The Metric System

Since winning the Breakspoll Awards in 2008, Alex Metric has been one of the most in-demand producers for everyone from The Stone Roses' Ian Brown to Empire Of The Sun. Unfortunately, due to his ever-increasing touring schedule, Metric says getting the right balance between remixing other artists' work and working on his own is proving difficult.

“I actually just had to say no to a bunch,” says Metric. “I've been touring so hard this year; I only had five weeks in the studio after my last US tour before coming to Asia and Oz. I had maybe four or five remixes on the table and I thought it would be wiser to spend the time on original material. It's been hard to get the balance right this year, because I struggle making music on the road as I use mostly analogue equipment and old synths in my studio; they are an integral part of my sound. Plus I find it hard to get vibed up sitting in a hotel room. I need loud monitors, toys to play with, things to touch and play and vibe surroundings. Some people only know making music on their laptop on the move; for me it's not the norm. But I have to get some work done on this tour so I'm going to try and make myself do it.”

Luckily, he did find time to work with Jacques Lu Cont, aka Grammy-award winning producer Stuart Price, on his latest single Safe With You. Being an in-demand producer himself, Metric says it was a pleasure to work with somebody so esteemed as Price. “It was an absolute pleasure to work with him and something I had always wanted to do,” he says. “I have been a huge fan of his for many years and we became friends after meeting a few times and naturally ended up in the studio together. Initially it was bouncing the instrumental between us, then finding a vocalist and getting the vocal right.”

After the tour in Australia, Metric says he's got a tonne of original releases including the fourth release of his acclaimed Ammunition EP series and an upcoming collaboration with French electronic musician Yuksek. Luckily he says we'll be able to hear a few choice selections when he arrives in Oz to get the party started. “I think the next thing will be Ammunition Part 4,” he says. “I do have a standalone single signed off ready to go but I think I want to come with a club EP first then drop the vocal track after that. I'm trying to figure it out at the moment but I have maybe five new tracks to choose from and I'll actually be trying them out for the first time on this tour. Me and Yuksek also have a new project together and we've done one track so far and it's sounding great. I'll be playing it on tour for sure but I hope we get to do more, I think we work well together.”