We all know this (lovely) face:
But here’s what you don’t know about Joe Jonas’ new band, DNCE!
WHAT DOES ‘DNCE’ MEAN?
“It’s incomplete, it’s imperfect, but it’s still all right,” says Lee of DNCE’s name and guiding philosophy. “You don’t have to be a great dancer to dance — you can dance however you want to, and still have so much fun. That’s really the beauty of this whole thing.”
MEET THE BAND:
LEE
Born and bred in South Korea, Lee met Jonas while playing lead guitar for Jordin Sparks (the opening act for the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 world tour) and later joined him on a tour supporting his 2011 solo album Fastlife. Also a former touring guitarist for artists like Charli XCX and CeeLo Green, Lee taught herself to play at age 12 in order to join in her older siblings’ band, POS. “I was the youngest and grew up watching them make music and put out albums, which seemed so cool to me,” she says. “At one point they didn’t have a guitarist, so I learned all their songs and they let me in. That was my whole teenage life.”
LAWLESS
Another former tourmate of Jonas, Lawless grew up in New Jersey, played in bands in the Asbury Park area throughout high school, and dropped out of college his first semester to replace the drummer who’d quit in the middle of the Jonas Brothers’ fall 2006 tour. “I’d never rehearsed or anything — I just got on the tour bus, and my first time playing with them was at sound check the next day,” he remembers. Lawless then became the band’s full-time drummer, and later toured with indie-pop acts like Night Terrors of 1927 and Soft Swells.
WHITTLE
A founding member of Semi Precious Weapons, Whittle started playing piano at six and took up bass at 12. “As soon as I picked up the bass I was addicted,” says Whittle, who hails from Richmond, Virginia. “At school I wouldn’t eat lunch; I’d just sneak into the janitor’s closet and practice bass the whole time.” After graduating from Berklee College of Music, moving to Brooklyn, and playing in the Big Apple Circus band for several years, Whittle joined his freshman-year roommate Tranter in forming Semi Precious Weapons. Initially an underground party band known for their outrageous live show, Semi Precious Weapons had a twist of fate when their longtime fan Lady Gaga invited them out on her worldwide Monster Ball tour. Whittle and his band then spent two years straight on the road with Gaga, later toured with Ke$ha, and broke up in late 2014.
***All pictures borrowed from Joe Jonas’ Instagram: