It’s simply after midnight and Chicago’s Backside Lounge is packed. Some children are carrying ‘Hellfire’ merch shirts, referring to the fictional Dungeons and Dragons membership from Netflix’s multi-Emmy nominated thriller Stranger Issues. It’s the uncommon event the place love for a TV present spills into help for an actual band — Joe Keery’s psychedelic rock challenge known as DJO (pronounced “Joe.”) At that second, Keery, who performs heartthrob-with-a-heart of gold Steve Harrington on the sequence, steps onto the stage trying just like the antithesis of his character in wiry glasses and matted brown hair. The room erupts.
Earlier than Stranger Issues swept him as much as Los Angeles, Keery lived in Chicago till 2018. Earlier than fame, he was considerably of a fixture within the Chicago DIY scene, performing within the indie band known as Put up Animal by evening whereas hustling for performing gigs by day. However as a lot as his life modified over the course of three years, Keery by no means deserted his ardour for making music.
In 2019, Keery launched a standalone monitor known as “Roddy” with keyboardist Adam Thein, below the pseudonym DJO. Their first album, Twenty Twenty arrived that fall, amassing a couple of hundred thousand month-to-month listeners. However since Season 4’s return, DJO’s listeners have greater than quintupled to a whopping 2.6 million month-to-month listeners. The increase has led to prime music pageant placements at Lollapalooza, Boston Calling, See.Hear.Now and Austin Metropolis Limits to tease a extremely anticipated sophomore album, DECIDE (out September 16).
The morning after DJO’s first Lolla set, Keery was sitting alone exterior the Chicago Athletic Affiliation with the remnants of a Bloody Mary in entrance of him. As we appeared out onto Millennium Park, he sounded nostalgic. “Coming to Chicago is like location reminiscence,” Keery says between sips of an iced espresso. “I bear in mind touring DePaul with my dad, we stayed down right here, and we walked by means of Millennium Park.”
DECIDE is an ode to uncertainty and alienation, which is becoming as Keery simply turned 30 and is determining what comes subsequent for him after he’s accomplished saving Hawkins, Indiana.
This dialog has been condensed and edited for readability.
You’ve mentioned in previous interviews that you just contemplate music a enjoyable aspect challenge. Is that also true? How do you retain music enjoyable as a substitute of disturbing?
Nicely, I undoubtedly am burdened about it, as a result of there’s strain to make it actually good. I’m not relying on it financially; that’s what makes it enjoyable. I believe the music trade, to be trustworthy, is so fucked. In your regular touring band to make a dwelling is grueling and onerous. We performed for possibly two weeks, and it simply grinds you down. The explanation that I actually love [music] is the writing, and the recording and being within the studio. All of the exhibits and stuff are just a little disturbing, but when it will possibly gas the writing and the recording, that’s utterly alright for me.
Your after present will need to have been good prep in your set at Lolla the following day.
I imply, I’m glad we had the present earlier than, as a result of I used to be fairly nervous for Lolla, and we’ve by no means accomplished a standard string of dates; the longest we’ve accomplished is possibly seven days.
On the brand new album, your music “Finish of the Starting” talks about returning to Chicago, the place you used to reside. Did you are feeling the nostalgia you categorical in that monitor throughout this go to, or if it was totally different since you had been working?
No, each time, coming to Chicago is like location reminiscence. Each place I flip, there’s a reminiscence related to random avenue corners, or people who I’ll see or places. “Finish of the Starting” is a flip of phrase that got here up form of unintentionally. I believe a phrase that’s extra troubling is “the start of the top.” That is the place I grew to become an grownup, and I simply turned 30. “Finish of the Starting” is [about] saying goodbye to a sure a part of your life, and it being a tragic factor, but in addition trying onward.
I seen that DECIDE is poppier than [your last album] Twenty Twenty. Do you contemplate your self a pop musician now?
