“It was an album that definitely comes out of the age of the Internet”
Hi Gus, Naoise here from TN2. Thanks so much for doing this quick interview, really appreciate it.
Pleasure.
So I suppose first things first, is I mean, congratulations on the success that was RELAXER and the upcoming album, which is fantastic.
Thank you.
A lot of the time when bands have an album as successful as something like RELAXER, there’s an added sense of anticipation and pressure on the next release. What made you guys decide to go with an album of remixes and features as your next release?
Um, I think it was just that we’d been planning on doing this for quite a while. We’ve always been interested in hip hop music and I think we felt that it would be really cool to try and, you know, get this album sort of remixed by hip hop artists. And you know, generally with an album, it’s quite common to release some kind of — these days in particular, labels usually want like a live album, or a deluxe edition album, or whatever it might be, you know, to kind of, put out before Christmas. So we sort of thought well why not, rather than just doing the usual kind of like, album plus live album plus a couple of remixes, why don’t we sort of redo the whole album, and you know, sort of scratch an itch that we’ve had for a while in terms of our love of hip hop and wanting to do something in that world. So we felt it was something a bit different to offer to our fans rather than, as I said, the usual kind of reheated, prepackaged crap (laughs).
That definitely makes sense! And these hip hop remixes were really fresh and interesting – they really revitalised a lot of songs that I suppose fans have heard a lot of times and listened to over and over.
Yeah!
How did you guys decide who to collaborate with, and who to collaborate with on each specific song?
Um, well we gave our labels a few kind of like, dream names which you know, like — Danny Brown, Pusha T were a couple — and then we also wanted to find some new emerging hip hop talent, and discover some new stuff for ourselves. Hence why we got the likes of Rejjie Snow involved, who we didn’t know before, but we’re really big fans of now. We wanted it to be a global album, we didn’t want it to be like UK and America. So we have artists from Germany, Australia, Spain, you know, Ireland, involved as well as America and Britain and that’s really important to us as well.
It was really cool to have a sense of that diversity in the album, yeah. What was it like juggling so many collaborations, then?
Well, truth be told, it wasn’t a lot of work for us, really, (he laughs) I mean we basically just, you know, approved the people, and the mixes when they came back in, which was a really nice position to be in. It was all being coordinated by kind of, our people and their people. And they would do the remixes and recording there, remotely, in whatever studios they were using, and it was kind of an album that definitely comes out of the age of the internet, because it was so easy to do without having to meet people. You know, we didn’t meet any of these people face to face at all, which is kind of strange but also kind of cool, you know, that we managed to put an album together just through digital communication.
“We’re a bit like helicopter parents, I think, with our songs, we’re a bit protective, we wrap them up in bubble wrap”
Not exactly. I suppose with some of the stuff that isn’t in English, for example, like Kontra K, the German rapper who did ‘In Cold Blood’, you know, I think we were probably a bit nervous that that one wouldn’t connect as much, because of not being able to understand what he’s rapping about — we don’t speak German — but actually, that’s one of my favourite ones, and all of our favourite ones. He’s got such great flow, and the remix is so brilliant, and whatever he’s saying (he laughs) it just sounds cool. So actually, that’s been a really big discovery.
It must have been weird, but also invigorating in a way, for you guys to just give up your songs to be remade in this way, because I suppose you are giving up a lot of artistic control by offering up an album of remixes made by other people?
Yeah, that’s very true. I think we’re always quite nervous about collaborating. You know, we get quite a lot of offers from different people to collaborate, and do music together, and we pretty much turn them all down. So I think this was probably quite a good, therapeutic exercise for us, in saying “No, come on, let’s just do this”, because we’re a bit like helicopter parents, I think, with our songs, we’re a bit protective, you know, we wrap them up in bubble wrap. And I think this was important for us to let go and just kind of let them go off and be taken by somebody else and change around the songs we’re talking about. And we love the results, so I think it’s actually taught us a lesson, you know – sometimes we can collaborate with people, and give up some creative control, and the results can be good.
Yeah, I mean, and the songs, like, the original songs themselves – I never would have considered hip hop remixes of a lot of them, but they work so fantastically well. Can we expect maybe something of a hip hop or R&B infused sound trickling down into your own original music now, off the back of an album like REDUXER? Do you think the sounds have inspired you guys at all?
Maybe, maybe. I most certainly wouldn’t rule it out! I think that our next album, our next alt-J album, will be a lot more of a recognisable alt-J album, I wouldn’t be expecting us to come out with a hip hop album (he laughs), but it certainly has opened up a new world of possibilities for us, this remixed album, so who knows. I think our main creative rule and motto in alt-J is there are no limits, don’t rule anything out, try anything once, and so who knows, we’ll see!
So going based off that a little bit, you’ve got an upcoming tour, kind of off the back of this album. What can fans expect from this tour? Is it going to be very much “original alt-J” or can people expect something that’s been inspired by this album?
It’s largely going to be original alt-J, I think, yeah. We’ve been a bit slack with touring the UK and Ireland on this campaign. We had a short UK tour last autumn, and unfortunately, like, our Manchester date fell through. The building was literally deemed unsafe, so we had to cancel it. So we don’t want to disappoint our fans, we know our fans are going to want to hear lots of alt-J music. But we are going to try and work in some elements from this REDUXER album into it, because that is also something that would be disappointing to fans if that did not make an appearance. So basically, nothing is confirmed yet, but I’m going into the studio next week to work on figuring out how we can work some of these remixes into our songs for live, and you know, there will be some little surprises in there for sure.
That sounds very exciting! So what ended up being your favourite track from the album?
I think probably the Kontra K one, to be honest! That’s the one I’m listening to the most. It’s got such an amazing energy. He’s got an incredible voice, and I think I get kind of a kick out of not knowing what he’s saying, because I’m just focusing on the song energy, as I said. You know, the lyrical content is removed as a possibility for me, and therefore I’m listening to it just as a piece of music and for its sounds.
Where did the name for the album come from?
So obviously, RELAXER is the original album name. And so we were going to call it REMIXER, but I think it was our manager who said, calling it REMIXER immediately writes it off as just a remixed album when it’s a lot more than that. I think it’s unfair on the album to call it REMIXER, because people will just dismiss it as another remixed album, which you know, people do put out quite a lot now, quite usually just chucked together. A few remixes, just cram them all into an album and charge a tenner for it. So he suggested REDUXER, as kind of a redux, doing something again, and it’s still in the tone of RELAXER, it sounds cool — So I suppose that’s the story of the album name, I suppose.
The album, as you said, is more than just remixes – these people took your songs and made them into something different, and still something that is very true to alt-J’s original songs. So to bring things to a close, I suppose my only remaining question is was there ever a moment when you feared these versions were going too far from the root of the original song, and your work?
No, no, not at all, actually. I mean, I think that the further it went the better! You know, cause that really, for us, just showed how much there was in the song to work with and that was gratifying for us as the creators of those original songs. So you know, it was never a question of it straying too far; if anything, you kind of want someone to listen to it and go “is that really– are the lyrics to that song really–?” and then for them to listen to it again and go “oh wow, yeah, I can tell now, but I would never have known that song was at its core”
Yeah, there were definitely a lot of moments like that for me, anyway, listening to the new album! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, is there anything else you want to say to our readers and your fans?
Um, just that we’re excited for everyone to hear the album, and we’re looking forward to our follow-up tour for our fans in the UK and Ireland. It’s going to be a good one.
I’m looking forward to the Olympia date myself.
Terrific, they’re going to be fun. Three nights in Dublin — crikey!
alt-J’s new album, REDUXER, which is composed of remixes and features by some of hip hop’s biggest names and producers, will be released on September 28th 2018. They have an upcoming tour in October, with Dublin dates in the Olympia Theatre. The album is available to preorder at https://alt-j.lnk.to/REDUXERPR.
