Like, what's the difference for you as a performer when you're on Broadway?

Well, I mean, for me, I think it's the closest thing to being an athlete.

I, I really admire, um, Broadway performers and, and, you know, I've, I've done a bunch of shows now and, and love tapping back into it.

But, but those that, that do it, you know, day in, day out for a year or more, um, it's, it's eight shows a week, six days a week.

Uh, so it's, it's really I think the most physically taxing kind of version of performing you can do.

I mean, it's, it's a grind, and it, it is something that I think, um, you know, i- is reserved for the, the, the strong, uh, at heart and of, of strong mind.

Um, so I, I hats off to, to those that are, are the performing on Broadway at the moment or, or Broadway performers as a whole.

Is it fun again?

Nick, what would you say, if you were to distill this down, the Jonas Brothers' secret to the magic, the secret to the success year after year? What would you distill it down to?

to?I mean, I think it's hands down the, the fans.

Um, it's just been incredible to watch over the last, you know, 20 years at this point, um, how they've stuck by us, grown with us, now introduced their kids to the music.

And, and looking out at these shows, you know, seeing new fans, um, and, and fans that have been there forever just means the world to us.

And, uh, I think it's also a testament to, um, our, our love for working with each other and getting to do what we do together.

It's, it's really incredible to get to share these, these moments with family and, and to still be having these new experiences.

Yo, I'm about to play this track, which is a new track for you, but it has nostalgic tones and textures to it, inspired by some of those early 2000s days?

Yeah.

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Nick, what would you say, if you were to distill this down, the Jonas Brothers secret to the magic, the secret to the success year after year, what would you distill it down to?

... and what the team has produced?

Um, so we started looking at, uh, hash-based signatures for two reasons.

First of all, because the, uh, conservativeness of, of this assumption, it do- it would not introduce a new assumption to the Bitcoin protocol, which I think is very appealing when you're trying to get consensus on a, on a protocol, on a, on a proposal like this that upgrades the Bitcoin protocol.

And the second part is that, um, the, uh, construction itself is relatively simple, I would say.

Much simpler than, uh, than trying to understand, uh, how lattices work and isogenies and all these other schemes.

So I think it can be explained to, to an engineer at, at least with, with some interest into cryptography relatively quickly, and this is why we thought, okay, we start looking at this, but we're also looking at these other things.

For now, we've, we've been looking at hash-based signatures in the-- but in parallel, we're also looking at, um, at lattice-based, uh, signatures.

What is it?

Yeah.

Um, and so he wrote me an email the day that the announcement went out about the brothers breaking up, said, "How are you? I'd like to see you, you know, can we meet up?" And so I met him for lunch, and then he was like, "Well, you said you've been working on some music.

Let's go back to my office and play some, some records and-" ... basically, like, cleared his schedule for the rest of the day and just sat with me and, and, you know, let me play some of this music.

And I, and I was, at this point, so discouraged by kind of all the things that were happening, the fact that music wasn't really connecting with the brothers.

Obviously, the band broke up, and all this stuff, and so I, I kind of did the opposite.

I, I me- I disguised my insecurity and vulnerability as, as, like...

Well, I'll tell you what I said.

Wow.

I'm also curious what you think about AI in the music world too.

Yeah, well, to, to Paul's point, I think to some degree it's, it's kind of inevitable, you know, and, and unavoidable.

But, um, you know, I, I, I find that as a, as a songwriter, um, there's nothing more magical to me than getting in a room with somebody else or with a few other people and just making something o- out of nothing.

And, and that's, that's kind of never going to go away in my opinion, no matter what happens with, with ad- advances in technology.

And, and, um, it's the same thing as, you know, getting on set with somebody and digging into a scene and, and, and, um, you can't beat that, that human element.

Like, what was that like for you guys to film that?

It was actually our first night on set together, and, and it was a great way to jump in and, and just, you know, build the chemistry and, and have fun because there, there was a lot of room for us to just kind of play and, and, and mess around.

And, um, and John just created a really great environment.

What have you taken from your personal life that kind of helped you with this character?

Well, it's funny.

You were playing the video for Jealous.

Thinking back to that chapter of my life, you know, the brothers had actually broken up as a band for a season, and I was finding my voice on my own.

And that's kind of where we meet Danny, my character in this movie.

He's...

He's trying to figure out what his sound is.

Why do you believe this movie is so relatable? Because I'm sitting there and I'm watching it and I'm getting in my feelings.

Take a look.

How to sing the words that ring true.

You should keep the how to write a song going every time.

How to write a song without you'Cause every song I ever wrote in my life is about you.

So good.

You spent all of this time with your brothers over all of these years and grown up together.

Yeah.

I mean, we, we've gone through quite a bit over this, you know, 20-something-year journey we've been on, uh, highs and lows and everything be- in between.

[laughs]

Um, but, you know, there's a lot of music to cover with just the brothers' music, so I wanted to do something where I could showcase some of the music, not just from the most recent release, uh, Sunday Best, but kind of throughout my, my, my journey both as a, as a writer and, and a kinda storyteller.

And these, these more intimate venues will allow for it to be kind of just a real conversation and, and, and to tell some great stories and, and have some fun.

Yeah

... and I...

You know, I think it's a really great time to have a movie that, it's a feel-good summer kinda classic.

And, and there's this, this song that I was fortunate enough to sing in the movie and, and a story that, you know, it, it, it's, it's kind of a, a, a crazy thing.

Basically, my character meets Paul Rudd, we have this great night together, then six months later, the song that we started working on together comes out, and he doesn't get credit.

[laughs]

And, uh [laughs] and I couldn't go, but my brother Joe and I, we first went to the Masters back in, uh, 2017, 2016 or '17, um, whatever the Sergio Garcia year was.

I think it wasAnd, um, you know, speaking of that, Jim Nantz is, he, he's kinda been a family friend for a while.

Um, he, he's come to a lot of shows with his daughter.

They have, like, a connection of coming to our shows together.

Jason

JasonIt's like unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Right.

You can act it out now if you want, just-

Yeah, a live reenactment.

Um, but you'll see it's a scene where we, we connect on music and creativity and life and, uh, have a couple drinks.

There might be a, a joint in there, and then things kinda go nuts from there, and we, we start, you know, the, the beginnings of a song that then take us on the journey of this, this movie.

And, and that was our first day working together.

I'd heard so many good things about Paul from mutual friends and, and been a fan forever, so I was, I was thrilled to just be on set.

Obviously, an intimidating first day and, and, and, uh, intimidating to, to be on screen with, with Paul, but I think every- everyone was, was so chill, and the environment was, was such that, you know, John allowed us to, to play.

Uh, how does your relationship with performing change when you're acting as a musician versus being yourself on stage?

Mm-hmm

... and Sing Street.

And so I was dying to, to get my hands on the script when I heard that he was working on a, a movie about a, a basically a wedding s- singer, um, who had big dreams, uh, that didn't pan out, who's singing at a wedding where a, a, a pop star trying to find his sound kind of is there as a guest.

They, they meet, they have this great connection, and they start, you know, jamming on music that night and talking about creativity and this, that, and the other.

And you think the movie's gonna go that direction, they're gonna become friends and this and, and it cuts a completely different direction.

And my character effectively, you know, steals this, this song.

Um.

Effectively.

Mm-hmm

... and Sing Street.

And so I was dying to, to get my hands on the script when I heard that he was working on a, a movie about a, a, basically a wedding s- singer, um, who had big dreams, uh, that didn't pan out, who's singing at a wedding where a, a, a pop star trying to find his sound kind of is there as a guest.

They, they meet, they have this great connection, and they start, you know, jamming on music that night and talking about creativity and this, that, and the other.

And you think the movie's gonna go that direction.

They're gonna become friends, and they're gonna sing.

And it cuts a completely different direction.

Effectively.

Great

... basically posted this video a while back that was very honest and kind of vulnerable.

It was about his tour and having to, um, not do it because of, of some factors.

And basically I, I was like, wow, he was so candid, and it, like, really spoke to me.

And I reached out and said, "Hey, do you wanna come out and be the special guest at our, our show?"...

in Toronto where he's from, and he said yes, and he came out and absolutely killed it.

And then basically I was like, "Look, I'm doing a writing camp in a couple weeks.

Mm-hmm

What is it like to sit down and write a song to, about your daughter? A sensation most of us will never have, and watch it become a hit, and what does that feel like?

Well, I'd always sort of dreamed about the day I'd be able to do that.

And, um, you know, I've, I've written a lot of songs about love.

I don't know that I've ever written a, a, a love song quite as profound as this one, of, you know, a dad's love for his little girl.

And, um, I don't know.

It was, it was really, I think, the freedom I felt with my collaborators to walk in and say, "Hey, this might sound like a weird title, but I wanna write a song today called Princesses," and all of them saying, "Let's go," and helping me better articulate, you know, some of these ideas and these thoughts.

And, um, so with that one in particular, uh, JP Saxe, um, was on that one with, with Jeff Giddy.

Nobody's gonna hand it to us"?

What is it like to sit down and write a song to, about your daughter? A sensation most of us will never have, and watch it become a hit, and what does that feel like?

Well, I'd always sort of dreamed about the day I'd be able to do that.

And, um, you know, I've, I've written a lot of songs about love.

I don't know that I've ever written a, a, a love song quite as profound as this one of, you know, a dad's love for his little girl.

And, um, I don't know.

It was, it was really, I think, the freedom I felt with my collaborators to walk in and say, "Hey, this might sound like a weird title, but I wanna write a song today called Princesses," and all of them saying, "Let's go," and helping me better articulate, you know, some of these ideas and these thoughts.

And, um, so with that one in particular, uh, JP Saxe, um, was on that one with, with Jeff Giddy.

Nobody's gonna hand it to us"?

It's written about your childhood, correct?

Yeah, so the lyrics in the song really come from just anecdotes and stories about my life.

And a major theme with this record... that I sort of didn't go into the process thinking, this is what I want to say.

I just let it happen and then realized that there were these kind of main themes.

Getting back in touch with my inner child was one of them.

I'm envious of how fearless that kid was.

Oh my gosh, I get it.

And it's, uh, no part of that me exists here today.

What are the nerves like before it comes out?

There's not a whole lot of nerve.

It's just you hope that people... kind of find a way to connect with it in their own way.

Obviously, it's my experiences and my life, but I think I tried to write it from a place where, you know, you don't have to have lived exactly my life or my experiences to know what it feels like to, you know, for instance, Sweet To Me is the first song on the album.

It's probably my favorite.

And it's just about wanting to reconnect with that inner child and kind of the safety of growing up in a small town where, you know, everyone knows each other's names and there's just a simplicity to it.

As you get older and some of these situations happen in life, it just gets harder and harder to kind of access those memories.

Do you enjoy it? Yes and

What are the nerves like before it comes

out? There's not a whole lot of nerve.

It's just you hope that people... kind of find a way to connect with it in their own way.

Obviously, it's my experiences and my life, but I think I tried to write it from a place where, you know, you don't have to have lived exactly my life or my experiences to know what it feels like to, you know, for instance, Sweet To Me is the first song on the album.

It's probably my favorite.

And it's just about wanting to reconnect with that inner child and kind of the safety of growing up in a small town where, you know, everyone knows each other's names and there's just a simplicity to it.

As you get older and some of these situations happen in life, it just gets harder and harder to kind of access those memories.

Do you enjoy it?

... on, was it quick enough a pivot where Hollywood Records came, or was it, did you have to sit in that pain for a little bit?

You know, there was a, a couple things happening in our life at that time that made, you know, the, the career aspect, aspect of it almost feel, uh, less, uh, uh, of a burden than some of the personal things that were going on.

You know, our dad was at that church for 10 years.

It was a real, um, you know, safety net for us and, and a place where we, we felt a part of a community, and some of the, the families that were there prior to our arrival, um, did not like my dad and, and, uh, made it their mission to get him pushed out of the church.

So effectively, you know, he, he lost his job while also funding this, this band, this dream of ours.

Um, we had to move out of our home 'cause we were living in the, the church parsonage, which is owned by the church, and so we, we moved into a, basically a, a little house in a place called Little Falls, New Jersey.

The owners of the home were kind enough to let us rent it from them for, for basically nothing while we were in this transitional period, and around the same time, while we're on tour doing, uh, a school tour, basically we would show up at 8:00 a.m., load in our own gear, and play a 30-minute, uh, assembly, basically, and then there was an anti-drug school, uh, anti-drug message at the end of it that our, our uncle Josh, who was our tour manager, would give.

What's going through your mind?

What's going through your mind?

Um, no, she's, she's just perfect in every way, and I know every parent says that but, uh, you know, this morning I was actually at her new, uh, preschool.

To sort of be back there in the context of being a dad, you know, is just a wild thing and, you know, she, she came to the world under sort of very intense circumstances, which I've not really talked about ever.

We were expecting her to arrive in April of the year she was born, and, uh, we get a call that it's gonna be sooner.

So we, we basically, you know, went into action and, and, um, she was born via surrogate.

And so we got to the hospital and, um, she came out and she was 1 pound 11 ounces, and, you know, purple basically.

Um, they, these angels at the NICU kind of resuscitated her in that moment and, um, you know, g- got her taken care of ver- really quickly and intubated and everything else.

What are the fears that came up after having a daughter? And what were the fears that went away after becoming a dad?

It was wild.

And I was going to say, you know, we we probably in the planning of it, we I think slightly underestimated the the amount of people that might want to come.

And so the day before to cover this for you.

So, look, you're going to have to perform six times because we have to get like different people in and out.

So we literally did six different hour-long sets In addition to a bunch of other things that we did throughout the day, but it was it was one of the most full-on Insane as far as like you know the scheduled days ever, but it was honestly the most emotional and beautiful celebration just seeing that many people come together and have one thing in common.

They love this band, this family, and being able to experience that together, and just like, people were happy.

It's like, we need more of that.

It was

Appreciate that.

I disagree.

Classic Joe.

I think on weekends I can be a max heartthrob.

My hometown? Really? Why would you name your album after a dump like Whoville?

(laughs) Unfortunately never been to Whoville, but seen a lot of pictures and videos.

Looks, looks like a lovely place.

What's the best time of year to, to go to Whoville?

What's up, guys? How you doing?

Hello, hello.

(instrumental music)

Oh.

That does explain a lot, actually.

Joe really just can't be tamed.

No, no, no.

Hold up.

Kevin likes to leave items out at me and Nick's home.

My hometown? Really? Why would you name your album after a dump like Whoville?

(laughs) Unfortunately, never been to Whoville, but seen a lot of pictures and videos.

Looks, looks like a lovely place.

What's the best time of year to, to go to Whoville?