Nashville band Cherub brings electropop tour to Strummer’s

Before heading out on their latest tour, Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber bought a burner phone.

It is the unofficial tour hotline for the Nashville electropop duo, which has been selling out shows across the country under the name Cherub. The group stops Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Strummer’s on its “So … You DTF?” tour.

“It accepts picture messages,” Huber says during a telephone interview in advance of the tour.

He’s expecting to get some “nice scenic shots” from fans.

“Or maybe some recipes,” Kelley chimes in, as if it weren’t obvious they are joking.

Do not send pictures of cute cats or dogs, they say.

Do send any after-party details. On that point, the guys are serious.

Cherub actively engages with their fans on and off the stage. They’re not too good to show up at an after-party, even if it’s just for an hour or so.

“We feel lucky people even want to know who we are,” Huber says.

They are going to be hanging out anyway. A party gets them off the tour bus.

“If you spend an hour, you stoke people out so much,” Kelley says.

Cherub plays pop-driven party music that’s popular with hyped-up college kids. The pair gained national attention in 2012 with its video “Doses and Mimosas.” It was a viral hit and landed the band a deal with Columbia Records, which released its album, “Year of the Caprese,” last year.

The pair describes its music as Ween covering Prince.

It’s an obscure (if not fairly accurate) reference for a pop band and hints at the pair’s eclectic tastes. Their road trip mix goes something like this: Air, followed by Slipknot, then Fiona Apple, Mayhem and Death Cab for Cutie. There’s some mid-’90s R&B and pop, too.

“Pop music is an open-ended genre,” Huber says.

That has allowed the band to evolve from its roots as an electronic duo and add extra musicians and new visuals, which it has done for the current tour. Cherub’s new live setup includes producer Nick Curtis on drums and longtime friend Jordan Bartlett on guitar and keyboards. The change has been a long time coming, Huber says.

“Since day one, we had big dreams for the band,” he says. “This is the next logical step.”

Of course, Kelley makes sure the new members know their place, jokingly. It’s his final thought for the interview and it gets a laugh.

“I love Jason more than anyone else in the band. More than the other two guys.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Nashville band Cherub brings electropop tour to Strummer’s."