Add in the cheeky global hit Toothbrush and both songs combined have earned more than 500 million Spotify streams.
And whats your favorite flavor of cake?
And what does Cake by the Ocean mean?
Credit: Photograph By Chris McPherson for EW
And it depends on who the person is.
COLE WHITTLE, 34:If its grandma, the song is about baking on Sunday morning.
And if its a college girl…
LAWLESS:Maybe thats why it appeals to so many people.
Photograph By Chris McPherson for EW
JONAS:Thats the beauty of the song.
It appeals to a lot of people because they dont feel like they know exactly what it is.
Whats the craziest interpretation of it that youve heard?
JONAS:Eating ass was a big one.
That was not really where we were going with it.
Thats how it all started.
JONAS:Now people have adapted it to their cities.
So, like, in Amsterdam [they say] Cake by the Canal.
LAWLESS:MinneapolisCake by the Lake.
WHITTLE:Pie by the Sewer.
Well, thats kind of more my style.
Did you feel its potential when you first heard the finished track?
JINJOO LEE, 26:The hair rose on arm and I got a chill all over my body.
WHITTLE:We all believed in Cake and made a spiritual agreement to not think too much.
No fear is kind of our motto.
The time so many people spend worrying about acceptance, we venture to spend thinking of crazy ideas.
2016 has sucked, and your music is an upbeat antidote to this depressing year.
Did you specifically set out to write something happy?
JONAS:Look, weve lost a lot of amazing musicians and actors and people this year.
Whatever your opinions, weve obviously had quite a crazy political race.
Is happiness easy to write, or surprisingly hard?
JONAS:It comes naturally for us.
Every song on that album, I dont think we wrote in more than two hours.
We just felt good and we treated every song like a celebration.
WHITTLE:Prince and Bowie are huge influences on us.
Not only because of their music.
Its their whole world.
Is there a story to the album?
It seems to me like its one big text message relationship.
JONAS:We might steal that.
Thats a good analogy.
WHITTLE:I think its one night of partying.
Like, you know the movieDazed and Confused?
Its one epic day.
You get out of school, youre excited, there are big hopes.
And then theres peaks of the nightThis is the greatest party Ill ever go to or Im in love!
What is the ideal metaphor for where people should listen to your album?
JONAS:We put on certain music when were going to a party, right?
You have that playlist of songs that you listen to before you get pumped up to go out.
Thats kind of how I feel is our vibe, too.
Its waking up, going to sleep, making love, driving to the beach.
Literally its all encompassing.
Speaking from experience, you guys do make a pretty good pre-game song.
And we were like, perfect.
How did DNCE come out of that?
LAWLESS:Want to know something?
Its actually been exactly ten years since I met him.
JONAS:Thanksgiving afternoon!
He showed up and were like, This fker gets a tour bus on his first tour!?
LAWLESS:I came in when things got easy.
WHITTLE:What a diva!
JONAS:I wanted to verify.
He tried to get him to go on tour.
But Jack and I probably had 50 conversations over the years about doing this.
I guess one day, he knew in my voice when it was actually happening.
Enlisting JinJoo as the third member seems like it marked the first real step towards formation.
I literally came to America from Korea.
Couldnt speak any English.
And Joe said hi to me, and all I could say at the time was hi.
And she was down.
JinJoo has always been someone that Ive been impressed with.
Shes a badass lead guitar player.
If it wasnt our band, it was going to be someone elses.
And what blank did Cole fill in?
JONAS:When we met Cole we knew immediately he was supposed to be with us for eternity.
It was definitely the universe putting us together in a room.
Cole is the constant reminder to, excuse my language, to not really give a fk.
This is who I am.
WHITTLE:Thats the best thing anyone could say about me.
So when I met Joe, he got me immediately, and thats very rare.
I think we were brothers in another life or something because it was so immediate.
I felt like wed been friends all our livesand that waswithoutmusic!
Tell me about the first time all four of you got together in a room for a rehearsal.
