Joe Keery first made a name for himself in a big way with his beloved Steve Harrington character on Stranger Things, but he’s an established musician, too. Pre-Stranger Things, he was a member of successful Chicago psychedelic rock group Post Animal, although he left the band following their 2018 debut album When I Think Of You In A Castle due to his newfound fame and business creating scheduling issues for the group.
More recently, he has performed as a solo act under the name Djo, releasing a debut album, Twenty Twenty, in 2019. Now he has another LP, Decide, on the way, which he announced last month. Today, he returns with a new single, “Gloom.” The track is a quick two-minute romp, a jaunty, psychedelic rocker that press materials accurately call “Talking Heads-inspired.”
Meanwhile, Keery sat down for an interview on The Tonight Show last week and spoke with Jimmy Fallon about Djo, saying of choosing that performing name, “It’s connected to me, but it’s not directly connected to me, was the idea.” He also noted of his decision to play a wig-wearing character as Djo, “I was kind of inspired by Andy Kaufman, you know? So that was kind of the idea, this alter ego sort of musician.”
Listen to “Gloom” above and in case you missed it, check out that Fallon interview below.
Decide is out 9/16 via AWAL Recordings.
