Fandom of Fandoms Podcast
Fandom of Fandoms is a podcast that dives into the worlds that fans love most — from galaxies far, far away to magical schools, epic quests, and everything in between. Each episode spotlights a different fandom, exploring its history, what makes it special, and why people are so passionate about it. We’ll chat with real fans, share wild stories, and invite you to geek out with us, one fandom at a time.
Fandom of Fandoms Podcast
That's Just The Way We Roll: Inside the Jonas Brothers Fandom
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
They were Disney Channel famous, then they broke up for real, and somehow the comeback hit harder than the original run. We sit down with our return guest Lyndsey to unpack the Jonas Brothers as a full-on fandom: the music, the image, the “Nick vs Joe vs Kevin” team energy, and what makes a band last when the spotlight changes.
We talk through how fans found them in the mid-2000s pop rock era, why the purity ring moment made them “safe” in certain circles, and how the breakup forced each brother into a different kind of growth. Lyndsey shares why the reunion era feels validating, why their concerts stand out for live vocals, and how albums like Happiness Begins helped reintroduce them as adult artists, not just teen idols.
Then we head into fandom culture territory: TikTok edits, chaotic concert clips, “Joseph has risen” levels of drama, and the surprisingly wholesome corner of the internet that keeps telling people not to sleep on their catalog. We also hit Camp Rock, solo projects like DNCE, and Nick’s acting work, plus what JonasCon and future projects could mean for fans.
Subscribe for more deep dives into the worlds fans love, share this with a Jonas Brothers listener in your life, and leave a quick review to help more people find the show.
Thanks so much for listening! We hope you will consider leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts!
You can also join our Fandom of Fans! Follow us on social media!
If you have ideas about future episodes or would like to join us as a guest, send us an email at fandomofpodcast@gmail.com!
Soundtracks, Wedding Songs, And Nostalgia
SPEAKER_04All right, coming to you from Phantom Outpost Studios. We're here for episode 30.
SPEAKER_01Keep them coming.
SPEAKER_03The episodes are Mikey's soundboard. All of it. Okay. All of it together.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. It's yeah, it's it's good to be here, guys. I am uh excited for today's topic.
SPEAKER_04We have a special episode today. It is.
SPEAKER_01This is uh this is a first for us, so we're we'll get into that here in just a minute. But uh as part of our our tie-in for the episode a little bit, um let's let's change up our our opening question a little. Um what's what's the what what have you guys been listening to on the on the radio or just music in general? What albums are you appreciating the most? I don't know what the radio is, but no one knows 2026.
SPEAKER_04All right, so I've been listening to um Project Hail Mary by Daniel Pemberton. So he did the soundtrack for the movie. Okay. And I think I know that name too. He did the soundtrack for the Spider-Verse. Ah, that's it. Yeah, I can't.
SPEAKER_01I forgot that Mikey's such a big like movie soundtrack guy these days.
SPEAKER_04Honestly, I listened to mostly yeah, soundtrack movies. Yeah, scores, exactly. Um, but when I saw that he did the soundtrack for this movie, because we just watched it over the weekend and it blew my mind. Nice. I was so excited. So I've just been listening to it. It's been great. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Nick, what about you? Um, well, you know, I have been listening to uh Danny Go and um, you know, uh Frozen Soundtrack, Moana. Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_03Uh nothing in your personal time that you're listening to.
SPEAKER_01Uh so you know, it's it's a little bit too much like work, honestly. No, that's that's not really true. I I've got a lot of uh like when I listen to music, I I hate to admit I get so basic. I just enjoy like some of these, you know, the the wedding songs that I get to work with, dance floor stuff. Um and so typically that's what I'll get to get to listen to a lot of. So like some of my favorites lately. I don't even know uh I don't even know. I mean there's just so so many. It depends on like the I'll get into the so I've got a little bit of a workflow, I guess. The night before a wedding, I'll get ready and I'll start like putting together the playlists and stuff, and I'll look at the artists and things they've given to me, and then I'll go through and I'll look at similar artists and things like that. And it just kind of helps me get in the vibe and get in their headspace a little bit. So I'll just listen to whatever's there. Um, so I I get such a wide range, yeah. But um, you know, if I'm choosing to listen to music, which isn't all the time, but uh I I'm going back to what I listened to in high school, you know, like some some rock, punk rock. Like my my top favorite band's always gonna be Reliant K. I don't know. Like it's just I'm just so basic and and I can't I can't go away from the stuff that I did like in high school. But I feel that, yeah. That makes sense. But Joe Joel has been obsessed with DuckTales theme song lately, so that's been a regular new one, the Carly, the Carly Ray Jepser one?
SPEAKER_03Both, both, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That one's pretty solid.
SPEAKER_03Nice. Yeah, when we were when I was over there uh last week, uh Tori was trying to get him to sing it for me. But he was a little shy.
SPEAKER_00Pretty good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's uh it's solid for sure. I can't even decide whether I like the new version of the song or the old version. Like the old version has a horn section, and and that's a that's a winner for me, you know? Add some horns in, it's it's it's great. All right. Ben, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_03What are you listening to? On repeat for me has been Charlie Pooth's latest album, Whatever's Clever. Nice. Uh it's immense 80s vibes, and I love it. Uh there's a song, there's literally a song called Cry with Kenny G soloing on it. Ah, that's legit. And uh and uh Michael McDonald sings on one of the later tracks too. Like again, just crazy stuff, man. But yeah.
SPEAKER_00Did you ever listen to he did a few years ago, Charlie Be Quiet?
SPEAKER_03I don't think so. No.
SPEAKER_00That is that okay, you talk about punk rock from high school. Like that awakens the inner jumping 14-year-old in me. Okay. And it just like somehow I'm I'm doing this, like with you can't you guys can't see me if you're only listening to audio, but I have my arm above my head and I'm jumping up and down for no reason. It just happens. Nice. It's so, it's like so new feels old. It's really good. But yeah, he's great.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's a good lead into Lindsay. Thanks for coming back on our show. And you are gonna be our expert on uh a topic that I know compared to us, as I was about to say.
SPEAKER_00Like yeah, it's odd to be called an expert on something such as this, but fair enough.
SPEAKER_03It's fine, it's not a man in the field. I don't know. Uh so Nick, why don't you uh intro us?
SPEAKER_01Oh, do we want to jump in first to the the other cool thing that we've got to do in this episode for sure?
SPEAKER_03We're gonna we can't Are we doing that in the episode? I thought I mean why wouldn't we, like that's part of the fun, right? Because we got like an hour. I wasn't sure how much time we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01We don't have to. We don't have to. You're right, you're right.
SPEAKER_03No, no, we can do it.
SPEAKER_01Let's see what it's like at the end of the episode. All right, all right, we'll keep that as a surprise. Okay. We have to listen to find out what we're gonna do at the end of the episode. So nice. All right, well, start up that that intro music for us, Michael. Hello
Why Jonas Brothers, Why Now
SPEAKER_01and welcome to Fandom of Fandoms Podcast, the show where every single episode we are diving into the worlds that fans love the most. I am Nick, and I am joined with my co-host Michael and Ben, and also our guest Lindsay. And tonight we are very excited to do our first ever band. We're gonna be talking some Jonas Brothers. The Joe Bros. So let's go ahead and dive straight in.
SPEAKER_03Lindsay, to start with, what do you call the fans of Jonas Brothers? Like everyone's got like, you know, there's these Swifties and I don't know that they really have one.
