Spread the Social Love:
Δ, or alt-J, are one of the most exciting new bands around at the moment, creating a fresh electro-indie sound. Their debut, An Awesome Wave, is probably the best debut of the year so far. They played on the Lake Stage at Latitude on the Friday and AltSounds caught up with lead singer, Joe Newman, and synth player, Gus Unger-Hamilton, earlier in the day, to talk about everything from their tour with Wild Beasts, to them exposing themselves.
AltSounds: To start things off, what is going on with the obsession with triangles?
Joe: Well, we don’t really have an obsession with triangles - I think I just spoke about it in 'Tessellate,' and it was more of an analogy for sex, because that’s what the song is about . Δ (alt-J) really just came about because it was a name we liked and it was an idea we liked, and it’s technically a delta sign, not a triangle.
Gus: We’ve got pretty good at answering this question now, haha!
Joe: Yeah I suppose, if I could chose a shape, it would probably be a triangle but, I don’t know, I’m quite fickle so in the future I may change to circles or squares. I just don’t know.
AltSounds: You’ve recently been on tour with Wild Beasts, what was it like playing with them?
Joe: They’re amazing - really good guys, amazing performers, charming, friendly, and we learnt quite a lot, didn’t we?
Gus: Yeah, I think watching them play every night was quite inspiring for us, because they know what they are doing and are really on it in terms of their stage craft, they’ve really honed it. So, to a fledgling band like us, especially at the time because we hadn’t played many gigs at that stage, it was quite incredible for us to watch those pros doing it every night.
AltSounds: How much do you think that tour, and the tour with Ghostpoet, raised your profile?
Joe: I think it definitely raised our profile quite a lot. When we were playing with Wild Beasts we were playing to an average of a thousand people a night and we were playing for seven nights in a row, so we reached 7000 people in a week. The reaction that we got, every day we played, was really, really good. Ghostpoet has got a great following, so the same thing happened there, so I think it did boost our profile in cities we’d never played in.
AltSounds: You’re credited with creating a new genre, called ‘Folkstep’, what influenced you in creating that sound?
Gus: We didn’t really consciously create a new genre or new music - ‘Folkstep’ is something that someone else said and it’s just stuck with us - it dogs us a bit, that one. We make music really just for the four of us, we don’t really have any other motives apart from making music that all four of us like and find interesting. Luckily, other people like it too.
Joe: Now, it’s to an extant where people are like “Where did you get that sound from?” Our ambition wasn’t to create a new genre, it was just to write music that we liked.
AltSounds: Do you think that other bands will try to follow that sound though?
Gus: I hope, if anything, bands who are not where we are now maybe take the lesson, that you should make the music that you like and to do it only for yourself.
Joe: Don’t think about writing music that you think other people will like. Think about writing music that you like because, if you don’t do that, then why are you writing music in the first place? It’s silly.
AltSounds: You’re also said to be pushing the boundaries of music, what other bands do you think are doing that?
Gus: I think a band like Radiohead - it’s a classic example, but they’ve stayed an interesting, relevant and popular band for almost twenty years - that’s pretty inspiring to a band like us.
AltSounds: You exploded onto the scene pretty quickly. Were you surprised by the buzz around you?
Joe: I don’t think we ever thought about the buzz, so I don’t think we were that surprised. When we first started playing, the reaction that we got didn’t surprise us, but it was a nice feeling where people were saying that we were really good, and we were like “Oh great, you like us? Brilliant, well let’s keep going.”
Gus: I think, because we lived in Leeds at the time we were getting this buzz, we didn’t really know we were getting buzz at all. We’d meet up with our manager and he’d be like “Christ! Everyone is talking about you guys!”and we’d be like “In London, maybe, but not in Leeds.” We were quite sheltered and that which was a good thing for us, I guess.
AltSounds: How important has social media been to your expansion?
Joe: It’s really important! The other day we got tweeted by Harry Styles and he’s got five million followers, and then that got retweeted, by his followers, 4000 times. That is a massive platform for us in terms of exposure. We are of the kind of mindset that any sort of exposure is good exposure, as long as we’re not saying racist things or being violent...
