The Jonas Brothers

Summary

PodCrushed Episode Summary: The Jonas Brothers

Release Date: July 23, 2025

Podcast Information: Title: PodCrushed
Hosts: Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, Sophie Ansari
Description: PodCrushed delves into the tumultuous and transformative years of middle school, exploring themes like heartbreak, anxiety, and self-discovery. Hosted by Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari, the podcast presents relatable stories and conversations that resonate with teenage experiences.

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Introduction to the Episode

The episode begins with an engaging introduction by the hosts, Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari, setting the stage for an in-depth conversation with the Jonas Brothers: Joe, Nick, and Kevin. They provide a warm welcome and express excitement about featuring the band, highlighting their longstanding influence in the music industry.

Early Lives and Musical Beginnings

The discussion kicks off by exploring the Jonas Brothers' formative years around the age of 12.

• Joe Jonas ([00:07]):
  "So 12 years old, just started new school in New Jersey, and it's actually the year I picked up the guitar."

Joe shares his experience of starting at a new private school and how boredom from being sick led him to pick up the guitar, marking the beginning of his musical journey.

• Sophie Ansari ([02:22]):
  "So I'm not sure if you are aware, but what we do here is you know, it's PodCrush. The idea is adolescents middle school. We start at 12. Cause that's a formative time of life."

Sophie emphasizes the podcast's focus on middle school as a pivotal period for self-discovery and growth.

Formation of the Jonas Brothers Band

The brothers delve into the origins of their band, highlighting their collaborative efforts and early musical endeavors.

• Nick Jonas ([06:02]):
  "I was just the guy that would film skateboarders."

Nick describes his role as the brother who documented their activities, showcasing their supportive dynamics from a young age.

• Kevin Jonas ([09:18]):
  "I started. Yeah, about eight years old."

Kevin talks about his early start in music, emphasizing the family's deep-rooted musical background fostered by their father, a musician and pastor.

Challenges and Setbacks

The narrative transitions to the hurdles the Jonas Brothers faced as they pursued their musical careers.

• Kevin Jonas ([10:55]):
  "Who then brought me in to have me meet this guy, David Massey, who had signed, you know, incredible acts and happened to have signed a couple of acts of Brothers."

Kevin recounts the pivotal moment when they were signed by Sony Records, thanks to a family friend introducing them to a key executive, marking the official beginning of their professional journey.

Personal Struggles: Diabetes Diagnosis

A significant emotional chapter unfolds as Kevin shares his diagnosis with type 1 diabetes, adding depth to their personal stories.

• Kevin Jonas ([24:06]):
  "I'm coming up on my 20th year living with the disease, which coincides with the 20th year of the band, coincidentally, and don't call them that."

Kevin opens up about his diagnosis at 13, detailing the physical and emotional challenges he faced and how it intertwined with the band's evolution.

Path to Success and Breakthroughs

The brothers discuss their relentless pursuit of success, performing at unconventional venues and enduring early financial struggles.

• Nick Jonas ([12:00]):
  "When we were starting as a band and our dad is kind of weighing two different jobs, three different jobs..."

Nick reflects on the band's early days, juggling multiple jobs to support their musical aspirations and the sacrifices made by their family.

Reunion and Current Projects

The conversation shifts to the band's breakup and eventual reunion, highlighting their growth and renewed synergy.

• Kevin Jonas ([43:02]):
  "When you combine the pressure cooker of just time with the fact that we had no tools. And that's nobody's fault."

Kevin discusses the internal dynamics that led to the band's temporary split, emphasizing the lack of communication tools during their turbulent rise to fame.

• Nick Jonas ([63:31]):
  "The whole thing was never as toxic or as, you know, sort of wrong word here, but, like violent in the conversation, in the breakup."

Nick provides insight into the amicable nature of their breakup, underscoring the emotional toll it took and the challenges they faced in maintaining their familial bonds.

The New Album: Greetings from Your Hometown

A focal point of the episode is the announcement and discussion of the Jonas Brothers' new album, "Greetings from Your Hometown," symbolizing a return to their roots and showcasing their matured musical prowess.

• Kevin Jonas ([65:21]):
  "So we ended up being of boring. If the songs are only about, you."
  (Later elaborates on the album's themes and musical influences)

Kevin explains the album's intention to blend their personal growth with their early musical inspirations, creating a project that honors their legacy while embracing their evolved identities.

• Nick Jonas ([63:35]):
  "I think we looked at new music that we're creating and saying, okay, well, how do we all."

Nick discusses the collaborative process behind the album, ensuring that each member's individual experiences and musical tastes are authentically represented.

Interactive Segment: Rapid Fire Game

The hosts engage the Jonas Brothers in a fun rapid-fire game, presenting various scenarios and asking them to match songs to each situation. This segment humanizes the band members, revealing their personal favorites and creative processes.

• Joe Jonas ([70:02]):
  "I'll go with I Can't Lose. It's a Jonas Brothers song."

• Nick Jonas ([71:21]):
  "She was the police chief's daughter that let us rent that home."

Their playful interactions showcase their camaraderie and the lighthearted side of their personalities.

Final Reflections and Advice

Concluding the episode, the Jonas Brothers offer heartfelt advice to their younger selves, reflecting on the lessons learned through their journey.

• Kevin Jonas ([82:23]):
  "I would say take a deep breath, start therapy now."

• Joe Jonas ([84:07]):
  "I would tell myself that some kids picked a keychain instead of a purity ring and maybe do that same commitment, less and more gas broadcast..."

Their candid reflections emphasize the importance of mental health, personal authenticity, and maintaining strong familial bonds amidst the pressures of fame.

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with warm interactions between the hosts and the Jonas Brothers, celebrating their enduring bond and looking forward to their continued success. The hosts encourage listeners to follow the Jonas Brothers' new album, "Greetings from Your Hometown," available from August 8th, and to stay connected through social media.

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Notable Quotes:

• Joe Jonas ([00:07]):
  "So 12 years old, just started new school in New Jersey, and it's actually the year I picked up the guitar."

• Kevin Jonas ([10:55]):
  "Who then brought me in to have me meet this guy, David Massey, who had signed, you know, incredible acts and happened to have signed a couple of acts of Brothers."

• Kevin Jonas ([24:06]):
  "I'm coming up on my 20th year living with the disease, which coincides with the 20th year of the band, coincidentally, and don't call them that."

• Nick Jonas ([63:35]):
  "I think we looked at new music that we're creating and saying, okay, well, how do we all."

• Kevin Jonas ([82:23]):
  "I would say take a deep breath, start therapy now."

• Joe Jonas ([84:07]):
  "I would tell myself that some kids picked a keychain instead of a purity ring and maybe do that same commitment, less and more gas broadcast..."

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This episode of PodCrushed offers an intimate glimpse into the Jonas Brothers' journey from their early teenage years to their resurgence as a prominent musical trio. Through heartfelt discussions and engaging interactions, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the brothers' personal and professional evolution, making the episode both relatable and inspiring.

Transcript

[Sophie Ansari]

Lemonade.

[Joe Jonas]

So 12 years old, just started new school in New Jersey, and it's actually the year I picked up the guitar.

[Penn Badgley]

Oh, okay.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, I started it.

[Kevin Jonas]

He just picked it up. He didn't do it.

[Joe Jonas]

I did pick it up for the first time.

[Nick Jonas]

How much does this weigh?

[Penn Badgley]

Welcome to PodCrushed. We're your hosts. I'm Penn.

[Nava Kavilan]

I'm Nava.

[Sophie Ansari]

And I'm Sophie. And I think we would have been your middle school besties cramming for finals.

[Frankie Jonas]

15 minutes before they shit.

[Nava Kavilan]

Welcome to Pod Crushed. Sophie Ansari. Where is Penn Badgle?

[Sophie Ansari]

He's here. Not to worry. Do not click away, listeners. He's coming. He's actually coming with his three honorary brothers, the Jonas Brothers.

[Nava Kavilan]

He filmed one TikTok with them. People pointed out they were all brunettes and now he goes by Pen Jonas. And he refused to do this intro with us. So, you know, there you have it. Before we jump into this episode, which we loved. I was smiling for days after. I think you all will love it too. We want to thank our friends at SiriusXM who allowed Penny, Jonas and the rest of the Jonas Brothers to use the studio today for filming. We're so grateful. We couldn't have done it without you. Especially a shout out to Adam and Jian who made it happen.

[Sophie Ansari]

I do not need to tell you anything about the Jonas Brothers. You already know who they are. They have been at the beating heart of culture for the last 20 years, which is such a crazy thing to be able to say about such young men. Yeah, they're back today in support of their new album called Greetings from youm Hometown. There's already a few singles out that you can listen to and their album will be be out August 8th. We talked all about it and all about so many other things. I think you're going to love this episode. So don't go anywhere. Stick around.

[Unknown]

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[Penn Badgley]

So I'm not sure if you are aware, but what we do here is you know, it's PodCrush. The idea is adolescents middle school. We start at 12. Cause that's a formative time of life.

[Joe Jonas]

Totally.

[Penn Badgley]

For everybody, right?

[Nick Jonas]

Definitely.

[Penn Badgley]

Particularly for performers, it is the case you guys are right there in the pocket. Because your adolescence was, well, largely documented. Right.

[Kevin Jonas]

And there's like, largely documented.

[Penn Badgley]

Well, exactly. And we, you know, we want to go to the highs, the lows, everything, but we like to start just at a snapshot, like daily life at 12. Now, obviously you're not all the same age, so I was wondering if maybe we could just get, you know, like Kevin at 12, Joe at 12, Nick at 12, and the way you were, as much as you can weave it together, just like, you know, the way you were influencing each other's adolescence. And you all had a different life. Right. But let's just get a snapshot maybe just from the eldest to the youngest.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah. So 12 years old, just started new school in New Jersey. Private school. We came out of a public school thing and went to a private school. And I was the only one at this point still going to school. Nick was already starting to work on Broadway. I was doing slightly some commercials, some commercial work. And I was in and out of school a little bit, but mostly I was just in school. And it's actually the year I picked up the guitar.

[Penn Badgley]

Oh, okay.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nava Kavilan]

Wow.

[Joe Jonas]

I started it.

[Kevin Jonas]

He just picked it up. He didn't do that.

[Joe Jonas]

I just picked it up for the first time.

[Nick Jonas]

I was like, how much does this weigh?

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, I was homesick from school with strep. I used to get a lot of.

[Nick Jonas]

Strep throat all year.

[Joe Jonas]

I faked it for another week, but I had it for like a true, like, you know, week. Fevers, the whole thing. And I at that point, obviously, like, it's not like today where you have a million things to watch at any given time. So I got really bored of the prices right at 10:00am and wow, that.