SPEAKER_00I looked and like they all best I could just see was just Joe Bros fans. Like or just, you know, fan like fan like fan club, or like what they will call themselves is they'll be Kevin girls or there's Joe girls or Nick Girls, but like I don't know that I've ever seen a word for the collective.
SPEAKER_03Like, um like Harry Potter and you're sorted into a house at some point or other.
SPEAKER_01I was feeling that. Like we didn't was it you that I was talking to earlier this week? Was it us with Casey and Tori?
SPEAKER_00Were we talking about something here? Because like we we had teams last time too.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, maybe the boyfriends.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Kevin is usually a sleeper, um, in that like he is kind of the more background of the of the bros. Um so there's not that's not typically the most popular choice. Sure. Um and then it was kind of I feel like back when they were originally on the scene, it was a little bit split between Nick and Joe. And it kind of back then, I think it depended more on how old are you.
SPEAKER_05Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because Joe looked a little bit more grown up, um, and Nick still was kind of like very much 13. Um and he looked like it. And so if you're 18, liking a 13-year-old like that, there's a little more. It was like, I'm not into that. Like it's like weird, my little brother, you know. So um so that was a little bit more the thing. Um now I think it has more to do with personality because social media is so much more of a thing, and like, you know, there's just you don't just see them on stage or on the music video or whatever. Like, I think everybody gets to know a little bit of like, oh, he's the funny one and he's the serious one, or he's you know, whatever. Like, and I think that's more why people are picking. Um also maybe it has to do sometimes with um the who wears sleeves the least seems to be who's most popular on TikTok. Okay, um, so that kind of goes in phases, but gotcha.
SPEAKER_03Well, before we you get farther into it, uh just responding to the prompt. No, you're fine. No, I absolutely um yeah. Well, I mean Michael, you wrote a little overview. What do you got for us?
SPEAKER_04I did, yes. Wow, I wish I would have pulled this up. Oh, you're good. Sorry.
SPEAKER_03I will in the meantime, then Nick, what's your experience with the Jonas Brothers?
SPEAKER_01Um, so I I've I I was not their target demographic, obviously. None of us were.
SPEAKER_00Fair enough.
SPEAKER_01Um Lindsay was.
SPEAKER_00It was me, yes.
SPEAKER_01Uh but it was I I also felt like it it tended to be like the the girls that were just a little bit younger than me, you know. Um, so it's I I don't even remember when they were like coming into their their own, it was when I was in high school for sure. Um and so yeah, it tended to be just the the ones that were just like the the junior high or the freshman girls when I was one of the the upperclassmen guys that they were into the Jonas brothers, at least in my experience.
SPEAKER_00Unless you were at a Christian school and they were more socially acceptable than a lot of bands because they wore purity rings.
SPEAKER_01Sure, sure. That was a whole thing. That would make sense. I can understand that. Um, but yeah, I I came to appreciate them over time. I I won't say that they're like one of my favorite bands or anything, but I certainly pay attention. I I I caught the hype train when they got back together. I was like, oh, the Jonas brothers are getting back together.
SPEAKER_00Like I already knew how much we missed them until it happened. We didn't know. Okay, we needed it.
SPEAKER_01So I was I was excited and I've kind of paid attention a little bit to them since coming back. Not a lot, but I've got you know a few of my favorite songs of theirs that I I'll you know they've got some bops, let's just put it that way. So I enjoy.
SPEAKER_03Uh we were lucky Lindsay put together a playlist for us before this.
SPEAKER_00I assigned homework.
SPEAKER_03Hey, that's okay. I'll take it. I guess again, yeah. So I came in knowing almost nothing about them. I knew of them. There's a couple songs out there that I'm like, oh, I didn't realize this was this was them and stuff like that. But uh yeah, I didn't I was I think uh ahead of that timeline too. Like, I mean, I I feel like when I was in elementary middle school, it was still, you know, like Backstreet Boys in Sync and picking your favorite of those, and then me and all my friends were in Ska, so I was forgetting you're a little bit older, and that just that would have been like right at the time when that would have mattered.
SPEAKER_00Like right then.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So yeah. I and I mean again, I've known of their existence of course, of course, but I don't think I've interacted with their again.
SPEAKER_00Not the target demo. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Michael? Yeah, I'm really similar to you, Ben. I think I was just which I guess Lindsay, I think you and I might be the same age, or at least because we're the same class. Yeah. Um, but I I don't know, I do feel like I was also a little bit too old. I think the problem too was we didn't have the Disney Channel when I was growing up, and it seemed like they kind of came up through the Disney Channel, and I just kind of wasn't aware of them. So by the time I was, you know, older, like high school years or like college, like yes, they were really popular, but I just didn't really care that much. And I don't know, I want to say people made guys made fun of other guys for listening to them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there were I believe that. There was some there's some insecure jealousy put-downs that were really, really intense in in that era.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. So I think for me, just avoiding that at all costs. But anyway, let me give let me give a quick overview here. So, I
Our First Impressions And Context
SPEAKER_04mean, I'm sure most of our listeners know the Jones Brothers, but the Jonas Brothers are a pop rock, uh pop rock band made up of siblings. So we have Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. Oh, this is what just what I said. They rose to fame in the mid-2000s through the Disney Channel projects and catchy hits like SOS, which I listened to on the drive here, and Burnin' Up. Um, those quickly became, you know, they quickly became Teen Idols. So they're known for their blend of pop, rock, and then later on, they kind of had more funk and RB influences. They did take a hiatus in the early 2010s, which I'm sure we'll talk about. Um, they kind of did some solo projects, but then they came back reunited in 2019. Um, they had a chart topping comeback single Sucker, which I didn't I don't think I listened to that one. But um Yeah, they've kind of been proving their you know lasting appeal over the generations. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03They might even be more popular now than they were.
SPEAKER_00I think they were. I think social media has allowed that machine. Well, I shouldn't say that, because they were like breaking Times Square popular back when it happened. Like they literally were like security guards were concerned these boys might die in a trampling like kind of situation because they would they had this tradition of uh their album would drop and they'd go to this particular music store and and buy one on the midnight when it would drop, and it became known so well that like literally Times Square had no room for more humans.
SPEAKER_05Wow, that's crazy. Wow.
SPEAKER_00So that's why I say like I'm like, yeah, they maybe are, but like it's not a physical popularity in the same way as it was back in the 2000s, where like you had to like go to the place. Like so yeah, kind of
How Lindsay Became A Fan
SPEAKER_00weird.
SPEAKER_03But well, um, I mean, so Lindsay, tell us a little bit about how you got into Jonas Brothers.
