Alt-J isn’t your average indie rock band. Since forming in Leeds in 2007, they’ve established a special brand for their unconventional sound of folk, electronic, and rock. That brand revolving around a recurring theme of triangles also turned into an aesthetic. When traced back, all that fuss went back to their name.
They’re Obsessed With Triangles
The name ‘Alt-J’ comes from a simple keyboard shortcut. On an Apple Mac, pressing Alt + J generates the symbol ∆, which is the Greek letter delta. The band found this connection interesting and adopted it as their official name.
Triangles have showed up a lot in their work. Their song ‘Tesselate’ even had the lyric “triangles are my favorite shape.” Fans have come up with all sorts of theories about what it means because of this—some even linking it to the Illuminati or math symbolism—but the band reassured them that they just like how it looks.
They Had Other Names Before This One
Before they became Alt-J, the band tried out different names. They first called themselves ‘Daljit Dhaliwal’ and later switched to ‘Films.’ But when they found out there was already an American band called ‘The Films,’ they had to change it again. That’s when they landed on ‘Alt-J.’
At one point, they even considered making the triangle symbol their actual name. But Gus Unger-Hamilton said they realized using the keyboard shortcut made it “easier to search and explain, so it stuck.”
That didn’t stop them from keeping the triangle as part of their identity. These days, both the band and their fans use a hand sign in the shape of a triangle as a way to connect at live shows.
