DNCE interview: Joe Jonas' band on 'Cake By The Ocean', Ashley Graham and the US election

'It’s great to live in a generation where you can listen to anything'

DNCE L-R: JinJoo Lee (Press image)

It’s not surprising that the members of DNCE seem a little worn out.

Fresh out of Coachella Festival, the US pop band are in London with a jam-packed schedule: frontman Joe Jonas appeared with bassist Cole Whittle on Good Morning Britain, and they’re booked for a performance on Graham Norton the same day.

Despite this they remain bright and breezy for the brief time we spend talking; Jonas and Whittle generally take turns per question, with the latter proving something of a magpie before we get started.

"I love your necklace," he says, then - "What is THAT?" – pointing at a faintly ridiculous sparkly ring in the shape of a goldfish on my right hand.

After he’s tried it on talk turns first to Prince; the band were already covering a version of "Kiss" in their live set, and Whittle speaks respectfully of the artist’s role as a "pioneer of fashion and music and what it is to be your own world".

Two days before this interview, Perez Hilton posted a typically excitable article about model Ashley Graham, who was apparently spotted on a film set for the band’s next music video. Would this be for their song “Toothbrush”?

"Maybe," Jonas smiles. "We’re keeping mum about it, but it’s going to be awesome."

Whether you want to call them fashion-savvy or model-obsessed, DNCE are definitely working with some of the biggest names in the industry; Gigi Hadid, Jonas’ former girlfriend, directed the video for "Cake By The Ocean" which was released last month.

"She [Gigi] worked with these guys Black Coffee," Jonas nods, "who are five insane, funny dudes, who we work with on all our stuff, so they just finished up the 'Toothbrush' lyric video. We’ve shot a million videos with them, they’ve come on tour with us, and they’re amazing and super smart."

After Coachella, which Whittle calls "a big giant hurricane of fun and no sleep and awesome music… and bathroom lines", the band are set to play V Festival in August and join Selena Gomez on her latest headline tour.

"And every day in between that we’re going to try to go to all the other parts of the world that are listening to 'Cake by the Ocean'," Whittle adds dutifully.

Quite a few parts of the world are listening to it from the sound of things. "Cake By The Ocean" – an infectious, disco-inflected track – is perfect, slick pop which is currently sat at the top of the UK sales and downloads chart, while the YouTube video has racked up over 63 million views.

Jonas reckons there’s a changing attitude towards pop music, partly thanks to the fact that it’s easier to listen to without being spotted.

"It’s great to live in a generation where you can listen to anything… you don’t carry round CDs or tapes anymore, and it’s encouraged to have a huge taste in music," he says.

The 26-year-old seems happier back in the band format after his brief stint as a solo artist. He and drummer Jack Lawless have known one another for around 10 years and formed the band in 2015; Lee had toured with the Jonas Brothers as well as Charli XCX, while Whittle joined from Semi Precious Weapons.

"Doing stuff on my own was a good experience and I’m proud of the music I made, but this is where I feel most comfortable," he says.

Currently DNCE are listening to the new Miike Snow (Cole says they’re a a band “that bounces between the 60s to right now") - "We’ll listen to Sly and the Family Stone to French house, to really bad 90s hard rock," he adds.

Referring to Prince, who was renowned for the strict control he had over his music, and difficulties new artists face with streaming, Jonas says: "I think it’s kind of adapt or die. We live in a world where everything’s online, whether it’s going to be stolen or bought or streamed so it’s important to be a part of it in some way.

"Obviously there’s concern and a lot I’d agree on, like with artists getting the right payment for what they put out there. But ultimately for us we just want to create music that we want to share with the world, so whatever that way is…"

It’s worth noting that the band used an EP format for Swaay to give new fans a snapshot of what DNCE are about, fuelling anticipation for a full album. Given their experience, you have to think they know what they’re doing.

"The Swaay EP was definitely supposed to be a preview of our world,” Whittle agrees, “and we’re going to put an album out probably in August.

"There are going to be a couple of songs that are a little bit more descriptive and maybe heavy, but even when we’re heavy we’re still DNCE and still fun. I think it would be a lie to not say we wanna be the biggest band in the world. But we also made a pact not to think too much, and be the band we wish existed.”

Musically the band seem uninterested in putting out any particular message, but I can’t resist asking them about the US elections before we wrap things up. Are they rooting for anyone in particular?

"I think politics is probably something we try not to be too involved in,” Jonas says, “but it’s important to be informed… and I think for us personally we’re not too affected depending on who gets elected – we’re still playing music – but as a country I think it’s important to get the right person in office.”

Are they rooting for anyone in particular… or is there a candidate they’d rather not see in the White House?

"I think Bernie’s pretty awesome," Jonas smiles, then looks at the others and adds, laughing: "And I think it’s pretty obvious who the crazy ones are…"

DNCE's single "Cake By The Ocean" from their EP Swaay is out now