SPEAKER_00I don't fully know. Um I think so kind of putting some context on this, I would have been probably 15 or 16, but like I said, in more of a like my friends were less allowed to listen to probably what was like I was allowed to listen to some more than they were, but like you know, if no one around you is listening to whatever, like why you want to do that? So um I kind of that kind of narrowed my scope of what was like acceptable. Um and they were a little bit more socially acceptable because they were pastors' kids who wore purity rings. Um so sure. Um, and then the Disney Channel seal of approval. Like, I think what probably would happen, so my brother was four years younger than me. I was like, I don't remember watching like actively watching the Disney Channel much in high school, like except like when like a big thing would come out and be like, oh, this is gonna be on, like watch that thing. Like, but I wasn't sitting down and paying attention, like all of it. But he would have been the right age where he still would have been, because he's like just enough younger than me. So I think I probably was like around him watching it and was like, what is this? Um, and then I do remember like when their second album dropped, like it was the middle of the summer, I think, and my mom was like, we were like, Oh wait, it comes out tomorrow. Like, oh wait, it's like almost midnight. I bet it's at Walmart. And my mom just like was weirdly cool about like my brother and I driving to Walmart in the middle of the night to go get this album, and it was super fun. Like, that's my main memory of like actually engaging with their like content or their stuff was like driving with my brother in the middle of the night in the summer to go get that album and then listening to it on the way home because you're not gonna wait to open it till you get home. That's crazy. We have CD players in our cars for a reason. So not even busy when you went. Were there other like I lived in Celina, Michael? No, so I lived in the middle of nowhere. Okay, nobody else really cared. Um so it was just me and Ryan. And I think they had to go get it in the back for us.
SPEAKER_03Like it was not out there, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was not really a situation, like, yeah, we have it, I guess, if you want it. Like it was kind of the vibe. But um, yeah, no, so that was I think that's like how I would have discovered them. I to your point, Michael, about like the like not wanting to touch them with a 10-foot pole kind of thing, like guys making fun of guys. I had a guy, best friend, in high school. He was six foot something and blonde with blue eyes, and he hated them.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_00They were the anti him, and they were so popular, and then there was another guy in our friend group that looked kind of actually like he could have been an extra. Um, and so that really just irked him a lot. Um, and he made it known and said all kinds of really not PC things um that you wouldn't, you know, wouldn't want to repeat.
SPEAKER_04But now, what are the names of these guys? I'm just gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00I did actually look up their um full names and they have really kind of odd names. I don't know if I remember them off the top of my head, but one of them has a middle name named Jerry. Um so Kevin's name is actually Oh, you're talking about the bone the Jonas brothers.
SPEAKER_03We were talking about your your two friends. Yeah. Oh, that's funny, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I won't I won't name them because I don't they don't deserve it. It's fine.
SPEAKER_03So wait, are you saying that these the the these are not their actual names that they go by? They're stage names?
SPEAKER_00Well, no, they're most of them are their names, but they have like weirder middle names, is what I didn't realize. So Kevin is like goes by his middle name. He's actually I think it's Paul Kevin. I don't know, whatever his dad's name is, because he's the second. Oh, okay. He's like a junior. And then I think Nick's middle name is Jerry, which I found odd. Nick Jerry is the I guess Nicholas Jerry, but not Gerald Jerry. It is Nicholas Jerry. Okay, which is interesting. And then Joseph Adam, very basic.
SPEAKER_03Um, but then they are all kind of white guy names.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's just I think that the Jerry was what got me because it's very similar. Like, my dad's name is Larry, not Lawrence, Larry. Just Larry. Yeah, and so that's white guy names, right, Mike? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was gonna say no one here really has an exotic name, so it's you know. But uh yeah, so I think that's when I would have really gotten into them, and then like I was into them in high school and then went to college and kind of just was like, eh, whatever. And that's kind of when they were falling by the wayside, so to speak. Like um, they got they got too deep in the Disney machine a little bit for the age that they actually were, and it got weird.
SPEAKER_04Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then um, but I was in college during that, so I didn't really pay attention. But um then where was oh, you said they went on hiatus, it was a breakup.
The Breakup, Solo Years, And Reunion
SPEAKER_00Okay, straight breakup. Straight breakup. Nick was like, I can't do this anymore, I don't want to do it, and kind of handled it rough, and they were in bad shape for a while.
SPEAKER_04You know, I I vaguely remember that. I yeah, that that sounds familiar. Like the bad breakup.
SPEAKER_00It was intense. Very intense. But they both did really I mean they each got to do some cool. I I think it was good in the end because like I I think they have really strong solo projects that came during that time that I don't know they would have pursued had they been together the whole time.
SPEAKER_03So I think that also what what keeps you current with them? What keeps you wanting to stay in touch with their new music and stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00Um I think they just they came back in, like you were talking about, you know, they came back in 2019 and I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, I totally liked them. And I was like also kind of surprised by like how many other and who else was like excited by this, like just people that I was like, you seem like the person that would act like you're too cool for this, but like you're excited too, and that makes me happy. Like so, like that was kind of interesting. And then um so they came back and uh I think it was then COVID happened. Um, and so it was like the first thing after COVID that I did that was like an event was they had an outdoor, like at the blossom kind of thing, and it was like post-mask, like you know, you didn't have to be doing any of that, but we were all still like new to like doing things like that again. Being around other people, I was nervous because I hadn't been in like a big crowd for a long time. And then I got there and literally it was the entire blossom was full of like me's like me and and like me's and mats. So like it was like these girls like in the bathroom, it was like, oh no, I'm so sorry, you go first. No, you're in my oh no, no. I mean you're right, like everyone just being like so sweet and like apologetic, and just like the nicest, except for the girl sitting next to me who was very drunk. Um she was like, Oh no, someone's phone. I'm like, Yeah, it's yours. Like she like I don't think she remembers anything that happened that day.
SPEAKER_01Had you seen them prior to that? No, that was the first time.
SPEAKER_00That was the first time. Um I just yeah, I like I think I like I said, there weren't a lot of my friends that were like super into much. I mean, like I was kind of obviously grew up conservative, but like not as conservative. Like I grew up with a lot of kids that like I wore pants and that was unique. Um so like that's the like kind of crowd that was around me. So like I didn't have a ton of people that were like gonna be allowed to go to shows with me and stuff like that. So like I just didn't even think about doing those kinds of things. So I hadn't really even thought of going to a show until like literally post-COVID, and I was like, YOLO baby, and like you know, like I don't care how much this costs, I'm getting an actual seat. I'm not sitting on the grass, like and so uh that was my first show, and it was super fun. Um PSA show ever or show for them. Okay, um no, I've been listening I've I've been around.
SPEAKER_04She watched Windsor. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00I watched Windsor, I I've been to Sunfest, but also um you know uh Reliant K and all that good stuff. So um, we're all similar, punk rock, the punk rock era of the early 2000s in the like what was it, tooth and nail era was was heavy, heavy. But um, and they were kind of coming out of that too. Like this, they were they started out a little more punk, a little more rocky, like so they actually started trying to be more rock bandish, and then uh they didn't actually start with Disney, they started with Columbia Records, and Columbia dropped them. Um and they were basically homeless, kind of living with people that were like friends of their parents, like for a while because their dad lost his job as a pastor because they uh the church basically kicked them out because of them pursuing music that wasn't Christian music.
SPEAKER_04Wow, I've never heard that. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00So they've got some religious trauma too, which I think is why we we vibe. Um and so that's um that's like part of it, and like they kind of started off more rocky, and like definitely so I think I was telling somebody this the other day. Um they they talk about and they just did like they just started a podcast and they've been having guests on and stuff, so they just had switchfoot on um because their very first like got them into music band as PK's Wood was Switchfoot on the Switchfoot, yeah, that trash absolutely There is no other band. They're really they are the the gateway band.
SPEAKER_01I was excited to see I didn't know that they did a song together. So that was the first time on the the uh the uh playlist that you made for us. I listened to that.
SPEAKER_00Is there? Okay, I'd love to hear more. Related to the group text today. We'll get there. Okay. But um we were talking about, yeah, so Switchfoot, he was telling the story on the podcast about how Nick basically was the only one with a record deal at first. It was just gonna be Nick. And then he heard Joe and Kevin singing uh Beautiful Let Down or no, 24 in the other room, and he was like, That sounds really good. He like pitched to his dad, like, what if we all did this together? And then the Jonas Brothers became the Jonas Brothers.
SPEAKER_04So wow, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_00So they were like thanking Switchfoot, and that's why they were on that album. It was really important to them, and that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_04So that's wow, that is really cool. That is awesome.
SPEAKER_03Hmm. So um, what do you we've we've touched a lot about like your history
Boy Band Debate And Real Musicianship
SPEAKER_03with them? So, what what do you feel like makes them stand out from other boy bands? Like there were so many at this time, like you know, I would say they're not a boy band. You don't think so?
SPEAKER_00They're a family band that happens to be all boys.
SPEAKER_04Like you know what's really funny. So I wrote that question there, and I was debating whether to use the term boy band. Yeah, I was gonna bring up that point later. Um, are they a boy band?
SPEAKER_00Boy bands have dance moves and like synchronized dancing and are usually like created from like a label to like fill a quota. Like there are there are literally like if you look at NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and like 98 degrees K-pop, like all those like they were formed by a company like to make sure we have the right blend of the right people and the right demographics and all those things.
SPEAKER_03I feel like I feel like the fandom around Jonas Brothers is very boy band like though. Well like I think about like uh in sync, like when I was in you know middle school, like all the girls had their favorite that that was their crush, and they would argue about it. And I feel like I get some of those that those vibes from the Jonas Brothers.
SPEAKER_00I think, yeah, if there's I mean, there's like there's an intersection. There's boys set up to be like they're basically selling their looks as well, you know what I mean? Like so.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they leaned into it.
SPEAKER_00I mean they lean they lean into it, but like I would say that's not like I mean that's I think what I like about them and why I still like them. So like this is something that I was into as a kid, I feel validated as an adult. Like, I'm like, yeah, I was right. They were actually talented. They weren't like like there's a lot of things I was into in high school. I'm like, oof, rough. Like, you know what I mean? Like that was that was very much a kid situation. It was not actually good. Um, and they weren't this good then, but they and to their credit, they chose to continue to develop the talent that they did have.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna say, how many, how many 13-year-olds are at their peak? Like when they're 13-year-olds. But like they could have coasted.
SPEAKER_00I mean, like, I think the same could be said for like Miley Cyrus. Like, I think she's amazingly talented, but like she was and she was always good, but she was not this good like then. And I think that really uh it makes me like weirdly proud of like the ones that like are the age that we were when and we see them now, and they're like still really they're like even better. I'm like, you like ran with it, like you decided to keep working on it, and I think that's what I like about them. Um, they sing without tracks, so like all their shows are completely live, like which I've never been to like another show where there's not been some level of a track, yeah. And theirs is just like absolute zero. So that's kind of impressive.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's respect there, yeah. Yeah. Well,
Starter Playlist And Best Entry Points
SPEAKER_01let's jump in. So you you helped us start out. We've mentioned it a few times that you created us the playlist that we will definitely share out for sure. Yeah, put on social media.
SPEAKER_00Rename it then.
SPEAKER_01No, I like the name, the JV40.
SPEAKER_00That's very high school, but and I think that works.
SPEAKER_01If you were, I mean, maybe that is. Maybe it's just the playlist, but if you were starting somebody out or trying to get them into the Jonas Brothers, where where would you start them? Would you start them with their more mature, you know, like selves, how they've adapted into something different these days, or would you want to introduce them to their roots, I guess?
SPEAKER_00I think it depends on who I'm talking to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I got so we're friends of friends of ours from a few years ago, um, had girls that were, I want to say probably like one was like 15 and one was like 11. Um, I said start at the old stuff. They're gonna like they're the age I was when you know that like you need to start here, this is the TD bopper, and you can move into the the modern stuff once you're already attached to that. They loved it. Um if I'm talking to you guys or I'm talking to like uh another female my age, I'm probably gonna send them to like the album, um, which is the the one that came out. I think that's the one that came out after their debut back in 19. So that was not the first one. The first one back was Happiness Begins. Um, and then they came out with I'm pretty sure the album was next. I don't think there was one in the next album.
SPEAKER_03It's just called the album.
SPEAKER_00It's literally called the album. Okay. And they had like merch that was called like the hat. Like it was amazing.
SPEAKER_04That's pretty funny. That's clever.
SPEAKER_00It was actually kind of there. That's the other thing. They're funny. Like, and like that's Matt jokes, he's like, why? He just kind of he's like, What how is any of this fair? I'm like, what? Like you have you're you're missing none of this, but like, anyways, like he just like jokes about the fact that he's like they're good looking, they're funny, they seem like really nice people, and they're extremely talented. What the heck is going on? And I was like, I I don't I don't know, but you're not because he's like watching the same YouTube interviews I'm watching, and he's like, Why are they so funny? And I'm like, they just seem like they actually had parents that tried to make them have real personalities and be like nice people and you know, like real human beings, and I think they were just old enough to like have that little bit of grounding before they hit fame to remember some of that. So and their parents kind of came along for the ride, so that helps.
SPEAKER_03Again, kind of surprising coming from the Disney machine, which we've seen, like I feel like they did do a lot in it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's fair to say, like, it's almost if you're going into the their older stuff, that's uh that's the nostalgia of it. Like you're not, I mean, typically you're not gonna start somebody out there unless they've already got a connection to it from when they were younger. But I like the idea. I I found that uh a decent amount of the younger people that I know um are into music that I would be surprised about, like just older stuff that I wouldn't necessarily have pegged them for, not listening to like the the stuff that's coming out right now because that's what I felt like, at least as as I was growing up, it was always like into the new, like what's the newest thing that's coming out, right? And I don't think that this this generation, you know, Gen Alpha and all that, like that they're that they're chasing that same h- I I guess those just what's popular in the moment. Um, they will go back and like find things from previous generations that they like. And I don't know, that's that's kind of really interesting to me. I don't I I've I guess there was some of that when I was growing up too. I remember uh I don't know if you guys had a I feel like Michael Jackson and the Beatles were obviously before our time, but they were huge. Within the crowds in which I rolled with. I don't know about you guys.
SPEAKER_00I think TikTok, we can thank and curse for that. Um because I think it it lets people rediscover and songs live on because like, oh, this has a lyric that's easy to make a fun video trend to, like those kinds of things. But I also think now is really heavy. And if I'm like 14, am I feeling all the heaviness of the world all the time? But like the music of when we were growing up was like trying to be fun and innocent for like the people that we the people we weren't yet, you know, like we were we were not fully developed people and it was writing music for us. Um the Dizzy Machine for sure was creating a lot of it, and you know, then when they left the machine, they were still kind of making music like that a little bit. So I think there's a little bit of that like uh like an appetite for something that's not really being made. Like I'm still 14 and I still kind of need that, but no one's making it.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, must be fair though. There's not, I mean, I don't know. I see here's where I'm gonna start to sound a thousand is that I just don't think there's as much good music out these days. Like the newer, the newer stuff, there's not a whole lot coming out that I'm like, oh man, I'm I'm getting really excited about. But there are exceptions, don't get me wrong. But I I just I don't know, over the course of time. Like I I there's just not a whole lot that's been in the last like few years. I think it's come back around a little bit, but there was a period of time, probably I mean, it was probably had something to do with COVID too, where I just less physical instruments.
