Metric (band)

Metric
Metric live at Coachella in April 2013
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Indie rock,new wave,synthpop
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Last Gang, Everloving, Metric Music International, Arts & Crafts Mexico, Mom + Pop
Associated acts	Broken Social Scene, Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, Bang Lime, Lou Reed
Website	ilovemetric.com
Members	Emily Haines James Shaw Joshua Winstead Joules Scott-Key

Metric is a Canadian rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band consists of Emily Haines (lead vocals, synthesizers, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, piano), James Shaw (guitar, synthesizers, theremin, backing vocals), Joshua Winstead (bass, synthesizers, backing vocals) and Joules Scott-Key (drums, percussion). Although the band is Canadian, Haines was born in India and Winstead is American. The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw with the name "Mainstream". After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric, after a sound that was programmed by Shaw on his keyboard. In 2001, Winstead and Scott-Key joined them.

The band's first official studio album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, was released on September 2, 2003. It was followed by the album Live It Out, released on October 4, 2005, which was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the "Canadian Album of the Year" and for the 2006 Juno Awards for "Best Alternative Album". Their third studio album, Grow Up and Blow Away, was recorded in 2001 and it was initially planned as their debut album. The album was delayed for many years and it was finally released on June 26, 2007, with some changes to the track list. Some songs were also slightly reworked.

Metric's fourth album Fantasies was released 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 also won the 2010 "Group of the Year". The fifth Metric studio album, Synthetica, was released on June 12, 2012. The band won two awards at 2013 Juno Awards: "Alternative Album of the Year" for Synthetica and "Producer of the Year" for James Shaw. The art director/designer/photographer Justin Broadbent also won an award for "Recording Package of the Year" for Synthetica. Metric's sixth album, Pagans in Vegas, was released on September 18, 2015.