3OH!3 talks guilty pleasures, Jimmy John’s

3OH!3 came on the music scene five years ago with advice that would define a generation through the hit single “Don’t Trust Me.” Since then, they’ve kept listeners dancing with their lively beats and catchy lyrics.

Now they’re back with a new album, “Omens,” which hits stores June 18, just in time for Warped Tour. The music video for their new single, “Back To Life,” features a mock robbery. The band holds up a seafood counter using a fish instead of a gun.

The Miami Hurricane got the chance to sit down with Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte about their new single, musical roots and where their passions truly lie.

The Miami Hurricane: What was the idea behind the video for “Back to Life?”

Nathaniel Motte: I actually wrote that scenario a while ago and just had it sitting around. It’s representative of our sense of humor. It’s kind of ironic and weird and funny.

TMH: And what was the inspiration for the song? It has a different vibe from some of your past songs.

Sean Foreman: That was the first song we wrote toward this new album. A lot of people know us because of our singles, which are very dance-driven, but a lot of the songs on our albums are very different. It still has what we like to do with 3OH!3, which is have fun and present energy in a song, but it’s a different tempo … I would describe it as a party ballad.

TMH: How do you think your new album, “Omens,” is different from albums you’ve released in the past?

NM: Most of the songs go back to how we started making music and that’s just me and Sean in my basement in Colorado. We collaborated … with some producers and songwriter friends of ours for a few of the tracks, but really we consciously wanted to pull everything back, use all the knowledge that we’ve learned and apply it to our music.

TMH: Going back to your roots for a second, how did you get started in the music business?

NM: We met on Match.com: “Man seeking man for boy band.”

SF: We met back in college at CU. We had similar taste in music.

TMH: Do you guys have any musical guilty pleasures?

NM: I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. I only believe in pleasures … We both came from a place where for a while we were in an underground scene in music where it wasn’t cool to like certain kinds of music. That’s some people’s attitude, but I don’t think for me it’s the right one because I think you should like music for the music that you like.

TMH: When did each of you realize music was something you wanted to pursue as a career?

NM: Even in the early phases of our operation, music was kind of a hobby. It only dawned on me that it could become a career later. We were on Warped Tour in 2008 and we had agreed to do the whole tour, but I was actually supposed to go to medical school right as the tour was ending. It was that summer that I faced a pretty big dilemma. I ended up deferring school and doing music and obviously I’m super happy that I did that.

SF: I always thought I would play music. I didn’t know to what capacity or if I’d ever make money doing it … I wrote my first rap song when I was in fifth grade and to this day I still remember it. It’s corny as hell.

TMH: If you hadn’t gone into music, what career would you have wanted to have?

SF: I’d still be working at Jimmy John’s, delivering sandwiches. I had a passion for that. I love the thrill of not knowing if you’re going to get tips and the smell of a frat house in the morning when you’re delivering a sandwich. That’s really nice.

NM: Getting tipped in beer bongs?

SF: Getting tipped in beer bongs. Or not tipped at all. But, you know, it’s the passion.

For more information on 3OH!3, visit 3oh3music.com.