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Riding a rollercoaster of colour, sound and flashing lights, Metronomy bounded onto the music scene three years ago. Backed by Oscar Cash and Gabriel Stebbing of the Food Groups, creative maestro Joe Mount surprised everyone by sneaking into the popular consciousness with his DIY electronic pop sound. Following the recent re-release of single Radio Ladio and with a UK tour on the horizon, we caught up with Mount to discuss nu-rave, line-up changes, and the Metronomy story so far.

With the release of debut record Pip Paine (Pay the £5,000 You Owe) in 2006, Metronomy were swept up with the nu-rave movement, alongside bands such as Klaxons and New Young Pony Club. Mount admits to feeling "a little bit pained" by this as there were a lot of "also rans" in the scene. Largely though, he wanted the band to "outlast" the rather fickle nu-rave bubble. To this end, second album Nights Out (2008) moved away from the debut's instrumental sound by injecting more vocal-led songs into the mix.

"The best thing was that the second album came out and people liked it," says Mount.

"We were getting a lot of interest in the live show, though some people were saying that it didn't have much substance. But that album gave it a bit more substance, which was nice."

Despite not being a conscious decision, the Metronomy live show actually informed the sound of much of the second record. By "imagining playing in front of an audience" while writing the songs, Mount naturally gravitated towards a more vocal sound (epitomised by the recently re-released Radio Ladio, with its seductive pop vocals amid lashed synth lines). However, it is rarely a harmonious passage when electronic groups start incorporating voices, and indeed, after growing up listening to the likes of electronica legends Autechre, Mount was much attuned to the whims of electronic music fans.

"What surprised me was when Jamie Liddell brought out his vocal record, because he is on Warp, all those people were like 'Oh, this is cool', and Maxïmo Park are on Warp, so they are alright too. It's just like, 'Come on'. It should just be about whether you like the music. As much as I want people to like what I do, I also want to enjoy what I'm doing and not do it for the sake of not losing people. It's a bit of a cliquey world with electronic music, but I hope that I have brought some of those fans with me."

Mount claims it would have "disappointed people" to make a second record that was exactly the same as the first. On top of this, he was also growing "a bit tired" of instrumental music and was ready for a change. While the band's next record may not be totally "full of vocals", it's likely that it will bring a different sound of some description.

"The bands I like are the ones that develop, change and test themselves," he says.

"To have played it safe would have been a bit of a copout, really. I think that people are not expecting anything from our next record, but maybe they are excited that it could be different. I have got a master plan for it and I want to make an album that sounds like it has been recorded in various different places."

The group are currently rehearsing for a "pretty busy summer", with a planned UK tour and festival dates around the world. However, this will be without long-standing member Stebbing, who has left to pursue his own band, Your Twenties.

Far from being an alcohol fuelled, explosive band fall out, however, Mount reveals that his departure was completely amicable.

"Everything is fine. I have known him for years and he has always written songs. I have also been in bands with him where he has been the frontman. So he has been working on this thing for a while and decided that he wants to give it a good old go, which I was completely expecting."

Instead of simply replacing Stebbing and carrying on with a similar line up, Mount took the opportunity to freshen things up. As such, he got rid of the backing sequencers previously providing the band's rhythm and replaced them with a real life bass player and drummer to create a proper live sound.

"If we had just done all the festivals with the same live show as we did last year, but with a different person, then it would just be a bit like 'whatever'," says Mount. "The nicest thing is that it has got me and Oscar really excited again and just refreshed everything. It's all good."

Nights Out featuring Radio Ladio is out now.

words: Andrew Laughlin

myspace.com/metronomy