Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas are not the same Jonas Brothers band they were when they were kids.
The brothers, who first became the three-piece act in 2005, have admittedly had their ups and down in their musical journey. But it only seemed inevitable that music would be a part of who they were.
"Music was always something that was around us," Joe tells us. "Our father pretty much plays everything. He's always singing. So it's just kind of natural for us to pick up an instrument and start songwriting together."
From their teens to their 20s, the band put out four records, starred in two Camp Rock movies, had a fictional TV sitcom, and seemed to be everywhere. But they took a hiatus in 2011 to focus on their solo projects and craft their own identities away from each other, and then eventually announced an official split in 2013. Calling it at the time a "deep rift within the band" over "creative differences", the three brothers weren't sure if they'd ever reunite as a band again.
"It was a choice, you know, to say, do we actually enjoy this enough to keep going, as we get into our adult years," Nick explains.
The guys eventually repaired their musical rift, and surprised fans in 2019 when they announced they were reuniting and releasing new music. And they each acknowledge that the time apart saw them develop a new perspective on family, especially as all three brothers have now built their own families, and are raising their own kids.
"There's just naturally times when that tension builds up. But we genuinely enjoy, you know, the music that we make together and the fact that, you know, this chapter, that that journey together is even more significant than it was when we had the first kind of pop of success," Nick adds.
From a household that always played music, to now having children who fill their house with those old-school Jonas Brothers tracks, the Jonas Brothers admit how "crazy" their lives now parallel with the fans they saw when they first debuted.
"The parents that brought their kids when they were in their teens when we first began, they still want to come with their adult kids who have kids of their own," Nick shares. "So there's sort of three different generations that, know, this music has affected people's lives so it's really special."
"We'll never be able to know all of those stories. But when you hear certain people singing... I want to know what was the the journey they took, together as family or friends and as a couple that made these songs that much more significant to them."
"My girls absolutely love [our songs]," Kevin, who has two school-aged daughters, shares. "They love coming to the shows as much as they can. I've been hearing songs from other parts of our life too, like something like Camp Rock and things like that."
The Jonas Brothers will be performing in New Zealand for the first time at the end of February for their 'Five Albums, One Night' tour - a first visit to Aotearoa for Nick and Kevin (Joe himself visited with his other band DNCE a few years ago).
Joe describes their concert in three simple words: Electric, Loud and Familiar.
"I think a lot of these songs kind of walk you through a journey. It's a fun, packed energy show and something I think everybody should probably check out."
Watch Speedy's exclusive New Zealand interview with the Jonas Brothers that he conducted from Mumbai, India in full above.