SPEAKER_00I agree with you on that.
SPEAKER_01So I don't know. That's but interesting for sure.
One Minute Pitch For Listening
SPEAKER_01Well, we have now arrived at uh a a favorite of ours, the the elevator pitch or the impassioned plea. Um, so what what would you say to get people in a minute or so uh explain to them why they should listen to the Jonas Brothers or why they should care about the Jonas Brothers?
SPEAKER_00I wrote this down because I want them to be concise.
SPEAKER_01Nice.
SPEAKER_00Um these boys are talented. And like I mentioned earlier, they did not let that let them just coast. Um they care about their fans and themselves and creativity and being evolved, well-adjusted, authentic people. Like a lot of them talk about, you know, going to therapy or like you know, trying to learn how to be a good they're they're all parents now, like so they're trying to be these good people, um, and they have a good sense of humor and really ridiculous, silly, riz-filled social content. And like, who doesn't want more of that? Like, you know, like that's my that's my plea.
SPEAKER_03Nice. I think that was the first use of Riz on our podcast. Thanks. Congratulations, bravo.
SPEAKER_00Try to be current, except I think that's really outdated by now.
SPEAKER_04Well, you said pop. I mean, that's kind of I did. I did. It's a new term.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, is that a new term? I feel like that's 20 years old.
SPEAKER_05Nick and I are old over here.
SPEAKER_01Maybe I don't know. I I try to use the lingo, but uh now I do it ironically.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, that is that is a thing to do when you're a teacher, especially. That's right.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, let's let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04We're all bopping our heads over here.
SPEAKER_00It makes you feel cool. Cool. It makes you feel like nice, I like
TikTok Fandom And Viral Chaos
SPEAKER_00that.
SPEAKER_04All right, well, we're gonna jump into our fandom culture segment. So correct me if I'm wrong. I think what we're gonna talk about in this segment is kind of what spawned this whole episode. Um, so Lindsay, can you tell us about some of the perhaps TikTok content out there surrounding the Jonas brothers?
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. Um, it's like honestly, I pay more attention to that than I do them themselves. Because like their like main content is like I'll I'll notice it on Instagram sometimes. Honestly, most of the time, Matt will clock it before I will, because I'm just I'm a terrible fan. I don't I don't scroll a lot on social except when I'm on TikTok and I get down a rabbit trail of these crazy what I will call to I'm gonna quote Hillary Schultz. Um I don't know if you guys remember Hillary, she graduated with us, but um or some of us, and um she refers to them as feral and she's correct. Yeah, um so these feral Jonas um TikTok fans, and the more insane the video, the more fun I have. Um so like there's this one um where they're literally just like coming on stage getting ready to sing a song, and this woman's going, We're gonna pass away. It's like the camera's shaking and she's screaming, we're gonna pass away. Like she screams at several times and she's like screaming. And the like you can hardly see the stage because she is also shaking with her voice. Um, and it's just so funny. And then like the drama that they put around like just staring at these boys, which like I mean, I don't disagree, but like I don't sit there for hours and make this ridiculous, kind of honestly self-denigrating video about it. Like, like there's there's this one sound, and it's so funny, but it's so terrible. Like, it's just clips of Joe, and she's saying he could hit me with an effing car, he could run me over, he could back me up, and he could back up over me and run over me again, and I would say, Oh baby, I'm so sorry. And then another girl says, I get that. And I'm like, it's so ridiculous, but it's so funny. Like, it's just absolutely hilarious. And so there's what I call the feral Jonases, um, because a lot of them actually do have their uh their like screen names as like whatever her like I would be Lindsay Jonas. Like that. A lot of them do. Not not all of them, but a lot of them do. Um, and then I think I showed you guys the one, um, one of my other favorite ones. Um, the drama with which they enter on stage sometimes is like they come up through the floor, there's there's smoke. It's pretty epic when you're there. It looks so silly when you're not there. Um but like when you're there, you're like, this is a really cool stage show. Like they're really putting in the effort here. I got my money's worth. But like when you're watching it on TikTok, you're like, the drama. And they're just like filming this man coming up from the floor, and it says Joseph has risen. And there's like this like kind of angelic song playing over the background. It's just so ridiculous.
SPEAKER_03But um my word.
SPEAKER_00So that's the feral Jonases. Um there's another smaller subsect that I also find interesting because I was I was not expecting them. Um, and it's like periodically I'll come across um young men of color telling me not to sleep on these boys, and they are sitting in their car, usually listening to a Jonas for their song, and they'll be like, he said, and then they'll like be like talking and singing out the lyrics, and they'll be like, Don't sleep on them, these boys know what they're doing. Like, and that's usually the content of the video. And it's just so it's so pure though, and they're so happy, and they just like don't care. They want to tell you, like, these guys got it going on, like, and you're wrong about them, and um, and it's just really cute.
SPEAKER_01They they've grown a lot outside of the the initial, like yeah, what their their audience was is no longer the case. They've got a much larger audience space than they did at the beginning.
SPEAKER_00I would say to combat the boy band comment, like they are I mean, I I don't Joe is now, I think, started to play an instrument. He was mostly just a front man, um, but like all of them played instruments, like Nick plays the guitar and the drums. Kevin plays the guitar, like, and I think Joe plays the guitar now too, and maybe the piano. Um but like so like their family and their dad was really musical, like so that like musical and the like you know, Stevie Wonder, like they have a really like you guys were talking about like the classics a little bit earlier, like Beatles and different, you know, Michael Jackson, like their family was like like that about classic mu classic rock kind of music and stuff. So like that's a part of them.
SPEAKER_03One of the songs you sent had a harmonico solo on it, and I was like, this is very Stevie Wonder. So oh yeah, Nick loves Stevie Wonder.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Nick uh Nick's a big Stevie Wonder fan. So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I this is I'm just gonna jump in with my opinion because I like to hear myself talk. Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I like this self-disclosure.
SPEAKER_04I I cannot view the Jonas Brothers as a rock band, and I know that recently they're kind of more like funk, RB type stuff, like I see the intro, but I think that they're they are too tied in my mind, their image is too tied to a boy, a boy band like band. And in my like, I'm just thinking of rock bands like in my head, and like they're not they're not pretty people, you know. Like the true rockers, a little rougher, yeah.
SPEAKER_05They're a little rougher on the edges.
SPEAKER_04And I think with the Jonas brothers, like they're they're just clean. Okay, I'm just I'm I don't know how else to say it. They're like clean and pretty, and they don't come off as a rock band, you know.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna send you to the DNCE channel.
SPEAKER_01They're they're not grunge enough for you, like 90s.
SPEAKER_00You need to go down the DNC DNC rabbit trail, and that is a that is a um group with texture. Um and that is uh Joe's solo pro solo project. Like he's working with other people, but it's his non-Jonas Brothers project.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so that was his big one after the split up.
