Joe Jonas returns to music scene with new band DNCE
LONDON—Joe Jonas, formerly of the Jonas Brothers, is back with new band DNCE, whose adult lyrics and funk-pop tunes are a far cry from his teen boy band days in Disney Channel’s pop-rock trio.
DNCE is made up of Jonas as lead singer, guitarist JinJoo Lee, bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle and drummer Jack Lawless, who worked with the Jonas Brothers.
“Our sound is different from anything we’ve all done be- fore,” Jonas said in an interview with the band. “We’ve all agreed on funk, dance and rock music—and that’s where we pull our biggest inspiration.”
DNCE’s debut single, “Cake By the Ocean,” reached No. 9 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the band is now working on an album.
“The record is going to be…a handful of 10, 12, 13 snapshots of just what the DNCE world is,” Whittle said.
“It’s romantic, it’s fun, it’s messy, it’s party, it’s sexual, it’s ‘Animal House’ the band,” he said, referring to the comedy film.
The Jonas Brothers—Kevin, Joe and Nick—formed in 2005, quickly rose to fame with their upbeat pop-rock songs. They split in 2013.
Nick has since launched a solo career and stars in “Goat,” a drama screened at the Berlin film festival last month.
Reinvention
“It’s very difficult to reinvent yourself or come back with new music in this music industry,” Joe Jonas said. “So, the fact that we’ve got our own audiences and fans, and we have our own things going for ourselves, we definitely feel proud.”
Asked if a potential Jonas brothers reunion may be on the cards eventually, he said: “If the time found itself in a creative way, maybe.”
“I don’t think you can say never, because you never know. I think we’re both so focused on our individual paths, and DNCE is just getting started. We have a long road ahead of us.”