[Penn Badgley]

Just gave me a flashback.

[Joe Jonas]

It's like Nick Jr. Was on, you know, like, it's just like Nick Junior's on, then it moves to Nickelodeon. But you're just kind of like waiting for any content that you might like. So I was bored of it and I picked up a teach yourself guitar book. And that was when I started, like, doodling around on the guitar.

[Nava Kavilan]

Wow.

[Penn Badgley]

Did you have to. Was there a guitar at home already.

[Joe Jonas]

Or did you have a. We grew up in a very musical home. Our father is a great musician. Grew up singing, playing in different, like, country clubs. Not like golf, but like Actual country western music venues, like singing and then like lead. Then we were in. My dad was a pastor, Arda was a pastor of a church at the time. So we were also like, music was a part of the church and so like growing up playing and being around it a lot.

[Penn Badgley]

And when you were 12, how old were you guys? Maybe you would know better.

[Kevin Jonas]

We were what, four years apart? Five years apart? Yeah, I was like eight.

[Penn Badgley]

Okay.

[Nick Jonas]

Ten and a half, depending on how old Kevin was when he was 12.

[Penn Badgley]

Okay. Can I ask how you do you remember? It's getting real specific, so it doesn't need to be.

[Nick Jonas]

But one guess.

[Penn Badgley]

At 12. When you were 12. Let's get you at 12. And then how did you perceive your older brother? Because older brothers are a thing, by the way. I'm an only child very much. Okay, so.

[Sophie Ansari]

And also just, just, just for our listeners, obviously, you know, we all know who you're pointing to and talking to, but just anyone who's listening. You all, because you're brothers sound remarkably similar when you're just listening in headphones. Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay.

[Joe Jonas]

I just told my, my 12 year old life story.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah, I did say that we were starting eldest.

[Joe Jonas]

Thank you. So.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yes, yes. But then just now you said, and you and you and you and you.

[Frankie Jonas]

Nameless brother.

[Joe Jonas]

Joe.

[Kevin Jonas]

Joe.

[Nick Jonas]

When I was 12, these guys were both very athletic and I was not. So I would hang out with them or go to a lot of their gymnastics meets or they would go skateboarding a lot. So I was the guy that would film skateboarders.

[Penn Badgley]

Who was the one? So somebody hit a nice ollie in the documentary. Was that you or was that.

[Joe Jonas]

I live my best life skate skating.

[Nick Jonas]

I like that there's like, I will listen to music and I watched the documentary. I like you pointed out something.

[Nava Kavilan]

We're prepared.

[Nick Jonas]

You're prepared. I appreciate the prep. Thank you. So, yeah, 12 years old, I was just starting to think about music because the crush that I had at the time I brought her to see Nick on Broadway. Nick. Nick, the youngest brother.

[Penn Badgley]

What show was he in? Do you remember at the time?

[Nick Jonas]

I think it was Les Mis.

[Penn Badgley]

Okay, so it was Les Mis. That was your first or second when you were 12? I think I'm wrong about that.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, that was my.

[Joe Jonas]

When you were 12, he was in Les Mis. Yeah, when you were 12.

[Kevin Jonas]

You set me up to sound like a jerk there. But yeah, it was my.

[Joe Jonas]

Okay, okay.

[Nick Jonas]

His first Broadway show. And seeing that show with somebody that I had a crush on and she was like, wow, that is so amazing. I Immediately wanted to get into theater or be an actor of some sort. So I was interested. And Nick was already doing theater. Kevin was doing commercial work. So we started all kind of acting. And I loved comedy, but it's also funny. Cause I was too shy to stand up and do anything with comedy. But I loved the idea of doing something in the comedy world or space. So, again, not very athletic. But I would hang out these guys all the time. So I would go and film, like, with. We. I bought. I think my parents bought me for Christmas one year, like a Sony, like, VHS cam. So I could go and film pretty much whether it was home videos, home movies, or these guys and their talents. So, yeah, that was me at 12.

[Penn Badgley]

That's thoughtful that you were. I mean, it was the 90s, right? But you like that you were filming your brothers. That feels to me like. I don't know, That's. That's. That's giving, you know, to. Not necessarily initially want to turn it on yourself.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, I mean, I. I wish I could have. I just didn't have to.

[Penn Badgley]

Okay.

[Nick Jonas]

I wasn't as gifted in those talents as they were. And then how I viewed my older brother Kevin. It was great to be the middle child, where if one of them didn't want to hang out with you, or if Kevin, when he started, like his first, I guess, girlfriend, I was. Then I was able to be, like. Able to be like, well, Nick's gonna be around and he's gonna. He's gonna hang on me too. So I was always able to, like, kind of have somebody to. To befriend. And I think those years, like, we were just starting to get into music too. The idea of. Of. Of listening to the same kind of bands. A lot of, like, emo punk pop bands, Jersey was like, they would do shows. You'd see these funny videos of people performing in little ihops or basements of clubs. We were like, one day we're gonna go see these concerts. So music was just on the forefront.

[Penn Badgley]

Right. And so by the time you're 12, Nick, it's really there, right? I mean, you. Cause you had started so early. Like, you really. You really. I mean, if to whatever degree the documentary reflects all the things that were happening. I know some stuff is left out, but it seems like you really kind of. You started super early.

[Kevin Jonas]

I started. Yeah, about eight years old.

[Penn Badgley]

Right.

[Kevin Jonas]

Okay.

[Penn Badgley]

So by the time you're 12, where. In the. In the evolution of your own path and also the Jonas Brothers path. Where are we?

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, it was early stages for The Brothers Path. But basically during my 12th year of life, I was making a solo album. So I'd been signed by Columbia Records as a solo artist. First coming out of the Broadway shows that I was doing as a kid, I did shows from the time I was 8 to about 11. And then somebody heard this song that I'd written with our dad for a Broadway Cares Equity Fights A's Christmas compilation. And you know, my dad and I would. I did too. Our father and I would.

[Penn Badgley]

I get it.

[Joe Jonas]

It's hard. It's my story.

[Kevin Jonas]

You know, we would write songs, basically silly, fun songs on the way to New York City from our home in New Jersey, just as a way to pass the time. And then eventually it started getting more and more ser. And we started really kind of writing real songs. So when they said that our show was going to do a number for this compilation, my dad very boldly asked if we could present an original song as Beauty and the Beast's contribution. And they very boldly said yes. And someone basically that we knew, a family friend who happened to be our chiropractor, of all people, Dr. Wallace. Shout out Dr. Wallany played it for somebody that worked at Sony Records. And we thought, you know, that could be anybody, you know, who knows who this person is. And it turned out that it was the head of international affairs for all of Sony Music Group.

[Penn Badgley]

Wow.

[Kevin Jonas]

Who then brought me in to have me meet this guy, David Massey, who had signed, you know, incredible acts and happened to have signed a couple of acts of Brothers.

[Nick Jonas]

Good Charlotte, Oasis.

[Kevin Jonas]

Oh, yeah, some, you know, some people dress a few. So he, he signed me kind of on the spot at 11 years old and, and I spent a year working with songwriters. So I would drive into the city with my, my dad or our mom and basically kind of be. Be dropped out of.

[Nava Kavilan]

Can I interrupt you to ask you a question? Is it normal for them to allow an 11 year old to write part of the songs? Like I would imagine that, that they would not include you in the writing process. Like, how did you end up being able to be a songwriter on that album?

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, it's a great question. I think the thing for me was that I was so. I was so ambitious and I credit our parents with, you know, instilling a lot of confidence in us at an early age and empowering us in our desire to, you know, create music and not just perform it, but to create it to where, you know, when we were negotiating the deal points for my album, my dad said that, you know, it was important that I be a part of the writing process. And so I'm sure these songwriters were all rolling their eyes going, yeah, sure, this is 1112 year old kid's gonna walk in and be a part of it. But what ended up happening is I cut my teeth in that time and really learned the craft and kind of went to school, getting to work with some of the best writers here in New York City to a point where basically I would come home and listen to Kevin and Joe through the wall, workshopping different songs each night. Kevin would play, Joe would sing, and I one night went and heard them singing a song called 24 by the band Switchfoot, an album that we all loved. Beaut. Let down. And I was taken aback by just how brilliant they sounded together. And then we started working on a song together. It was the first one we. We'd ever written. So really the genesis of the band happened when I was 12 and formed kind of out of. Out of a wild set of circumstances to where that song that we wrote that night ended up being a song, the song that got us all three signed and ruined my life.

[Joe Jonas]

Fair.

[Sophie Ansari]

There is a fourth Jonas brother. You have a younger brother, Frankie, who's quite a bit younger. So I think it, from an outsider's perspective, it makes sense that the three of you have gone on, you know, to form this band. But I'm curious how that has played a role or, you know, was there ever a time when it would have maybe made sense for him to join you all, or was that ever something he wanted?

[Penn Badgley]

How much younger is he?

[Kevin Jonas]

Can I ask for 13 years younger than me?

[Penn Badgley]

Okay.

[Kevin Jonas]

But 12 or 13 years old?

[Joe Jonas]

13 for me.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah. Right, right.

[Kevin Jonas]

So he was, you know, he was not a surprise.

[Penn Badgley]

Wow.

[Kevin Jonas]

Which our parents, you know, they wanted to have another child and thankfully, you know, God did God's things and Franklin appeared and he, you know, from the time he was born, he was like, he was just so full of life and funny, you know, like, I have a three and a half year old now, and I'm sort of watching some of the same character traits that Franklin, her uncle, possessed, you know, at that age where he was just funny and carefree and had a really interesting perspective on everything. And she kind of shares that same thing. It's fun to see that those connection points generationally. But, you know, I don't know if there was ever a point where he wanted to join the band. But I think that naturally growing up, you know, with your brothers being on TV and touring and, you know, it can certainly affect Your sense of reality and your perception of, you know, kind of what life is or what normal life is. Because he had only known one speed. We had, you know, at least in. In my case, 12 or 13 years of. Of real normalcy or. Or perceived normalcy and. And a very sort of simple life. You know, there's not a whole lot of money in ministry, turns out, so you're doing.

[Joe Jonas]

God. We were.

[Kevin Jonas]

We were, you know, we were, I think, really fortunate to have early days where we had a real sense of what hard work meant and, you know, that great things could be achieved, but it takes time and how to treat people. And so I'm sure for Frank was a bit disorienting, but he's really grown into to be the absolute, like, most wonderful human being who's got the biggest heart and shows up not only for the three of us and so many ways, but for our kids and our family.

