ALT-J

TIRED OF WAKING UP TIRED

It’s only 7 p.m. in Oslo, Norway but Thom Green sounds exhausted. Alt-J’s drummer speaks to me as he’s being whisked away from the festival site by van, seemingly unaware of where he’s headed next.

Since the North American release of An Awesome Wave in September 2012 (With a U.K. release four months prior) the four members of Alt-J have adopted a globetrotting lifestyle brought forth by relentless touring and promo. And it’s finally beginning to take its toll on this group of once Leeds University dorm-mates, who’re now in their mid-20s. “I didn’t know it was possible to be this busy,” bassist Gwil Sainsbury told the London Evening Standard almost a year ago. Since then, it’s been more of the same for Alt-J, with repeated tours in Europe, North America and Australia. It’s the kind of schedule that some bands would indeed aspire towards, if of course it were spread out across their entire career.

As Green and I make small talk to begin our conversation, I ask him the name of the Oslo-based festival. He pauses, hums for a good 15 seconds before realizing he does not know the name of the festival he and his band had just performed at. Thom Green doesn’t chuckle to himself at the realities of touring across a strange land. Instead, there’s a tone of defeat in his voice.

Sure, the Slottsfjell Festival is hard to pronounce. But the fact that Green could not remember exactly where he spent his day, less than 20 minutes after walking offstage is indeed a very telling summary of the state of Alt-J’s existence right now.

“We were up at five this morning to get to Norway and tomorrow morning we’re up at five again to head to Berlin, I think,” says Green, sounding monotone and irresolute. “The novelty of the flying and the travelling soon wears off,” he further admits.

Cries of overworking may fall on deaf ears, as there remains a strong demand for Alt-J and their brainy, at times intricate brand of pop around the world. Winning Britain’s coveted Mercury Prize in 2012 certainly didn’t hurt; whenever Green begins to sound too unthankful for the lifestyle Alt-J has been afforded, he’s quick to correct himself.

“Everything gets better once you get onstage, though. You see the crowd, you feel a lot better. It’s tiring though; we’re not quite used to it yet. We’re touring through October, including America, Australia, Japan, Mexico. We do consider ourselves quite lucky,” he admits.

As lucky as Alt-J might be to have toured the world very early in their career, it’s a wonder how constant touring and subsequent overexposure will impact the band as it attempts to sustain the wave of popularity they’re currently riding in the long-term. Though An Awesome Wave is only a year old, many are curious how the band could possibly follow up an album that has become so polarizing.

And if and when Alt-J do release their sophomore full-length, will their jet-setting lifestyle have created enough of a fanbase for a warm reception? Or will fans and critics have already moved onto their next fascination, as has become a common trend in the turnover-heavy world of pop music?

Already, Green has hopes for a less stressful schedule after the release of their next record. If he gets his way, the band will be scaling things back.

“I’m hoping it will be less necessary to do everything the next time around,” he admits frankly. “This time, there’s just so much promo. When you go to a place for the first time, you have to answer all the same questions again. I’m hoping the second time around we’ll have more control and we’ll be more selective.”

The constant exposure Green and Alt-J have had to endure has begun to show strains on their lives, but not just while on the road. Comprised of humble and shy Fine Arts (and one English) majors in university, Alt-J embrace nothing of the traditional rock star approach. Yet that hasn’t stopped the band’s fans from treating them as such.

Just days before our interview, Green took part in a Reddit “Ask me Anything,” during which he was grilled on everything from the inane to the deeply private and personal. The road from relative obscurity, with Alt-J having performed their first gig in their dorm’s common room to overexposure has been a short one. There’s the oft-told tale of that first gig being so densely packed with fans that one fainted. It would seem then that Alt-J is not averse to having their music form intense, personal relationships with their fans. Still, these relationships do manage to scare Green from time to time.

“I was back in London the other day for a show at a small little place and people kept coming up to me; they knew who I was and I had no idea who they were. It felt a bit uncomfortable and I thought, ‘Is this what it’s like now? Is there any going back?’ Not that I necessarily wanted to, but it does cross my mind. Especially as well, when you’re at a festival site and everyone walking around seems to know who you are.”

With more eyes on the band than Green had originally anticipated, he’s found the band has had to make efforts to keep their personal lives just that: personal. Still, that didn’t prevent him from opening up on one topic that has become frequently more associated with the band: that of their drug use.

Sure, the trippy and loopy nature of An Awesome Wave means it finds favour with the soft drug crowd. But Green was asked on the AMA to open up about his own drug use, and he didn’t shy away. Drugs, he then continues to tell BeatRoute, play a role in the band both in terms of personal enjoyment and during the song-writing process.

“We’ve managed to find something that we like and agrees with us,” he says. “We’re not obsessive about it, we’re very sensible about it. And also, we don’t use it as an aid. It’s not a security thing.

“For me, there’s nothing better than listening to music when I’m…well I don’t want to say it, just in case…” he trails off, still cautious of public perception. “But when I’m in that state and listening to music, it’s phenomenal. It inspires me to think creatively. If you can be responsible then it’s okay. We don’t rely on it.”

Yet when pressed further on how drugs may or may not influence the band’s follow-up, Green is at a loss. And it’s not a clichéd, clueless stoner sense of loss. At the moment, Green and Alt-J don’t have a clear idea of what direction their new record will take.

“To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t know how it’s going to sound. I’m sure there’s going to be different aspects on the record from the last one, simply because of all the touring we’ve done.”

“I don’t know,” he continues, before pausing again. “It’s probably going to sound…Just a bit more…” Trying to put into words the future of Alt-J has ultimately become a laborious task, even for the band members themselves.

“To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to think about it that much, really.”

He speculates at length, but it amounts to nothing more than haphazard guesses. There is a growing (and incredibly pervasive) feeling surrounding Alt-J these days, that too much of a good thing has left them lacking a vision. Capitalizing on hype is one thing, but doing so at the risk of a band’s physical and mental health is another.

What the future holds for Alt-J and their sophomore release is still up in the air. If the band has any plan of building a career, they’ll have to walk a little more carefully. Thom Green is aware of this, and knows changes must be made.

“We’re going to take our time,” he says of their next record, “And construct a record because we want to, not because we have to.”

Alt-J performs on September 1 at the Orpheum Theatre.

By Joshua Kloke
Photos: Noah Kalina
Cover illustration: Julie McLaughlin