Before playing its opening set for Calvin Harris and Childish Gambino on Sunday, hip-hop group The Dean’s List sat down with The Daily Orange to talk about undergoing a name change, their upcoming album and playing new songs live.

The Daily Orange: Why did you guys decide to change your name from The Dean’s List to The King’s Dead?

DJ Mendoza: We were never too fond of The Dean’s List. The branding caught on, but the name definitely put us in a box, and people thought we’d be making really fratty music. We’ve been evolving musically.

Sonny Shotz: The king kind of represents the mainstream and everyday way of thinking, which is kind of dead. We don’t want to write radio songs because a lot of what’s on the radio isn’t what we want to do as artists.

The D.O.: How have fans reacted to the name change?

Mendoza: People were kind of confused when we switched names on Twitter, but it hasn’t been too bad. It’s still us, just under a different name then The Dean’s List.

Shotz: I wish I could tell you where we came up with the name The Dean’s List. We never put too much thought into it.

The D.O.: What can you tell me about your new album, “Jerusalem”?

Mendoza: I’ve really been into Middle-Eastern music, and there’s a lot of influence there.

Shotz: It’s just epic, since Jerusalem is the holiest city in the world. We wanted it to sound like that.

Mendoza: We worked on it a lot over the summer after we put out “Generation X.” We try to pump out two projects a year, since summer and winter are good times to work on music. It has 18 tracks and we’re really excited about it.

The D.O.: What’s it like playing a show with Childish Gambino and Calvin Harris?

Mendoza: It’s cool when you get to play shows with artists you really respect. I’m a fan of Gambino. My little brother actually almost came for this concert because he loves him on “Community.”

The D.O.: Do you ever get tired of playing some of your older songs?

Mendoza: Yes. (Laughs.) It’s good to see appreciation for them, but we just want to move on from some of the old songs. But since fans expect us to play some of them, we still do.

Published on September 10, 2012 at 1:34 am

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman