Creating Worlds & Aussie Connections: Behind The Directorial Debut Of Alt-J's Joe Newman

Back in 2007, a group of uni mates in Leeds started writing and playing music together, not fathoming that casual living room gigs and an enjoyment of triangles would eventually lead to a Mercury Prize, Grammy award nominations and a debut album in 2012 that would go on to be classed as one that "flipped the indie script" via its genre-morphing, experimentation and catchy as hell off-kilter pop tendencies.

The band in question, alt-J, have since gone on to become one of the most successful modern British bands, boasting the coveted feat of successfully cracking America (despite some self-described British cynicism), selling over two million records, carving up half a billion streams and even counting artists like Miley Cyrus as a fan. 

With 2022 now well and truly in full swing, it's been now over four years since fans last copped a brand new alt-J studio album, with RELAXER previously releasing in June of 2017, and a rap-heavy alternative album of RELAXER titled REDUXER released back in 2018. But as of last Friday, the fourth album chapter in the alt-J tale is upon us, bustling with songs about beauty, darkness, Hollywood and even true crime weaved with the classic alt-J sonic hallmarks - but also with some shimmering showings of a band who just continue to burgeon as writers and storytellers with each passing release. And to celebrate the long-awaited release of The Dream, alt-J vocalist and guitarist Joe Newman stopped by The Green Room podcast to chat with host Tiana Speter, including his first-ever time stepping into the directorial chair for the group's recent video for Hard Drive Gold; and the beautiful Australian connection he has via this directorial endeavour.

"It was amazing," Newman enthused when speaking with Speter about directing Hard Drive Gold. "I was working with my partner Darcy, a Melburnian..."

Newman paused at this point in the chat to momentarily ponder about the correct way to refer to someone from Melbourne with host Speter before he continued.

"We worked on this video together and it was...it was full on! I mean - being a director's confusing, you do everything and nothing. 

"On the day, you're involved in the process, but there's so many people that make the film happen around you. And you have to trust everyone.

"And at the same time, you're making decisions from the inception to the conclusion. it's so much fun, and it's such a great experience if you love working within a team."

Offering a jolt-driven tune packed full of woozy grooves and a sly narrative take on the get-rich-quick world of cryptocurrency, the end result for the video for Hard Drive Gold is delightfully cinematic to accompany the bouncy tune. And co-directing with partner Darcy Wallace meant Newman was able to truly flex his storytelling muscles in a visual medium alongside the audio realms - but is this an experience he would return to again in a hurry?

"Both Darcy and I, we're kind of a duo!" Newman declared proudly. "And we caught the bug, it's so much fun.

"We're so privileged to be able to work at the level that we were working at, most directors have to spend years and years and years to reach where we started.

"It's addictive!" Newman said, smiling. "And working with Darcy was one of the greatest experiences of my career.

"She's just super talented and she has the ability to, kind of, bring you back down to Earth very quickly, and remind you what's possible, what's not possible. And at the same time also encourages you.

"I think it's a really important process to go through something like that with someone that you trust.

"It was just brilliant."

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Alt-J's brand new album The Dream is out now via Liberator Music. For more info, head here.

To check out the full chat with Joe and host Tiana Speter, you can listen below, via the Euphony site, on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.