Gus: Or exposing ourselves!
Joe: Yeah, or exposing ourselves. If any side of the music industry or any celebrity is supporting us, then it’s great, because the more people will hear our music. Social media - invaluable.
AltSounds: Everyone seems to agree that your debut, An Awesome Wave, was well rounded, where is your music going to progress from here?
Joe: Who knows? I think that’s the thing, we don’t think about it too much, don’t worry about where it’s going to go, we just enjoy those moments where we are writing together and we’re in a bubble and we’ll write in that bubble. We won’t think too much about the future, where we want it to go and where it should go. When you start to predict things, again, that’s where it starts to fall apart - we’re just going to enjoy what we do, day by day.
AltSounds: You’ve played quite a few festivals so far, how does Latitude compare?
Joe: Well, I’ve never been to Latitude, and it’s amazing! The scenery is fantastic, in the Suffolk countryside. There is such a wide range of demographics coming into the festival, and it’s so family orientated. There are loads of other things going on as well as music; there are literary corners and stuff, and the performances going on all over the place. It’s a fantastic thing to experience, just creative people, not just on the music side of things. It’s amazing - really, really good.
AltSounds: How long are you here for? Are you planning to see any other bands?
Gus: Unfortunately, we have to leave after our set - we have to be somewhere tomorrow morning, to play somewhere else. That’s the life of a band, unfortunately. Sometimes you get to stick around for a bit, but not often, which is a real shame. If we are free next year, I am going to come back as a punter, definitely.
Joe: I want to come back as a punter! I want to play and then stick as a punter!
Gus: Alright! Let’s do that! That way we get free tickets as well. Sweet.
AltSounds: You’ve got a busy year coming up, with your headline tour and other festivals, what are you most excited for?
Joe: I’m looking forward to playing, I’m looking forward to writing as well - we’re always writing new material. I’m looking forward to the whole package really. Going to America is going to be amazing for us, such an amazing experience. The opportunity to work on the live performance as well and get better and better - incorporating other things into the performance and not just trying to play the album and making our live sound be like the album. I’m really excited!
As are we at AltSounds! alt-J are definitely one to watch out for!
AltSounds: To start things off, what is going on with the obsession with triangles?
Joe: Well, we don’t really have an obsession with triangles - I think I just spoke about it in 'Tessellate,' and it was more of an analogy for sex, because that’s what the song is about . Δ (alt-J) really just came about because it was a name we liked and it was an idea we liked, and it’s technically a delta sign, not a triangle.
Gus: We’ve got pretty good at answering this question now, haha!
Joe: Yeah I suppose, if I could chose a shape, it would probably be a triangle but, I don’t know, I’m quite fickle so in the future I may change to circles or squares. I just don’t know.
WATCH:// 'Tessellate'
Joe: They’re amazing - really good guys, amazing performers, charming, friendly, and we learnt quite a lot, didn’t we?
Gus: Yeah, I think watching them play every night was quite inspiring for us, because they know what they are doing and are really on it in terms of their stage craft, they’ve really honed it. So, to a fledgling band like us, especially at the time because we hadn’t played many gigs at that stage, it was quite incredible for us to watch those pros doing it every night.
AltSounds: How much do you think that tour, and the tour with Ghostpoet, raised your profile?
Joe: I think it definitely raised our profile quite a lot. When we were playing with Wild Beasts we were playing to an average of a thousand people a night and we were playing for seven nights in a row, so we reached 7000 people in a week. The reaction that we got, every day we played, was really, really good. Ghostpoet has got a great following, so the same thing happened there, so I think it did boost our profile in cities we’d never played in.
AltSounds: You’re credited with creating a new genre, called ‘Folkstep’, what influenced you in creating that sound?
Gus: We didn’t really consciously create a new genre or new music - ‘Folkstep’ is something that someone else said and it’s just stuck with us - it dogs us a bit, that one. We make music really just for the four of us, we don’t really have any other motives apart from making music that all four of us like and find interesting. Luckily, other people like it too.
