New Politics plans to hype up its fans this Saturday as part of Mesa's School d'AZ (pronounced 'days') at Mesa Amphitheatre. From "Tonight You're Perfect" to "Girl Crush," the band's music continues to please its fanbase with beats and melodies that make you want to dance like no one is watching.
The band originated in 2009 when vocalist David Boyd and guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Soren Hansen met via studio sessions, ultimately pushing them to apply and win a contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, where 9,000 bands competed.
Ultimately, they were offered a record deal which brought them to the U.S. five years ago where they met Louis Vecchio, the band's drummer. Vecchio spoke to The State Press about New Politics' current tour and latest album. Vecchio said students should expect "100 percent" from the band, as its show will be the party of the weekend.
Who would you say are your musical influences?
We have a lot. You know, I mean honestly I’m sure that people probably say that a lot but we really do listen to every single kind of music. Like, we will have a Whitney Houston song on and then we will put on an Avenged Sevenfold song on right after.
I mean, I think though musically for New Politics we are really influenced by like Nirvana and a lot of hip-hop stuff as well, '90s hip-hop stuff. But if I had to pick like one band, it’s really hard. We pull influences from anything and everything. We all have very different backgrounds musically as well.
Could you tell me about a typical day in the life of being a drummer in New Politics?
Well for starters, I will forever be the new guy in the band because there was a Danish drummer before me. Even though it was five years ago, you know, I still get picked on, like I’m the little brother in the band. So I gotta, I’m always on defense for pranks and stuff like that. It happens a lot.
But other than that it’s like a sleepover with your best friends all the time, on tour, you know. We wake up, we get to do what we love, drink a lot of coffee, and you know make jokes and have fun. It’s pretty much the best thing ever, I have to say it’s the best job in the world.
Would you say you guys prefer playing at a big venue such as Red Rocks (in Colorado) or smaller ones like a bar?
I think every venue is special and every kind of show is special like in its own way. We approach every show like it’s like, you know, it doesn’t matter if there’s five people in the audience or 500 people in the audience. It means we are going to do it the same way.
Our goal is to basically at the end of everything, it’s just, we want the audience to be enjoying what they’re seeing as much as we are enjoying what we are doing on stage. You know, so there’s always something special about any sort of show. Yeah, don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing feeling to walk out on stage and looking at a big venue like Red Rocks, for instance, and seeing the whole thing sold out and you know that feeling is indescribable.
There's also the feeling when you're playing a small bar show or club show and every single person is singing along to the song. You can literally make eye contact with almost every person in the place and it’s very heart warming and very, very flattering.
Is there something in particular, maybe something to learn or just someplace to go that you look forward to with this tour?
I think we’re all looking forward to playing in New York. Like, New York, Terminal Five, is like a staple. But to be honest with you, we’re just happy to play anywhere. Everywhere we go, we find something with beauty in it, so it’s gonna be, I think, the whole entire tour is gonna be fantastic.
There are thousands of students here at ASU, so if some chose to drive out to Mesa, what hype can they expect?
100 percent through the roof, it’s going to be a party. The whole tour is a party. It’s going to be really good. They need to expect sweating, insanity and just overall a good time.
Over two years has passed since your previous album. How do you think New Politics has improved or changed since the newest album "Vikings" came out in August?
I feel that we, you know, have grown musically. We have grown as people. We’ve grown as showmen and for the record, "Vikings," like really shows a lot of that. We are a bunch of sponges when it comes to it. We’re so lucky touring with all these great musicians and great bands that we’ve toured with.
We really took in a lot the last couple of years of our touring career. It really helped us grow all around. You know, 360 (degrees) as far as writing goes.
Do you, yourself have a personal favorite on the new album?
I think right now my personal favorite would be “Girl Crush” just because it’s like, you know, it’s a fun song to play. It’s got claps in it. I’m a big fan of claps. To be honest with you, this record for us, we love it. We had such a good vibe while it was being written. We were on tour, in the back of a tour bus like writing the record and not really thinking about it too hard. It just really flows very naturally. I’m in love with the first song to be honest with you.
Do you think New Politics connects with its fans differently from other bands?
I mean, we do interact a lot with our fans. We are constantly on top of our Twitter, Facebook and all that stuff, you know? That’s just something we genuinely like to do, it comes natural. You know, I feel like a lot bands today do that, it’s very important, but we also really like to engage with fans at our live shows. Between David being in the crowd all the time and getting people to sing along, that’s what it’s all about, you know?
If you weren’t the drummer for New Politics, what would you be doing right now career wise?
Oh my God, I have no idea. I don’t know. They found me serving tables at Chili's, so I might be a server at Chili's. No I’d probably be playing drums somewhere, I don’t know. I’ve been playing drums since I was like 3.
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Reach the reporter at rsantist@asu.edu or follow @ryanerica18 on Twitter.
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