For the better part of the past year—since releasing their third album (first as a duo), Encyclopedia—The Drums have stayed busy. And that isn’t just because of their extensive touring schedule. Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham have been working tirelessly to take their brand of indie-pop-meets-post-punk revival to a larger audience. Despite a near break up, the duo soldiered on, and the result’s an exploratory sound that pushed the band forward when they could have easily went the other direction.

While on tour, we caught up with Pierce and Graham, who shared that they’ve begun work on their next album, and what their latest bold stance will be when that time comes.

Besides this tour, what else do you guys have in the works?

Jonny Pierce: We’re releasing a new single, “There is Nothing Left.” It’s the last single from our last album, Encyclopedia. We’ve just been in the studio writing.

When did you guys start writing and prepping for the next album?

JP: We’re always writing. When it comes time to make a decision and to focus, we have a vision of what this is going to be and we usually come up with the album cover or album title, and everything else sort of leans into that.

So you’re more concept guys than anything else?

JP: Always. The difference with this new record though is that it reads like a diary. The lyrics are beyond personal. They’re really kind of going for it. I feel like we did that a bit with Encyclopedia, but now we’re really going there and saying a lot. I think we want to send more of a message than we’ve ever done before. When we started this band, we didn’t want to be political. We thought that was for politicians, but the world is so fucked. We have this platform now and without beating it over people’s heads, it’s nice to do a wink-wink type of thing. 

Is that why you’re wearing an American flag on your lapel right now? 

JP: It is, actually, which I kind of feel bad about. I don’t think anyone should be too excited about their homeland.

Why is now the appropriate point in your career to go in this more overtly political direction? 

Jacob Graham: I think we’ve grown into this in a really organic way. Just by getting older, you start to learn about yourself and your place in the world and how big and complex it is. Touring has a lot to do with that. We’ve done tours through Africa, and you can’t stay in this bubble, and we’re more driven to speak our values. 

When did you start recording this unnamed album and with this tour going on for a bit still, when are you going to have time to really get things going with it?

JG: We write pretty fast. Traditionally, if we decide to get together and write, we’ve nailed out entire albums in a couple of months.

Where are you guys recording this one?

JP: I’ve just moved to LA and have been writing there on my own, and Jacob has been writing in New York on his own.

Is it easy to send ideas back and forth now despite the distance? 

JG: A little bit, but we've made study dates. 

JP: I’ll have to go to New York for something, and we’ll kill two birds with one stone. 

JG: He has a lot of unfinished business in New York. 

JP: I’m in New York more than I’m in LA. I just go there to kind of be there.

How has being in LA changed your perspective and writing?

JP: I moved to LA because I was lured out there by the prospects of collaborating with other artists and writing. That’s the main reason I moved out. I tried to for two sessions with this pop artist and hated it so much. One of the kids opened for Justin Bieber on his last tour. So, I went in and was instantly depressed, and I’m not trying to be precious about it. I just hated every single aspect of it and said I’d never do it again. I’m very lucky to have found Jacob, and he’s even more lucky to have found me. 

Is that true? 

JG: We don’t get along with other people, we’re not collaborative people. Everything we’ve ever released, has been our thing. We’re actually hiring a producer for our next album, so we’ll see how that works. 

JP: It’s only because we’re bored, and we’re not sure yet who it will be. We’re talking to a few people, but we’re such control freaks so we’ll never let things completely go. The producer is going to be on a tight leash. We’ve spent 8 million years developing a strong image and sound, so we know exactly what we want this next record to be.