Jonas Brothers Open Up: How Authenticity Constantly Motivate Them & What They Overcame To Reunite

It was a season of my life where it was probably the most challenging season of my life, and I couldn't escape comments and negativity and headlines. And so that was like the forefront of my day, or getting a call, like, hey, there's this from a PR person, and you're like, gosh, like, and you're just wanting to also got to go show up. Put on a smile and be positive, and yeah. And go on stage. And so, I guess to answer your question, there was a director I worked with, J.D. Dillard, and above his monitor, he said, what do you want them to feel? And I wrote that on my backstage mirror, like, every night. And you realize that this is their show, the audience's show, and they deserve the best, and it's okay to be vulnerable. I think you fight that for so long to be like, I got to like, I got to show these people that like, oh, it doesn't matter. It's totally okay to be like, yeah, this is tough, and this is like, a challenge, but like, I'm here. And I think people respect it more. Authenticity wins, like, always. And it's not always easy. I think like, there was times where I would just break down to these guys, or be like, and they would have a real conversation. Like, do you want to dance tonight, or do you want to like, you know, not sing this song or that song? I'm like, nope. I'll do it all. Because I feel like that's what they deserve. And I know that I'm not, we're not hyper-unique individuals going through certain situations in our life. Like, everyone's going through something. Whether it feels like it's a big thing in your life, or it feels like a little thing in your life. You're going through something. And it was so beautiful to be, I was at a Coldplay concert in Greece last year, and it was like, honestly, one of the best shows I've seen live. It's like a spiritual experience. It really is. And Chris Martin says on stage, he said, how unique is this moment when all of, we were about to go, I think, on the road again. So it was like, I needed this. He was like, how amazing is this moment in the world right now that thousands of people can be in one place and disagree on politics, spirituality, what you would have for dinner. And yet you can sit here and sing the same song and be like, arm in arm and like, happy. And I'm like, there's not many things like that anymore. You can't go to even film, TV, music, it's very divisive. And obviously what's happening in our world, there's a lot of heartbreaking things. But the fact that we could go to a place where we're putting all that aside, and we all have core memories of a song that could be that person's breakup song, it could be that person's wedding song. And we could be in the same room or same arena. I'm like, how lucky are we? And I think that's what they deserve. So I'm like, I could do that for them. And if I have to cry through this song, so be it. Just to add to that, some of the folks from the show I was just doing came to see an experience that we did last week in New York. Basically we were rehearsing music rehearsal all week for the tour, and we just decided to open it up to do a live rehearsal experience for our fans. And it was a few folks who wouldn't, I think, categorize themselves as fans. Maybe they know a couple of the songs. But I said, just come and just see what the environment is like, because it is kind of magical. Jonas fans are so loving, and it's such a joyous experience, that I'm not naive. I know that there are people that I've invited to shows who don't know a single song, or would even say it just never hit them in culture, or whatever. But when they come, they experience kind of similar to what he's talking about, that euphoric feeling. And it's why I love that I get to do this as my job. Creating in the studio is my safe place. It's my favorite thing in the world. But getting on stage and feeling that feeling is like, pinch me. This is real life. It's amazing. Does it ever get old for you guys, just being on stage and having people scream your songs back to you? It's such an experience every single time. I remember the feeling of starting the last tour, the Five Albums One Night Tour. And we're at Yankee Stadium, and opening that up, and then the start of the show happens. It just is no music. We hit the stage, and it's silent. Not silent, but there's no sound from us. It's just the audience, and the lights are on them. It's just, in that moment, we get to see all their faces. And it's just unlike anything else. I think as we've gotten older, and we've got families, we're not 22. It does, the travel aspect of this occupation at times can be a little tiring, but we're so fortunate. Once we get to that venue, and the music begins, and we hear the audience, it's even more significant for us because there was a chapter of this 20 year journey where things were not going well. It was post the first peak, and gradually over a three, four year period, as we moved further and further away from authenticity in our personal lives and relationship with each other, our music started to reflect that. And then people's desire to come and see a show, or a radio station's desire to play a song of ours started to go down. I think hitting a version of Rock Bottom, for all of us, made this second, maybe third bite of the apple, and one that is far more sustainable now, even more special. How does that feel when you reach a peak, and then there's a dip, and maybe it dips for a while, and your guys' dip is still big compared to most artists and musicians, but you've been to a mountaintop, and you've hit this success of number ones, and sold out arenas, and then, oh, radio stations don't care as much, or it's not high on the charts, or we're making less money, or fans are not as connected. How does that make you feel emotionally or mentally when that dip happens? I think the dip feels like you're jumping off a cliff. It feels so much more in that moment. You just see, when we were there, in that place, and to your point, absolutely, we realize now that that dip is not as great as we thought it was. But it feels like, ah, you can't control it, right? It's also like, is this it? Are we done? Really? Yeah. And I think what it really did for us, stepping away from it, was realizing, okay, well, do you love this that much that you're going to be willing to, not start over, but start where you're at, and figure out what that looks like? I think there was a season when, I think every young person, I can speak to this, and I'm sure anyone that loved music, you go through a season where you're obsessed with certain artists. And then you go, that's not cool. I don't like that anymore. And you go and figure out what you like, and then you go, actually, no, what you may have laughed at me for, what I liked when I was younger, I'm proud of that. And that actually was a defining artist, or band, or boy band, whatever it is to you, in your life. And to see now, all those people run back, it was like, great. The door's always been open. And I think what we learned about ourselves back then was that it was, we needed to step away from the band, to be able to focus on family, and focus on figuring out what we were. I think we were starting to recycle material creatively, and it started to feel like we were coasting. I think we got comfortable too, musically and creatively.