was hoping to do!
OS: For this album, you’re backed by Loel Campbell on drums and bassist Roddy Kuester. How long did it take for these songs to come together? Were a great deal of rehearsals required or did everyone understand the assignment pretty quickly?
AE: They’re consummate professionals, those two. Loel’s been with me since the beginning, he played on the first record too. He very much gets the project, we have a great chemistry and are able to speak the same kind of drum language. They came to the studio with a few notes of their own, we rolled tape and I was just blown away by what they brought to it! They put their own stamp on it, but it was not an arduous task for them. It was pretty straightforward songs and structures. So… I don’t think we rehearsed at all? They had the demos for a couple weeks and then we came in and did it.
OS: How did Julianna Riolino get tapped for backing vocals on this one? What inspired you to add this dimension?
AE: It was one of those things where we met when Weird Nightmare was opening for Daniel Romano on a Scandinavian tour. She asked me to play guitar on her new album, and I played on three songs, so we just did a trade! It’s fun to try different things and collaborate as much as possible. She’s just fantastic and has an amazing voice so it was just a no-brainer.
OS: For the first record, you talked about doing things that you didn’t have the “guts” to do previously – like stacking 3 part harmonies or using acoustic guitars, mellotrons, synths and of course, producing and engineering the release as well. Are there any moments or aspects of Hoopla that you feel are equally fearless? Are there new approaches on this record as well?
AE: I’m particularly proud of “If You Should Turn Away” which is just new ground for me. There’s a lot of songs that I’m very proud of here and I’m glad that I left some things so… unvarnished? Like the lyrics are very to the point. There’s no beating around the bush. For a song like “If You Should Turn Away” – it’s not exactly a ballad, but it’s pretty chilled, and it’s kind of an acoustic song really. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything close to that before, so that felt amazing! It’s one of the high points of the record. But stuff like that – just constantly pushing yourself to not retrace steps but go somewhere else.
OS: Within the last few years, you’ve become more involved with films, even crafting scores for a few. In the press release for Hoopla, it compares the work to a “beloved indie director leveling up to their first studio feature,” with further comparisons to Richard Linklater and his development from Slacker to Before Sunrise. Was there anything that you saw during the making of this album that influenced you creatively? What kind of films do you gravitate towards?
AE: MadS (2024). Although I’m not a horror guy, this movie was brilliant. Sometimes you just hear a record or see a movie and think “Wow, they did something new!” That’s all that I can say about this movie – it’s scary as hell and pretty next level. It was the coolest movie that I’ve seen in awhile! This is not to say that this movie directly influenced my optimistic pop record. [laughs] It’s just that it gets you excited to make things.
OS: I was speaking with a friend recently and it’s interesting that nowadays how many of the films pushing artistic boundaries the most are tending to be horror and thriller films. The genre in general is changing, to become more creative and groundbreaking.
AE: Yeah! In horror, it feels like they’re still funding or something? Once in a while you’ll see a movie that is picked up with worldwide distribution, and it was made for very little, and I’m not sure if you see that happen in many other genres.
OS: Similar to the previous question, we talked before about the first Bee Gees record and Tall Dwarfs being influences on your first record. Although there are many similarities between the two releases, Hoopla leans even more into 70s power pop and 90s indie alternative. Were there any records that inspired this direction?
AE: For me, making a record, I don’t ever reference anything directly. It’s a mix of everything I love, and now that this is sort of guided primarily by me, I think my love for melody and harmony is coming more and more naturally to the forefront. As of late digging through, a lot of the Robyn Hitchcock records, which are great and very inspirational.
OS: He has so much material to check out too, whether it’s solo or with the Soft Boys.
AE: Yeah, it’s a very deep catalogue! I’ve also been enjoying some of Paul Westerberg’s solo stuff too.
OS: Absolutely! I think something that can be said of your music and a lot of the indie or alternative rock music that’s being made currently, is that it’s not as easy to categorize. But one thing you can say is that it sounds like record collector music, you know? It’s all over the place.
AE: [laughs] Well, yeah! Now that everyone has access to the entire history of recorded sound, it really is quite interesting to see what’s being made. I think there’s no limit to what young musicians can consume by the age of 18. Whereas, when I was growing up there was an absolute finite limit, based on how much you could make from your part time job! [laughs] So it’s stunning – I think there’s no limits, which is really cool.
OS: Since you just completed this new Weird Nightmare album, what’s your next recording project? What are you currently working or experimenting on?
AE: I’m happy to say that I’m working on a few movie things and podcast things right now. Those are of course more in the vein of sound design, but then I’ve got some new Weird Nightmare as well. Just constantly trying to get my fingers everywhere and stay busy!
Obviously with this new record, I’m going to be super busy on the road. It’s almost intimidating how packed with dates this spring and summer are. [laughs] I’m excited and hoping that I remember how to do it. It hasn’t been that long, but it’s been awhile since I’ve done long tours. Tours will be my focus over the next couple months.
OS: Finally, METZ shocked fans when you reunited to perform on John Mulaney’s Netflix show last year, occurring shortly after you’d already announced your breakup. How was that experience? And how permanent is this breakup? Could fans expect more one-off performances like this?
AE: To answer the last part – I have no idea! I don’t think it’s on anyone’s mind right now.
But that experience was awesome! I think we all loved it. The only reason it really happened was because that was something that had been floating in front of us for a long time, but hadn’t been for sure. In TV, they have to book so far out, so we knew that offer might come, but it was just a carrot dangling in front of us, so we went on with our lives. When it did actually get offered, I think the three of us just thought that it was such a bizarre idea, and since we’ve always loved doing bizarre things, it’s seemed to fit. But playing live on TV – it happened a lot before but I think it rarely happens now. So it was very exciting to both be on a set, on a stage like that in Hollywood, meeting all these famous people. And it was also terrifying! It was live but then lives on Netflix forever. I’d summarize it by saying it was a great experience that we all loved, but also white knuckle terror as well. [laughs] I definitely almost forgot the first line of the song! You can see – I open my mouth to sing and my eyes look very unsure, but luckily it came out anyway, because I’d done it so many times. It was touch and go there. My wife joked and said she could tell I was about to mess up. I guess live TV just got to me! [laughs]