Joe Jonas on New Funk-Pop Party Band DNCE, Second Chances
The funkiness of the quartet carries over into their message as well. While the name DNCE technically was born from a lyric Jonas had written about being too drunk to spell the word “dance,” it’s grown to mean something larger. “DNCE is ‘dance’ without an ‘a,’ which is obviously not a perfect word, but you don’t have to be always perfect to dance or to do anything,” JinJoo explains. “Life is never perfect, but you can always enjoy.”
Even Whittle’s notable and eclectic attire extends the meaning of DNCE. “I’m obsessed with aesthetic in every way,” he says. “I don’t think much about it, but things just come to me. Like I’ll wake up and be like, OK, I wanna feel like a samurai who teaches you how to fly a UFO in Japan today. Or, I want to look like a farmer who moved to the Bronx in 1985 and became a B-boy. When I walk around, I want people to look at me and not have any self-conscious thought they might have or shyness or reservation about how other people are seeing them. I like bringing that lightness to that world, whether you laugh at me or appreciate it or you’re just like, ‘That guy’s weird.’ I like that it takes people out of their comfort zone enough to broaden what is normal to them.”
Following a residency in NYC that doubled as a rehearsal for their even larger debut at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, where Jonas’ younger brother Nick also played, DNCE have announced a string of tour dates — The Greatest Tour Ever, Tour with supporting act Powers kicks off in November — and are already planning a full-length LP, set to be released in February or March. “It’s nice to get out there and showcase this music that we’re really proud of,” says Jonas. “We really enjoy the opportunity to fight for a crowd and get their attention.”
For all four, DNCE has become their own revival. Coming off band breakups, hiatuses and other people’s tours, Jonas, Whittle, Lawless and JinJoo see this new endeavor as a chance for a reintroduction. “It’s crazy because all of our paths are so similar, obviously in different magnitudes, but we all gave our lives to something, and it reached the end of a chapter,” Whittle offers. “We all picked up the pieces, soul-searched and questioned what the story was for us. The answer ended up being DNCE as our new life. We’re all in, all the time, with Joe at the captain’s wheel.”