[Joe Jonas]

And I'm lucky I get to do a show with him. We didn't do this season, but we do a show for ABC called Claim to Fame. So we actually co host it together, which is really fun because the concept is, you know, you're related to someone that's extremely famous, but you're trying to keep that a secret and trying to figure out who these people are. That's the whole goal of the show. And so for him, it's like he just plays along with them as the younger brother, even to these cast members, which is so cool and so fun and his whole energy.

[Kevin Jonas]

You get to, like, say that you're related to us, which is just so great.

[Joe Jonas]

I finally. I'm also related to celebrities. Yeah. What's up?

[Nick Jonas]

For better or for worse.

[Nava Kavilan]

I want to go back to this point you were making about having these years of normalcy and there not being a lot of money. And I think at some point I read in one of these things that you were essentially like a touring family band living in a really small apartment. You did get some money from the album, but it had to be split with, like, the whole family. And there were extended family members maybe coming into the picture at some point. So can you tell us about that time when you're like, in the small apartment? You do have a deal, but, you know, it's a simple time, I think.

[Nick Jonas]

Because we didn't understand, like, the complexities of what our parents went. And now as parents, we're all like, you guys are unbelievable that you did. You went through this. Our mom was pregnant with Franklin at the time, and we're just Kind of starting as a band and our dad is kind of weighing two different jobs, three different jobs, and also just like kind of letting us chase our dream, which is amazing, but teenagers who don't even know who they are yet and also living this life of quote unquote, rock stars. So you'd go and play these concerts with thousands of people in the audience and then we'd go live in a bedroom with four boys in a small little house in New Jersey that our, I think the police chief that was like cool with our dad let him rent, gave some mates rates and they gave us like a cheap rental so we could all live still in New Jersey at the time.

[Kevin Jonas]

So basically when our father finished at the church that he was pastoring, that also meant that we had to move out of our home. So that the parsonage is the home owned by the church that the family of the pastor will live in. And so.

[Penn Badgley]

And you'd grown up there.

[Kevin Jonas]

We'd grown up. I mean, yeah, we'd been there for about 11, 12 years. And so this very kind sort of friend of the family had a home that his mother who had just passed that he said we could live in for very little to basically no rent because he knew how strapped we were. Because my dad had basically self funded. Our father had self funded the band because at that time, keep in mind, it's like 0405 when you really needed a spark for a record label to invest any money or you needed to have a champion. They would say, I'm doing finger quotes for people listening in the bills. Who is an executive who has enough clout or power to say, yeah, I believe in this project. So I'm gonna commit to spending X on, you know, supporting the tour or supporting the album budgeting stuff. But we didn't have that. And we had basically been shuffled around the building with a bunch of different champions to the point where our dad was, you know, deeply in credit card debt just by buying gear for us to play shows. And we would, we would kind of roll up to these school auditoriums. This was the record label's genius id and it makes kind of worked. So I'm not being facetious here, but we roll into school auditoriums at about like 8, 9am, play a 30 minute performance which would then be followed by our uncle, Uncle Josh shout out, getting on stage and doing like an anti drug speech. So it was the strangest way for us to sort of like loophole into being able to play shows before we had any fans. And then we Would leave that and go to shopping malls and basically do the same thing. Which came full circle for us this last. What was it? March. We did an event at this mall in New Jersey called the American Dream, where we celebrated the 20 years of this band kind of going back to our roots playing at malls, because again, we would just go set up and play, hoping that people shopping would stop and listen. And eventually something clicked and things started to happen. But it was a grind at first, for sure.

[Penn Badgley]

So there is this period where your father is no longer.

[Joe Jonas]

Pastor. Yeah, Pastor.

[Nick Jonas]

At the church.

[Penn Badgley]

At the church. And that was a big departure because it was sudden and unexpected, as I understand.

[Nick Jonas]

Correct.

[Penn Badgley]

Right. And it really felt probably in many ways, just like you were being. I'm just imagining I'm reading a children's book to my son right now where these. Actually. They're troubadours, interestingly enough. They get kicked out of the town. They're. Because they're playing so loud. And I'm just imagining, like, you know, similar.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah.

[Penn Badgley]

So, you know.

[Nick Jonas]

Exactly.

[Sophie Ansari]

It's actually about them.

[Penn Badgley]

But I'm just thinking, like, for you guys, you're still. I mean, I know that you're into your teens and stuff, but you're young, your kids, definitely.

[Joe Jonas]

We felt slightly responsible for the departure of our father.

[Penn Badgley]

That's what I mean. So this, as an origin story to me, feels very potent. You know, it's kind of like it's now or never. It's a lot of pressure. Definitely. I mean, definitely three of you were here being like, all right, it worked.

[Nick Jonas]

But that also made us feel like anything could be stripped from us at any minute. So it's hard. It took us a long time to enjoy things because just like, our dad losing his, or, I guess leaving his job and the record label at the time dropping us, it kind of was like, one, two, punch. And it happened within, like, the same month.

[Nava Kavilan]

Oh, my gosh.

[Penn Badgley]

Because by the time that you guys were known as the Jonas Brothers, nobody was. None of that was the image that was presented initially. Right. You know what I mean?

[Nick Jonas]

We definitely had, like. We had a full album and videos and all this stuff. And when all that happened, we were feeling a little bit ashamed, but also, like, embarrassed and frustrated, a little, like, mad at our dad at the time. Like, why would you leave this great, like, our home and all our amazing life, and yet you have no idea as a kid that, like, that's the best thing he'd possibly be doing for us in that situation? And it was, like, kind of treading Water, at least for us, as we're going and feeling like we're living double lives, which it is what it is. But we're so grateful for those humble upbringings now. But sharing that room and then going, playing these shows, and you're like, this doesn't feel like real. Are we supposed to be living in, like, this luxurious home while we're doing this?

[Joe Jonas]

Right.

[Nick Jonas]

But now it's like, you see why we think, why that's like, probably why we're probably somewhat normal people, I guess, mentally. And then there was a record label who was Associated Hollywood Records, who was underneath the Disney umbrella, gave us a call and was like, hey, we want to meet with you. We have an idea for a pilot for a TV show, and we want to sign you to a record label, but we want to meet with you guys first. So we literally packed our bags and moved to la, and they put us up in a one Toluca Lake Estates Drive, which is right off Universal.

[Penn Badgley]

It was right off Universal. So when I was 12 years old, I moved to North Hollywood first. And then When I was 13, I lived in Toluca Lake. Exactly.

[Joe Jonas]

But everyone was in that beginning.

[Nick Jonas]

Everyone's in that little neighborhood.

[Penn Badgley]

Yes.

[Nick Jonas]

And we took a meeting and they were. It was like the dream pitch was.

[Penn Badgley]

Like, we want to do a TV.

[Nick Jonas]

Show and maybe a movie, and then we're gonna sign a record label. And we're like, where do we sign? And of course, our dad's like, let's just wait. Our dad's like. But then that feeling. Back to your question, like. Or I guess the Troubadour book. We kind of felt like, wow, like, what if it happens again? Like, we wouldn't allow ourselves to just enjoy those things. We kind of talk about it in the documentary a lot. Just some of those, like, I want to call them traumas, but those feelings of being, like, abandoned, that.

[Penn Badgley]

I'll call them that.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay. The traumas of being like the traumas.

[Penn Badgley]

We'll call for now, a small T, but, yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

A spicy memory of something that may or may not happen to us because we're going to enjoy it.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

It took us years before we could just look back and be like, wow, that was. Now we're here.

[Joe Jonas]

Celebrate the wins.

[Nick Jonas]

We're like, celebrate the day. Not the, I guess, milestone or, like, massive year that you had.

[Penn Badgley]

Was this right around the time? I mean, I feel. I just. Watching the doc, I was thinking, like, this is a moment of the kind of the silent, quiet sacrifices that, like, all people in music and entertainment make, particularly people who make it to that level of a certain kind of pop stardom. When you had. And you guys weren't there yet, but when you had this diabetes scare.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, yeah. I was diagnosed at 13.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

So basically we were doing that school tour and I started losing a ton of weight and, you know, drinking a ton of water, using the bathroom all the time. All the signs now that I know are symptoms of type 1 diabetes. But I think it's actually a testament to kind of the lack of information and awareness there was around type one at this time. And so I had no idea. I just knew that I wasn't feeling well and was losing all this weight. And Joe and I went ahead of our parents by like a day to this place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which there was like a convention at every year for pastors and their families. So we jumped ahead. Joe was 16, so he was sort of like chaperoning me. We went to the PO pool one day and he saw my back and, and called my parents and said, you know, something's really wrong. You have to get down here. And so.

[Penn Badgley]

Because you're so skinny.

[Kevin Jonas]

So skinny.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, you see every, like every bone.

[Kevin Jonas]

And I, yeah, I was, I was, I was feeling just awful. And anyway, so I went to the doctor and, and normal glucose should be between 70 to 120 for a person not living with type 1 diabetes. Mine was like north of 900, which is, which is very high. But I, you know, had great doctors and a couple days in the hospital and was back on stage, you know, within a week's time of being diagnosed. And I'm coming up on my 20th year living with the disease, which coincides with the 20th year of the band, coincidentally, and don't call them that. Yeah, the band. Just the leaps we've made, though, it's pretty astounding, you know, tech wise. And even just information that we have now as opposed to what we had then is pretty wild.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah. Wow, that's amazing.

[Sophie Ansari]

And we'll be right back.

[Frankie Jonas]

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[Nava Kavilan]

I think I might, I think I.

[Frankie Jonas]

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[Sophie Ansari]

There'S this moment in the documentary. We keep mentioning it. Everyone should just pause the podcast, go watch Chasing Happiness. It's so good.

[Penn Badgley]

Yes. Can very much recommend it.

[Nick Jonas]

Thank you.

[Sophie Ansari]

There's this moment where Kevin takes a phone call and you're on the phone with someone named Danielle. I'm like, is that his wife? Is that Kevin's wife? I had to go up and look it up because Joe says at one point, like, that's your future wife. Tell her you're so excited to to see her. It was such a cute, like, brother moment which was so really well scripted.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

Pretty lucky actually. Amazon, Brian has lots of money.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, exactly. I'm pretty lucky to have that kind of footage like, of that. Call me inviting her to see her first show.

[Sophie Ansari]

But there is a question that we ask all of our guests on the show, which is to tell us about their first crush and maybe first heartbreak.

[Penn Badgley]

And yours will be interesting because. Sorry, Soph, just to interject. I just want to give the framing. It's interesting because, you know, so much about Your adolescence is completely abnormal, as are many people on the show, by the way. It's like. It's more or less. Nora was mine, but, you know, finding those places where you were just normal kids.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, right. Everybody has those feelings.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

Who wants to go first?

