TeaParty first encountered Gentleman Hall quite inadvertently. After a particularly, er, festive night sipping cocktails, we stumbled into one of our favorite local haunts for some late night dancing. And, oh, was there dancing. The sextet have come together from the far reaches of the Midwest, New England and upstate New York to meld their broad spectrum of influences and expertise into their own bricolage of electro neo-funk pop that lends itself to an overwhelming live performance. The deep bass grooves, the synth-tinged melodies, the boy band harmonies—it’s all there.

“We want to make people dance,” says flautist Seth Hachen, who got his start playing classical music, but constantly pushes the boundaries of his heavily stereotyped instrument. “You see all these DJs in Boston—all over the place. Everybody’s dancing to them. You might as well dance to a live band.”

Surprisingly, bassist Rory Givens and frontman Gavin McDevitt cut their chops playing in punk bands together. When we asked how they went from listening to Minor Threat to playing glossy dance gems like “Heartstopper,” conversation stalls while the two assess their musical paths.

“It became more all about the song and the characteristic melodies, which you couldn’t find in punk,” McDevitt explains. “What I take out of punk now is just the energy more than the actual musicality– where these guys are just dripping sweat off the walls at shows. That’s what I want to bring to Gentlemen Hall.”

Self-described as a band of songwriters and producers, Gentlemen Hall is a fairly prolific entity. They are constantly writing and recording, each member spreading their time between their three working studios. Still, not surprisingly, they do butt heads often.

“There’s been a lot of bruises and broken bones,” Givens says of their recording process.

But when, push comes to shove (pardon the pun), they get their act together to churn out some dancefloor butter. We weren’t the first ones to notice– besides being this week’s Spotlight Artist on Sonicbids, GH have already picked up a VMA for Best Breakout Artist, beating out over 150 local entries. It was a win that found them fans in unlikely places (“In Montana, those people get down.”) and also afforded them some new opportunities, like working with accomplished producer Earl Cohen.

“Where we’re at right now is a good place for us to be,” McDevitt concludes. “There’s no obligations to anybody but our selves and our fans. This is pretty much the best place we could be. It’s a success to me as long as we’re working hard.”

–Jessie Rogers

Gentlemen Hall play the Middle East Downstairs on Friday 2/26 with Spiritual Rez