I’m Joe Jonas, and this is my last meal. [heavy metal intro music] Every person has exactly two things in common. We all gotta eat and we’re all gonna die. Today’s guest is a Grammy Award nominated, singer, songwriter, actor, and producer whose new album Music for People Who Believe In Love is Out Now, but who are we kidding? We all know him from the Joe Show, shot live from a basement in Wake off, New Jersey. Joe Jones, welcome to the show. Hey, good to see you. Thanks for having me on. Thrilled to be here. Thrilled to eat my last meal. Thank you for coming on, man. Um, the new album’s great, but we all know– Thank you. Music is played out. Your real passion is comedy. Obviously. When are we bringing the Joe Show back? We’re, we’re shopping it. Mm-hmm. Everybody wants it right now, but I just, we’re just trying to find a home. I got it. Yeah. Maybe here. I was gonna say we’re willing to throw an offer on the table. Okay. You know, it’s mostly paid in food. That, that could work. We want rights in perpetuity to your entire name, image, and likeness stuff. Oh, got it. Okay. Those were ready bought, actually. Okay, fair, fair point. Fair point. So you have to buy me out of that and then buy ’em back, but. Have you thought about your last meal before? Oddly too many times. Wow. Um, I think it’s probably a pretty good first date or bad first date question. But you know, you think about, all right, if we’re to have your last meal, what would that be? So, I, I’ve had this ready for a long time. Did you get any interesting answers on first dates? ’cause I think you and I apparently have similar rizz ’cause I also ask questions about dying on the first date. It’s a good icebreaker. It really is. Um, I, yeah. Usually it’s, I don’t know. Usually people are excited to talk about this. That’s what I’ve found in my general career. I don’t think it’s really that bad. I think it’s a, a great question. Everyone’s curious, like that means what is your favorite meal? The thing you’ve, you love or you look forward to? I just went to go visit my, my mom and grandmother back in North Carolina, surprise ’em for Mother’s Day. I walked in there and it just, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s cozy. It’s, it’s, it’s warming. Even if there’s restaurants that I love that I have gone to once. A few of them I’ve listed here that I’m, I’m eager to go back to and experience it again. Yeah. That’s beautiful. How often do you think about death in general? Young me, quite a bit. I, I think now I’m trying to be more present and I think, you know, as a, as a dad, I think about longevity a lot more. Sure. Yeah. So I stay away from skydiving or bungee jumping. I’ve never done those things, but I’m staying away unless they, one day they’re like, dad, I’d like to do this with you. I’m like, all right, great. But I try to avoid, um, complicated situations. Mm-hmm. So tonight, today, ’cause there’s alcohol involved, I won’t be driving my car. I do feel bad ’cause I think the general amount of food and alcohol in this meal is gonna take at least two weeks off of your life. So I do apologize to your kids for that. But otherwise– There’s no hot dogs. There’s no hot dogs. That’s right. That’s right. That’s what I guess hot dogs can really take you out. 86 to surprise hot dogs. Oh yeah. Sorry. They were good Italian dogs from Jersey too. I heard this fact recently, actually last night. I don’t know why, but we’re talking about food. Um, and Theo Von blew my mind. Do you know what the number one sold thing at Walmart every year is? No. Um, bananas every year. What? Alright. Interesting. Now you know. Just a– The next, next person that’s on, just drop it somehow. We do, we, if you ever have the same riz, this is what I would say on a first date as well. If you, exactly, if you, are we on of date? If you ever have, this is practice. If you ever have, um, anyone that has any banana related items, you can bring that up. Anyway. You ready to eat, Joe? I’d be like, we’re gonna show a clip from Joe Jonas a couple of weeks ago. All right. I’m ready to eat, please. Let, let’s do it. Enough of this, Joe, for the first course of your final meal, we have your great grandmother’s biscuits and sausage gravy. We made this according to her actual recipe that you were very gracious enough to send us. Then of course, uh, from Goldberg’s Bagels in New Jersey, we have the everything bagel toasted with Taylor Ham, egg and cheese, and then of course, a V60. Pour over from La Cobra here, uh, we have a little bit of simple syrup and a little bit of cream for your liking. A little bit of ketchup on the table for the bagel, if that is your fancy. Please dig in. I’m so happy right now. I’m so happy too, man. I’m like, I can’t, I I won’t stop smiling. This is amazing. Okay. Um, this is very exciting. I feel like I would start here. Yeah. While they’re hot. This is wrapped up in a bag that’s just gonna steam and get better over time. Okay. Perfect. My late grandmother Nelly, she would make these for us anytime we would visit North Carolina. Mm-hmm. And I remember the familiar smell, like pulling up and when we were kids and smelling these biscuits being made. And even if you weren’t hungry, you were still eating. Mm-hmm. It was just like, it reminds me of a full house of that joy and the simplicity of just being able to be together as a family. Mm-hmm. This is truly like the definition of comfort food, and I’m stoked, just completely drenched. Oh my God. Wow. Bringing you back to grandma’s. Well done. She would be proud. Hmm. Do you cook yourself and do you ever try and like recreate those big familial moments? I do love to cook. Um, I’m, I’m not that great, but I’m, I’m learning and I think like breakfast is definitely like probably my strongest. That’s the most dad thing to say. Absolutely. My, my pancake game. My pancake game is strong. This is a calorie dense way to start. This is gonna have so much bread. Mm-hmm. But good news is we have coffee to get us through this. Yeah. You said you’re a coffee snob. I’ve actually never heard of La Cobra. This is awesome. La Cobra is a, um, company out of, I think Copenhagen, and they have a couple locations in New York. Mm. I I live in New Brooklyn. They have one about 10 minutes from me. They grind all the stuff there. They brew all the stuff there. But yeah, they, they take really good care when it comes to coffee. And I, I’m like an annoying person. Like, like there’s a few things in my life I’m bougie about. Mm-hmm. One of which is coffee. And, um, you know, this is what I usually start my day with, which is like, I’d rather this is also how I’m gonna start the last day of my life with, you know. Yeah. Beautiful, man. Cheers. And you’re not a coffee snob? I’m not, no. I drink, um, uh, generally I’ll put instant coffee powder into brewed pre-ground coffee. Yep. Okay. We’re gonna change that. Oh, that’s nice. That’s good. Right? So you start every day like this? Oh, yeah. I like the process of like grinding the beans. My day usually starts with like an active meditation, so I’ll put on headphones and listen to a meditation while I’m making, grinding the coffee, brewing it myself. I, I enjoy the, that slow mornings are like me time, so it’s, it’s quite nice. That’s incredible, man. Um, crack it open. Crack open the bagel. You have to do this because um, I know it’s like improper to start a fight with the guests right when they show up. We’re only in the first course, but, oh, uh oh. Go ahead. You said Taylor Ham. I did say Taylor Ham. Joe, this is not called Taylor Ham. What is it called? Pork roll. See, that’s. I’m from Jersey and there’s like a, there’s a big divide. Mmm-hmm. When it comes to Taylor Ham, the egg and cheese or pork roll. And I like to make my brothers mad, ’cause Kevin always says pork roll. And I, I think it was just when I was a kid, I’m gonna stick with Taylor Ham. Um, but Goldberg’s Bagels was our local bagel shop. Mm-hmm. Um, how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking? 33. I know it’s rude on a date. 33. Sure is. Okay. So did you ever watch I weigh 210 pounds because I know that was your next question. You ever watched Pete, Pete on the glory? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So the youngest Pete. Worked at this bagel shop growing up. No way. I do use ketchup on this. Hell yes. I’m so glad. Wow. That’s a healthy amount of Taylor ham there. Um, would you like some? We don’t skimp for our guest, Joe. Um, yeah, so he worked at the bagel shop, so it was always kind of cool. You, you never know who you’d see. And he was also signed to the same tally agency that found me and my brothers, technically Shirley Grant. This was like, if you were able to get up early enough. And our dad was, was kind enough to stop and get us bagels before school. This was our order. Did you catch that in the coffee? My egg just shot. I just shot egg into the coffee. You’ve never had Danish egg coffee, Joe. It’s all the rage. I’m gonna snob like you would know. I’m gonna try it. This is my last coffee. None of ’em all governed in ham juice, Uhhuh. So I wanna ask about. Please your new album. Oh yeah. Music for people who Believe in Love. It’s Out now. It’s your first solo album in 14 years. When you came out with Fast Life, you said that part of your motivation was to prove that you could do it without your brothers. Yes. What’s your motivation now? To remind them I can do it without them. Um, I didn’t really expect to make a, uh, music on my own. I was good. I mean, I have another band called DNCE and. Mm-hmm. I have like a lot of fun with those guys and it’s a fun, funky, sexy band. And I’m like, well, do I really wanna go back and make something on my own. And I was recording last year for a brothers project and I was doing some songwriting, wrote song called Only Love with. Some great songwriters and producers. I remember walking away and thinking, wow, I really love this song. And the message behind it felt really special to me. It was, um, I was dating somebody at the time and I felt kind of like new beginnings and new love and the song is called Only Love. And it was about, this person really encouraged me like, Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. Like, take the leap of leap of faith and, and [bleep]. They said, it’s only love. And I was like, well, I put it that way. And uh, we wrote a really fun song and I went to the guys and said, look. I don’t know what I’m gonna do with this song, but if it’s okay, I’d like to have your blessing. I’m gonna take the journey and go write and record. Nick was like, well, I really like that one, but I get it. And two, three weeks later we have it. We had an album. Yeah. And um, I’m so thrilled to be able to call some of these new people, friends that I worked on it with. We’ve got like six or seven features. It comes out, I guess by the time this is air. Yeah, it’s out. They’ve already listened to it multiple times. Hell yeah. Thank you. I’m forgetting. I’m forgetting what I can’t say. Yeah. Um, so thanks for listening and, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s a dream come true. And I feel like in fast life for me, I look back and I’m so proud of the music I made. There’s a lot of, no pun intended here, but a lot of, or pun intended, there was a lot of cooks in the kitchen musically. Including Lil Wayne. And Lil Wayne, Lil Wayne’s yeahs, you know, um, as one would. Everybody’s gotta have a song with Lil Wayne in their life. And years later I was like, well. I feel a bit more confident of who I am as an artist. Mm-hmm. I’m, I’m loving the reaction. So there’s a, a song, um, called, uh, Work It Out. You know, you like singing to yourself. You say like, come on Joe. You have so much more to be grateful for. How many times had you repeated that in your head before you actually made it into a song? So it felt very intimate. I’m an advocate for therapy and speaking to people that are professionals. And I kept finding myself looking in the mirror as well and saying like, dude, you’re not, no one’s gonna come save you. There’s a Mary Oliver poem that speaks to this, that I love, and I was like, you gotta, you gotta get yourself outta this funk and you’re moping around and, and, and you need to, to get up and get out there and, and take care of yourself for other people around you. And then, so the first verse in chorus, or. Our look are, are speaking to me. And then the rest of the song’s kinda speaking to other people and kind of a sarcastic play on like the lyrics are probably a little bit heavier than we make the song sound, but it was a dark place in my life. I was very sad. Yeah. And realizing that. I had to get outta my funk and I had to do it myself. Yeah. There, there’s this interesting time in your life that I, I feel very spiritually connected to. It feels like a very, uh, guys being dudes moment where you could ride your bike around New York City for like 12 hours, and you said that you were like, oh yeah, thinking that you were doing something good for yourself, right? Like, oh, I’m, I’m getting out. I’m disconnecting a little bit. And then you kind of realized that you’re just sort of running away from your problems. When did you realize that you can’t out bicycle your problems, Joe? I realized I was actually dealing with like mental health stuff and I, from the heels of fast life and I think the chaos and excitement that I lived as a young. I guess teenage star, like, I mean, it started when I was 15 and lived this amazing fast-paced life and things I don’t even remember. I look back at videos, people are tagging us 20 years anniversary for me and my brothers this year. Damn. And it happened a lot of fast and I think things were starting to get kind of easy in a weird way. Like for the guys and I, we were, we released an album, it’s number one, we go on tour, it sold out and I did something on my own and I was so eager to have that feeling and it didn’t perform as well as I anticipated and it hit me like a ton of bricks and I didn’t know how to react to that. Yeah. And I kinda lost sight of the reason we all get to do what we get to do is because we really enjoy it. If you are in a situation where you really enjoy what you do, and I kinda lost touch with that feeling and. I was dealing with, like, I thought I was dealing with physical pa like physical stuff. So I was gonna the doctor lot and I would get on a, on a city bike in New York and I would ride my bike all day every day and be like, I feel much better. And I was just kind of escaping me, escaping it. And there it wasn’t, it wasn’t until there was a doctor that I. I, I went to and I was like, yeah, no, I’m having some like chest pain. I can, I I for the last couple days. And she was like, well, you’re fine again. Um, have you ever thought about talking to somebody? I’m like, me, but why? I’m like, great. Everything’s amazing. And she was like, well, just consider it. Yeah. And sure enough, the minute I did, I was like, oh my God. Like this is what I’ve been running from and this is what I should be going towards. And it’s changed my life, so I’m, I’m, I’m a much better person for it. I know I had said the phrase so many times, like. Working out is my therapy. And then someone went, what if therapy was your therapy? And I was– Therapy’s working out. That’s crazy. Uh, and then I started doing that. I know one of the exercises you did with therapy was write a letter from the perspective of your 8-year-old self to adult you. What did you say in that letter? Essentially wrote a letter to my younger self. So you think about the age that first comes to you when you’re what, like when you think of yourself as a a kid, what’s the first age you think of? First, like earliest or like the most prominent age? Prominent. 14. Okay. 14. For me, it was just pissed off, man. For me it was 10. And you write a letter to that younger self? Mm-hmm. Yeah, just encouraging words, maybe some things to look out for, some people to avoid. Um, and then you reverse the role with your, um, non-dominant hand. So it was my left hand and I wrote a letter to my now older self, um, at the time it was probably 25. Mm-hmm. And wrote a letter to myself and I couldn’t get through without crying. Yeah. And I was like, whoa. And then you sit, this is a little bit hippie, but you sit and stare at an empty chair. And you read that letter to your younger self, you first visualize what that person, what it looks like, who he looks like, what they look like, what they’re wearing, everything down to like a T. And then I read this letter and I was just like a mess. And you realize you’re like not really taking care of your younger self as much as you should be. Yeah. And I now put that into practice way more. And I have that letter framed to remind me of the things I’m like, ah, don’t forget. Like a helpful notes that your younger self are reminding you that. They’re kind of the same thing. Yeah. But look out for yourself. We use phrases like, this sounds a little bit hippie, but, and like I’ve tried to train myself out of saying stuff like that because I know how much stuff like that has actually helped me. Things that you can’t talk through, you actually have to feel, and it’s so easy to talk through this stuff and saying if 10-year-old you could’ve looked at your career now, they would’ve been so happy. And then you still get pissed off when your solo album doesn’t chart number one. This is our last mail. And not to get too heavy, but you know, this is. A big mental health awareness month. Yeah. And the statistics of guys that don’t talk about mental health is so sad and obviously. Like the numbers of suicide is insane. And so the idea that like you could talk to a friend or call a friend, I always think about when people are going through something, you always avoid being the person. You’re like, oh, maybe they need space. Yeah. Yeah. Like I encourage anyone that’s watching just call that person because you never, or text them because checking in is like, sometimes everyone assumes they’re doing and they’re not. So I think it’s important to be able to have these conversations, especially for guys that are shy to talk about it. Yeah. Big time and like more than just sending a, a group text saying like, you good, but like actually showing something that you care. Yeah. I think showing up matters and people remember that stuff and it’s so, it’s a simple five minute further drive from your home or you know what, actually take that trip and, and hang, hang with them. Just check in because life is tough for everyone’s, everyone’s going through something. I think about that and there was always a question about why I do what I do. I mean, last tour we were on, it was we were playing every song in our discography. Geez. And it was, it was, uh, a lot. Yeah. And, and we did a lot of medleys. The show in total was somewhere around two and a half hours, and I had to really take care of my physical health, mental health through the process. We all did, because we were like, this is a grind. We have a lot of shows, and I think show number like 50, I’m like, okay, why am I, why am I, what’s my inspiration every night? Because this is such, so tough. And it started to really hit us quickly that some of these songs are their core memories, like first breakup, first kiss, first heartache, and you start to realize like, wow, like the fact that we can help others through what we do, or for your, for example, like food is such an amazing way to get people together and have conversation, and there’s so many amazing things that you kind of take for granted, so, enough preaching, more eating. Joe, for course number two of your final meal. We have a pepperoni slice from Joe’s on Bleecker now. They refuse to ship it out to us. We did try and faithfully recreate it as best as we possibly could, including all of the classic New York slice toppings. Uh, then we have the Macarrons de la Maria Rosa from El Xampanyet in Barcelona. Uh, we did the best we could to recreate this pasta dish by going off of greeny TripAdvisor photos. Then we have your birth year, the 1989 Saint La De Bargo. No, I thought you, I was like, are they really gonna spend the money on me? We sure did. You can cork this up and take it home. I know you didn’t drive here, so just kick it off in your back. Perfect. If I can pour you a glass. This is from the Lair Valley. Thank you. Should have a fair amount of age on that beautiful burn red hue. And then our second finest vintage of the day is of course the A and A root beer from 1919. It really is from 19. Yeah. The older aged beverage. Yes, the older baby. Alright. Cheers man. This is the appropriate date to cheers with. I agree. Cheers. Yes. Mm-hmm. It’s July 4th. Uh, where do we start here? I feel like the pizza probably, ’cause we took a sip that this was my go-to, like always growing up. Our local pizza shop in New Jersey always get an A&W and so Joe’s Pizza can maybe have something to do with the name, but it is arguably the best pizza in New York, in my opinion. Um, and I go there quite a bit. There’s a lot of photos of me at three in the morning, usually from some sort of late party. Nice. Making my way to Joe’s to have their delicious pizza. So thank you for recreating it. We try our best to go with pepper of course. I get the hot, what, what do you call this? Uh, crushed red pepper or crushed pepper. If you wanna get kind of fancy on it. They are from Calabrio. This is garlic here. Um, oh sh-t. Oh, okay. No, no, it’s okay. Check this out. Mash it on my pizza. And then it’ll kinda like distribute. No, I’m saying mash your pizza. Oh. Well now you just ruined my pizza. You gotta like kind of snap together. I got it. No, well, yeah, yeah, we’re fine. I took instructions. I like garlic. Uh, me too. It’s okay. Are you doing, are you doing the whole holy quadrangle here? Absolutely perfect. You brought it. There you go. Thank you. Lovely. This not too much, but. Uh, they did change the name to, uh, Jonas Pizza. Oh, they did? A couple months ago. He did. Its a little takeover. It was like a fever dream. They’re like, we’re thinking of. Taking over Joe’s piece to make it a Jonas piece. I’m like, okay, sure. And I, they literally brought a billboard and everything. And I’ll never forget, the owner of Joe’s, I guess of that location was like, Hey buddy, I’m gonna need you to sign a couple head shots. And by the way, there’s like hundreds of people showed up. Mm-hmm. I DJ with my friend. It was like one of those annoying popups that people make fun of now. Sure. And. He’s like, I’m gonna need you to sign a couple headshot for me. And I was like, okay. I’m just like, we kinda said no to a bunch of other people. We’re just gonna kind of take photos. He’s like, mm-hmm. You’re gonna sign these headshot. I was like, okay. And I look at ’em and they’re like, the kind you would, you’d see somebody sell on eBay. So I’m like, is this guy making cash on this? I had to like negotiate with ’em. I was like, what if I bring them with me and get’em back to you? He’s like. Alright, but like, I’m gonna need him by five o’clock. I was like, all right, this guy, I like it. That’s why I had to say Joe’s legally. Wow. Well done. We got close. Very close. Tell me about this pasta from El Sampan yet. I think I’ve been there three times and it’s usually the first stop. Like you land, you go straight there just in time. And now I’m like kind of friends with the, like when you become friends with. Like the people that work at a restaurant, that’s not when you made it. So I think, I think you should always know a bartender by first name and people that work, or chef by the first name. Um, and this place, they recognized me the second time and it was like. Yeah. Hell yeah. Sh-t yeah, because also the line is quite long. Yeah. I don’t like to skip lines. I’d like to skip an honorable man. I will skip, I’ll skip, I’ll, I’ll scoot a line. You have to go. No, no. Trust me. No. Hey, but like, can I use the bathroom and then you’re in. Exactly. And sit down. Yeah. Usually have to stand. They usually, I have wine paired with this dish. Pasta’s. Just, it’s really hard to describe. Look at that. Yeah. You guys did a beautiful job. Thank you. So mix this up so the cheese gets in there. We got, we torched manchego freshly on top. Wow. We did not a hundred percent know what Kalan style pasta was, but we did our best to recreate it. I mean, it looks pretty damn good. You did a fantastic job. You’re hired, you made it. This is incredible. And these are two like beautiful expressions of Italian ness, like Italian ness in Spain and Italian ness in New York. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. Cheers again. I love that. Cheers. I love this. My birth year. Do you drink a birth year wine like every year, or you’re just like on your deathbed, you want to reminisce on 1989? I just wanna. Remind myself of how great of a year. I, I don’t dunno, I just, because of your job, just because your trying to be selfish on my birthday, um, I’ve been gifted a couple bottles for my birth year, but it was a pretty good year for wine. So that’s, that’s one of the, the, the benefits. Damn. That is actually wild. Really delicious and it pairs really well. Yeah. Didn’t like lose a ton of the red fruit on that, but just like really deepen. My brother gave me, there it is. That’s how you know he is a pro. My brother gave me a bottle of armondyak, which is like a French apple brandy from my birth year in 1992. And he hands it to me and goes, yeah, it might taste like dirt. And then I opened it and sure enough tastes like dirt, completely undrinkable. Thanks, John. That’s one of the things you never know. You never know what’s gonna happen. Wow. Um, speaking of Spain, do you have any running form tips for when you’re trying to escape a hoard of a hundred thousand Spanish fans at a meet and greet in a mall? That’s a great question. I do have tips. It’s like a zombie apocalypse. Okay. Um, you have to get, to get high. Solid. Not high, but to get high, that, that could help too. Like, let me smoke a blunt so I can deal with the situation. It’s like deal later on, later on, celebratory, you have to get elevation. Mm-hmm. So, you know, that’s usually the best case. You can’t get on like any zombie. If we’re watching the last of us, they’re always like, oh no. And then they find themselves like. Underneath the zombies. Mm-hmm. You gotta get above the zombies. So the, we’ve had a couple of experiences and one of which was happened in Madrid, Spain. It was like when, one of those moments where we’re like, I think we made it, or we’re making it. Not sure we, this was I think a year from being in. Europe and they said, Hey, we have a meet and greet offer for you guys to fly in and say, see a bunch of fans. And we’re like, great. Amazing. And they’re like, oh, they’re gonna need the military to escort us in. I’m like, excuse me? Actually. Yeah. We’re like– Is it, that’s what the Spanish military is doing? I always kinda wondering. They, and they literally escorted us in and we show up on this like platform. And it mean it’s a sea of people. Mm-hmm. Like in a city street, we’re like, and it started to rain and it was like very ominous. And it was, and the, and the, like, the sea of people were starting to shake, so they had to, and they’re trying to file people in single-handed, like it was not working. But essentially this guy’s like, you need to tell them we can’t do this. We’re like, we’re not telling them. Mm-hmm. Like, don’t look at us. So in Spanish or English, like, what do you do? Exactly? They’re like, no, no, no, just they’re gonna be really mad at me. I’m like, well, this was your idea. You’re the guy. You’re the promoter. So then he translated it to, like he said, he said on stage, um, the Jonas Brothers need to leave. They don’t, they don’t wanna do that. We’re like, what? We could and we could understand. And they were like, no, no, no, no espernad, Senor, no espernad. And our security’s like, we need to get outta here. It’s Big Rob at the time he said, we gotta roll. So we start walking through the mall. That’s where it was. We started walking through the mall and I like, sh-t you not like. It was like, oh. And you start seeing racks of clothes pop down and this is like exciting but like also scary. Mm-hmm. So they’re running through the hallways, literally like people’s like are slamming up against the glass just like every other. I wish we could’ve filmed it and we get in a minivan. ’cause that was what we were driving in at the time and it stalled. So we’re stuck and now we’re like crouched down underneath these seats and Big Rob’s behind the wheel. Finally, we were able to get outta there ’cause it was, anyway. So my advice to you is, uh, elevation. Okay. Um, and, you know, smile and wave until you need to run. Smile and wave until you need to run is kind of a beautiful metaphor for life. You know what I mean? Maybe that’s one of my last phrase from, we’ll run it back. We’ll run it back. Um. Now that we’ve like shared some food together, I’m not ashamed to admit that. I think the first time I was ever exposed to you was, uh. Here he goes. Watching an animated Mickey Mouse beat the sh-t outta you for refusing to wear a purity ring. Uh, that is true. Sorry, Mickey. How big of an impact did that episode of South Park actually have? I think I was the one, the only brother that loved it. Really? Yeah. I think we didn’t have as tough as, like our skin was not as thick back then. Sure. And I, I thought it was hilarious because I watched South Park and I was like, this is so funny. I know what they’re doing. They make fun of everyone. Yeah. And great comics to be made fun of by a comic is usually like a sign that like you, they give a sh-t and they care and it’s funny and you gotta be able to take apart. I mean they really went for us. I think they were going more so on like. The idea of what it is. It was interesting ’cause it almost seemed like they didn’t come after you guys so much. No. During the episode, you’re just kinda like, we just wanna make music. It was Boss Mickey and it was Boss Mickey. I mean, what an honor to be. Get my ass kicked by Mickey. You took it like a champ too. Yes. I think it’s one of my favorite episodes and later on now we just laugh. I love that. I think it’s so great. Um, definitely claim to fame for me. Um, talk to me about the pressure of being a pastor’s kid because that was coming from a really real place. Absolutely. Uh, and I know that, you know, you were making secular music and the church didn’t, you know, feel too great about that. So you have this pressure to be perfect all the time. Does that motivation still drive you? Do you still like, feel that in your bones? I was talking to my brother about this, I think yesterday. Mm-hmm. I think some of that– You’re gonna have to be more specific. You got three of them. Nicholas Jonas. Nice. Um, the first, we were speaking about how, you know, some of those, call it trauma, I guess, but being a pastor’s kid, and for those that don’t understand what that is really, it’s, our dad was a minister and we would sit at the front pew whether we liked it or not, because pastor’s kids, it’s like, look, it’s almost like the, a royal family to the church or the– Sure. The, the first family. It’s like you feel like you have to be on your best behavior. Whether, and, and even growing up and questioning spirituality and Christian, like being a Christian, I’m like, I, I don’t know if I, it’s like, nope. You gotta be there. And whether it was the pressure that we felt from being a pastor’s kid, or the church or just in our, within our family is our parents were just navigating and kind of playing the cards they were dealt. Yeah. And doing the best they could. And also like raising three boys and then four boys who are like just trying to be kids. Mm-hmm. There are small things, even if I like. If I’m seen with somebody or even on a date, I’m like, ugh. Like back when you had to be like so precious about certain things. So some of those things start to come back to you’re like, wait, I’m being a normal person, like a normal human being that that is an adult person that’s doing, living their, their normal, normal life. So there are pressures that I think we. We at least recognize more now and we can check our ourselves. I mean, that era was wild for us, and I’m so grateful that our, our dad took a stand and was like, I’m gonna really prioritize my family. Mm-hmm. And I remember back when thinking like when we decided to leave as a family and move to LA and pursue our career, our parents like, I mean, our dad put our dad and mom just put so much attention and focus and to their sons when they were in debt and, and our dad had a steady job as a pa, a minister, and that was, yeah, busy and emotional enough. And he lived in the parsonage too, right? Yeah, we lived in the parsonage and which was just a house away from the church, and we drove the church’s car around. So we went from like having this kind of comfortable life with a beautiful backyard to four boys in one bedroom and kind of just saying, all right, well. We’re gonna be broke and we’re gonna continue to try to pursue this career. ’cause our dad, I guess, really saw something in us. And so I’m now, I’m just like sitting on the, his front porch two days ago. And I’m just like, this man is a superhero that he took that leap of faith. And yeah, back to your earlier question, I think some of those little things still catch you. And I think everyone has those things from when they’re a child, but I recognize it more now and I can be like, okay, how do I wanna be, um, a rep, like, I guess an example to. Young people out there and myself, you know, I think we were also like the elephant in the room, like purity rings. We were just essentially going with the flow of whatever other kid and our, our, our friends were doing. Sure. Until we’re old enough where we’re like. 15, 16 and you’re dating somebody and you’re like, I’m not sure I wanna be wearing this ring. Um, looming thread of Mickey was behind you. I’m like, I’m like, when I’m a 13-year-old kid, and that’s not on my mind. Okay. I’m like getting older. I’m like, well, um, and then you’re like, well, I think like a lot of people assume that’s my identity, but it’s. None of their business. Yeah, yeah. But I feel like if I, if I go live my life, life authentically, does that make me a bad person? And so you’re spiraling trying to think of all these things and you’re 17 years old. So obviously as I got older, I look back and go like, you know, I was really hard on myself at those times, and I’m grateful that I. Had a parents that were really loving and supportive and they never forced us or pushed us in any direction. We were just a bunch of teenagers going with what we thought was the norm. Yeah. I would say it, it’s almost upsetting how short of a timeframe it is that we actually form an identity when we’re a kid. Yeah. Especially when you have so many pressures of pastor’s kid to Disney to just trying to figure it out for yourself. Yeah. So I love, and, and work it out where you said no one cares what you said when you were 17. Like that’s a, it’s a false thought that just exists inside. Your own head. You know that lyric is a, a representation of like things that you thought were going to really make or break you. And that could be in high school, that could be in middle school, that could be in, if you’re a young teen pop star, you tweet one thing. You say one thing. I guess for me, put it on MySpace, aging myself. And you think, oh man, like they’re gonna stop listening to music. Or what if this is on Perez Hilton, like things back in the day, leave them in whatever version that they see you in because you know your truth. Yeah. Joe, for the final course of your final meal, we have the tiramisu from Lango in Milan, and then we have the smoked mescal Old fashioned. If you could please unsheath your bell jar. Ah, I feel like you should do it. Name the video game. Oh, that was Halo bro. Come on. Original. That’s how you know we’re both in our mid thirties. Let’s do it. Halo one. Smells delicious. No, online. Uh, cheers man. This is Cheers. Fantastic. Oh my God. I’m so happy right now. Oh yeah, that’s definitely a double. I love mescal. During lockdown, I was like really getting into craft cocktails and so I started like researching a bunch of fun cocktails that I could make and, you know, sit across the lawn and share these with some buddies. It was good. And of course I did the same thing. Delicious dish. We gotta, we gotta unsheathed this ’cause there is a little ceremony to it. I’ve been told to pull it up fast directly. Okay. Ready? Three, two, go. Oh yeah. Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, look at that, Joseph using the full government name for this. I like that. I needed that. That is wow. Um. Yeah. When’s the first time you had this? This is a Marvel. There’s a restaurant in Milan, um, in Aragosta, and it’s usually like, it’s, it’s known for their seafood. I didn’t know that I’m allergic to seafood, so I went there and I was like, well, I could have the bread and– Aragosta lobster in Italian. Ah, see, well, yeah, I didn’t get very far in Duolingo. I’m I on, I’m on Spanish now. He was going there. I was like, well, I can’t have much. But then of course the dessert came out. I was like, I’m glad I have an appetite because, and then the display was just, it’s just fun. Yeah. It just, because it is my last meal, it distracts you for a like, ooh. And then you’re like, oh, that’s right. I’m gonna die. But then you got the cocktail and you go, Ooh. And you’re like, Ooh. And then now the alcohol is to help you forget. Yeah. Like a civil war battlefield surgery. You know, you just kind of drink yourself into a stupor and then slip into the night. And of course we started with coffee. And there’s coffee in this, you must end with coffee and an artist through and through the full circle. I can’t help myself, you know? Wow. Well done. And there’s alcohol in this too, I’m assuming, right? Yep. Oh yeah. Yeah. Fair amount. Fair amount. Can I die with you right now? I don’t wanna, like, how do I recover from this? Join the club. I wanna talk about the description of your new album that you post on Instagram where you said it’s okay to cry and mourn a loss because you need to be able to take care of yourself to then take care of others. What is the loss that you’re mourning? Oof. I feel like when I was creating this project. I was going through a lot, um, in my personal life. Hmm. And you know, you obviously pull from inspiration and I feel like some people. Think of like, well, if love is lost, and for me, I really came to full circle of like just, I don’t really think love is ever lost. I think love takes different shapes and new meanings and new forms, and for me it might be the idea of what love was with one person, but actually I have so much love for that person. Mm-hmm. And, and I could never. Stop loving that person. I have these two beautiful children from this person and other people in my life. And love again comes in many shapes. And for, it could be a hug, it could be a glance, it could be a dog, it could be anything. Um, and I think it was really about re looking at my life in a bird’s eye view and saying like, I’m so grateful for what I have and like, how lucky am I? And like. Things are actually like incredible. A lot of people that I’ve talked to in this seat have had a lot of answers for what is God, what is love? But I think the most convincing one is when, uh, that was Rainn Wilson. I should name him. ’cause a really profound name, shout out. But he was like, you know, I know God exists because I know love exists. He’s like, that is a physical power that I feel in my life. You can’t map love scientifically, but I don’t think anything that is created can ever truly be destroyed. How does love like manifest in your life like that? I think about like little moments throughout my, the 35 years on this earth of, of thinking. I’ve had it figured it out. Mm-hmm. I knew everything and then, you know, you feel like your most broken version. And like we said earlier, simple text or call. I’m like, ugh. Like if it was somebody that was like, said like, oh, you, you say like, I love you too much to people around you. I’m like, well, ’cause I actually do sure. I genuinely love the people around me. And, um, I think we need to be able to say it more. Yeah. And I think like some people are coy or shy to say it, but it’s like, it’s a leap of faith when you feel that confident about it. And I, yes, I think people probably throw it out there a lot, but, um, I think if you’re, if you’re feeling it. I dunno. Say it, it’s only love. Right? That’s it’s only love. The other line from the album that actually really gets me is from sip Your Wine. When you say, I could cry, I’m starting to like this thing called life because I’ve had those moments where I realize that, oh man, I, I, I really do want to live and I do really like this thing called life. What are the memories that you think back on. That reminds you of how much you really loved living. The first one that comes to my mind, I think probably was in Melbourne, Australia. Um, we played a show and there was a young girl in the audience and I, she was, um, in remission and, um, she. Somebody told us through our in ears, because we have these in ears and like, oh, we’re gonna bring her backstage so you guys can say hi. And I saw her, I’m like, Hey, do you wanna come up here? She was like, yes. She came up on stage and then I’m like, do you wanna walk down to the the catwalk? And she was like, yeah. So I held her hand and the crowd was louder for her than any song we did, and it gave me like that hope and joy and I’m like, Ugh. There are good people out there that, and this person who’s going through something so traumatic and whether we’re just helping her distract her for those two minutes on stage. Mm-hmm. I’m like, that, that gives me a reason to, to do what I do every day. Like, that’s so wonderful. And then on like the simple things. Yeah. Like, you know, my, my daughter’s giving me a reason to live my life to the fullest and