Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with In Real Life

It’s hard to fathom that a little over a year ago, Chance, Sergio, Drew, Brady, and Michael were complete strangers. They would, then, all meet and compete on ABC’s Boy Band, earning a spot in the group, In Real Life. Since then, they’ve formed an unbreakable friendship and proven they’re ready to take the music industry by storm, releasing hit single after hit single. This fall, they embarked on their first headlining tour, Tonight Belongs to You. We sat down and spoke with the guys before they took the stage at Gramercy Theatre.

PC: What can fans expect when they come to an In Real Life show?

Michael: Lots of energy and love. We’re just big softies up there.

Drew: If you like older boy bands like *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, we have something that we’ve incorporated into our show. It’s a tribute to the past boy bands and I think fans will appreciate what we’ve done.

Sergio: A lot of fun. Yesterday, everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs all night. It made us feel great.

Chance: We try to get the fans involved in every song that we do.

PC: You’ve done a ton of performances in the last year. What have you learned from those experiences that you’re bringing with you on the road?

Brady: All of us as a group have figured out how to perform, vocally, in different situations. If you watch a video of us performing a year ago and compare it to now, it’s very different. We’re all a lot better dancers now too.

Michael: I was just going to say that! I look at myself doing the choreography from a year ago, and I’m just like, “Wow, I can’t believe I had the guts to go on stage and do that in front of people.” Now, we’re a lot better. We’re also just more comfortable with it.

PC: We saw a sneak peek of the setlist. How did you guys decide which songs made the cut?
Chance: That’s a funny story. Fans weren’t supposed to find that. They were all huddled up in the front and one of the lists was taped to the back of the speaker, and a fan grabbed it. [laughs] We wanted to have a lot of momentum throughout the whole show. We didn’t want to have all the good songs in the beginning and then have it slow down. We had to find the right balance. Our manager, Johnny Wright, helped out a lot.

Sergio: Two days before the first show, we were still finalizing the setlist—it took a while. The whole time we were rehearsing, we were trying to figure out what song should be where. I’m glad that we took as long as we did because we’re really happy with how it turned out and there’s nothing we would change about it.

PC: Do you have a favorite song on the setlist?
Chance: Honestly, I do, but I’m not sure I should share it.

Drew: Do it!

Chance: “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake. It’s my favorite one to do with these guys.

Brady: I wasn’t expecting people to like the boy band medley as much as they do.

Drew: Oh my god. Dude, I couldn’t hear myself.

Sergio: Our fans are like our age, but we’re like old souls. They know every song. They were screaming.

PC: You guys just recently celebrated one year as a band. When you look back is there a particular moment that’s stood out to each of you?

Michael: Yeah! Drew left his Airpods in the fridge one time.

Drew: That was so funny!

Sergio: For me, it was when we recorded, “Tattoo”. I remember the feeling I had when I was recording my part; it just felt so good. It’s the first song of ours that made it to Top 40 radio. From seeing that happen to playing all these radio shows where we had thousands of people showing up and singing back the lyrics was crazy.

Brady: Last night [Maryland show] was my favorite moment so far. It was amazing to walk up on stage and see a whole room full of people who are there because you’ve been working hard for the past year. That’s the craziest feeling.

Chance: That show. It was ours.

PC: You just released your new single, “Got Me Good”. What was the inspiration behind the song? Can we expect a music video for it?
Chance: We recorded that song really early on as a band. We were working with this producer, Brandon, and he was helping us with other songs. He told us that he had this song, “Got Me Good”, and he wanted us to hear it. We thought it was an amazing, fun, and a cool-vibe song.

Michael: The crazy part is when we were in the studio, I asked him, “Yo, when you were writing this, how long did it take?” He was like, “Ten minutes!”

Brady: What’s interesting is that all of the other songs that we received were pretty complete, but we got to collaborate a lot on this one. We actually ended up changing one of the melodies in the main chorus.

Michael: I changed some of the lyrics in my verse. We were figuring out which words would work best in this song, so I freestyled something in the booth and they were like, “I actually like that. Let’s keep it.”

Sergio: We were still part of the process going into the final portion of the song.

PC: What can fans expect from In Real Life for the rest of the year? More singles? Maybe an EP or album?
Chance: Definitely more singles! We’re also working on a bigger body of work. We have a bunch of stuff that’s recorded and even more that we’ll be writing in the next month. We have a lot of studio sessions.

Brady: We’re all really creative people. We were doing so much promo because we just got off the show, so our only option was to take songs that we thought were great and record them. It’s fun and it’s worked, but it’s always great as an artist to be able to collaborate like we did with “Got Me Good”. That’s been our thing from the beginning. We want to be in the session. We want to be working with the writers. After this tour, our manager set up a lot of really cool sessions and we’re super excited about it.

Michael: This is only the beginning. We’re so happy and blessed to be where we are.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: First album you purchased or streamed?
Chance: I had my mom go and buy it for me but it was the Jonas Brothers.

Sergio: The Purpose album by Justin Bieber

Drew: The Human Condition

Brady: The album for Spring Awakening the musical.

Michael: Logic’s Under Pressure

PC: First concert you attended?
Chance: Ed Sheeran

Sergio: Prince Royce

Drew: I don’t actually remember.

Brady: Vampire Weekend

Michael: J. Cole

PC: One thing you can’t live without on the road?
Chance: Deodorant

Sergio: My toiletry bag

Drew: Our phones

Brady: This is kind of gross but it gets dry on the bus so I have a nasal spray.

Michael: Clean underwear and socks

PC: If you could collaborate with one person, who would it be?
Chance: Harry Styles

Sergio: Charlie Puth

Drew: Bruno Mars

Brady: Max Martin

Michael: Jon Bellion

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Chance: Jazmine Sullivan

Sergio: PRETTYMUCH

Drew: Lil Pump or 6ix9ine

Brady: Britney Spears

Michael: Rex Orange County

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Chance: Californication

Sergio: Stranger Things

Drew: Insatiable

Brady: Nathan for You

Michael: The first season of 13 Reasons Why

Make sure to follow In Real Life on Twitter and Instagram, and catch them on their Tonight Belongs to You Tour when it stops by a city near you. Dates, venue, and times on their official website.

Photo Credit: Kevin Jan for Pop Culturalist.com