Joe Jonas Talks About Solo Journey, Citi Biked To His Yankee Stadium Show + More!

From the top of the Empire State Building. The 100 New York. We've got Joe Jonas in the building. Round of applause ladies and gentlemen. Hey, it's good to see you guys. Welcome back home dude. Thank you very much. This is very much your place dude. And thank you for allowing us to be with you on a special day. This is cool, it's a special day. Song's out. This is, yeah, an exciting time. It's an anxious feeling. Is it a relief? What's going on in the heart bro? A little bit of both. I think it's a little bit like you're sharing such a special part of yourself for the world to hear themselves. But also, I was ready for it to come out right when I recorded it or wrote it. Two or three weeks ago. Yeah, two or three weeks ago. So, I'm glad people are enjoying it and the response has been epic. Yeah. Well, last time we hung out with you we were celebrating the album. It hadn't even really released yet. Right. And we were getting a first listen and surprised all your fans. That's right, yeah. And just in these offices. Yeah. And then you were hitting Yankee Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Yankee Stadium. It's crazy. Which I got to see for three. I saw you. I was in the rain. I saw you guys, yeah. Yeah. That was crazy too because I think it was like we had an intermission. It started pouring raining and then it stopped right before we got back up. I feel like you planned that. I was so mad. It was supposed to happen that way. We had a combo with a big man and he was like, I was like, look, we got to get out there. We got to finish this show. But you looked like you were having so much fun on stage. Yeah. You said it. It was a dream come true. I mean, we grew up going to Yankees games and to perform there and to have such an amazing response and to play it twice was crazy. Yeah. And to see so many familiar faces because what people and I think don't realize is we really can see everyone out there. Yeah. Like I'm seeing friends, I'm seeing fans that were at early shows and a real full circle moment. Okay, good. Because I was like, he's looking at me. He looked right at me. Of course. No, it wasn't you. I was like, no, Joe's looking at me. Oh, I saw you. Exactly. To have the family be with you, not just your media family, your brothers, but the family that are the fans along this journey, whether it's the three of you all together, whether it's supporting your brothers watching on the TV show or we're in the rain watching this all come together. Now there's this solo journey. What does that mean as an artist to know that you've been able to cultivate this relationship and build this community with so many amazing people along the way? It's really special. Those Yankee shows, the first one I took a city bike from, I think it was Soho to the stadium. Dang, that's far. And it was a hot day. The first day was really hot. But I went with our buddy Greg and full circle, he played bass in the band early on and then now he's in management. And we went together and he was like, I don't know if we should, this is a little far. And I'm like, this is going to be special. And the first time I played, I think Barclays, I did the same thing. And I think our first like, and I would do it for all the MSG shows. It kind of becomes a tradition now. Also because I don't think anybody's really picking up on what Joe is really saying here is traffic sucks in the city. And that's the most expeditious way to get to the venue. I beat my brothers by like two hours. That's what I'm saying. No, really? Yeah, maybe 20 minutes. Traffic sucks in the city. So you got to take your city bikes if you can. And there is a little uphill. It's not all flat. I found that out the hard way. I missed a couple turns, but all good. So when you were on that tour, did you already know that you wanted to, you already were working on your own thing? No, not at all. I mean, this happened a couple months ago. I was writing a song in mind for the brothers. And we started working on a new album. And I was in the studio. The way we like to work, we'll go in separate rooms. This time around, it was me and Nick in L.A. at the same time. He started working with one writer-producer, and I started working with another one. And I was with Alexander 23, who's an amazing musician. And then Justin Trenner, who I wrote Cake by the Ocean with, amongst other songs. And then this amazing other writer named Bo. And so we're working on a song together, and this song called Only Love. And after it was done, I sat back and I was like, damn, this song's really cool. I selfishly don't know if I want it, if this feels like it could be for the brothers. I mean, it feels great for the brothers, but I love it so much. And also I feel like it's kind of, musically, it's bringing me in a direction that I want to explore for myself. And I also didn't feel like it was DNC. And when I was trying to speak through and the emotion that I was trying to put pen to paper, I felt like, you know, I don't really know if I want other people to be speaking from my position or perspective. And so we had a few exciting things come about, and Nick was like, I have this movie opportunity with Paul Rudd. Nick, Kevin was like, I've got another season of Claim to Fame I can do. And I was like, well, I want to kind of work on some music. I don't know, at that point I was like, I