Vielen kennen ihn als Steve Harrington aus der Netflix-Serie Stranger Things. Nach seinem viralen Hit End of Beginning sollte mittlerweile jedoch Jedem klar sein, dass der aus Massachusetts stammende Joe Keery mit seinem Alias Djo nicht nur auf der Leinwand verzaubern kann. Er veröffentlicht jetzt sein drittes Studioalbum The Crux auf AWAL Recordings. Seine Welttournee ist bereits in vollem Gange, auch in Deutschland wird er auf Bühnen zu sehen sein. Über die Entstehungsgeschichte seines Albums durfte ich mich ausgiebig mit ihm unterhalten. Das Ergebnis seht ihr unten!
Your new album The Crux is being released on the 4th of April. Congratulations! Can you tell me a bit about the creative processes of coming up with the idea and themes of the album? Are there any specific practices you indulge in to get the creative juices flowing?
Not really, I basically put the other album out and started working on this one. It kinda is like ebb and flow a little bit, you go through periods where you are writing more or writing less. I have been trying to be consistent and keep writing. If anything, now that the album is done, I’ve been writing a little bit less. It’s nice because it gives you some time to recharge and stuff. But in terms of the themes of the album, I feel like my own life has really informed that. It wasn’t necessary something I set out with the intention of doing, maybe sonically I did…it sort of just ended up being what it was gonna be.
I heard you were traveling a lot while writing the album, did that help in any way?
Yeah, yeah just to be outside of your daily comfort zone, I guess. I was doing a couple acting jobs while I was in Calgary, Canada and I was in Rome. I was in New York for a while as well as in Atlanta, where we were shooting Stranger Things for all of last year. So, I was kinda all over the place to be honest.
Your new record was co-produced by yourself and your long-time collaborator Adam Thein. What makes your teamwork work so well and in which ways are you complementing each other?
Well Adam is a genius first of all but he is like a traditionally trained musician, he went to school for it. I’m kinda more of a random music guy, I kinda like happened into it almost and was falling in love with songwriting and arrangements. And I think that our partnership works really well just because we both offer different skills and we both can really take criticism well. With me and him, when something is not working, it is not working and it doesn’t matter whose idea it was and we’re both just always down to try whatever, I guess. This is like the basis of a healthy relationship especially in the music business. It is just real honesty and I think we have that with each other.
Let’s talk about your sound evolution. From your early music days on – to you being part of the Chicago-based psychedelic rock band Post Animal, to your solo endeavors as Djo and your debut album Twenty Twenty to your second album DECIDE. What can the world expect from Djo in 2025, sonically?
I think maybe, I am wearing my influences on my sleeve a little bit more and the music that I grew up listening to is kinda classic pop, rock and folk music. I guess also, this is the first album where I’ve had the luxury to being able to record in a studio from beginning to end. I feel like, I really wanted it to sound like a studio album that was almost lost in time or something like that. There are modern elements of it but I do think that the fidelity and sonics of these old albums are influenced by the tools that they had at their disposal in the studio and we had access to those tools. I was really keen on trying to make something that sounded real, like they were performed on real instruments, that sounded like a band, a bit raw and then lyrically, I was just trying to get out of my way as much as possible and be as intentional as I could with my honesty.
Are there any bands or artists that you drew conscious inspiration from for the new record?
Loads! And a lot of them were from the other albums as well. From MGMT to Carole King or LCD Soundsystem. Led Zeppelin, Tame Impala, The Beatles, Paul McCartney’s solo work, The Cars, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Cher. I feel like albums that are eclectic…, I really love an album that takes you on a ride. So, I tried to sort of do that with this one. I hope people kinda enjoy that. I think for people who like eclectic music, they are gonna like this.
The first hit single Basic being Basic has been released for a while now. The next single Delete Ya has been teased on your socials to release next. Can you already tell me a bit about that song?
Sure, it was an idea that I came up with when I was working on a film in Italy, of all places. I had an acoustic guitar with me and yeah just started the idea there, took it into the studio, went through a bunch of different iterations. To me it’s like the companion piece to Basic being Basic and it felt like a cool way to sort of enter the world of the album. Because I feel like both songs sonically are a little different than other songs in the album. Excited for people to dip into this one and have those two songs together.
Your sisters are actually singing backing vocals on your newest single, how cool is that!
Yeah, they are on Basic being Basic. They are on a lot of the album actually, yes. I don’t think they are on Delete Ya.
You also expressed that you regard an album as a collaborative process. Do you think having family and friends contributing to your music brings out something in your sound that wouldn’t be there otherwise?
Yeah, I think for me, I have gotten more and more into the idea that these songs are memorializing times in life for me, this is really just selfishly for me. This is excluding all people listening to it, but for me it means that when I listen back to this album and listen back to certain songs, I know what I did on this day and my sisters are on it. I almost wrote it for myself when I’m like 70 years old and I can look back and have a little clip of my life for when I am old and grey.
