Metric (band) life and biography

Metric is an indie rock band formed in 1998 at Toronto, Canada and based at various times in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles.

The band consists of Emily Haines (vocals, synthesizers), James Shaw (guitars), Josh Winstead (bass) and Joules Scott-Key (drums). Initially Metric was a duo made up by Haines and Shaw, then in 2001 Winstead and Scott-Key joined the band. They took the name “Metric” in 1999 after a synthesizer beat that Shaw used on his sampler and as a reference to their musical precision. The group’s music encompasses elements of indie rock, new wave and dance music.

Besides Metric, Emily Haines and James Shaw also perform with Broken Social Scene. Joules Scott-Key and Joshua Winstead have their own side project, Bang Lime. Emily Haines released her debut album Cut In Half and Also Double in 1996 and two records under the moniker Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton: the album Knives Don’t Have Your Back in 2006 and the 6-track EP What Is Free To A Good Home? in 2007. She also has been a guest on albums by Stars, The Crystal Method, kc accidental, Delerium, The Stills and Jason Collett.

Band's first album "Grow Up and Blow Away" was finally released on June 26, 2007 via Last Gang Records. The album was originally recorded for Restless Records, but got neglected when the label was bought out by Rykodisc.

Their fourth studio album Fantasies was released in Canada and the United States on April 7, 2009. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album of the Year, and won the Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards. Metric won as well in 2010 Group of the Year.

Their fifth and most recent album "Synthetica" was released on June 12 2012.



Haines first envisioned the word “Synthetica” as the name for a particularly resilient skin-job from Blade Runner, a female replicant who voices an inner monologue of all your human imperfections. "If you imagine a nightmarishly fake version of me as a pop star, that’s her,” she says. "And this record was about me saying, I'm going to give more to the music than ever, but there's no way I'm going to turn into someone like that." As she sings on the album's hard-rocking title track, "We're all the time confined to fit the mold / But I won't ever let them make a loser of my soul."

Since their last album, Metric has picked up JUNO Awards for "Alternative Album of the Year" and "Band of the Year," contributed the lead single to the Scott Pilgrim vs The World soundtrack, and landed on the Academy Awards' short list for Twilight's "All Yours," which they co-wrote with composer Howard Shore. They have since partnered up with Howard Shore on another project: The score to David Cronenberg’s latest film Cosmopolis was composed by Shore and performed by Metric.

Plans for the release of Synthetica are as forward thinking as its grand sound and the band is poised to top the success of Fantasies (which debuted in the Top 10 around the world on iTunes Rock Albums charts as a self-release). Synthetica will be a global self-release on MMI (with joint venture partner Mom + Pop in the USA). Metric's management has aligned with industry legends like Cliff Burnstein and Radiohead manager Brian Message in unconventional partnerships that embrace new technology and keep the artist in the driver’s seat. In a letter written to the fans, Haines gives us a glimpse of what’s to come:

“Synthetica is about insomnia, fucking up, fashion, all the devices and gadgets attached to our brains, getting wasted, watching people die in other countries, watching people die in your own country, dancing your ass off, questioning the cops, poetic justice, standing up for yourself, sex, the apocalypse, doing some stupid shit and totally regretting it but then telling everyone it made you stronger, leaving town as a solution to unsolvable problems, owning your actions, and owning your time.”

Albums:


Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
Live It Out (2005)
Grow Up and Blow Away (2007)
Fantasies (2009)
Synthetica (2012)

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