As one third of The Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas has grown up in the lime light…Following in the footsteps of fellow Disney star, Justin Timberlake, Joe has also decided to go it alone, leaving his band (brothers) in pursuit of a solo career.
Gearing up to release his solo album, Fast Life, we caught up with Joe to find out how he’s feeling about going it alone and why he’s in the UK at the moment..
You‘ve only been here a couple of days but how are you finding the UK so far?
It‘s been great. I always love coming over to Europe, the response is always great. I did the BBC Teen Awards and that was a great time – its good to be back!The BBC Teen Awards were at Wembley Arena; did that give you a taster and make you a little bit more excited to be back at the same venue later this month?Yes, it‘s always an incredible feeling to play there. It was a great taste tester of what it‘s going to be like back here at the end of the month.
After being in a group it must be a little bit daunting going out by yourself, is it a bit like starting from scratch?
Sometimes – it‘s cool to be back and to be able to do my solo stuff here. It‘s a little bit sometimes scary to be up there by myself but I‘ve been getting great support and the band support so overall I‘m just happy.
In America you‘ve just finished touring with Jay Sean who‘s from London – how was the tour?
It was great, he‘s such a good tour partner and I‘m really happy and thankful to have been able to do that tour. Jojo was the opener too and that was a lot of fun. Jay Sean is a really cool guy so we had a great time.
Did he offer you any advice coming from a solo artist?
We sort of both gave advice to each other, just to go out there and have a good time and to really enjoy every second, every moment as it can move by so quickly.
As mentioned earlier you performed at the BBC teen awards yesterday, did you get a chance to check out any of the UK talent that performed? What‘s your opinion on the current music scene?
The current UK music scene is really amazing, it‘s definitely getting better and better. Every time I‘m here I find new artists and things that I really love listening to. I got to meet the One Direction guys and thought they were really nice, really cool and I‘m really happy for them. Pixie [Lott] is a good friend of mine and I love her music and her new stuff sounds incredible.
One Direction came from a program called the X Factor, which you appeared on their sister show the Xtra Factor on Saturday (8/10), how was that experience for you?
It was really fun! It was a little bit interesting as it was the first time I was learning about the program, I didn‘t want to necessarily mess up any of the names – I definitely ended up messing up someone‘s name! I said Lucy instead of Janet so that was a little bit of a funny moment but I think they understood that it would have been out of the norm for me to know everybody. I definitely want to keep up with the series; I‘m really interested to see who wins. Funnily enough I got to watch the show for the first time in the studio and the ones who go kicked off were the ones who I thought were going to be kicked off except for one person – I felt pretty proud of myself for knowing my stuff!
Now later this month you‘re coming back to the UK to tour with Britney Spears, that‘s gotta be something that must be a little surreal?
It‘s definitely surreal! I grew up listening to Britney Spears – it feels good to be back here but to be doing this tour is just so incredible. Britney was the first CD I ever bought so I‘ve listened to her stuff since I was really young and continued to listen to her music for many years so it‘s very exciting.Britney is well known for having a massive live show, really theatrical, big stage set up.
What can we look forward to with your set?
Very high energy! Fun show! I almost like to make the crowd feel like they‘re in a club, I just want to get them dancing, get them standing up. I feel like I‘m not doing my job unless everyone‘s standing up and rocking out. Have a really good time with it and hope everyone else does too.
Your debut album Fast Life is due out in the UK on 24th October, and with this album you collaborated with many different writers, producers and artists such as Chris Brown and Lil Wayne. Has working with these artists been important in your musical transition to a more R&B influenced sound?
Yes definitely – it‘s always a good feeling when you work with artists that are that incredible. I‘ve been lucky enough to have been able to work with some really amazing artists and some amazing songwriters. You know, I guess it depends I‘ve been lucky enough to have been able to work with producers and writers that I personally really look up to. So, it really kind of almost is helpful to be able to work with artists who are accepted into that genre because it means that people that listen to that kind of music have a new found respect I think for artists that do that.
Who would be your dream collaborations to work with in the future?
Maybe Kanye West, British artists like Adele, Tinie Tempah, then Foster The People, something a little different from what I‘m used to. That way it shows a different side to the music that I am making.
How different was the creative process with making an album as a solo artist in comparison to making an album with your group [Jonas Brothers]?
It took a WHILE! I wanted to really spend time on this album – to take my time to make sure I made music that I was really proud of; that I wasn‘t holding back from anything necessarily. I didn‘t want to just rush this album at all so I was very pleased with taking the time, and really finding the sound that I wanted to go with. There‘s been some times with my brothers that we‘ve done some things and really just rushed them, like making records quickly and I wanted to take my time with this one.
Have your brothers been supportive of your solo career?
My brothers have been very supportive. They‘re incredible and I‘m really thankful for the fact that they‘re happy for me to take my time and do my thing, it‘s the best feeling.
Throughout your music career you‘ve also been dipping your toe into a bit of acting, is this something that you would like to do more of in the future?
Yes I would love to; I really enjoy doing movie roles or acting roles. I‘m actually working on a project with a friend of mine out in LA, we‘ve just got a writer involved so it‘s very very exciting. I‘ve got a few plans for next year – at the beginning of the year I may be making this movie that I‘m thinking about creating and then I think what it‘s looking like right now is that we may try and do a world tour of some sort and definitely make more music. I‘ll definitely be coming back soon to do my own tour – I‘m not exactly sure when but it‘s in the works.
If everything goes to plan with your solo career would that mean you would have to put the Jonas Brothers on hold?
No we‘re still going to be doing Jonas Brothers stuff, nothing yet is plan, no specific stuff for when we‘re going to make our next album, we‘re just taking our time with it. My brothers are doing their own individual things – Nick is going to be on Broadway next year so we may end up making music in New York but it all depends on what our schedules look like.
Finally, what sort of music are you enjoying at the moment? Any artists that you would like to champion?
You know what, I‘m really liking One Directions stuff. I think they‘re doing a great job and their stuff sounds really great so I can definitely see myself checking out more of their music. As well as them I love all different kinds of music, I love dance music, I love pop music, I love a lot that DJs are doing. I think Pixie Lott‘s new stuff is great. To get inspiration I pull from all different types of music, everything from dance music to hip-hop music, you name it, I probably listen to it! I always try to pull from all of those different influences and experiences for inspiration.