don't know if it's an album. I don't know what it is. I just need to go do this for myself. You want to explore. You felt that burning sensation. For sure. There's something that's calling me in this direction. I would do myself a disservice if I didn't try. Exactly. So then I had about two weeks before we had to go do some shows, and it just worked itself out. So you mentioned some amazing collaborators. And we know with the last album, and we brought it up while we were doing the little listening party, John Billion. Yeah. You know what I mean? Which is special. Is there any of that influence in what you learned from working on this most recent body of work with working with him that sees its way into this next couple of... I love John, and he really, I think, elevated a lot of some of the music that we were doing. We were trying to find. Yeah. And John really took the reins musically for us. But I think this time around, what I learned, I learned so much from him. But I think one thing I would say is getting out of my comfort zone, working with new people. Hell yeah. So there's a lot of new writers, a lot of new producers, a lot of friends that I've just always been like, why would I not just reach out to them? I mean, there's got like, I think at this point, it's like seven or eight features on this project. We're not going to get any names right now, are we? I mean, no. Only because I get in trouble if I say the name. There's always these plans of releasing the names. I'm like... But it's always so funny. Fans are clever. They'll be like, he followed this person. Oh my gosh, this person re-proposed to this. There's a lot of question marks around it. But there was a little rumor around just today that walking around the building, we saw Big Rob somewhere around here. Oh yeah, he's always... Wait, really? That's what the word on the street is. I don't know. Was he? I don't know. BRP is always around. But it's a matter of bringing in those family members that you trust most to help you elevate and move your passion forward. Absolutely. And there's some people that I never really expected to work with on this project. Some legendary writers, producers. And it's cool to see it come together so quickly. Awesome, dude. And then back to the idea of when you started to want to work on this yourself. Were you a little nervous to tell your brothers? I mean, I know they were doing their own things. Yeah, I was, yeah. Because you guys had just started your album together and the tour was so successful. And now you're like, I want to kind of do it myself. I think this, to answer your question, yes. I mean, I was more nervous about being like, hey, that song we've been saying is for the guys. Like, could I keep it? And it makes it a little easier that they didn't write on it so I might feel a little more comfortable. But it's still like, you know, when you say like, yeah, this is for us, it makes the nerves kind of trickle in. But I think now we're all very supportive and we understand that like, if we, let's say, have outsourced stuff that we can do, whether you call it, if it's successful, and that word is very, I use that not aggressively because I feel like at the end of the day, it could be released and I'm just happy to get out there. But if Nick has a film that does really quite well or if people love my music, it's only going to make the brothers that much stronger. And I think also emotionally you need to go step away and find your own thing. And I found that with doing DNC, one of the biggest things was like, a pat on the back of like, I can do something on my own. And I needed that for myself. And obviously had the most, I still do shows with them and it's such a blast. So it's nice to have the opportunity. Jinju and Jack, are they anywhere found in between the, you know what I'm saying? They play on a song on the new album. Sick. And it goes all to just what we were saying. It's a community, it's a tight knit family. It's trusting and relying on those folks who, even though you step out and you try to do your thing, you know that it's going to enhance what you can then bring to Jonas Brothers Tour 2028. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, I'm just putting that out there. 2028. All right. Where are we now? I like that. Let's talk, work it out, bro. And what this song means to you and yeah, and just how fulfilling it was to write these lyrics and to have this guitar thing start off and people thinking, oh, this is going to be a, oh, definitely change. I had the same emotion or feeling when I heard it first, Jason Evigan, who's done stuff with Dua Lipa and Charlie XCX and a bunch of amazing artists, to name a few. And he heard a lot of, I bumped into him at breakfast at a spot in like Calabasas in California. And I saw him and his family and I was like, man, I want to play some stuff I'm working on. I haven't seen him for a while. So I started playing it. I sent him some music and the genius he is, he sends me a track right away. He's like, I got this idea. And originally the bass was like much louder. And I was like, this is awesome. I didn't expect it. It starts with a very like kind of 12 string guitar, which I think it nods to a lot of other stuff on the album, which is a lot of it. There's a lot of like, I would say Western influence, a country Western music. And there's some country artists on the album. So I was like, this is really exciting kind of