LEE:It was actually in front of people.
Your first rehearsal was a gig?
WHITTLE:Essentially, yeah.
Weve all been in bands our entire livesIve been in a million bandsbut this was fking real.
WHITTLE:There is no band in 2016.
You kick your foot in the door to the mainstream but youre still maybe something that doesnt belong there.
ROUND THREE
Tequila for Jonas, beer for Lawless and Lee, bourbon for Whittle.
If you had to drop the A in any other English word, what would it be?
LAWLESS:Instead of VelveetaVelveet.
WHITTLE:Hes right.
JONAS:Maybe the A in Donald Trump.
Or just get rid of that altogether.
What are your parents favorite things about other band members?
JONAS:My mom loves Coles wardrobe and hes stolen and has been gifted many aprons from her.
WHITTLE:My dad has such a crush on JinJoo.
When I talk to him, hes like, I dont care whats going on with you.
JONAS:My parents literally think that these are their kids as well.
Theyve spent holidays and many other days at my parents home.
WHITTLE:And we Skype with JinJoos mom probably three times a week.
And Jacks mom hangs out with us quite a bit.
LAWLESS:My mom was in London when we happened to be in London.
WHITTLE:We went to a pub and got smashed.
Theres a big family presence in DNCE!
You just announced a 2017 tour.
What kind of show are you building?
JONAS:We wanted to do a smaller run for a really big summer tour.
Whose notebook is the messiest?
JONAS:The messiest, mentally, is mine.
Ill give you some exclusive information: DNCE has a quote sheet which I keep on my phone.
Since weve started, weve probably accumulated 300 to 400 quotes.
A lot of them are rated R but most of them are pretty hilarious.
You dont even really need to know the situation.
WHITTLE:All I request from the book is that all the names of who said them are anonymous.
LAWLESS:If you know who said it, youknow.
JONAS:Im going through right now and…okay, perfect example.
Doesnt make sense, but whatever.
And I didnt even go to college.
Joe, this is the first album of yours where youve written on every single song.
Was that important to you?
JONAS:I didnt even realize that, but yeah.
I guess its probably just coincidence.
Before we even made the band, I was just writing music.
I didnt know what was going to happen with it.
And then once I finally got Jack and JinJoo and Cole, we started to learn how DNCE works.
And I think thats why people love it.
Because hes such a funny, down to Earth, amazing spirit.
That statisticthat he wrote on every songis not a coincidence.
WHITTLE:Id say JinJoo.
JONAS:Its beautifulshell find signs in certain things in life.
This fortune cookie said you’re gonna wanna get a good nights rest!
JinJoo, what relationship do you have with each of these guys?
JONAS:It came true on Halloween.
We were dalmatians and she was Cruella de Vil.
And its true, were just three little emotional puppies trying to get through life.
LEE:I can be that.
I can be just a little kid who loves puppies.
I can be everythingI love my puppies.
Who is the most likely to surprise everyone by actually impulsively adopting a puppy?
He would surprise us by just showing up with a dog, but alsowe wouldnt be surprised.
Who has the strangest hobby that theyre trying to force everyone else into?
LEE: I make a run at get them to watch Korean dramas.
WHITTLE:Theyre too sad!
LEE:I cry all the time.
And they hate me when I cry watching drama.
JONAS:Well, she doesnt use headphones.
Does the group have a collective guilty pleasure?
WHITTLE:Questionable 90s rock and roll.
Nickelback, Smash Mouth, Korn.
LAWLESS:I dont know if we should feel guilty about it.
Its not guilty, its just a pleasure.
WHITTLE:Die Antwoord or Rihanna walked by our dressing room and we had Nickelback playing.
We just have to be like loud and proud about it.
What would you do if you could no longer DNCE?
And thank God we didnt.
JONAS:We tried it.
We all had that little period, that limbo of whats next?
But nothing has that fire we feel when were onstage.
WHITTLE:Destiny is destiny.