SPEAKER_00Yes, Cake by the Ocean Um and Toothbrush and a whole bunch of other ones you've probably heard. Um those are um yeah, that's that's DNC. Um what is it, body moves? That was a really big one. Um when it first came out, and it is uh yeah, they're they're edgier for sure. He was talking actually in one interview on their podcast recently that like he's like, I mean, I came up in it, and also like I was raised in it, he kind of was implying like and also I was raised by like a pastor. Like it was kind of was what he was implying. He's like, so like I knew how to like what to say and what not to say in in front of people. He's like, they were saying some inappropriate things, and I had to get them press training. Like he was like, I had to teach them like okay, we can't go that far. Like, you know, and I had to like basically get them PR training because like they were really great at what they did, but they did not know how to talk in front of press. And he's like, I just kind of no one had to tell me don't say that. Like and so yeah, but yeah, no, I think I don't think they would classify themselves as a rock band either, but I I do think they are I would they would call themselves musicians um and artists, like they have a a respect for like the history and the artistry of like songwriting and mus musicality and things like that. Like they'll have like a brass band, they'll have a choir with them sometimes depending on what songs they're touring with. Like, um and it's just like they're they kind of live outside, they like to live outside of genre, even though they like a little bit of funk. Um but if you if you want to experience them as musicians, I would like really thoughtfully listen to the album because that is their most like um musically like artistically um nuanced one, I guess. Okay. Um and then I would also say they tend to play more on their individual projects, like in terms of music. Like I think they know what people want with them together.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, right, right.
SPEAKER_00Experiment and get a little more creative and a little funky on their own.
SPEAKER_03And to me, that's why they're still a boy band. Like because I mean, one again, like when when they came up, like it's I think you talk about the image like that we just have in our minds. We don't dance though, right? I understand, but like again, like just personas out front, and it's not it seems to me, like from an outsider, it's not like those fans, it's not about the music so much as them.
SPEAKER_00It is, but it isn't because they will bring those solo project songs into the Jones Brothers concerts. So like they're they're like mostly obviously Jones Brothers stuff, but then like there's like the ones that are the most well known, they'll they'll give like Joe a three or four song set, like you know, like that kind of thing, depending on what's going on. So um that's kind of yeah, I think they they try to weave in a little bit of uh like their individuality, and like sometimes one of them will tour by themselves and you know that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01So interesting. That's
Rapid Fire Jonas Brothers Would You Rather
SPEAKER_01cool. Well, let's dive into some rapid fire here for a minute. Yeah. Unless there's any objections. No, go for it. All right, let's keep it going. I got some questions for you. Uh, would you rather be a backup dancer in a Jonas Brothers concert or their personal karaoke coach?
SPEAKER_00I object to this question for a couple of reasons. They don't have backup dancers, so that's and I don't dance. So that's no right there immediately. Um, I'm not sure what a karaoke coach is.
SPEAKER_03Michael, you put these questions together. Like, uh Yeah, I'm sorry, man. When you when I saw that one, I was like, who needs a coach for karaoke?
SPEAKER_00I was like, um, vocal coach. I think I would if it was vocal coach, I would I would be their vocal coach.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_00But I don't know that I have wisdom to impart to them because they're pretty good. Um, but that sounds more fun.
SPEAKER_01So uh would you rather get stuck on tour with the Jonas brothers or stuck in the studio with them for 48 hours straight?
SPEAKER_00I feel like we'd have better stories being stuck in the studio 48 hours straight. Because out and about moving, like we just do whatever. We're maybe we're walking somewhere for a little while or whatever, but like stuck in a room, we're gonna either stuff's gonna get weird and it's gonna get interesting, or we're gonna make some really cool music.
SPEAKER_01Nice. Would you rather have Joe style your outfits forever or Nick control your music playlist?
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna object to this question again. Really? Because reasons. Joe should be making the playlists. They uh he's the one that's always out discovering new music, like he's the one that experiments, like he found finds most of their opening acts because he's like looking at the awesome music on TikTok that no one's paying attention to, which is super cool, I think. Um, you want to be backwards then?
SPEAKER_01Is that true?
SPEAKER_00Joe should be making the playlist. Okay, and Kevin should be picking out everyone's clothes because he always looks on point. Like he just that's what his skill is. He looks he's the best in photographs, and his outfits are never disappointing. Okay. So I think I'd have Kevin pick out my clothes because that sounds fun.
SPEAKER_04Nick, will you please post on social media the photo of Ben and I on stage where we were dressed like the Jonas brothers?
SPEAKER_01This is not not actually, but you looked like them from the early 2000s. Yes, we did. Were there fedoras involved? No, no fedoras.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah the one we saw at least in the chat. When we were playing, we were playing in our band at the PSU and we had phones throw away from Fedora.
SPEAKER_00There was a Fedora in the car.
SPEAKER_04We had we had yeah, there's there was one in the car, yeah. But we had the vests, we you know, we had the ties, we had our sleeves rolled up.
SPEAKER_00You did, you did. True.
SPEAKER_01Uh would you rather accidentally text Kevin something embarrassing or accidentally go live on Instagram with Joe?
SPEAKER_00No. Um Uh I would definitely Kevin is a sweetheart. I would rather text him something embarrassing. He'd be very understanding about it. He would never tell anyone. So that could just we would move right on.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Would you rather open for the Jonas brothers on tour or have them open for you, even if you're terrible?
SPEAKER_00You know, I think if I maybe had some vocal coaching, I would I would be okay if it's a short set, I could open for them. As long as somebody else has to play an instrument because I can I can't do the two things at once. Yeah. So I would rather open. I think the the flipping of that just sounds like what universe are we in? Like why are we doing that?
SPEAKER_01Uh would you rather be in a Jonas Brothers music video or star in their next reality show? Or is it do they already have a reality show?
SPEAKER_00Kevin and uh Frankie had a reality show called I think almost famous or something like that. It was close to that. Um and it was basically like people that were adjacent to very famous people. And you had to guess who was related to what famous person. That's kind of fun. It was actually kind of fun. The the first season was fun. It got weird because these people were like so over the top. But Kevin is a pretty good TV host. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if that's like a thing he does down the line. He he like managed the chaos of these really dramatic people like in real time pretty well. Um so that I but I have no desire to be a reality TV sh like I don't want to be known for that. Like that's just yeah, that that's asking for trouble. So I think I'd rather be a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know right there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, if it was if it was like the amazing race, that's the only one I think I would probably do. And I think I I think I could crush it at the amazing race, but like that's the only thing I'd be willing to be. I don't think I'd ever be on it because I wouldn't be good enough TV because I'm Matt and I like we just we'd be like, There's cameras, why would we fight? Yeah. Well plus you guys probably get along more than like we could also argue, but like we also I think have enough control over ourselves to like keep our composure if we know we're being watched, whereas some people, man, I don't know if they came that way. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Would you rather last one, would you rather have to perform sucker at every party you attend or explain the entire Jonas Brothers history to strangers every time you meet them?
SPEAKER_00What parties am I going to?
SPEAKER_01Um we don't know your life with parties, right?
SPEAKER_00Lorcana parties? That crowd does not care about sucker, but they also don't want to be singing at them.
SPEAKER_03There's probably a Venn diagram where there's a intersection there.
SPEAKER_00It's just me.
SPEAKER_03Are you sure?
SPEAKER_00Maybe that. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's Disney, so I mean there's gotta be some overlap. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Should they be on a lorcana card eventually? Oh, that's that's a weird universe.
SPEAKER_00Shane Gray is on a lorecana card. Um, and Demi Lovato. Um I I think I mean, sucker is over. I mean, I guess I could do the abbreviated version of history because that's at least like socially normal to like talk to a person compared to like walk into any party that could be any kind of party and have to sing a song. I think I'm gonna go with talk to the strangers, I guess. That's valid.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, that's good.
SPEAKER_00Which I'm picking as a person with social anxiety, but it's fine.
SPEAKER_03Well, thanks for putting up with our would you rathers?
