We’re at Sermon 3 Studios, listening and swapping favorite records, then my friend, visual artist Raquel Naia, says, “Yo, you gotta listen to this girl from my hometown named Metoux”…and uh boy was she right.
What came next was me witnessing one of the most talented, thoughtful, interdisciplinary soulful artist I’d ever seen.
Her name is Metoux. The singer-songwriter, mix/master engineer, director and editor is from Toronto, but last year relocated to Berlin to expand her palette of inspiration as an artist. Metoux’s voice is like liquid, like a buttery syrup that melts into its surroundings. You should check out her previous two releases in Relapse and Tyrone as well, both produced by Chuck, to see what I’m saying.
But back to Punk.
Punk, produced by KiN, brings a stark juxtaposition to the table between Metoux’s sultry voice, the lo-fi images of the video and the running pace of the music. The content subject matter is also an exploration in juxtapositions concerning gender roles and one’s personal identification with them.
With all of these layers and sub-layers we had to know more, so S3R caught up Metoux and learned straight from the source her feelings on Punk, thoughts of working with KiN, and her future explorations as an artist.
S3R: You mentioned how Punk shows fluidity in gender identification. How do you relate to that personally?
Metoux: In the Punk video “The Punk” displays a feminine side and a masculine side – two versions of himself. In the song I’m really kind of trying to explore how me and this guy i was involved with are so reluctant to show our vulnerability, cuz we both don’t wanna get played with. I mean that’s why he’s a punk lol, but in turn were ended up playing ourselves in doing that. So like a lot of the songs I write, there’s kind of a theme of duality – of two. Coming back to masculine and feminine – duality.
When I approached my friend Sally, who was staying with me in Berlin at the time, about the video it all came together and we developed the storyline. Sally being queer and covered in tattoos was totally the embodiment of this duality.
We see the Punk in the video drinking heavily, trying to hold on to the persona of manliness to hide his real feelings. Ultimately we wanted to show how you can see yourself in someone else, so much that you might just be that person. It’s deeeep, I knowwww… But Sally’s just nice to look at all the time anyway so we can settle on that too lol.
S3R: Love your direction/editing/color approach to the music video. What’s your background in that?
Metoux: I just love making stuff. I have no real training in anything, but love to challenge myself. I think I always kind of know what I want. Whenever I make a song I always have images or scenes in my mind. It’s super fulfilling when you have a vision and see it though.
S3R: One thing you you learned or took away from working with Kin?
Metoux: Kin is insane. He’s incredibly talented. Really had the most fun in the studio with him more than anyone. But yeah, I moved away from Toronto. Possibly if I didn’t I would still be doing some stuff with him.
S3R: Do you and Kin have anything else your working on for the future?
Metoux: Yeah. We have a couple tracks coming out for the beginning of the year.
S3R: We stalked your gram and see you moved to Berlin. Why the relocation?
Metoux: Things were getting stale for me in Toronto. I was getting tired of DJing all the time and wanted to make music. I had also spent some of my time in the States. I just wanted to see Europe. So I came here… but after almost 3 years it’s time to go. I’m on my way to Mexico City in a couple months.
S3R: How has Berlin affected your artistry and what new directions are you exploring creatively?
Metoux: I can’t lie and say that Berlin hasn’t left an impression on me. When you live somewhere as lawless as Berlin, it definitely changes your perception. Like I don’t feel pretentiousness really exists here. If someone says it does they just been here too long.
When I’m in London sometimes I feel like a bag lady. Like I gotta go back to the hotel and change cuz people go in with the make up and all that lol, but Berlin is really dress down.. And it’s dirty and grey. When you pull yourself outta going to the clubs it’s just strange and desolate.
I feel a bit like I’ve been spending some time in the shack. I feel a lot stronger as a producer and singer and overall artist, cuz I feel like I’ve had to rely on myself so much. No one in Berlin keeps their engagements, so collaborating just didn’t work out for me.
Berlin just made me go into myself more and made my English worse hehe 🙂
Watch Metoux – Punk (Prod. by KiN) Official Video Below and Follow Metoux Here:
