Portland, Oregon-based Rock band Metts Ryan Collins recently released their sophomore full-length album, No Days Be Wasted, leaning into Blues-Rock and also carrying their philosophy of working on the album in its title. Throughout the pandemic period, wasting no time that came their way, they carved out their new collection in a collaborative way.
Wildfire is very pleased to premier Metts Ryan Collins’ animated lyric video for the track “Complicated” today on-site. The track is the only one on the album that had a demo created solo, the rest of the tracks being written together, but the reason for its unique genesis lies in its very personal and emotional subject-matter.
With a warm guitar-driven Rock vibe and very direct lyrics about juggling a relationship rift whose outcome is still unknown, “Complicated” offers some perspective and even some hope for human connection when odds seem stacked against it. The track’s lyric video, with its subtle line-art is useful for conveying just how step-by-step a relationship breakdown and relationship reconstruction can be.
Guitarist and lead vocalist Geoff Metts shares:
Writing “Complicated” was very cathartic for me. I wrote it and recorded a demo at home without the intention of ever sharing it, but it turned out to be a really great song. I was nervous to take it to the band but Mike and Dain really liked it too. I’ve never written anything so personal and put it on an album before. When we play it live, I still have to be careful not to get choked up. It feels good to get it out, based on the response it feels good to listen to as well.
Comprised of Geoff Metts (guitar, lead vocals), Dain Ryan (bass, vocals), and Mike Collins (drums, vocals), Metts Ryan Collins have previously released a self-titled EP and 2018’s debut full-length album Homegrown. Whereas with previous releases, band members would each bring in songs, this time around, songwriting was a truly a collaborative effort.
For the most part, songs were built together in a rehearsal space and recorded primarily at Portland’s Primal Recording Studio with their frequent engineer/Producer Kevin Hahn. The songs represented an expansion in influences and sounds for the trio, and the album’s title track was also a little experimental in that their Producer suggested they go to a house on the Oregon Coast to write it together with impressive results.
Though the band may have lots of time on their hands during the pandemic period, they doubled down on productivity in moving towards the new album, proving the mantra of their title in deed as well as in word.