I don’t know… I imply, sure, I actually do love pop music, and I believe there are parts of boy band-ness in there, like NSYNC or the Backstreet Boys, particularly after I’m doing stuff with falsetto. The Beatles had been a pop band, they usually’re the best band of all time. That’s an affect. I simply, I suppose, have a love and appreciation for lots of various music. After I’m listening to an album, I get pleasure from listening to a bunch of various influences, and that’s what I’m attempting to usher in. I like with the ability to hear Daft Punk and likewise the Backstreet Boys.
The Daft Road Boys.
Yeah, The Daft Road Boys. That may be our solo challenge.
We’ll work on it later.
Yeah, we’re workshopping that.
I seen lots of people evaluating “Gloom,” which you launched as a single in July, to one thing by DEVO or Speaking Heads.
Yeah dude, that’s so cool. It was type of the ethos of that. It was created from the restrictions of me being at residence–I recorded this guitar half, after which I pitched it down and chopped it up and sampled it out in the way in which that you may hear it now. It has a frenetic form of perspective to it, and I ended up attempting to play into that character. That truly was additionally one thing that helped me within the album, discovering the totally different “characters” for the songs. Lyrically, “Gloom” comes from a spot near my coronary heart. However the efficiency of that took by itself life.
That’s attention-grabbing. You’re an actor, and stepping into a personality in your music… it appears like your two careers aren’t completely separate.
No, by no means. It’s tremendous useful and takes a number of strain off attempting to make excellent. Being too treasured completely kills any form of creativity for me, so it’s all about looking for the simplest approach in and going with my intestine. Fascinated about that character helped me quite a bit.
A whole lot of the lyrics on DECIDE are very anxiety-fueled, however the instrumentation is usually upbeat. What caused that dissonance?
Nice query. You realize who does that so effectively and is an enormous affect of mine is The Strokes. Julian Casablancas. I really feel like he nearly created a method, bringing this sort of angst and turmoil in beneath these jangly, form of energetic traps. I don’t know. I suppose it’s not one thing that I used to be actually occupied with doing, it’s simply what ended up taking place for lots of the file. The file is about taking company in your personal life. I’m a fairly indecisive individual, and I’m not the very best planner in my life, in order that’s type of a theme.
What are the benefits and drawbacks to being a musician higher referred to as an actor?
I imply there’s a bunch of benefits. It’s not misplaced on me that lots of people tune into the music due to Stranger Issues, and I’m actually appreciative of that. There are such a lot of different artists creating albums which might be unbelievable, so the truth that the present was in a position to get extra ears listening to my issues is de facto cool. For some time, I used to be apprehensive about why folks had been listening to it. Each artist desires to be taken significantly. Today, I simply really feel actually grateful for that chance in my life and every thing that it’s allowed me to do.
Is being an impartial artist vital to you?
It’s essential to me. And it’s one thing that has allowed me to make the form of music that I’m making with out feeling strain from anybody.
You labored on the album from a bunch of various locations. What was that like?
It was loopy. The vast majority of the time, I used to be really in Zurich, [Switzerland].
Oh, cool.
I had COVID.
Not cool.
Nicely, it was cool place to have COVID. However that type of informs it. Certainly one of my strengths is, I’ve a number of concepts–it may be additionally a weak point as a result of I could be scatterbrained. Having the ability to have these concepts after which see them by means of, particularly with Adam as a result of he’s so savvy, brings me nice pleasure.
You performed in Put up Animal, as one member of a band, for 5 years . Do you like to work collaboratively or alone?
Nicely, I’m a reasonably large management freak. One of many nice challenges of being in a band is that it’s a democracy, and that may be a very optimistic factor. Nevertheless it may also be a adverse factor. Whenever you’re an actor, you’re just like the bass or guitar participant in a band–I’m only one ingredient of this huge factor that’s being put collectively. I’m so grateful to be a part of that factor, however I don’t get last say of what takes are chosen or what it appears to be like like, or something like that. [The DJO project] is satisfying otherwise as a result of I can have management over it and see it by means of. I’m beginning to grow to be much more concerned with collaborating with folks, like Charli XCX–we’ve been speaking about her all weekend. She is so nice at doing options and dealing with totally different artists. It’s actually inspiring to see any individual try this as a result of it will possibly create actually distinctive stuff. I believe it will be cool to try this sooner or later.