[Nick Jonas]

Eldest brother, where are you at?

[Penn Badgley]

Eldest brother?

[Nick Jonas]

Eldest brother Kevin, we.

[Joe Jonas]

Elder Kevin, speaking of church, I will say it's a little surreal, by the way, talking about this age right now and thinking to myself, like, oh, that's my daughter now.

[Penn Badgley]

Is she that old?

[Joe Jonas]

She's about to be. She'll be 12 next year. Yeah. So it's like. It's a little bit like, oh, no. Everything I'm doing will affect her life. Oh, no. You know, like, I'm doing that a little bit in my brain right now. She just graduated fifth grade. It's a big deal in our house, you know.

[Nava Kavilan]

That is a big deal.

[Joe Jonas]

It's a big deal as, you know, middle school, you know.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yeah. I used to teach fifth grade.

[Joe Jonas]

There you go.

[Sophie Ansari]

Such a good year.

[Joe Jonas]

God bless you. Anyway, first crush, I think. Like, first, like, real girl. Like, I felt like, was. My girlfriend was in. From the. When we were in church, we actually kind of dated sisters at one point.

[Nick Jonas]

I never dated Lauren. Yeah, I never got there.

[Joe Jonas]

Never got. Okay. Well, I dated her older sister, and she. Yeah, it was. It was definitely, like, early, like, definitely into. See a girl fall in love right away, thinking you're gonna marry them at 15. But that didn't happen. Yeah, but, like, you know, back and forth on and off again. The entire high school school, like, years, actually, which is pretty crazy. We were born a day apart.

[Nava Kavilan]

Just as an aside, did you end up graduating high school?

[Joe Jonas]

Yes, I did graduate. You mean, like, in a school, or you mean just in general in a school? Oh, yeah. Well, kind of.

[Nick Jonas]

We.

[Joe Jonas]

I went to home school. We're homeschooled. So junior year, I left. Like, traditional.

[Kevin Jonas]

Like, it's not a trick question.

[Joe Jonas]

I thought she was asking me, like, do you have a high school diploma? Like, did I actually graduate high school? I was, like, arrested. You were asking if I graduated high school.

[Nick Jonas]

Like, actually, I just see, like, visualize Kevin's middle school principal bursting the doors open with handcuffs.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

She's put on her middle school principal.

[Nava Kavilan]

Just because you said they were on and off through high school. So I was curious.

[Joe Jonas]

Yes. High school. I. I associate that until I got my license, because at 17, I was a junior, but I left our, you know, Eastern Christian High School in New Jersey and went to a homeschool program. But I was in AP courses through high school. So once I got to the homeschool program, I was pretty much done except for two years of Bible. So whatever school my parents picked knew that I could be done pretty quickly. So I spent about a month and a half of just ripping through two years of that.

[Penn Badgley]

And I graduated old and New Testament. No big deal.

[Joe Jonas]

Exactly. And I pretty much graduated when I got my license at 17.

[Penn Badgley]

Just so you guys know, I'm in a similar boat. And again, they've had such a. Such normal lives when it comes. A lot of their lives is not. But when it comes to their academics, they're just like. So did you finish high school, my love? Are you okay? Yeah, I didn't.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yeah, there's no judgment associated.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, I do have a diploma.

[Joe Jonas]

I don't know where it is or where. What school it's from, but it's somewhere.

[Kevin Jonas]

I like that one. I did the proficiency test.

[Nava Kavilan]

Next oldest. Tell us about your sort of first infatuation, first outbreak.

[Nick Jonas]

Her name is Becca. I can't believe that. Becca. Ido SHOUT out.

[Kevin Jonas]

And she.

[Nick Jonas]

She was the police chief's daughter that let us rent that home.

[Sophie Ansari]

Oh, wow.

[Penn Badgley]

That family just kept doing you a solid or.

[Nick Jonas]

Watched me in every movie. The four ring cameras were always good. And, yeah, big crush on her. And I was going to, like, you know, early age, helpless, romantic. Started listening to a lot of, like we were talking about earlier, Copeland. Emo pop music. There's a band called Copeland look them Up. They're great. And I was going to show up, and at this point, I'm homeschooled, and I was going to show up. My big plan was to show up to her school that I used to go to school at Eastern Christian with roses on Valentine's Day and ask her to be my girlfriend. It's gonna be like the next step. And her sister, I guess, called Kevin to tell me not to do that.

[Joe Jonas]

That's right.

[Nava Kavilan]

Oh, she found out that you were.

[Nick Jonas]

Gonna do that and that we'd be better as friends. And then I cried in my room and listened to the whole album, this Copeland album, which encouraged me. I was like, I'm gonna write songs now for real. I was like, I'm gonna write sad music like this. I wanna do what these guys are doing. So there's a little happy outcome to it. Thank you, Becca. Yeah, but that was my first crush and first heartbreak.

[Kevin Jonas]

Aw, let's go. See you, Nick.

[Penn Badgley]

Nick.

[Kevin Jonas]

My first crush was kind of a two part deal here. It's kind of embarrassing, but I was doing a show called the Christmas Carol. My first show technically off Broadway, but I was around people who loved to sing and dance and tell stories for the first time. And I really felt like I belonged in this community and specifically one of my cast mates named Lily. But I also, I had a crush on the child wrangler.

[Penn Badgley]

Oh. For those who don't work in the business.

[Nick Jonas]

Hold on. This is a whole different.

[Kevin Jonas]

So basically they're chaperones because the parents can't be there on site for the production. Right. So you drop your kids off, they go and do their job. And there are adults there to oversee both their school work and also just to make sure that they don't die on set. And. Yeah, so I was really concerned though. This is at 8 years old, you know, that, that Lily, my. My, you know, co actor and the child wrangler would know that I had a crush on either one of them. So I just have to keep cool, you know, I couldn't let them.

[Penn Badgley]

Imagine yourself in a love triangle.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, exactly, Eddie. It was very, very sweet. First heartbreak, you know, I think. Yeah. Probably around 11 or 12. It's not a fantastic story, but just another school crush or something that didn't materialize. Probably because I was seen as sort of weird because I like to go and sing songs and tell stories. But similar to Joe's story, it sort of like forced me to music as a way of being able to process my very big feelings at like 10 or 11. And I'm really grateful for that outlet. Cause it has turned out to be a good one.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah. You know, you just said something that jogged my memory. Like you. I feel like, I think all three of you, at least two of you have said in interviews just along the way when you began performing, or at least I know that you said it about acting or at least being on stage, Nick, that it was the first time that you felt like a part of. Like accepted a part of a part of something. And I really do feel you there. A lot of performers feel the same way at the same time. It's interesting. Cause you know, you guys were. You were like, as you also say in the doc, sort of the first family of the church where Your dad was a pastor and you were. It sounds like you were very much a part of a community. And it sounds like it was a real community, you know, it was. And so I'm curious, like, if there were pressures of being in that position within that community that, I don't know, would later mirror the stardom you would enter and just this thing about feeling accepted, this thing. You know what I mean?

[Joe Jonas]

Absolutely. And I think it was very much a mirror a little bit. And Joe kind of touched on it a little bit, like not enjoying the moments that we were celebrating or things like that. Because I think one for sure was that, that everyone's watching, right. And how you are perceived. Or at least this is my. My version of that. Right. This is Kevin, for all those listening, sitting in the front row of that church, being all eyes on you and having to behave and having to be a certain way and playing guitar on stage. Like, I remember my dad, you know, cutting my teeth with my dad in eighth grade. Going to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, like, flying there, performing, you know, worship songs and music with him, his music there while I was playing guitar.

[Penn Badgley]

So you were already flying. That's interesting. I didn't quite gather all that.

[Joe Jonas]

That was church music with my dad. Like, his music was, you know, he would go visit churches and play, you know, for like three weeks. And I went to. Went to some amazing places with him and did that. But I yawned on stage. Cause, you know, 12 hour difference. And he. Then I was on the screen or whatever behind, and he literally said to me after he goes, like, great job, but never yawn again on stage.

[Penn Badgley]

Wow.

[Joe Jonas]

And I like, will, there are times.

[Kevin Jonas]

Where I'll call him up and talk about.

[Nick Jonas]

No.

[Joe Jonas]

And I will say, like, at first I was like, traumatized. Like, oh, my God, I messed up. I messed up.

[Kevin Jonas]

You're not traumatized at all now. Right?

[Joe Jonas]

But now, like, it's pretty funny.

[Nick Jonas]

God's still mad at you for doing that.

[Joe Jonas]

I'll be like, listening to them doing their show and I'll be wanting to yawn and, you know, no, I'm just kidding. And like, I'll be wanting to yawn on stage and just like doing everything in my power to, like, do yawn. You see somebody yawn. It happens sometimes. I'm just saying it happens. I'm just.

[Nick Jonas]

Who knows?

[Joe Jonas]

But it's more or less about yawning more than it's about always being excellent. Right? And I think that that maybe is what you're asking, kind of like how we perceived in like, the Public eye and how we let things affect us. And definitely myself. And it was hard, like, at the time being. It was hard being the firstborn, but it was just me going through things first.

[Penn Badgley]

Sure, sure, sure. Well, and then I guess there's also, you know, look, the adolescence is a time. Life is a time where we're all struggling to feel accepted. Like, no, I mean, you learn that in marriage. You're like, oh, I thought I felt accepted everywhere. But, like, I realize. I realize there's parts of me that I don't accept because my partner's reflecting that back to me. You know, all that stuff. Parenthood. I mean, I mean, how old are your kids right now?

[Nick Jonas]

Four and two.

[Penn Badgley]

Four and two. You have a three and a half year old. You have a 12.

[Joe Jonas]

I have a 11 and eight. So I fight with myself every day.

[Penn Badgley]

Right. So you guys know exactly what I'm saying. I'm. And maybe my lovely co hosts can help me thread a question here. But I'm just thinking about coming of age in the public eye. It's something that. It's a topic well tread. But you guys also seem, like, super well adjusted all that, considering.

[Nava Kavilan]

I do have a question. Maybe this will fast forward us a little bit. But I did listen to your episode with Dax, Armchair Expert. Great episode. And as you guys get into the breakup, I thought it was interesting thinking about how each of you felt. Like maybe one of you felt underappreciated. Maybe one of you felt like things were being taken too seriously. Maybe one of you felt like you were working too hard. I was like, oh, those dynamics are so familiar. I've certainly felt that in different group settings.

[Penn Badgley]

And Nava feels all three of those in the podcast.

[Sophie Ansari]

Which one does Nava feel in this dynamic?

