Metronomy

Artist Research

Metronomy – The Look

Biography Metronomy are an electronic music group formed by Joseph Mount in

Totnes, Devon, England in 1999.

The current band consists of Joseph Mount (composer, singer, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (saxophone, backing vocals, guitars and keyboards), Anna Prior (drums and vocals) and Gbenga Adelekan (bass guitar and vocals).

Their music consists of instrumental electronic music and more recently, with the release of Nights Out, vocal electronic pop music.

Metronomy have released three albums of original material, Pip Paine, Nights Outand The English Riviera which was released in April 2011.

Metronomy have toured widely throughout the UK and Europe

supporting acts such as Coldplay, Bloc

Party, CSS, Klaxons, Kate Nash and Justice. They engaged in

their first headline UK tour in 2008

In 2008, the band released the singles "My Heart Rate

Rapid", "Holiday", "Heartbreaker" ,"A Thing For Me" and

"Radio Ladio" and the full album Nights Out in September of

that year

History Pre-Metronomy

Before Joseph started writing music as Metronomy he, Gabriel and

friend Kevin Hawes, who died in 2005, performed and wrote

music as part of The Upsides and The Customers.

Mount spent years drumming in “loads of bands, some

questionable” at school. Drunk on Björk and Aphex, he locked

himself away in his bedroom and started recording on his computer

Disography

Record Label – Because Music

Because Music is an independent record label with headquarters

in Paris and London

Because Music was founded in 2005

It has acts on its register such as Metronomy and electronic

duo Justice

Influences Their original influences were The Beatles, then as they got older

moved into a „grunge‟ period, listening to Nivana and The Police

Joseph was inspired by the likes of Autechre, LFO and AphexTwin, seeing his work as more as a creative hobby than a pop masterplan.

Metronomy released their debut album in June 2006. It was called Pip Paine, and its obtuse but fascinating, largely instrumental electro-pop reflected the eccentricity of its title, and the enduring influence of Totnes.

For the album English Rivera their were heavy influences from the late 70s/early 80s

Representation of genre As an electro- pop band they fit the stereotypical values, as they use a lot of

synthesised sounds, beats and sequencers

They often have repetitive rhythms and structures – which Metronomy carries out in lots of their tracks

The videos Metronomy create are often relating to the bands background, always being original and well thought out

They are different to „pop‟ bands as they have a small dedicated fan base

Taking inspiration from the late 70s early 80s they blend together similar beats,synths and vocals to create their own style

Attitude/ Image

The image of the band is quite urbanised and stereotypically “electro”.

They have a very „laidback and dreamy‟ style to their music which is prominent in their attitude to their music, as to start with they saw it as a side project

The starting point for their album Nights out was "a half-arsed concept album about going out and having a crap time.“ –showing the honest idea that the albums are expressional, rather than made for commercial gain

Nights out album analysis

The artwork for the

album was created

by airbrush artist Phili

p Castle

The band simply use a work of art, the

art shows a break in the clouds over a

city – this could show how the band

have gained a lot from their lives

growing up in Totnes, and how it has

influenced their music

They also show the people in

a remote location, far away

from the city, perhaps

showing how the band want

to get away and reach better

places with their lives and

music

It could also show the starting

behind the album of “going

out and having a crap time” –

wanting to get away

The album is done in

dark colours, which

links together the title

of the album with the

art work

Buying patterns

The customers also bought a range of other electro, indie pop

artists, from the last 10 years