SPEAKER_00Sorry, I'm difficult. Oh no, you're fine. That's great.
SPEAKER_03That was great. Oh gosh. All right, um let's jump into our general discussion
Legacy, Growth, And Defining Songs
SPEAKER_03here. Uh let's see. Do you think that their hiatus, their their break, helped or hurt their legacy?
SPEAKER_00I think it helped. I don't think they would have I think there was a lot of diversity of music and thought and like both like personal growth too that happened by them like having to figure out who they were as people, um, but then also having to figure out how to come back together and work together, like like versus like just kind of muscling it through and pretending that everything was okay when it seems like it wasn't working. Um so I think it was I think it was healthy. I think um there is also a documentary, so like if you haven't seen it, you know, that'll answer a lot of these questions. But um it's uh there's there's one scene about that though that like I thought was really kind of precious, like to speak to that, like that they did bother to like patch things up the right way. Like their dad talks about like there's one scene where they're just talking to their dad, like you know, like the one-shot camera thing, and he talks about a lot of like family bands and that they break up and whatever, and they you know they don't talk to each other, and he like he like starts tearing up and he says, But not my boys, and I was just like he was like, I mean, I'm like you think about this, yeah, it's a band, and we're all just like talking about these celebrities, but like this is their family, and like he was worried maybe his kids weren't gonna speak to each other, and I'm like, uh, okay, I'm glad they're fine for you too. So Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I you've kind of touched on this a little bit, um, but maybe you can clarify which which of the three do you think musically has evolved the most over time?
SPEAKER_00I think Nick has always been the most tenacious in terms of like he wants to try new things, he wants to experiment, he wants to push things, he's like very, very driven. Um I think Joe, so they came back in 2019 and they were obviously you know better than they were when they were like way young. Um, but Joe, like, something happened. I don't know if it was like whatever was going on in his marriage or what, but like he said, like I'm okay, I would like to be amazing. And he clearly did some vocal work, and like there's like if you look at 2019 concert footage and you look at 2026 concert footage, that was a different person, and he's a freaking rock star. Like, I was always a Joe fan, but now I'm like, Oh, it was validated. Like, this guy's really actually talented, so um it's kind of crazy. So I would say, like, skill-wise, Joe seemingly in the last few years has like put in a lot more work, and he has done like some more interesting things, I think, like experimentally with his solo stuff too.
SPEAKER_01So if you could pick one Jonas Brothers song that defines their career, what would it be?
SPEAKER_00Roller coaster. Um from Happiness Begins, and it's kind of walking through the whole like um basically that like it was not always everybody wasn't always happy to see us, like it wasn't always great. Um they they say we were up and down and we barely made it over, but I'd go back and ride that roller coaster with you. So like it was it wasn't always easy, it wasn't always the breaking time square, like, but you know, it was them together, and like I think it's a really cool, like little fun upbeat time capsule of like their time together.
SPEAKER_01So it's a beautiful way to put that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, we we haven't like brought this up at all, which is uh for our first music artist I feel is important, and I think I might know the answer, but what's your favorite album of theirs? If you're gonna put one on, which which one do you go to?
SPEAKER_00That's a really good question. And I I think it's happiness begins.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00I think if I'm talking like an album straight through, although it it is tough. It's not their latest one.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00That one was fine. You guys did good, but it was you know, um, because they're totally listening to this by the way. Um but um I think probably can I look at the track list real quick? Oh yeah, absolutely. I wanna give I'm gonna give a correct answer.
SPEAKER_04While you look that up, I got a sound bite for us.
SPEAKER_00Good job.
SPEAKER_04Well, I have one.
SPEAKER_05Red dress.
SPEAKER_00Red dress all by yourself. There it is. The red dress. It's iconic. Okay, so I think it has to be I think it might be Happiness Begins. It just has like a ease about it, I think. But the album has so the album has like Waffle House and stuff on it. So that's like really hard.
SPEAKER_01Waffle House is Are you saying Waffle House isn't good?
SPEAKER_00No, I'm saying it is good. And it's on a different one than the one I picked.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. I love I was gonna say I love Waffle House. Waffle House is really good.
SPEAKER_00That's why I'm torn here because I'm torn between one that has cool on it and one that has Waffle House on it. And so I'm I'm torn between those two.
SPEAKER_03Okay, we can we can go with either, but yeah, again I'm gonna split down the middle. Like it's it feels weird to ha come on and talk about a music artist and not talk about some of your favorites albums or songs or whatever. Yeah.
Camp Rock, Movies, And Nick’s Acting
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I feel like one thing that we haven't touched on much at all is like their TV and movie career. Could you speak to that a little bit? Like what so obviously they've been the most successful as a as a band, but um, you know, I mean they they came up as as uh I mean, was was Camp Rock the first, like one of the big things?
SPEAKER_00Camp Rock was the first, yeah. So they and they they just wanted Joe for it. And their dad was like, no, that will end this if you do it that way. They will like eat each other, basically. So they're all gonna be in the ba in the show. Um, which I think did buy them some time. Um so um but I I mean I liked high school musical when it came out, and that was like just a couple years before that. But like Camp Rock was even though I was a fan of the Jonas Brothers, I thought at the time it was not that good. Um it just wasn't you still feel that way or I do. I I I mean there's good music in it, but like the movie itself, like and the acting was just not sure.
SPEAKER_02I mean it's a Disney channel new level, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but like I mean, I do feel like there are some though that were like better because like not even like two years later. I mean, I guess they did put that one out in theaters. They did like the third high school musical, which I remember watching on a bus with you, Ben, on an iPad, just like to kill the time in acquire bus.
SPEAKER_03But that would have been the only time I've seen high school musical three or any of them.
SPEAKER_00But yes, uh I believe that he he doesn't want to either I remember because I was like, he's not gonna watch this, want to watch this, and you were like, wait, I want to watch it, and I was like, okay. And you're like, don't start it without me.
SPEAKER_03I was like I have no recollection of this, but I only remember it because it was shocking. Yeah, it's shocking to me too.
SPEAKER_00But I was like, what is this is unexpected.
SPEAKER_01So what so there was Camp Rock, and then did they have their own show for a short time?
SPEAKER_00I was way too old for that. So like that was like when we were in college, and I totally missed that. I think it was I think it was I think it was a good thing that I missed that. Um because they were like joking about like the fact they're playing kids in high school and having to like shave twice a day to like. Yeah, it was like too it was too late to be be doing that, but they were trying to trying to get them get the money out of them. Um Disney does. They I mean they've even kind of said like we held on to that a little too long, like the the show and stuff like that. Um, but like they did a movie. Um it was I would say if you're curious about their personalities, the Christmas movie that just came out, like it's a funny goofy Christmas movie. Like it's a s like it's a silly family, pretty well done Christmas movie.
SPEAKER_01What's it called?
SPEAKER_00Uh I think it's just called a Jonas Christmas or something like that.
SPEAKER_01I've come in to watch that and I still haven't done it yet. I need to I have to check that out.
SPEAKER_00It's worth it. Like it's pretty funny. Um they that's the other thing. I think they I think they let them make the jokes because like it didn't feel like someone trying to a lot of the TV show felt like someone trying to write the way they were versus like letting them just be that way. And this felt very much like, oh, they said that. Oh, that was a little too mean to Kevin. I think maybe they just said that. Like, and so like it was very authentic feeling in a way that was kind of cool, um, and just actually funny, um, which is you know, you kind of when people are trying to replicate natural funny, it gets a little weird sometimes, but they they did that well. So that's their like project together, I feel like, as far as like movies, but um I think Joe's been in a couple things, but he's not really he's trying on the whole acting thing, but he's not quite there yet.