[Nava Kavilan]

But yeah, I was just curious, like, as you're coming of age, you're brothers, you're each on your own path. You're also in this collective group. You're struggling with feelings that at some point do lead to breaking up. How is that all coming to the surface as you're going through your career?

[Penn Badgley]

I guess it wasn't coming to the surface yet, was it?

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, I think we were really good at not talking about things because we didn't really have the time to. The meteoric rise was so intense and it was. It was so busy, and we weren't really armed with tools yet to be able to communicate when there was issues or when we felt a certain way. So when you combine the pressure cooker of just time with the fact that we had no tools. And that's nobody's fault. I've had a lot of conversations, I think we each have, with our parents about what a great job they did, and I truly believe that. And especially as a parent now, I can't imagine some of the decisions they had to make and some of the instincts they had that helped us sort of turn out somewhat normal. But once you get past, once that bubble bursts and you're not an adolescent, innocence is kind of gone. You're left on your own a little bit to tread water and figure out how to make sense of communication and family and this other dynamic, which is the fact that we work together. So I think it took us saying we kind of have to blow this up to be able to put it back together. And I think there was, at different points, fear that it wouldn't get put back together perfectly. We weren't even imagining that we would get the band back together. I'm just talking relationally, but I think it was never. It was never as toxic or as, you know, sort of wrong word here, but, like violent in the conversation, in the breakup. It was actually an understanding of like, this is painful and this sucks, and we all have to figure out what the hell we're gonna do now. But, you know, sometimes ripping that band aid is better than the alternative. I don't know. How do you guys feel?

[Nick Jonas]

I wasn't listening.

[Nava Kavilan]

You're suppressing it.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Sophie Ansari]

Took it as a moment. Just take a break.

[Nick Jonas]

That was my opportunity to check out. No kidding. I think I was really taken back by your comment question because it is true. Even just growing up, trying to figure out who you are. Somebody said this to me recently. You were trying to figure out who you are where the world all assumed you are, very confidently knowing the path that you're on, whether, if it's for us, I guess call it. Famously, we were known for, like, purity rings, which were something in the community of a church, where that was like what everybody else in our. Our age were doing around 10, 11 years old, was like, we're gonna wait for the right person. But one person on an interview, when you're 15, 16, asks you about it and you're like, I don't talk about this. And then they're like, well, I'm gonna write that you guys are in a cult. And we're like, well, we'll try on.

[Penn Badgley]

10 year olds for waiting.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, that's awesome.

[Joe Jonas]

What about asking a team, make it happen about their sex Life?

[Kevin Jonas]

I wasn't 10, but I did. I don't want to interrupt you, but to the point you just made, which is so real, is like, think about how far we've come in just the conversation and dialogue. And I think it's really a good thing where it would be like, so outside of the realm of possibilities or something someone would do to ask at that time, a 14 year old about their sex life.

[Nick Jonas]

I mean, it was every interview. Every interview, especially just us.

[Kevin Jonas]

It was a whole class of young people coming up in the business.

[Nava Kavilan]

It's so gross. It's almost Peter to think about it.

[Nick Jonas]

Or even asking us why we're not having sex.

[Penn Badgley]

I didn't, of course, have that. Cause by the time I was getting that, I was more like 18, 19. But I do remember the first times I was doing press for Cosmo Girl or something in the dating column, and I was 17. And it's like a big deal to even be in an interview at this time. And I remember being asked about dating advice. It's like. And I remember feeling so much pressure to say something that sounded coherent and mature and adult and sexy. And it's like, I don't have a single thing to say or add here. And the pressure, you know, I'm just. That was tiny magnified on you guys.

[Nick Jonas]

It's just. But it's very similar. I mean, that's pretty much where we were at. So figuring out and whether if it was sex, it was even religion or Christianity. Questioning things that you, for me, like, questioning if I believe in God. What is God? Is there a God?

[Penn Badgley]

Say it for Rolling Stone, please. You know?

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And it's on the record. It's gonna be. And you're like. And so you felt the pressure. I can definitely speak for all three of us here. Felt the pressure of being like, well, we have to live these lives. Because we kind of said it in a paper once. It's in print, so you gotta do it forever.

[Penn Badgley]

Things used to be in print for our listeners.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, exactly. You would go and buy them. So, yeah, it would obviously be scary and freak us out until we got to a point where some like, fuck this. And probably the time we were like, frick this. Because we were like, we can figure out who we are on our own terms. And I think it honestly was that leap of faith that Nick took, kind of saying, hey, I want to go do my own thing and experience what that was like on my own. And even though it was scary and kind of confusing, putting us in those situations, like, all right, some of us need to go live our life and generally just figure out what that is. And then maybe we go experience. Whether it's music or acting or even just being alone, because we were always together doing music. And as a family, when we were old enough to be, like, living on our own, we're still living together. So. Yes. And also. Yes. And we always laugh, too.

[Kevin Jonas]

There's this assumption, and it continues now, which is totally understandable. We all do this in different ways and don't realize it. But to that point about. We did everything together all the time. Even now, deeply in our 30s. No, in our 30s, people assume we're together all the time. So they come up on the street like, where's your brothers? Like, I'm with my family, like my.

[Nick Jonas]

Daughter.

[Kevin Jonas]

Like a firehouse.

[Joe Jonas]

And like, I was speaking about, like, life changes once again. Kind of like, it almost like I reverted right back to that moment when we left the church. Right. And everything changed all at once. We were about to have our first. First, you know, child band breaks up, going back to New Jersey, building the house that I think I'm, like, cool. I'm like, I'm gonna be, like, settled in this place. We're gonna go on tour, and it's gonna be fine, you know, even financially, like, whatever. Well, everything's up in the air now, and life's changing completely. And, yeah, it was. It was a weird time. Like, I really didn't know what to do. You know, I tried to be complacent about it. I tried to be like, okay, well, what's next? And, like, what can I do? And, you know, I think it was.

[Penn Badgley]

Was.

[Joe Jonas]

It's just difficult to really know in that moment where you were headed. So I just focused on being at home, which was great. Which was, in a way, the best thing that could have ever happened, because I don't think I prioritized, looking back, I don't think I prioritized the amount of time I would really want to spend at home having my first child, knowing that I would want significant amount of time at home. And so it actually was a blessing in disguise.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah. I mean, you guys were not, since you were coming of age, fused together in this way that in some ways reflects, like, you know, the integrity of your relationship, but it's also what the business did. The image thing, you know, your career, the band, it was. You were fused together in this way that I would imagine as a person who grew up in Hollywood and then got on this big show when I was 20, when I got off of that show, Gossip Girl, for those listening who are not sure. I felt like kind of I was allowed to enter adolescence. I was certain parts of me that maybe weren't free to just, you know, do what one does when one is coming of age. Like, I just kind of got to do that. Totally. I'm curious if maybe in this period, is that what you. I mean, you still had the eye on you, you know, you still had like public gaze, but like, did you feel like you could just sort of be.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, in a way. I feel like the transition was just as much a part of the transition out of what we were doing together and some of those expectations on us. It took just as much time to find new things that create the public Persona. And then you have to privately create your real life person, your dynamic 360 person, which isn't always the same thing. And that's not to say that you're not authentic, but I'm sure as an actor there are a lot of times where you're like, I'm becoming this other person. They're going to think of me in this way. But you as pen, you're a very different guy than the characters you played. And to some degree, there were archetypes of us created that we had to sort of deconstruct and reconstruct as adults, which I think when the band got back together, we were really able to do. And it wasn't just through like interviews and kind of showing who we are today, but really through the music and something like the documentary, which gave a lot more perspective and context. And the other thing about that that I think was exciting for us is that some of the bias that was there early in our career because we were these, like, you know, we were in the teen magazines and, you know, young guys were jealous and were mean about and girls, you know, it had its own sort of thing. And I think with age, you sort of let some of that go, that, that pettiness go. And there was a real warmth to hear the story and actually engage in, you know, kind of not just the music or a song, but actually who we are as people in. In a way that we hadn't felt before. For instance, like we'd go to sporting events and get booed and it would like break our spirits.

[Nava Kavilan]

Oh my God.

[Penn Badgley]

Do you mean when you were. You would just go, yeah, like at lunch.

[Joe Jonas]

And they're like, we're.

[Penn Badgley]

That's insane.

[Kevin Jonas]

We'd sit there and go like, we're just like. Like, we love this sports team or whatever. But some of those bias just existed and there's nothing you can do to control that.

[Nava Kavilan]

But as I can't imagine, I just want to take a second. I can't imagine being at any age, this age, but especially a teenager and a stadium full of people booing me, how that would feel. That's awful.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, it certainly doesn't feel good. And I only bring that up, not to be like, woe is me, but I think it's like maybe healthy context to get to like the other side, which is now. When we got back together in 2019, we were shocked. We went to a sporting event and they cheered for us and people were warmer towards us. And I think where that really stemmed from is that we were authentic about who we are as family and as brothers. For the first time, perhaps in our we were awarded the chance to be authentic and real in a way that we hadn't previously. And it was a really exciting and very liberating feeling.

[Penn Badgley]

Well, congratulations on that because that's not easy, by the way, for anybody. And then to do it in that fashion.

[Nick Jonas]

Thank you.

[Nava Kavilan]

Stick around. We'll be right back.

[I]

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[Unknown]

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[Joe Jonas]

The American west to walk a wilderness trail.

[Nick Jonas]

Wasn't afraid to be out on his own.

[Penn Badgley]

But Eric Robinson vanished in the Hyuinta Mountains.

[Nava Kavilan]

I remember thinking, Eric, what were you thinking, mate?

[Penn Badgley]

I'm Dave Colley. Join me on my podcast Uinta Triangle.

[Nick Jonas]

Where I travel the world to answer the question what happened to Eric Robinson?

[Joe Jonas]

Follow Uinta Triangle.

[Penn Badgley]

That's U I N T a triangle.

[Nick Jonas]

On Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

[Sophie Ansari]

I'm curious how you have been able to find ways, if you have been able to find ways to safeguard your relationship just as brothers like I I think about working with friends like even Nava Penn and I, we Nava and David, my husband is a producer on the podcast. We went to grab coffee the other day and it's like inevitable. We end like it was just as friends but we inevitably start talking about, about the podcast, about ratings and whatever.

[Penn Badgley]

Talking the most shit about me. I'm sure.

[Sophie Ansari]

How can we get rid.

[Nava Kavilan]

Of let down pen husband.

[Sophie Ansari]

But it's just, it's inevitable. And I'm curious how as brothers like in your coming back together and working together again, have you been able to find ways to just have time as brothers?

[Nick Jonas]

Sure.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

This is Joe. We still will find ourselves just talking about work. I mean it happens. Definitely. We love what we do too, right?

[Kevin Jonas]

So that's part of it.

[Nick Jonas]

It's exciting to talk about about or sometimes we just want to complain to each other about one of the other brothers or somebody we work with or just like vent through some stuff. But yeah, Franklin, I think Franklin, we do, I think like being look, we're all girl dads and that's probably one of our like the biggest pride and joy and that takes Us that we have to take the work hat off and we just get to be present with each other and, like, watch them around, run around and play.

[Kevin Jonas]

They don't care.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, they don't care. They like, they're like, oh, that's cool. It's your song playing in this grocery store. But they don't. They. For them, it's like they just want to go to a playground with each other or see their cousin. So that's like. That has been, I think, a huge win as a family for us and as brothers. And we do have similar favorite, like, hobbies. And there's obviously teams that we like to support, supports teams and stuff, but we do try to, like, we spend a lot of time together as well, like, even off, like, a touring schedule. But usually after post tour, we're like, okay, I don't. I need to not see you a week or two. Yeah, yeah, like, I'm good on that.

[Penn Badgley]

But how long is the tour these days?

[Nick Jonas]

It depends.

[Joe Jonas]

We.

[Kevin Jonas]

I mean, we.

[Nick Jonas]

We go. It's quite seasonal, so we're gonna go on a tour for about three, four months starting in August, and then we'll be on another break for like a month or two. So depending if we go on like, a Europe run, so it can go for a while. It's like a TV production or movie production, I guess, where it's a couple months and it's full on. And so every day, every day we're. We're seeing each other. But we also, I think at this.

[Kevin Jonas]

Point.

[Nick Jonas]

Being in our 30s, we know when we need space. We know, like, all right, I need. I need to, like, not see you guys until showtime.

[Penn Badgley]

Love ya.

[Nick Jonas]

But I need a little bit of a break.

[Penn Badgley]

Well, it feels like that's a sustainable place to have it.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, definitely.

[Joe Jonas]

And we do try to do things when we're on the road that are just like on a day off or something that's like, fun, just like us, like, just to go, like, you know, do something outside the main, like, simple as going to see a movie or going bowling or something, you know, something brunch, you know, and just hang out.

[Penn Badgley]

Does it.

[Nava Kavilan]

Sorry, I don't want to. I don't want to dwell on the breakup too long, but I do have just one question that I've been curious about for a while. In that time, obviously, Kevin, I think you did, like, Married to Jonas with Danielle.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nava Kavilan]

Nick, you're doing your solo stuff. You're also, like, venturing into film. And then Joe, you have dnce, so you all find A lot of success with that. How are you, like, like, reaching out to one another? Do you share songs with each other? Like, do you consult? Like, how's the brother relationship at that time when you're. When you're solo and things are really.

[Frankie Jonas]

Like, popping off during that time?

[Nick Jonas]

I think we probably all have a different answer for this. I think we. We were supportive, but probably not getting a. I think that was when it started to, like, only give advice when advice was asked for. Like, we started to realize that, like, we wanted to go do our own thing and celebrate each other and. And not feel like it was competitive either. Like, they all were so different avenues that it was nice to be able to go to a Nick show and not feel, like, jealous, no pun intended, of him. This is Joe speaking, by the way. And to be watching him on stage or even Kevin having this beautiful home and starting a family and being like, there's a jealous side of that or envious side of that too. And being like, oh, like these. I'm not there. It was nice to be able to celebrate them and be like, wow, this is so. I'm so. I can see the joy them. And then also, just, like, how me and Nick would end up, like, playing a lot of shows together. Like, we would be building, so we'd be able to hang out in cities and be able to do our own separate things. And it still was nice to support. And so it was definitely strange, I mean, to not have them around all the time for. I think it was about six, seven years where we were doing our own thing and then eventually being comfortable with that. And I think we were really terrified of even unpacking so much because we healed as a family, or a lot of it was like, let's just not talk about it. So that was part of the healing process. Like, let's just move on and, like, we're building these amazing memories and we can be supportive. And, like, I respect who you are. You respect me. Like, we don't need to, like, be in that thing anymore. And so to step back in, it was like, all right, well, we really going to talk about all that stuff. And then that, to the documentary's, like, highlight was really selling this doc today. It was like, accidentally. It accidentally got us back together. It was not. It was never, like, Joe was the last one on. I was the last one to bore it because I was dnc, the band that. I guess I should say I'm in as well. Like, we were doing our thing and we were riding the success that we were like, we're not stopping. This is awesome. I'm good. Like, I'm in this funk party band. Like, I don't need to go back to the guy. And it wasn't until we were in, I think, Cuba filming, we went down to just, like, hang and film some content and stuff. We were playing. I think it was Love Bug, one of our songs in, like, this. This apartment complex corridor on this, like, stairwell. And we were. It's been so long since we performed it that we're like, kind of just fell back into singing harmonies together. And it was like, organic. And I remember after that being like, yeah, like, right after. I was like, I think I'm ready to do this in some way. But so I. Yeah, I think that kind of, I guess, answers your question. Long winded answer there.

[Penn Badgley]

I guess what I'm curious about is how this funnels into the way. Have there been any transformations in the way you approach material now? You know, like, songwriting, what you want to bring into it? Like, again, to me, at least, you know, this new track, Love Me to Heaven, like, it to me is such a. It's. You can hear the growth. You know, I can hear you as men. Like, and that's awesome. You know, that's. That's a really cool thing. I'm just curious what you've. What you feel there.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

I think we looked at new music that we're creating and saying, okay, well, how do we all. We all have very different personal lives. And that was always the kind of the ingredients that we would use and throw it in the pot and say, okay, well, we're all similar. But that doesn't really make total sense anymore.

[Kevin Jonas]

So we ended up being of boring. If the songs are only about, you.

[Nick Jonas]

Know, things being good or girl dancing last.

[Joe Jonas]

Pretty good.

[Nick Jonas]

Going on tour in August.

[Kevin Jonas]

Come see us.

[Nick Jonas]

You know, Kevin likes to yawn on stage.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, Callback.

[Nick Jonas]

It's a callback joke. So we now, like, sometimes you have to put on like a. Like you're like a character hat and say, okay, well, like, let's put ourselves in a situation that might be, like, relatable, though something we've been through in the past. And it is a bit celebratory.

[Kevin Jonas]

Right?

[Nick Jonas]

Like, it is 20 years of this and we're. We're celebrating and like, Loving Heaven is a bit like of a love letter to our fans, which sounds cliche, but it's true. And, oh, now you have record.

[Penn Badgley]

12 years old.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, exactly.

[Nava Kavilan]

Let's go back to first crush.

[Joe Jonas]

I will start Speed Round first time we started writing again for the Happiness Begins album. Coming into it, kind of much more outside of the music scene. I've spent a lot more time doing, like you said, some reality TV stuff, just being at home with my family and meeting them in the studio, but, like, having multiple rooms going at the same time, which was really kind of cool and different for me than I've ever writ we ever wrote together like that before. They were doing it that way, but I wasn't. And so to see them kind of doing that, having. Working with people that Joe loved working with, seeing people that Nick loved working with, and them, like, switching and then kind of going together and different space, it was such a cool, organic weight of, like, kind of blending the two sounds that they had created that were so independent and so cool.

[Sophie Ansari]

Your upcoming album is called Greetings from youm Hometown. And you just previously talked about in this new music being able to feel like you've. You've grown up and the music has grown up with you. But you also talked, in promoting this album, you talked about how it's also a return to your roots. So I'm curious if you could tell us about that. How is it a return to your.

[Kevin Jonas]

Roots, both musically and also, I think, with some of the themes on the album. You know, we're talking about everything from, you know, Tables, for instance, which in a lot of ways is a song about, you know, people being very bold behind their laptops and kind of what they're saying and how difficult that would be if those tables turned around and they were met with, you know, some of the same criticism. That's one thing. And then, you know, love Me to Heaven touches on a completely different thing Joe mentioned. It's a love letter to the fans. It's also, for me, you know, totally a song about, you know, my wife and my daughter and the love and beautiful things in my life. And it covers a lot of ground. But musically, you know, we were able to kind of dip into our early influences that our dad raised us on. You know, we have one of those, you know, CD holders in our minivan with, you know, Bee Gees number ones and Beatles number ones and Carole King Tapestry and Stevie Wonder greatest hits. And he really took us to school musically. And the Bee Gees were always, to your point about singing brothers and harmonies were always a huge inspiration to us and, you know, just the music that helped shape our sound. And about seven years ago, I was in Nashville doing some songwriting for our album called Happiness Begins. And I was working with this Guy Julian Bonetta, who's an amazing songwriter and producer. And we started kind of jamming on this Bee Gees sounding track. And eventually the chorus melody became Stayin Alive. And we're like, oh, well, we'll never get cleared. So for those that don't know, if you wanna use or interpolate a song, you have to get it cleared by the artist or the publisher or the estate, whatever. And so. So we just kind of put it on the shelf. And then we were shooting something at the end of last year, and I was listening to a bunch of music that's just in the vault. Songs that have been written years ago that never saw the light of day, that I'm still like, I think this is good. We should finish it. And played it for them. And they loved it. And basically within a few weeks, we had finished the song and sent it to Barry Gibb and his team, and he approved it. And, you know, he had come to shows with his family down in Miami a few times. So, you know, there was a real sense that it would be warm. But who knows? You know, it's a legacy song and obviously legacy artists and.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

So to get a collaboration basically with the Bee Gees on this album is pretty meaningful and full circle for us.

[Nava Kavilan]

Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

You know, one of the other things that I think we were all excited about in naming the album Greetings from youm Hometown, is this notion that your hometown isn't always great. Your experiences, you know, we touched a lot on that today and feeling sort of pushed out and told that we don't belong. But there's also moments we've walked those same streets and looked around and gone, wow, this is the place that built us. This is a part of our DNA. And no matter what the exit was like or what some of those negative experiences were, so much of this time that we spent here helped shape who we became and who we became. And I think that's true for anybody in their life. And one little extension to that is that we're fortunate enough to be blood, to be family. And we feel like our fans are an extension of that family. And if you come to a Jonas Brothers show, you really feel that warmth and sense that they've chosen this family. And it's an amazing thing to look out and see this now sort of generational effect. You know, parents who brought their kids when they were teenagers still want to come with their now adult kids. And those adult kids are bringing their, you know, their kids.

[Penn Badgley]

Three generations.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah. It's just a wild thing. And it's cool to see it sort of represents our family, too. Our dad and our mom still come and, you know, sit now with our daughters and watch the show, and it's just a crazy feeling. And, yeah, we're really fortunate. Just felt like it was the perfect title to encapsulate kind of all the thoughts.

[Sophie Ansari]

It is such a good title. There's a track on the album called Can't Lose, which I was thinking is such a good hype up song. And, Joe, I know you released a song not too long ago called Honey Blonde, which you had said is like you had written it for a perfect. Like a day city biking in perfect weather, which I loved. Just that visual.

[Kevin Jonas]

It's a great visual.

[Nick Jonas]

It's a little sarcastic, but yes, it's true. Not like it.

[Joe Jonas]

Oh, really?

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay, well, then maybe my game doesn't work.

[Nick Jonas]

No, no, I'll go with you. Let's go.

[Sophie Ansari]

But I wanted to play a quick game. If you are all down.

[Joe Jonas]

Sounds good. Games.

[Sophie Ansari]

I want to go down the line, Rapid Fire, and give you each a scenario. And I want you to tell me it can be a Jonas Brothers song. It can be not a Jonas Brothers song. What song you think is perfectly written for that scenario?

[Nick Jonas]

Cool.

[Sophie Ansari]

Are you down?

[Kevin Jonas]

That's only Michael Bolton.

[Joe Jonas]

Oh, I love it.

[Penn Badgley]

I like that extra challenge.

[Nava Kavilan]

They all have to be switched.

[Penn Badgley]

For the record. I cannot do Rapid Fire, so.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, I'm not very good at it either. I'll do my best.

[Nick Jonas]

Bring it on.

[Nava Kavilan]

Okay.

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay.

[Joe Jonas]

Joe's very good at this.

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay, we'll start with Joe. Joe, Red Eye Flight. What's the perfect song?

[Nick Jonas]

Red Eye Flight. Just pull up the playlist right now. There's a full playlist for this.

[Sophie Ansari]

Oh, really?

[Nick Jonas]

I don't know.

[Kevin Jonas]

Red Eye Flights.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

I don't know exactly what platform you use. There's a sleep playlist. Gonna go a little something like this.

[Penn Badgley]

Anymore. We can't afford it.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah. So essentially a sleep playlist. I'd say if you're gonna be on a Red Eye, you're sleeping.

[Sophie Ansari]

You're sleeping on a Red Eye.

[Nick Jonas]

Or a good podcast, maybe. Pod crushed.

[Nava Kavilan]

Yeah, I've never heard of it.

[Sophie Ansari]

Kevin. A Hype up song.

[Joe Jonas]

I'll go with I Can't Lose. Janine's Jonas Brothers song.

[Nava Kavilan]

Wow, that's nice.

[Joe Jonas]

She said it, Nick. Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yes.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yeah. We can attribute that to me, Nick. Summertime drive with the windows down.

[Kevin Jonas]

Ooh. I'm gonna go with the way you make me feel Good. Yeah.

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay. One more for each of you.

[Kevin Jonas]

Michael, that's right.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Sophie Ansari]

Joe. Sad song that makes you feel sad, but also good because of how sad it makes you feel.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah, it's like every Pixar movie the first 15 minutes.

[Nick Jonas]

Yes.

[Kevin Jonas]

TV.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

High sparks by Coldplay.

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay, Kevin. A big romantic moment.

[Joe Jonas]

3X5 John Mayer.

[Penn Badgley]

Interesting. Was that his first record?

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah. Room for Squares.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

Kind of like the one that like, made me like, want to understand the show.

[Nick Jonas]

No, no, he didn't actually. He was never a 12 year old.

[Joe Jonas]

That's why he was never 12. Yeah. That song.

[Nick Jonas]

First time I saw you Must have been 12.

[Joe Jonas]

Must have been.

[Nick Jonas]

Famously, as in 12.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, true.

[Penn Badgley]

That's. Those licks. Those were never 12 years old.

[Joe Jonas]

Never 12 of those licks. That song is the one I was like, oh. Understanding metaphor in song was like the first time in songwriting. I was like. It blew my mind.

[Penn Badgley]

Whenever I think of that record, I.

[Sophie Ansari]

Just think, sky blue gets dark enough.

[Penn Badgley]

You know, just.

[Joe Jonas]

He started it.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah. That's why it's in my head. Yeah. Yeah.

[Sophie Ansari]

Okay, this is the last one, Nick. The end credits of your life.

[Nick Jonas]

I like it.

[Kevin Jonas]

The hozier yell.

[Sophie Ansari]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

Good.

[Nick Jonas]

All right, now I got three for you. One, two, three.

[Nava Kavilan]

Great.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay. Anybody can hop in. And you really have to use the bathroom. And there's a really long line.

[Penn Badgley]

Oh, I'd want something to really slow things down. Down. I. I said it earlier and it's so. My mind is on Radiohead. I'm just thinking, like, just play the moon shaped pool record. It's like, it's contemplative, but it's very engaging. So I'm just. If I gotta wait. That's the one.

[Kevin Jonas]

It's a good call.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay. For the school teachers in the house. You have a bunch of rambunctious kids and you need to put your headphones on and listen to something that's gonna just. Just take you to a different place.

[Nava Kavilan]

Switch Foot awakening. I love that song.

[Nick Jonas]

Wow. Great.

[Kevin Jonas]

Nice.

[Penn Badgley]

Didn't they mention Switch Foot earlier?

[Joe Jonas]

Yes, we did.

[Nava Kavilan]

Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

We have a song on this new album with Switch Foot.

[Kevin Jonas]

The title tracks called Greetings from your hometown With Switch Foot.

[Nava Kavilan]

Oh, I don't think we heard that.

[Penn Badgley]

One anywhere near from where you're from or.

[Nick Jonas]

No, no, they're from San Diego coast.

[Kevin Jonas]

To coast, but they were like our. Our biggest influence.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay, I got one more.

[Kevin Jonas]

Do one more.

[Nick Jonas]

You guys feel free to pitch in here.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Sophie Ansari]

Actually I was making my husband come up with some scenarios yesterday because I couldn't come up with the last one and everyone. He came up with I was like, actually, you're not very good at this.

[Joe Jonas]

Okay.

[Nick Jonas]

Well, you're. You're like. It wouldn't be guilty pleasure because I don't think. I don't think guilty pleasures are really a thing anymore. But what's your, like, favorite. Your song? You're like.

[Kevin Jonas]

You've.

[Nick Jonas]

It's always top of your. Your. Like you're wrapped. You're like. This always sneaks in. And it could be anything. For me, it's Mr. Mr. Blue sky by YOLO. I just always will have that ready. It's always in the top 10 somewhere.

[Nava Kavilan]

Well, mine Cake by the Ocean is always in my, like, top three.

[Nick Jonas]

I was fishing. Just kidding. No, that's great.

[Sophie Ansari]

You know who always sneaks into my.

[Kevin Jonas]

My.

[Sophie Ansari]

My rap is Olivia Rodrigo.

[Nick Jonas]

Fantastic.

[Kevin Jonas]

Mine is the. The entire Brad Paisley Fifth Gear album.

[Nick Jonas]

I thought you were gonna say, like, probably also Moana.

[Kevin Jonas]

Oh, well, yeah. Now.

[Sophie Ansari]

Now it's a happy song by Imogen.

[Joe Jonas]

I do not have it with my toddler Spotify rap that makes sense anymore. It's like, it's.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah, I feel you. I actually started a different account so I could try retain some kind of algorithm.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, we had to do that. I needed that too.

[Nava Kavilan]

Some autonomy. I don't know if there's a question here. It's maybe just unabashed praise, but maybe there's a question. But I saw. I was. I loved the series Songland, which I don't think is. Is out anymore. But you guys had an episode and I wasn't as. I'm older than like your demo when you were younger. So I wasn't as familiar with your work and I didn't know what kind of band you were. But when I saw that episode, I think you guys had a song called. I don't know why I'm saying Green Light is one of my favorite songs. I. I listen to it all the time.

[Nick Jonas]

Become like our.

[Frankie Jonas]

Our family.

[Sophie Ansari]

I don't know.

[Joe Jonas]

We've never played it live. Or have we?

[Nick Jonas]

We played it live once. Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

Did we?

[Nava Kavilan]

Oh, my God. It's amazing. Anyway, you guys produced on the spot. Like, I watched every episode of that show and I really. I honestly texted people, like, oh, my God. I didn't know the Jonas Brothers were so brilliant, like, such brilliant producers. I at that time didn't know you were so hands on in your music. And I felt like that episode really stood out.

[Kevin Jonas]

That show was great.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah, I love it.

[Joe Jonas]

Ryan Tedder did a great job on that.

[Nava Kavilan]

But anyway, Greenlight, amazing.

[Frankie Jonas]

Thank you guys.

[Nava Kavilan]

As producers and so creatively involved in your music. It was really, really cool to see that.

[Nick Jonas]

That's cool.

[Frankie Jonas]

Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

Thanks.

[Penn Badgley]

So we want to respect your time. So we have a classic last question.

[Nava Kavilan]

Wait, I have one more question before we get to that one. You guys did a roast, and I can't imagine ever subjecting myself to that. So I'm curious, Jonas, why. Why did you do it? And which joke hit each of you the hardest?

[Nick Jonas]

So oddly, we had a perfectly. I shouldn't say oddly. We had a perfectly planned holiday break after that, work wise. So we didn't see each other for a week, which was, like, kind of good, I think. But we were approached by Netflix, and they were like, hey, would you guys want to do a roast? And we're like, yeah, let's do it. We pull everything else, so let's do it. But then once we started getting in the writers room for doing it, we're.

[Kevin Jonas]

Like, yeah, I don't know.

[Nick Jonas]

When I go there, and they're like, I don't know why people are like, well, it's. Somebody made this joke before. I'm like, but that coming from my mouth is different.

[Sophie Ansari]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

If I'm saying that this is Joe again. If I'm saying that to Kevin or Nick, and I'm like, I just. There was a kind of a code of conduct behind the scenes of being like. Like, hey, this is off limits. Like, I. Like, you can make fun of it, but I don't want to be talking about. I don't. Don't make fun of this. Like, whatever. Like, don't make fun of something that I can't. It's out of my control. And so that was kind of known, but the one that I think. I can't really think of one that, like, hurt the most or, like, got me the most.

[Penn Badgley]

But let's try to find it and bring it back up here.

[Nava Kavilan]

Well, it just made me hurt, like, hit the hardest. Like, could have been your favorite. Just.

[Nick Jonas]

I think there's a comedian from. What's his name? From England that came up with that. He's so funny.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

Why am I blanking on his name?

[Kevin Jonas]

Whitehall.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah. Jack Whitehall. He's hilarious. If you don't know his work, you should check him out. He's so funny. And he. He, like, did the brilliant. Pete Davidson was really funny, too, but he did the brilliant thing of, like, as a comedian, he was coming into a situation where the audience wasn't too familiar with his work, so he pretended to be an obsessed fan.

[Penn Badgley]

I like that.

[Nick Jonas]

And it was just came off creepy. And funn and the things he would bring up, even though they were cringy to us, he was like, no, I'll tell you why this is cool. I think it was like a comedy. And that, to me, I think stood out. He was a standout. And Pete Davidson came in for, like, five minutes and crushed it. I think he was kind of defending Kevin the whole time.

[Joe Jonas]

It was great. I loved it so much.

[Penn Badgley]

It actually sounds good. I kind of wanted it, actually.

[Nick Jonas]

It was pretty funny. There was moments that were good, and. And there was even stuff that never made it. Cause it was so bad.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah, well, honestly, hats off to you guys for being willing to do that. Cause I think there's something in comedy where I don't know about those roasts anymore, to be honest.

[Nick Jonas]

I don't know.

[Penn Badgley]

So if you're comedian, I suppose fine. Because you've entered into that pact with the relationship to the world and your career. And I think often comedians have a lot more agents. Well, no, they do. I mean, they just do.

[Kevin Jonas]

They can get away with a lot more than.

[Penn Badgley]

They have more agency. And also just in the way they started. It's a different. Comedians are their own thing. I don't know about.

[Joe Jonas]

So anyway, yeah, I agree. It was, like, weird. I felt like I was doing something wrong all the time there.

[Nick Jonas]

Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

Yeah, it felt weird.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

It says a lot about me, but.

[Penn Badgley]

No, but it also says a lot about comedians.

[Nava Kavilan]

Comedians. Nick, how did you feel about the rest?

[Kevin Jonas]

You know, I think it was a great exercise in being able to laugh at yourself. I don't think I would ever want to do it again. Yeah, it's the real. I mean, it's kind of like they.

[Nick Jonas]

Asked us who we want to roast next, and we're like, no one.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

I just don't want to do this.

[Penn Badgley]

This is not fun.

[Kevin Jonas]

Was a negative experience by any means. And I think actually, as an actor, you know, it better prepared me to be, like, more free and have more fun and not take myself so seriously than I realized. But, you know, there's just things that you just like, man, that's that funny to you?

[Penn Badgley]

So if you think it's funny, then that means you think it's true. Exactly. Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

Oh, my God.

[Nava Kavilan]

Pen, I swear. I'm gonna let you go to the last question, but I want to ask one more thing about your album. Is there one Jack Whitehall over here?

[Nick Jonas]

I love it.

[Nava Kavilan]

Ever since Greenlight, what song from your new album do you each connect with the most?

[Joe Jonas]

If there's one.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah, that's a good One sure great question.

[Nick Jonas]

A song called when youn Know. It's featured on our live album that came out a couple months ago as well. And yeah, I don't know if there was a why there, but it's. I think it's a beautiful song about knowing when to stay, know when to go. Heartache, heartbreak, healing. It's like. It's a beautiful song that came out of a writing camp that we did in Miami. And some of our favorite people were there that we've worked with over the years. Actually Justin Trainor, who I wrote Cake by the Ocean with, was a part of that song and. And Alexander, 23, who I worked on. We worked on. On this new album and he's worked on a bunch of my solo album that came out recently and.

[Kevin Jonas]

Blush.

[Nick Jonas]

Blush, yeah. Yeah.

[Kevin Jonas]

So there's. That's my favorite song too, to be honest. Probably one of my favorite songs I've ever been a part of writing. It's. It's. I'm really excited for the world to hear it and I didn't mean to interrupt you. Sorry, but you stole my answer.

[Nick Jonas]

So it's Nick talking.

[Joe Jonas]

I'll say something different, but Mirror to the sky is like one of my favorites.

[Nick Jonas]

I honestly forget what's on the album. I forgot that song was on the album too.

[Penn Badgley]

Oh yeah.

[Joe Jonas]

It just like makes me feel like I'm 16 again. Sitting on our bed listening to music for the first time.

[Nick Jonas]

We had separate beds, by the way.

[Joe Jonas]

I said my bed.

[Nava Kavilan]

You said our bed.

[Nick Jonas]

Proverbially in our bedroom.

[Joe Jonas]

My bed in our bedroom.

[Penn Badgley]

Actually. That seem perfect. Segue back to our classic last question and we'll just sort of. Maybe we'll start with. We'll start with youngest this time. Nick. If you could go back to 12 year old Nick, what would you say or do if anything?

[Kevin Jonas]

I would say take a deep breath, start therapy now.

[Penn Badgley]

Also, you have diabetes.

[Kevin Jonas]

Just. You're about to get diabetes.

[Nick Jonas]

Actually, that is what I said.

[Penn Badgley]

Just go down. Like, just avoid the.

[Nick Jonas]

Do a physical.

[Kevin Jonas]

Do a physical. Yeah. But just to take some of the pressure off myself. Yeah. I feel like I lost like so many great moments because I was anxious and I was dealing with things. I didn't realize it. And also I think that, you know, I'm sort of on the borderline age wise of like. Like when it became okay and in culture to talk about therapy and like, you know, mental health. And I'm glad that I'm like, I'm right there. Cause these two are so messed up.

[Nava Kavilan]

Thank God.

[Kevin Jonas]

But yeah, I Think it's come a long way and it's great to see because I'm sure there's a 12 or 13 year old kid like gearing up to go on some crazy life journey like we had who is probably gonna be better prepared because they're gonna have some tools to kind of work. But that's what I would say.

[Penn Badgley]

Thank you.

[Joe Jonas]

Thanks.

[Nick Jonas]

This is Joe. Little child here. I'm assuming I'm next.

[Penn Badgley]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

Okay.

[Joe Jonas]

I.

[Nick Jonas]

Would probably tell him all the little quirks and funny things that you think are embarrassing you keep in hiding. Like you're going to be celebrated one day for those things and people are going to think those are so cool and they're all going to come back around. I would say hold on to those Pokemon cards, my friend. One day.

[Joe Jonas]

You never know.

[Nick Jonas]

Who knows what's going to happen.

[Kevin Jonas]

Yeah.

[Nick Jonas]

And then I think probably, you know, you're doing great. You're like, good for you. And I think the idea is that you're, you know that when. So many different journeys throughout my life thus far and learned something from each of them and, you know, I think really protect your relationship with your brothers as best as you can. Treasure those memories. Treasure those memories that you, like, don't even know that you're making. I mean, there's so many amazing times when we were 12 or whatever age, riding our bikes all day long, playing outside, having each other and then sometimes rolling your eyes like, I wish we could hang out with other people. It's like really treasure that.

[Joe Jonas]

Love it. I think I would tell myself that some kids picked a keychain instead of a purity ring and maybe do that same commitment, less and more gas broadcast, maybe that. But at the same time, I would say just don't forget that the people around you will always be with you for the rest of your life. So, like, treat them with kindness. Like everyone that we work with is still working with us.

[Penn Badgley]

That's cool. That's a testament, just something.

[Nick Jonas]

There's that one guy, Neil Yamo. Can't win them all.

[Nava Kavilan]

You know, we ask that question to every guest and we get often repetitive answers, but you each gave an answer we've never gotten before.

[Frankie Jonas]

Nice.

[Nick Jonas]

Amazing.

[Nava Kavilan]

Thank you.

[Nick Jonas]

Well done.

[Nava Kavilan]

It was so nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

[Joe Jonas]

Come see us on the road.

[Kevin Jonas]

So glad to have you.

[Penn Badgley]

That'd be awesome.

[Nick Jonas]

Play Green Lights for you.

[Nava Kavilan]

You can check out the Jonas Brothers new album, Greetings from your hometown everywhere. You get your music starting August 8th and you can follow them online at Jonas Brothers.

[Sophie Ansari]

Podcrushed is hosted by Penn Badgley, Nava Kavilan and Sophie Ansari. Our senior producer is David Ansari and our editing is Clips Agency. If you haven't subscribed to La Manada Premium yet, now's the perfect time because guess what? You can listen completely ad free. Plus you'll unlock exclusive bonus content like the time we talked to Luca Bravo about the profound effect that the film into the Wild had on him. The conversation was so moving and you are not going to hear it anywhere else. Just tap the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or head to lemonadapremium.com to subscribe on any other app. That's lemonadapremium.com. don't miss out. And as always, you can listen to podcast ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Okay, that's all. Bye.

[Nava Kavilan]

Joe. Well, Nick uses the restroom. I'm gonna take this opportunity to tell you, obviously, huge fan. DNCE is amazing, but amongst your many huge fans, There is an 81 year old man, my father, who Cake by the Ocean is one of his all time favorite songs.

[Nick Jonas]

Oh, wow.

[Nava Kavilan]

And he makes me put it on every playlist. We go on road trips together. Every playlist. It's always on my most repeated songs. Oh my God.

[Nick Jonas]

That's.

[Nava Kavilan]

There's like never been a year.

[Nick Jonas]

That's. Thank him for me. That's so cool.

[Nava Kavilan]

His name is Tommy. He's always like, Joe is a genius. Dnce, that's one of the best songs of all time.

[Penn Badgley]

I also just want to say that this is a man of like, I, I think of like refined taste. He's like, he's from another era. He's a. He's like a presenter and a performer and feels like from another era.

[Joe Jonas]

Wow.

[Nick Jonas]

So cool. That's a huge compliment.

[Penn Badgley]

Thank.

[Nick Jonas]

Thank him for me and thank you. I appreciate Tommy.

[Penn Badgley]

Shout out to Tommy.

[Joe Jonas]

Tommy.

[Nava Kavilan]

It's easy to feel helpless these days. So take a break from the bad news and hear from people who are.

[Frankie Jonas]

Doing good things to address big problems.

[Sophie Ansari]

We care about abortion access.

[I]

We care about slowing down, reversing climate change.

[Frankie Jonas]

That's the approach we need to these long term systemic problems. We need the fixers.

[Nava Kavilan]

Feel empowered to take action.

[Frankie Jonas]

Listen to good things from lemonade and media.

[Nava Kavilan]

Available wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown]

Hi, I'm Jessica St. Clair. And I'm June Diane Rayfield. And we are two friends trying to survive the chaos and celebrate the joy that life throws our way. And we do it every week on our podcast, the Deep Dive. Sometimes we dig into the deep stuff like how I communicate with my dead best friend.

[Kevin Jonas]

And.

[Unknown]

And sometimes we give bad advice based off a TikTok I saw. And we're not going to apologize for that. Absolutely not. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hire a psychic medium. Join us, won't you? Listen to the Deep Dive. Wherever you get your podcasts from Lemonada Media.