blend. And then to have also this kind of like Strokes-y Phoenix type, like big chorus. And I was like, okay, there was no lyrics. And I worked with this great singer songwriter Blush on another song. And I was like, I would love for the three of us who haven't worked in the same room together, let's just see what happens. And we all started our day just like this round table talking about like, well, first of all, we were very caffeinated. And we walked in, we were like, talking about being anxious about funny things, talking about being parents, relating on different things in our lives. And then I think we were just like, I was like, this is the song. So we started like pulling inspiration from literally memes to conversations we've had to this little yellow notebook I carry around that has all these different quotes and thoughts and a journal. Is that where we find even the baddies? That's funny enough. Is that in there somewhere? That one's on my phone because it was a meme that I saw that I thought, there's like hundreds of memes of different phrases like that. And I thought it was so funny. And I was like, you know what? I want to try to fit it in. It worked perfectly in the first verse. And so we just kind of ran with it. And we wrote it really quickly. So call it the caffeine or just the, or sometimes it flows through you. But yeah, I mean, what it means. I mean, ultimately it's that conversation that everybody has in themselves when they, or hopefully will have with themselves. For me, I was looking in the mirror and I'm like, all right, man, like this sucks right now, but like you're going to be okay. And like, no one's going to come fix this for you. You got to fix it yourself and you got to figure this out. And so that was that moment. And then I was like, that's something I want to, and then we were relating on that. And then I think the second verse is more so speaking with a group of friends or whoever that person is for you. Be like, all right. I know I'm a little dramatic. I don't know. I go through this, but this is what I'm feeling. I know you're feeling it sometimes too. So if it's a little pep talk and it's a way where, you know, some of my favorite music out there is music. That's got heavy, heavy or emotional lyrics with a fun upbeat tune. Yeah. That's what I noticed when I was listening. I was like, okay, this is so fun. I hear Joe on this, but then also I'm like, okay, I'm really introspecting here. Why did you decide that your first solo single was going to be about keeping it positive and up instead of, sometimes we hear people put out records first that are just more chill or just fun. That was almost the case, to be honest. The first song that, call it an intro track or single, was going to be more emotional. And I love that song, but this one kind of came in the last minute and ninth inning of the album. And we were all like, you know what? I am happy. I am genuinely happy in my life and I feel really grateful for what I have. And I'm like, you know what? That's kind of the way I would like to introduce this body of work. Yeah. Grateful. Let's hang on that word for a little bit before we get you out of here, man. Like grateful to be able to do these things. Grateful to. Not really. It's just about the money, honestly. No, of course. It's all about the baddies. No, but what does it mean to you and just to the family, I mean, everybody from mom to dad. Yeah, no, of course. To be. Especially the last, not to interrupt you, but to interrupt you. Yeah. The last tour, especially, you know, we've done this almost next year. Our big tour we're going on is a 20 year anniversary, really. And we are, thank goodness, we're still like young dudes doing it. For sure. And it's cool to see, like, getting on stage and, you know, these songs we played almost majority of our discography up there. Yep. And you're going through the set list and you're like, oh, this one's, this one's like, you know, I don't know if I relate with this one anymore. I wrote this one about this person. I don't know if I want to sing it. For sure. But I'm like, you know what, I'm going to do that because these songs now are their songs and these affect, these songs affect them differently or bring them back to a memory of their childhood or teen years, first kiss, first breakup, happy moments. And I was on, went to the Coldplay show in Greece. By the way, two of our favorites. No, you did not. Dog. I'm so mad. Coldplay is like, yeah, you gotta go. If you have the opportunity before they wrap the tour, you got to go. And he says something on stage that I was like, yep. He's like, you know, look, this is such a special moment. Here we are like all together in one room, different religions and political views. And, you know, you, you have good days, bad days. And he's like, but we all can relate and just have, and we're both crying and singing and dancing to the same songs. And I'm like, that doesn't really happen. You know, even film and TV, sometimes you're like, I don't watch this because of blah, blah, blah. So it's nice to know that music is still kind of, and now obviously there's people that don't like certain artists, but it's nice to be in a setting where you can do that. And I'm like, how grateful are we that we get to do this for our, for a living? And before I was interrupted, the question was going to be. No, but to know that you are, that you are a legacy act, you know what I mean? And moving in that direction. I mean, literally using that word, bro, because of everything you just said, you're able to evoke those emotions. You're able to still get up on stage and have fun. You're, you're, you know, in this and we're no spring chickens any longer, but you continue to do it with grace and it's going to go on that way. What does that mean to you to know that you've been able to do that for the world, to create and evoke those same emotions you felt from Chris and Coldplay. You do that for others. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I think it's cool to see, you know, we grew up with, with our audience and the audience keeps growing and it's cool. I think one of the things I love about Jonas fans in general is that they're welcoming. I think there are other fan groups that are like, oh, you're just a new fan. Do you know they're deep cuts? I'm like, that's not really like, I just don't, I don't agree with that kind of idea. I love the idea that it's like, welcome to the party because it's so, our shows, the brothers shows are fun. And your shows, dude. Yeah, and then, thank you. And DNC shows are wild and crazy and then, you know, I'm going to be doing solo stuff. So it's fun to see how we can all put on different kind of energies for an audience and make it welcoming. What's really been fun to see is because I was one of those Disney girls that loved you guys and obsessed and would try to get backstage. And now seeing you guys put out work like the album and now seeing you do your own thing. I was showing it to my boyfriend and he's like, wait, I kind of like the Jonas brothers now. I think like, like you, you just see how you guys are evolving with us too, which is really cool. How does that feel? It feels really good. I think we saw that a lot. You know, a lot of couples come to our shows now. And a lot of people come to the show alone. And I think it's nice to know, you know, just like anything, I feel like you live in the day and age now where you find new music everywhere and new artists everywhere. And it used to be like, you're carrying around what you're listening to. Remember the CD books, bro? Of course. I'm aging myself, but like, oh yeah. But you couldn't hide what your favorite artist was. Now it's like, it doesn't matter. You know, you can listen to everything and anything and listen to songs and be like, I love this song. And yeah, I think I want to go see them live. That sounds fun. And yeah, you grow up and, you know, you start to become more confident with who you are. And it's nice to see your boyfriend slowly becoming a fan. We're working it out, bro. The song is here. There's more to come. The world is so excited for all things that are you because you are you. It's such a heartfelt message that I want to convey to you. Just, you know, in the thank you. We've been buds for a while. Yeah, for sure. And just every time, it's a level up. Every time, it's a challenge that you've successfully met. And here's a tip of a cap to another one, man. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, guys. Seriously. And knowing that you can do it. You're doing it so successfully. I just got to come here every morning so I can get hyped up with you. That's what they say. I love it. I was watching you on your dad's podcast when he was legendary. That was so fun. And he was sharing these stories that we… It's so funny. He's got all the stories. He's the one with the stories. Sometimes I'm reading something. I'm like, where does this come from? Yeah. I know your dad said on his podcast. I was like, okay, dad. No, it's great. I love it. Your dad said you have the biggest heart out of all the kids. Well, you heard it here first. Or you heard it there first. Haha, Kevin and Nick and Frank. That's very nice of him. And I think that we also see that in your music. Why is it so important for you to spread that positivity, that love message for everyone else, for your fans, through your music? I mean, it goes back to little moments. I think there was a moment in… We were playing in Australia recently. We finished our Australian leg of the tour. And our last show was one of the defining moments of another reason why I wanted to start making this music. I got to perform with Dougie of Temper Trap and sing Sweet Disposition. I bumped into him at a coffee shop. And I was like, yo, man, I'm such a fan. Do you want to perform this? It's so funny. Later on, he was like, yeah, yeah. I was down, but then I told my goddaughter, and she said, if you don't do it, I won't speak to you again. I was like, okay. Or something along those lines. And then there was a young girl in the audience. She was like, this is crazy. She's going through chemotherapy, and she was going to come backstage to say hi. And I was like, hey, do you want to come on stage? And she was like, I would love to. She was like, yes. So we brought her on stage. And the crowd cheered louder for her than anything we did that day. And I'm like, that's what it's about. I'm like, I think it's kind of trippy that I have such an opportunity to continue to do this every day. And also to make people put a smile on their face, even for whether it be 10 minutes or 10 years, 20 years. And I think that's why I'm supposed to do what I do. And I think it fuels me. And I also feel when I'm performing or when I'm releasing music, it's coming from my heart. I feel like especially the new