I remember hearing about the band Alt J a few years back. A genius name as it really get’s everybody thinking what it stands for and then trying it out on the keyboard (quietly hoping that it doesn’t erase all content on your computer for good). Buttons pressed, a slight sigh of relief as everything on the screen is as it was but at the same time a slight disappointment to find out that it only produced a small symbol which is not far from a capital A without the legs: ‘∆’
I then looked up what it meant and found out it’s a delta symbol meaning ‘change’ or ‘difference’. The name had again become something unusual and interesting, but maybe not destructive.
The guys have just come out with a second album and it is just as good, if not better than the first one. The second album is always the hardest one if the first one has succeeded but the 3 guys in Alt-J have managed to prove to us all that it was not just beginners luck.
They turned up at my office and the idea was to walk around Hackney for an hour or 2 before setting up for a possible cover shoot inside. The guys were fresh back from holidays and nice and relaxed. A kind of quiet before the big storm which we are now in the middle of, with Alt-J playing on all radio stations and playlists.
The idea of using paint for the cover shot came from seeing the artwork of the new album. The cover is a white cover with some primary colour paint marks on it. The guys were happy to play ball and we we had some fun with paint like we were all Tom Hanks in BIG. The guys didn’t hold back and gave it all.
Joe, Gus and Thom, the members which make up the band Alt-J were surprisingly different. It’s not a likely combination of guys but maybe that’s the magic, maybe that’s what makes Alt-J work so well. As the name indicates too - ‘difference’ is what’s made this triangle of guys into a perfect fit.
