New Politics singer David Boyd and guitarist Søren Hansen were songwriting partners trying to get their foot in the door of the music business circa 2009 with no luck.
But after a few years and a pile of songs with no significant interest, the pair tells Q104.3 New York's "Out of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke that they paused to re-evaluate their approach.
"[For] about two years we were just writing songs," Boyd says. "Eventually we had all these songs and we were like, 'We're a band and we don't even know it.'"
Boyd and Hansen had little experience performing as a music act when they entered a local talent competition. While Boyd had never held a microphone before, Hansen had never played guitar standing up. The two were nervous and didn't expect to play particularly well, so they resolved to make their stage show as exciting as possible.
"Actually, I think we just went nuts onstage because we didn't know what else to do," Hansen laughs.
They got through the show and Hansen says they were better for it. Now the energy of their live shows is part of what keeps their audiences coming back. Hansen says the same headfirst attitude that made the band book its first show has served it well over the years.
"We just jump into it; we don't overthink things too much," he says. "I feel that's also what has made our musical skills later on, maybe, progress."
Since completing the lineup with drummer Louis Vecchio and first getting on the road, New Politics has been on the up-and-up. The band has toured with the likes of P!nk, Fall Out Boy, Paramore and now 311. The band members say they've learned a lot about what it takes to excel.
"The biggest thing is really, like, consistency," Boyd says. "Like developing as an artists and giving something a try. Because that's really how it all originally happened, you know, it was all sort of an idea and a dream and whatever it is and you give it a try."
Check out the full interview above. New Politics also performs live versions of their songs "One of Us" and "Harlem."
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Check out the official music video for New Politics' song "One of Us":