be as. Present as I possibly can and actually put my phone down and be engaged and live my life for them so they can live their full life. And something I read where it’s like, we’re lucky if we have eighties summers. And then you start like, it kind of sounds morbid when you sit and you’re like, but it’s true. And then you start breaking that down, you’re like, well, I need to like live it to the fullest. You know a lot of people who come from. A traditional Christian background and who went through what you did, especially with the church, kind of like abandoning your family in a lot of ways, tend to stray away from faith. Where are you sitting at with faith right now? It’s funny. It’s like I, I quite abandoned faith in God and spirituality ’cause I, and I think probably as further throughout my late teens and being like atheist essentially. Mm. And then I found myself in my thirties. Meditating a lot, then praying a lot, and then accepting anything people would offer. When I was like, my lowest point in my life, I was at least, I, I felt like I was, I was just receiving anything people would give me, like, Hey, I wanna send you this Bible verse. I’ll take it. I, I wanna send this podcast, this preacher. I’ll take it. Mm-hmm. I wanna send you this monk. I’ll take it. Like I was just receiving everything and I got a little bit of something from everything. And I am in a place in my life where I’m like. If it, if it works for you and, and it makes you feel good and it makes you what, whatever religion or spirituality trait that is or trick good for you if that, if that’s good for you. Hell yeah. As long as you don’t like push it on me. I feel like I’m always like, probably the pastor’s kid trauma, like, the only, you don’t like force me to do this. Mm-hmm. I’m all here, so I’m, I’d love to hear. I think now I have, I am very spiritual. I am like, it’s hard to think that there isn’t a God. I like look around. I’m like, well, this doesn’t seem like by accident. Grand Canyon’s pretty intricate. I know it’s pretty sick. Pretty, pretty impressive world. Look into a, like, you can look into an animal’s eyes and you’re like, well, and I, I don’t know exactly what that is or who that is. Like, I’ll tell you what, if there’s turbulence, I’m praying to him or them to her like. Save me science. Like, yeah. I’m like, it’s real to me. And I think it’s, and I have so much respect for it for other people. Like, you know, if my mom and dad wanna pray before dinner. Yeah, before my last meal. We didn’t pray before our last meal. That is, yeah. We’ll get there. Shalom. The idea that it does make me feel good, just like biscuits and gravy doesn’t make me feel good to pray with my family around Christmas time, but like at my core, I know like. I am very spiritual and I think God’s in the flowers and the trees and the, you know, so that’s where I’m at. And maybe the tiramisu.. Yeah, I did taste a little bit of god’s that might have been cocoa powder, possibly. What do you think happens when you die? You know, I think growing up I was always like in teen years too, I was like. Oh, we don’t go anywhere. Yeah, like it’s over. It’s like blink, it’s off. I’m like, and that started become real reality. I was like, well, that that’s just gonna motivate me to live a full life until I had kids. And I was like, well, I would like to see them again. Sure. If I were to like leave this earth today, tomorrow. Just 45 summers from now. Hopefully. I think you got like 60 in you with modern science. There you go. Yeah, exactly. I like lost a lot of wonderful people in my life and I think there are moments where I feel like they visit me in weird, interesting ways, you know? Yeah. I, I would hope if it’s not in a place or heaven or wherever it may be. Um, but the idea that, you know, there is a place that we can, we can go and I can spend the. The time with my friends and family that that would be nice. Yeah. That’s beautiful man. You ready to go on the lightning round? Let’s do it. Alright. Who’s the one person dead or alive you’d wanna share your actual last meal with? My grandfather. If asked, will you reprise your role as Shane Gray for a third Camp Rock? How do you know I’m not. Next question, are you reprising your role as Shane Gray for a third Camp Rock? I can confirm or deny I can nor sorry the, the mescal nor can confirm, nor deny. Uh, who’s your dream eulogize at your funeral? Probably Jack Black. Are you Nick and Kevin jealous of Franklin for being a six foot tall king? Did Franklin write that? Uh, every day in my life. Yeah. He’s placed center on the basketball team. What’s your biggest fear? Biggest fear not being able to say the things I want. Truthfully, the people that I care most about. What’s your greatest regret in life? Not having that extra drink with Bono in Toronto One night. I should have had it. Was he like, we had a really good hang, but I, he was like, you want one more? And I was like, I’m good. I have work in the morning. I should have said yes. I’m like pissed off for Bono from that. Finally, Joe, are you happy? So happy. Very happy. Happy man. I’m very happy and grateful. Thank you for making this incredible meal. And the amazing team here. This is amazing. And I just said during the break, but I wanna have my brothers back and do this with them. Be a great convo. We should have Franklin the Tall King and be blessed. Let’s do it. Thank you for having me. This is a legal contract now, and now we own his name, image, and likeness as well as the Joe Show. Uh, but Joe, if you wanna deliver your last words to that camera right there. I’d say, um, just be nice. It’s a lot more fun than being mean. God damn right it is Joe Jonas. Everybody give it up for him. Everyone check out music for people who believe in love. It’s out right now. Joe, you got anything else to plug? No. Watch the Joe Show out on Tubi. See y’all later. We all gotta eat and we’re all dying to see you in our last meals merch. We’ve got a tie dye hoodie, a hat and a t-shirt. All available now at mythical.com.