Like a journal, maybe?
Kinda yeah. I use it sort of like a journal really and I wanted to do this for all parts of the process, for the cover, the music itself, for the promo. I felt like trying to make it as personal as I possibly can, I guess.
What would you say were the most prevalent sentiments you lived through by making this record especially in regard to the songwriting?
Hmm, I feel like I’ve been being followed by an unending stream of for sure gratitude and just feeling really lucky to be able to be in the position to make music and being able to share music and to do it with people that I really care about. And I guess this whole album has just been like a catharsis for me internally and I use music as a way to work through things in my own life and I am really excited for April when the music comes out. I used it for what I needed it for and now I can release it in the world and maybe other people can use it for the same, or different, reasons.
For the album cover you worked together with the director and photographer Neil Krug as well as Jake Hirschland and Taylor Vandegrift. You previously said in an interview that you tried to emulate New York in its dense and maximalist nature. You also live in New York now and the album was recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios. Do you think that a holistic artistic approach enhances the narrativity – maybe even authenticity of an album?
I think it can. That is a great question. I have kinda gotten into music just because I really liked making an album, sonically. But as I did the first and then the second record, there’s more opportunities to draw people in, visually and so it is something I feel I am really trying to get better at as I’ve been doing this process. It felt like because we recorded at Electric Lady, we were like, let’s go full, let’s totally do this and make a big album! If I die tomorrow, at least I can say that I did this one thing. And so, for the cover, I felt the same way. Like let’s just go big and try to do something epic, like a Supertramp album cover. Something that is arresting and sticks with you and which you can pick apart. So yeah, I think just between me and Neil and Jake, it was like how can we pull this thing off? Luckily, we were surrounded by people who understood the vision and really helped us see it through.
I personally really like the album cover and I find that the artwork is similar to a look & find puzzle, the ones we did as children.
It’s like Where’s Waldo? or I Spy. Yeah, that was definitely one of my intentions. Something you can maybe spot on your twentieth listen, like „Oh, that’s from the cover!“.
It is inviting the viewer to explore, interpret and maybe even partake in the meaning making process a bit more. And the object on the artwork that caught my attention was the UFO. If you had to send a The Crux vinyl to space for aliens to listen to, which song do you think they would pick as their favorite?
Haha, I guess I’d pick either Egg or Back on You. But I might choose Back on You because that is maybe a better sentiment. But I feel like Egg, if you send that out, they might get an understanding of this universal feeling of what this song is about. Allowing yourself to operate out of fear-based thinking rather than following your true desire and not trying to make other people happy but yourself. That would probably a crazy thing for aliens to listen to.
Many actors from Stranger Things have pursued music careers alongside acting – like Finn Wolfhard, Maya Hawke and Gaten Matarazzo. Is that something you talk about on set, do you maybe exchange ideas or inspire each other?
Yeah absolutely, we are all friends, so we’re just talking about, what each of us are up to. Mayas last album was great and Finn is about to release an album, I’ve heard it and it is awesome and the artwork is really cool. He is doing it in a real different way than what my experience just was, it’s fun to have other friends who do this stuff!
You have a huge tour ahead of you, first playing the US, then UK and lastly Europe. What do you feel, when you look at your packed schedule for the upcoming months? Do you ever feel overwhelmed or are you just excited and happy to be able to tour on such a large-scale? Maybe both?
I feel everything. I feel overwhelmed sometimes, other times I just gotta get through today. But then also, I am really trying to just be present and be in the moment for all these shows because it’s like this unique and incredible opportunity for me. It is something I always wanted to do, a real wish fulfillment. So I’m pumped, I’m so pumped!
Have you ever toured Europe?
No, I never toured really for more than one week. So, touring for months with all my best buddies is gonna be great!
How did it come along that Post Animal is supporting you on the tour?
Well, it just seemed kinda natural. We are all buddies, It’s like obvious that we gotta do this.
It’s like a full circle moment for you guys.
Yeah, certainly! And they’re like actually my best friends. Life will take everybody in different directions and it’s cool to have something to bring us all together for a little bit of time.
What was the creative decision behind naming the tour after the eleventh track Back on You?
We were trying to figure this out right when we started rehearsals in January. It is kinda like a message to the audience, you know what I mean? It’s Back on You who’s reading this thing! Once the song comes out too, that song is about being there for people. It is for the people who have listened to this music and to whom I really owe a big debt of gratitude for giving me the opportunity to do this.
Djo Tour:
16.06.25 Köln, E-Werk
17.06.25 Berlin, Huxleys
20.06.25 Scheeßel, Hurricane Festival
21.06.25 Neuhaus ob Eck, Southside Festival
