Newman: We have a five-record deal with Infectious, so that’s the first thing. However, we love being with them. They’re a small label run by five or six people that we’re all friends with. It’s the opposite of a faceless company. They’re six faces that we know very well.
Unger-Hamilton: It’s a family for us and they’ve been very supportive. They did a great job on the first album. Making this record, we were slightly worried that people wouldn’t be feeling the vibe of it; they wouldn’t hear obvious radio singles. But they were one hundred percent behind us. They love everything we’re doing.
MC: How has the label worked to help you achieve success?
Newman: If we want to make a mad video that involves all kinds of things or we want to get a remix done by somebody we like, they can make that happen. It’s nice to have a team of experts that can say yes to things. We make the music; we have ideas but we don’t have the means to bring them about, necessarily.
MC: How much of the band’s success is attributable to film and TV placements, like the inclusion in the Silver Linings Playbook soundtrack?
Unger-Hamilton: There are things that we’re involved in that are probably off the back of having our song “Buffalo” included in Silver Linings Playbook and that’s fantastic. But we haven’t had a song placed in a commercial where it’s become “That song from the commercial.” We wouldn’t want that to happen.
MC: What’s it like for a Brit band to try to conquer America? What’s different? Does the band consider it a challenge or is it just the same as being successful in the U.K., in the members’ minds?
Newman: The big difference is size and distance. [America is] like the U.K. times 20. It’s a challenge because it’s so vast. It’s amazing that we’ve been accepted by a big community in the States, which means that we can travel to see people that want to see us.
Unger-Hamilton: We can finish touring the U.K. in about two weeks, whereas in America it takes about eight. People ask us things like, “When are you coming to Jacksonville?” We could spend our whole life in America. It’s really weird but it’s fantastic
MC: How did you connect with your management and how involved are you in your band’s day-to-day business?
Unger-Hamilton: In early 2011 we were a small, buzzing, unmanaged band. People were starting to pay attention to us and it was like a slight gold rush to alt-J. We had a lot of managers approach us and we interviewed about 11 different people. It was quite intense, really. One time we met with four different managers in one day, all while trying to make a demo. Eventually we met Stephen Taverner [of East City Management] and Kirsten [Winn], his assistant.
Newman: We liked that they were a pair. On the one hand, it was attractive to meet managers that had impressive [client] rosters, but on the other hand, what if they went off to America for a month with one of their other clients? Where would that leave us? It was important to have two people managing us. Also, at the time they were only managing one other band. We felt that we’d be the center of their attention. They’re definitely steering the ship and we’re very happy with them.
MC: Does your manager get placements for the band or does someone else do it?
Unger-Hamilton: Sometimes it’s the label; sometimes it’s the publishing company Kobalt [Music Group]. Occasionally our management gets us placements, but probably not as much as the label or publisher does. In the industry, everyone knows everyone so you probably don’t have to be in publishing to get a placement. You may have friends in the advertising industry that want to work with you.
MC: Is there a particular song from the new album that was somehow special in the way it came together?
Unger-Hamilton: “Left Hand Free” is a good example. It came together very quickly. It was pretty much Joe playing this jazzy, rocky guitar lick. We started to respond to it. After about 20 minutes we had the song. This doesn’t happen with most of our stuff and we’re very proud of it. Usually Joe takes a long time with different ideas he’s had, he brings it to the band and we work on it for a while; maybe spend a few months finessing it.
