Metric

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• Genre: '00s Alternative
• Hometown: Toronto
• Metric Website

About

Currently based out of Toronto, indietronic act Metric actually formed in Brooklyn in 1998. Vocalist Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw met in a Toronto club after attending a concert by mutual friends and discovering they both hated the show. Their musical bonds established, the two mixed a few of their own songs together, creating what would become The MainstreamEP, a collection of demos. Upon moving to Brooklyn, they dubbed their project Metric after a sequence that Shaw played on his keyboard. A record deal (and the desire to escape their NYC hovel) then lead them to London. Yet in 2001 their first full-length, Grow Up and Blow Away, wasn't released due to legal conflicts. Returning to New York, they met drummer Joules Scott-Key (a Texan) and became a trio. However, it took two years before Metric put out their proper debut Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, a disc full of new wave nods and punk-funk electronics. In 2005, the group released Live It Out, a record focused more on guitars than drum machines. The disc was so well-received it scored Metric a slot opening for the Rolling Stones, an experience they now call "surreal."

- Michele K-Tel