ALT_J DISCUSS SOUNDTRACKING A MILEY CYRUS STRIPTEASE

Of all the talking points from the opening night of Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour in Vancouver on Valentine's Day - including the singer riding a giant hotdog, an explicit Bill Clinton impression and a particularly impressive cover of "Jolene" - one particularly surprising song stood out. During a video interlude featuring a scantily-clad Cyrus, she was soundtracked by Cambridge band alt-J's growly electronica in the form of "Fitzpleasure". Currently writing the followup to 2012's Mercury prize winning An Awesome Wave, we asked the band's drummer Thom Green what he thought of his unexpected cameo in one of the biggest (and most controversial) pop tours of 2014.  

GQ: What did you think when you first heard Miley had used "Fitzpleasure" during her Bangerz tour?
Thom Green: Straightaway I thought "Wow, that's weird, she's a huge celebrity!" Then I though it's not actually that weird. I knew she'd tweeted about us in the past and just because she's hugely famous it doesn't make it any different from anyone else liking it. 

Where's the strangest place you've heard an alt-J track up until now?
We were in Australia last January, I think it was Brisbane. We had a day off so we went down to the beach. I remember hearing "Tessellate" in a really small cafe. It made me realise how far our music had gone, compared to where we're from and where I heard it being played couldn't have been further away. 

Miley begins her Bangerz  tour by emerging from a massive mockup of her face and sliding down her own tongue. What is the most spectacular stage setup you've ever witnessed and how does it compare to alt-j's own?
The most spectacular i've witnessed was probably Metallica at Leeds Festival 2002. They didn't have any huge props or anything, just their light show and stage presence was amazing. Joey Jordison from Slipknot was on drums as Lars was sick which blew my mind. Our stage set ups compared to theirs are lightyears apart. We like to keep it fairly minimal and sleek, there's no real props as such. Not that we rule anything like that out, we're just more comfortable like that. Saying that I do have total respect for any kind of show as long as it's honest and entertaining. Miley's doing a pretty good job of that. 

What's your Miley track of choice and why?
Obvious choice but "Wrecking Ball". It just stuck in my head for ages, it's cool when there's a good song to back up all the hype.  

What do you admire about Miley - and would you be up for a collaboration?
I respect the control she seems to have right now on her own life. I can imagine it being extremely overwhelming at times being as big a celebrity as she is. She comes across quite mature and level headed. She always looks really healthy too which impresses me. I wouldn't rule out a collaboration, her voice might suit some of our music! Maybe I'll remix one of her tracks in the future - please!

Will you be checking out the Bangerz tour when it comes to the UK?
I would actually be well up for going, I don't ever really get star struck but I can imagine being pretty into it. It's not every day you see things like that. 

What pop music do you personally love?
I'm into Coldplay if that counts as pop? To be honest I rarely listen to "pop" or if I do I don't know it's supposed to be pop. Radioheadcould be considered pop too right? I like A$AP Rocky a lot mainly for the beats, his producer Clams Casino is genius. 

Finally, where do you stand on twerking?
Completely nonplussed. 

Originally published on GQ.co.uk in February 2014. Read the original here.