The Chainsmokers.Photo: Bryan Steffy/Getty

Andrew Taggart, Alex Pall, The Chainsmokers

The Chainsmokersare admitting that while they’re aware they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, they’re hoping for something of a rebirth.

The dance-pop duo broke through in 2014 with the song “#Selfie” — and though the single was a hit, The Chainsmokers' image was a bit more controversial.

“Part of the thing with The Chainsmokers is, we felt on some levels like we were becoming people’s dirty little secret,” Alex Pall, 36, toldBillboardin a new interview.

“I remember reading that and thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is what people are going to think of us,’ and ‘Do we come off this way? I don’t want to be this person, you know?'” Drew Taggart, 32, said. “That was the biggest thing. The guys we read about there, I was like, ‘I don’t like these guys.'”

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Pall agreed, tellingBillboardthat he “would have loved” for the original article to turn out differently.

“That’s the hard part, being like, ‘God, that is just not accurate of who I am, but I didn’t do myself any favors to show that person a different side,” he said.

To help combat the public’s perception, he and Taggart have taken on something of a self-deprecating tone, announcing the band’s return in January after a two-year hiatus with a faux apology.

“By being like, ‘We’re in on the joke, we get the joke, we love the joke,’ it disarms people and allows people to enjoy the music for what it is,” Pall said. “Whatever people imagine from past experiences with us, I think it was really important to kind of reset the tone.”

Chainsmokers.Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for JAJA Tequila

Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers attend the 2nd Annual Party For No Reason Presented by JAJA Tequila on April 01, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California.

He added that for him and Taggart, The Chainsmokers’ comeback feels “like we’re a new band starting over in a lot of ways…. It’s the best feeling ever.”

Manager Adam Alpert, meanwhile, toldBillboardthat he believes the band will have succeeded in their mission.

“I definitely think we won people over and that was 100% the plan,” he said.

The Chainsmokers will return from a two-and-a-half year hiatus with the release of their fourth albumSo Far So Goodon May 13.

source: people.com