SPEAKER_04Um I was gonna say, I've not even heard of anything he's in.
SPEAKER_00He was in like that, there was like this one um I think it was about like the Air Force or something. He was in like this um like period piece of about the airmen or something. What is that called? I don't remember what it was, but he did the song at the end, and I think that's how he got the part.
SPEAKER_04So Oh my gosh, I'm bl I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm blind.
SPEAKER_00I don't remember he's yeah, so he's still kind of working on that, I think.
SPEAKER_01Um, but like he um So what I'm hearing you say is that you don't think that their film and TV career is like that's uh Nick is Nick can hold his own. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Nick Nick ha Nick earns every bit of stage time, like as much as the people he's uh acting across from in like Jumanji or like that boxing show I was talking about.
SPEAKER_01Like he was in Jumanji.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because he's because you forget he's a judge brother because he's good. Yeah, like and like because you're like not thinking that's a boy band guy because he's just there doing the thing.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, we just watched that. My wife and I just watched that a few weeks ago. I love that. That was amazing. I think they're so funny.
SPEAKER_01Is he in the first one?
SPEAKER_00I think he's in all of them because he's like comes at basically the end of the level. He's like the character that comes in to like save the day.
SPEAKER_03I think that's right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he's the helicopter guy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right. Wasn't he the well, he was like the one that was like he was also stuck in there, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're supposed to, it was like, yeah, like the final like little challenge to beat the level or whatever. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I do, I do love the new Jumanji series. Yeah, I do too. It was great.
SPEAKER_00It's a smart way to reboot it. I really like it. Highly recommend, guys. If you haven't seen that, watch Nick Jonas in Jumanji.
SPEAKER_04Michael, yeah. Your your number three episode with us will be Jumanji. Oh, nice. All right.
SPEAKER_03I love the 90s one. True. It's good, but it's horrifying. Michael, why don't you pick one more question for us?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we're we're about out of time here. All right, let's see here.
If They Never Reunited
SPEAKER_04Um gosh. Okay. If the Jonas brothers had never reunited in 2019, how do you think their individual careers would look today?
SPEAKER_00I think Kevin would be sad. Um I think the other two would be okay. I don't know. I don't uh they could have lost their momentum.
SPEAKER_01Kevin just kind of turned into a family guy.
SPEAKER_00Like he would did he have a huge No, he didn't do anything else with it.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I didn't think so.
SPEAKER_00No, he just kind of zeroed in on family life. Um, but this is actually very cool. So Kevin has just come out with like his second single and is now like working on an album, and he's like taking vocal lessons and all that kind of stuff, and like they've been showing like clips of him doing his solo thing in the concert, and like you watch the trajectory, like someone did this like stitch together of okay, so Kevin did actually have when he first he got married very young because of PK. And like and like he had this show when they were first famous called Married to Jonas, that was like him and his new wife, and like followed them around. And um with that, there's like all these clips of them talking about things and like his insecurity back then and blah blah blah, and like him struggling to like find the notes, and he so he didn't sing on a lot of the albums like back in the day, and now he's like people have like stitched those together with cutting to him singing his new songs live, and he's like just like living in it, and it's like it's just really cool. It's just like it's like sweet because he's like it's like the nicest one, like like they're they're nice people, but like he you can tell he's the sweetheart of the group, and it's just cool to see him get his moment too.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, so nice. Well, I've uh Lindsay, you have been a fountain knowledge. You keep saying no, you're good. No, you keep saying you're not an expert, but you now it's clearly.
SPEAKER_00The brain just doesn't let go of things, that's just the way it's always been.
SPEAKER_03And it makes for good.
SPEAKER_00I guess that's why it's good for podcasting. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Our first return guest. Yeah, this is huge. Yeah, Trailblazer. Well, let's let's talk.
What’s Next And How To Follow
SPEAKER_01I guess we didn't even talk. The the fandom itself, is there anything coming from the Joe the the Joe Bros in in the near future?
SPEAKER_00I think they're gonna do another Jonas con.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00I think. Which is basically like they rented out this like kind of all but defunct mall in New Jersey, because that's where they're from in New Jersey. Um, and basically just put on a whole like festival of just like stuff to do, and they're there and you can hang out with them and like they're around, and like there's a show at the end, and like I don't know, it sounds pretty fun.
SPEAKER_04You hear that, Matt? You guys are going to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00He knows, he knows, but it's I think it was really expensive last time, but I yeah, it was also I think planned more last minute last time because I was like, how did we just now all find out about this thing like a week before it happened? That was too soon.
SPEAKER_01So did I hear correctly that there are rumors of a possible uh camp rock return?
SPEAKER_00Oh no, that's for sure happening. I forgot about that. I just I I really wasn't attached to the first one, so like I kind of forget about it. But Demi Lovato is coming back and she is fierce. So that's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Nice. Podcast wise, what do what do we got upcoming here? I think I I'll toss it to you, Michael. What do we got upcoming on the on the podcast?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm so excited. So my buddy Cody is gonna come on and talk about Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm uh it's one of my favorite franchises of all time. Love it when I was a kid, so I'm looking forward to that. And um, yeah, he's he's a special friend, so I think we're gonna we're gonna enjoy talking to him. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I love Pirates of the Caribbean, so this is gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_03I have not seen the fifth one.
SPEAKER_01Oh, read the show. I fell asleep during that one. I know, I'll I will be watching it. He thought five I I liked five.
SPEAKER_00See, I don't know if there was anything wrong with it, or if I just started it at the wrong time and it didn't grip me enough.
SPEAKER_01I didn't love four, I think was the one that I didn't.
SPEAKER_00Maybe I didn't make it to five. I may not have made it to five.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Was four the fountain of youth.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh, so the five, if I'm remembering correctly, was that the one with um um oh my gosh, what's uh he's got the Squid Face? No, no, no. I was thinking of the guy with the Spanish name. Is it um I can't think of his name? Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00I know who you mean though.
SPEAKER_01Let's cut this. Yeah, we'll we'll talk about it next week. Yeah, we'll talk about it next week. We'll get to it. Um, well, so if you stuck around this long, um we'll well, first of all, I guess I'll thank you to our listeners. Thank you so much for listening. Thanks again to Lindsay to be in here. But we are gonna transition into something else that's gonna be kind of fun. So if you want to join us on uh on YouTube and watch what we're about ready to get into, uh, we're pretty excited for something that's gonna be uh a mainstay in the new fandom outpost studios when we move into that here before too long. So it's gonna be fun. And uh yeah, so Ben, why don't you why don't you get into it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we're not gonna stop recording, but uh this will be online only, or uh or not online, but um YouTube only. Yeah, so you it will not be in like and subscribe, thank you, Lindsay.
SPEAKER_00But it's important. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_04That's a wrap on this episode of Phantom of Fandoms. If you loved it, hit that follow button at FOF.pod on Instagram and threads, and leave us a quick review wherever you're listening to this podcast. It's like fuel for our little nerdy spaceship. Got a fandom you want us to tackle? Shoot us a DM. Until next time, stay curious, stay passionate, and keep repping what you love.
People on this episode
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
How We Made Your Mother
Audacy & Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas
Light Roast
Obadiah and Mindy
Critical Role
Critical Role