body of work in this album, I'm so close to it. Because a lot of times you'll have songs pitched to you. I have a lot of great writer and producer friends out there. They'll send me songs every day. Hey, check this out. And some are great for us. Some of them are maybe not right. But I like that I was in the studio every day with these different people and trying to speak from the heart and take time with the lyrics. So, yeah. And then also knowing that you care so much about the moments that you're into because your dad asked you what was your top three moments where you're like, oh my gosh, I'm really doing this. And the number two moment you said was performing at Gov Ball in Central Park, which is coming up here in just a few months. Why was that so special for you? Many reasons. I think probably there's quite a few. I'd say I've never performed in Central Park, first off. Growing up going to Central Park and then looking out, it's just a wild experience. A sea of people and you're in this city that ultimately I grew up in. I grew up on the other side of the water, but you go to Central Park how often? And it was a special moment. I think all of our families were there and got to see the show. I was emotional that day. It was really special. Also, the whole point of the performance is to give back. We're raising money. More importantly, yes, it's amazing raising money for a good cause. And to see Joe Jonas sometimes. That's also another reason. The blessings keep coming, dude. It's who you are. It's who the family is. It's why you see these logos on the TV. It's always an open-door policy here at Z. Man, your family grew up listening to the station and a part of so many amazing things. I got a Z $100 when I was 13 or 14. You got your Z $100 bill. What's so funny is that I flipped out. I didn't know there was money involved. I called in and got a Green Day DVD. And it came with $100. I was like, you're kidding. I'm rich. What did you do with that? I held on to it for months. I would go to, I think, McDonald's and get the dollar menu. Just so I could be like, yeah. That's so funny. That lasted many months for me. Also, growing up here, I didn't realize that you were on Broadway as a teen, as an early teen. Yeah. You learned how to roller skate for the role with your dad. Yeah, it was trippy. So, La Boheme, which is directed by Baz Luhrmann, was an Italian opera that they put on. It was a massive production. It was a huge theater. So, it really only lasted like a year and a half. It was still a good length of time, especially now with how quick these turnarounds are. But it was pretty trippy. You had people like Tom Hanks at the opening and legendary actors who he's worked with throughout his career. And there's a couple highlights. One of my favorite memories, just not knowing staging and how things work, I was during rehearsal and there's like a 12-person kid cast because you've got to switch them out every other day. So, they're not overworked. Important stuff. And during the rehearsal, I think somebody was like, Joe, a little stage left, please. And I just froze because I'm like, I don't know what stage left is. I've never even heard that term. I was like, what does that mean? And I just looked around and the kids start giggling and then some of the adults started laughing, which is kind of messed up. And then I was like, I'm going to call them out right now. Their names aren't out. I'm like super uncomfortable. And then Baz Luhrmann himself walks all the way up from his seat, goes on stage and just pretends like he's doing something, moving some apples on some of the set, like whispers in my ear where to go. And I was like, I'll never forget that. And he doesn't have to, I mean, I don't think he has to do that, but it shows up what a stand-up person he is. And so that was an amazing memory from that. And also, yeah, my dad, my dad was really comedic, but the character I was out for his role, which we found out much later, they're like six audition in. They're like, all right, now the next one is in a roller skating audition. And I was like, this is a joke. Like, and luckily my dad randomly, it was like a competitive roller skater in high school, like disco roller skating. And so like, he's incredible at roller skating. So we went to the roller skating rink and I had like a teacher for a second, but it wasn't really doing anything. And my dad just like two days straight, we went to the roller skating rink. And I like learned some tricks and showed up and got the role. Crazy. I don't know why, and I'm so grateful and also disappointed that I visualized Mr. Jonas in the short 70s roller skating shorts. He like did, I mean, he could have, he did the splits, he did everything. Yeah. He still can. Shut up Usher. You know what I'm saying? He should have had my dad up there at the Superbowl. Joe, do you still think that Nick is the favorite child? I've heard you say that. Yeah. Well, you're a dad now. Do you think that you're going to have a favorite? I could never, but I think Nick will, they'll never admit it, but I think so. I think Kevin and Franklin would agree with me. This family energy again, man. Open door policy whenever. So grateful that you did. Thank you guys. Of course. Like I said, this chapter of the book, that is you to give us this music, man. Happily. Work It Out is here. Joe Jonas. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thanks for having me in.