Joe: Now, it’s to an extant where people are like “Where did you get that sound from?” Our ambition wasn’t to create a new genre, it was just to write music that we liked.
AltSounds: Do you think that other bands will try to follow that sound though?
Gus: I hope, if anything, bands who are not where we are now maybe take the lesson, that you should make the music that you like and to do it only for yourself.
Joe: Don’t think about writing music that you think other people will like. Think about writing music that you like because, if you don’t do that, then why are you writing music in the first place? It’s silly.
AltSounds: You’re also said to be pushing the boundaries of music, what other bands do you think are doing that?
Gus: I think a band like Radiohead - it’s a classic example, but they’ve stayed an interesting, relevant and popular band for almost twenty years - that’s pretty inspiring to a band like us.
AltSounds: You exploded onto the scene pretty quickly. Were you surprised by the buzz around you?
Joe: I don’t think we ever thought about the buzz, so I don’t think we were that surprised. When we first started playing, the reaction that we got didn’t surprise us, but it was a nice feeling where people were saying that we were really good, and we were like “Oh great, you like us? Brilliant, well let’s keep going.”
Gus: I think, because we lived in Leeds at the time we were getting this buzz, we didn’t really know we were getting buzz at all. We’d meet up with our manager and he’d be like “Christ! Everyone is talking about you guys!”and we’d be like “In London, maybe, but not in Leeds.” We were quite sheltered and that which was a good thing for us, I guess.
WATCH:// 'Breezeblocks'
Joe: It’s really important! The other day we got tweeted by Harry Styles and he’s got five million followers, and then that got retweeted, by his followers, 4000 times. That is a massive platform for us in terms of exposure. We are of the kind of mindset that any sort of exposure is good exposure, as long as we’re not saying racist things or being violent...
Gus: Or exposing ourselves!
Joe: Yeah, or exposing ourselves. If any side of the music industry or any celebrity is supporting us, then it’s great, because the more people will hear our music. Social media - invaluable.
AltSounds: Everyone seems to agree that your debut, An Awesome Wave, was well rounded, where is your music going to progress from here?
Joe: Who knows? I think that’s the thing, we don’t think about it too much, don’t worry about where it’s going to go, we just enjoy those moments where we are writing together and we’re in a bubble and we’ll write in that bubble. We won’t think too much about the future, where we want it to go and where it should go. When you start to predict things, again, that’s where it starts to fall apart - we’re just going to enjoy what we do, day by day.
AltSounds: You’ve played quite a few festivals so far, how does Latitude compare?
Joe: Well, I’ve never been to Latitude, and it’s amazing! The scenery is fantastic, in the Suffolk countryside. There is such a wide range of demographics coming into the festival, and it’s so family orientated. There are loads of other things going on as well as music; there are literary corners and stuff, and the performances going on all over the place. It’s a fantastic thing to experience, just creative people, not just on the music side of things. It’s amazing - really, really good.
AltSounds: How long are you here for? Are you planning to see any other bands?
Gus: Unfortunately, we have to leave after our set - we have to be somewhere tomorrow morning, to play somewhere else. That’s the life of a band, unfortunately. Sometimes you get to stick around for a bit, but not often, which is a real shame. If we are free next year, I am going to come back as a punter, definitely.
Joe: I want to come back as a punter! I want to play and then stick as a punter!
Gus: Alright! Let’s do that! That way we get free tickets as well. Sweet.
AltSounds: You’ve got a busy year coming up, with your headline tour and other festivals, what are you most excited for?
Joe: I’m looking forward to playing, I’m looking forward to writing as well - we’re always writing new material. I’m looking forward to the whole package really. Going to America is going to be amazing for us, such an amazing experience. The opportunity to work on the live performance as well and get better and better - incorporating other things into the performance and not just trying to play the album and making our live sound be like the album. I’m really excited!
As are we at AltSounds! alt-J are definitely one to watch out for!
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