Nick Jonas has been busy in Europe promoting his single and upcoming album. He recently sat down to chat with Hunger TV to talk about the end of the Jonas Brothers, beginning again as an artist and more. Check out some highlights below.
CAN YOU INTRODUCE US TO THE NEW RECORD? IS THIS A NEW BEGINNING FOR YOU AS AN ARTIST?
It is a new beginning in a lot of ways. For me this was like starting over and being a new artist again. It is incredibly liberating. This time I can really speak with my own voice and share my thoughts. It’s a little frightening at times as well. Any time you try and push yourself, you try and step out and do something different it comes with these challenges. But this new sound has been a really natural progression and something I feel like I’ve connected to in a big way.
WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO EXPRESS LYRICALLY AND MUSICALLY? WHAT INFLUENCES DID YOU HAVE, BOTH MUSICAL AND FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES?
I think that on the music side I really tried to infuse the soul into it. Artists like Stevie Wonder and Prince, that kind of tone. But I also wanted to include some more modern influences like Frank Ocean and Miguel and The Weeknd and things that I’m inspired by at this moment. I wanted to create something that really fits where I am musically. Lyrically there are a lot of topics in this record that are incredibly personal to me. There was a lot of give and take in the writing process that was something I haven’t had before. People that were pushing me to be better each time I got in the room. That was great to be around. People I could look at and be so inspired by, they pulled some real heart out of me.
WAS THE BAND A DIFFICULT THING TO LEAVE BEHIND, WAS IT A GRADUAL PROCESS?
In a lot of ways closing The Jonas Brothers came in waves. It was a real necessity to close that chapter in order to have a healthy relationship as a family. Things had become strained in a way. We made the decision to be a family first and to prioritise that. That meant closing the group but we knew it would be OK because we knew we would be strong as a family. After that came the excitement of wanting to do my own thing not just with music but with acting as well. There was a real moment of everything hitting at once – I had this music in my heart that I wanted to write and I was just really fortunate to be able to do it.
LOOKING BACK AT THE WORK WITH THE JONAS BROTHERS, DO YOU RECOGNISE THAT ARTIST? AND DO YOU RECOGNISE THAT PERSON?
Yeah I think so. Everyone grows up and for me it just happened in front of a lot of people. That was both good and bad at different times and I was really lucky to have songwriting as my way to process everything. But I definitely feel like this person I am today is a lot more fun and more aware of what I believe in and what I want to say.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING RIGHT NOW THAT THEY THINK THIS NICK JONAS IS A LOT MORE FUN! PERHAPS EVEN THAT THIS IS SOMEONE THEY DON’T EVEN RECOGNISE. WHAT BELIEFS HAVE CHANGED IN YOUR LIFE? IS IT HARD TO MOVE AWAY FROM THAT OLD PERCEPTION OF YOU?
At times it is hard. Whenever you make a transition into a new stage in your career it comes with challenges. What was interesting for me was that I had about three years of taking a step back from not being in the spotlight as much as I was to establish who I am and make my decisions and set up my guidelines as to the adult I wanted to be and what my belief system is. In relation to religion, what I want people to know about me in this new phase in my life is that I believe in my relationship with God and that is my own. And as far as things that were associated with me within that, my opinions and views have changed quite a bit. I’m in a place now where I believe that love comes first and that is all that should matter, I’m excited to be able to talk about things in this record that I don’t know if anybody would ever have expected me to talk about.
IS IT HARD TO EXIST IN THE ACTING WORLD AND THE POP MUSIC WORLD WHERE THINGS ARE SEXUALISED, WHERE PEOPLE SWEAR ON RECORDS ETC. AND STILL MAINTAIN THOSE BELIEFS AT THE SAME TIME? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE THIS TRANSITION INTO THAT WORLD?
It was necessary; you have to be true to who you are more than anything, what you want to say and how you want to say it. If I say ‘fuck’ to get the point across in a song then I needed to say it, there’s nothing gratuitous or over the top, it’s just necessary for what I’m trying to say now. It’s exciting to be that free.
YOU MENTION YOUR BACKGROUND HURTING YOU, HOW OFTEN DO YOU FIND THAT TO BE THE CASE; THAT YOUR BACKGROUND IS A HURDLE RATHER THAN A PLATFORM?
I really feel like the tide is changing more than anything. It started in the US but now hopefully here as well. It feels very different and the tone towards me and my next steps feels really positive. We tried to be really creative and make it all feel very organic and natural when it comes to growing and showing people who I am now. When it’s really intentional people can see it and that’s not good. For me at least this has felt very natural.
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU’VE LEARNT AS YOU’VE REDEFINED YOURSELF?
I think the biggest think has been to calm down and chill out. In the past, years ago, when we were on that roller-coaster, I realised I was worried a bit too much and I don’t know if I took the time to enjoy the really great moments as much as I could. Right now this feels good, I’m really enjoying it.
Read the full interview HERE.
[nggallery id=2306]
