Image Courtesy of Gabriel GreenAlt-J broke through in their native U.K. with their 2012 debut album, An Awesome Wave. The record was awarded one of the U.K.'s most prestigious music honors, the Mercury Prize.
In 2014, Alt-J rode that awesome wave to the U.S. with their sophomore album, This Is All Yours, which debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, miles ahead of An Awesome Wave's peak position of 80.
"Over here [in the U.S.], number four as well -- top five -- for a band like us, it's pretty amazing," Alt-J drummer Thom Green tells ABC News Radio.
In addition to the impressive chart position, This Is All Yours gave Alt-J their first Grammy nomination. The record is up for Best Alternative Album, vying with albums from Jack White, Arcade Fire, Cage the Elephant and St. Vincent.
As honored as he is by all the accolades This Is All Yours is receiving, Green tells ABC Radio that the goal of Alt-J was never to garner critical attention or win awards.
"We didn't aim to be a successful band," he says. "Even though it happening is incredible -- we're very, very fortunate -- we never really prepared for that, and I suppose we are still kind of getting use to the fact that there's other things outside of just writing music that come with being in a successful band. We're happy for that, but, like I said, we never actually wanted that."
There is one status symbol of American music success that Green is looking forward to is playing New York City's Madison Square Garden. Alt-J will be headlining MSG on March 30 with support from Phantogram.
"You know people talk about breaking America, to me, that's what it is," Green says of headlining MSG. "If we sell it out, then that's incredible. For me, that means we are established in America."
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