More about: Metronomy

Slipping under the indie scene because of a mostly instrumental album only to return out of the blue with a couple of tuneful, outrageously memorable singles to wet the appetite for a second album, all eyes are eagerly raised in the direction of Joseph Mount’s masterpiece he likes to call Metronomy. Between the former (‘Pip Paine – Pay The 5000 You Owe’) and the future (‘Nights Out’), Metronomy have had to build up a credible reputation on the back of originally-done remixes and risky support slots due to a few label troubles. It seems as if they’ve ignored all the road-blocks that were preventing them from being on the brink of this hot-stuff future that they’ve finally arrived at. It has only been 2 years between the debut album and the next one but one can assuredly declare that Metronomy have gone a few huge steps forward in between the two.

Two accompanying members to boast and a couple of critically acclaimed singles and they’re finally going places. But that’s not saying it’s been easy. “Really the only way that we’ve been gaining fans is through the live stuff and I guess there are two schools of thought for the support slots” explains Mount to Gigwise: “either it’s a bit shameless to try and steal other people’s fans or it’s just good because we’re getting exposure”.

It was a surprise to us when we found out that Metronomy only embarked on their first headline tour early 2008, they’ve had to survive as the band which nobody really turns up to specifically see. “Sometimes the fans of other bands fucking hated us; I didn’t think it was that bad! The CSS tour was brilliant but we did the Kate Nash one and tried winning the crowd every night which was pretty fun”.

Of course being on the tour bus with the likes of CSS, Foals and Kate Nash is something to brag about, no matter how difficult it is to stay positive while you’re playing to an emotionless crowd – but now Metronomy finally have the opportunity to be in the spotlight – it seems Mount is eager to make the most of it. “Because of supporting so much, you don’t necessarily expect the crowd to like you! So it was just great to feel like people were actually there to watch us, singing along and everything.”

Mount justifies a few pauses in-between sentences with the fact that he’s hungover from a gig the night before – he’s clearly enjoying himself. And you can hear how much fun they’re all having on the basis of the recent studio material; ‘Radio Ladio’ and soon-to-be-global-hit ‘My Heart Rate Rapid’ are relentless joy in the space of 3 minutes plus, a sign of things to come in the record.

“There’s more vocal-tracks. I think it’s a lot more poppy” explains Mount. “Hopefully (the new record) will reach more people than the first one”. And whether the excitable free-moving musical press decide to make a move on Metronomy or not, those that have awaited this record with great expectation are sure to be more than satisfied. Aside from the strict and serious Metronomy work, Joseph has also kept the band on its feet during the harder times through the use of intricate and pleasing-to-the-ear remixes. Love Is All, Kate Nash, Franz Ferdinand, Klaxons, every remix seems to cause a frenzied fuss in some part of the bands’ fan-base.

“I like the fact that lots of people are into my remixes as much as they are, they’re not your bog-standard remixes”, confirms Mount before describing a future project: “I’ve just done a Goldfrapp remix and I got Michael from the Teenagers to do a monologue which is all about Nottingham” – the appetites are getting needy once more.

Unfortunately though, it seems that Joseph and his companions won’t be putting remixes at the top of their priorities for much longer; “from now on I don’t know how much time I’ll have for them”. It seems that if the album is as successful as it deserves to be, some of the prized possessions of Metronomy’s background will have to make way a little. The future has been considered, all possibilities covered. Either Metronomy could take off like a sky-rocket or they could somehow slip under the radar once more only to try and boost their way back up again. It’s a risky game music, but one that Mount and co. know how to play by now.

If the unlikely happens and things don’t go too well, Mount won’t be the only one kicking himself; “I’m still recording and writing on my own, Gabriel and Matthew play bits on a couple of tracks on the album and it’s kind of become….Metronomy used to be a him and now it’s definitely a they - which takes the heat off me a bit as well” declares the mind behind the music. Whether Oscar Cash and Gabriel Stebbing are just the other blokes with the lights in the live shows to all or not, Joe certainly considers them to be a lot more than just that.

 “We’re more like a band than a lot of bands I’ve met - we get on more and I think it feels pretty even. With a lot of bands you get one person that does most of the writing anyway and I think it’s a good thing because it could progress into anything.” which confirms that the two additional members are more than just a help during the live shows – they take a lot of pressure off Joe’s back and even try and get a word in when recording, despite Mount sneakily sharing with Gigwise that he doesn’t usually listen to their ideas!

But after talking to Joseph it’s clear to Gigwise that he cares about the band’s future and they’re most certainly here to stay. No longer a solo-project and no longer an understated artist, there’s something a-brewing for Metronomy and everybody knows it.

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More about: Metronomy