Interview Nick Jonas over zijn album, gay fans, en sex symbool.

Nick heeft een interview gegeven met Next Magazine; over zijn album, gay fans, en sex symbool.

Nick Jonas is all grown up. At 22, the youngest Jonas Brother is striking out on his own with a gritty new DirecTV series, Kingdom, and a self-titled R&B-infused solo album, out November 10. And while he doesn’t seem to be acting out the way certain other former Disney Channel child stars have been recently, his sexy, suggestive photo shoots and a promo tour for his current single “Jealous” that had him dancing with go-go boys in Manhattan gay bars introduced the world to a whole new Nick Jonas.

I think you’re one of just a handful of straight guys we’ve ever had on our cover.

Nice. Love that. I feel honored.

It would really mess up that milestone if you were to, say, come out as gay right now in this interview.

[Laughs] Well, that is not the case, but I am very flattered.

Your promo tour for “Jealous” focused heavily on the gays. What was behind that?

Well, I played a bunch of the new music for my friends and a lot of my gay friends when it was just getting up and rolling, and one of the big things they were all saying was, you know, “The gay part of your audience is really huge from the theater that you did and from the time with your brothers. It would be great for you to embrace that as a heterosexual male.” So I met with my label and talked about prioritizing that. When we put out the single, we had this plan to go out and celebrate with my gay fans. And it ended up being a highlight for me of the entire rollout for the single. Just being there and feeling that warm reception. Looking out at my shows and seeing more of my gay fans showing up, it feels good.

Did you learn anything new about gay club culture?

Yeah, a few things. It was my first time in a gay club, so I was just kind of trying to soak it all in and just embrace it all. It was very new for me. But, you know, I had a good time. I think the thing that I noticed most was listening to the music, what really worked in that environment. It was an interesting learning experience, because it wasn’t really artists that I was familiar with or people that I’d heard before. So it was nice to check it out.

You just finished up a club tour promoting the album. Why did you decide to do more intimate venues?

There were a few reasons. Just being transparent, I haven’t performed or been on tour in a couple years, so I didn’t know what to expect. It’s better to start small and get your feet under you again and get rolling that way. The shows sold out and it was great and that’s a great feeling. But also, I think I really wanted to find a way to have kind of a personal connection from the jump with the new music and find a way to have the conversational element of the music connect in a performance setting. So, smaller venues suited that. But I can’t wait to tour in larger venues. We don’t have any plans yet, but hopefully next year will include a tour.

Let’s talk about the new album. Who’s the Nick Jonas on Nick Jonas?

I think, for me, it was really about being as transparent as I could be in the songwriting that I did for this record. And as a whole, overseeing the master vision of it all. So, the Nick Jonas that you’re hearing is one that has now seen a lot of life. I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I’ve probably loosened up, actually, in the last couple years of my life and learned to enjoy the moments a bit more. I’m definitely a little more comfortable talking about things that I would not have been comfortable talking about before and exploring lots of different areas of my creativity.

Musically, what are you exploring?

The biggest thing is embracing kind of my Soul and R&B influences. Growing up, I listened to Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, Prince. That was sort of what my dad raised me on. So it’s always been there, although what I did with my brothers was more on the pop-rock side. But what’s most natural for me as a singer is Soul and R&B. That, combined with more modern influences like The Weeknd and Frank Ocean and Phoenix and things like that.

On “Jealous,” you’re singing about being jealous because your girlfriend is so hot, but you must have the opposite problem as well. Does your girlfriend get jealous that people think you’re so hot?

I don’t know. She deals with it okay. The last couple months have been a big adjustment for us in general. Just ’cause our world has changed a lot as I’ve become more busy. There’s definitely a bit more media attention on me at the moment than there was when we first started dating. I think at the end of the day it’s kind of flattering. And we can embrace it that way.

Do you think of yourself as a sex symbol?

I don’t, at all. [Laughs] But, the fact that that has been happening more and more, and that’s been thrown my way, is kind of bizarre. I still think of myself as just me.

I wonder if anyone who’s sort of viewed as a sex symbol really thinks of themselves that way.

I would hope not! I think it immediately becomes unsexy if you think of yourself that way.

I read that Calvin Klein came a-callin’ after those Flaunt magazine photos were released.

We did the shoot, and it was what it was. And there were a few phone calls from a couple different places. We’re planning it out, trying to play the long game. The focus right now is on the music andKingdom. If other opportunities come up we’ll move forward, but it’s gotta be right.

Is it weird for you that the press is so focused on your body?It is, in moments. But the thing that I’m aware of is that it drove people to the music—in a roundabout way. That’s the thing I think you have to embrace: at the end of the day they got there and they’re now able to hear the music. If that focus on the body kind of opened up that door then it’s okay, because the heart of what I’m doing is in my music and my other projects.

Your role in Kingdom is so physical; I guess it’s not that surprising for people to want to talk about your body, your physicality.

Yeah. And as the show goes on they’ll see that the nature of these fighters—the fighters whose stories we’re telling on the show, it’s really crazy. It’s such a bizarre culture. For my character, violence is kind of his only way of expressing himself. There’s a lot under the surface for him, and the physicality is a big part of that. Using that is a major part of the character.

Has playing that character affected the way you feel about physical violence?

Yeah, I mean, I think violence is horrible. The thing that I took away from the whole experience was really the art of fighting. It’s really a lifestyle in a lot of ways—the commitment you have to have to be able to be a great fighter, it’s every day. It’s not just a hobby. One of the things I talked to a couple people about—a couple of the real fighters that we had on the show—was the awareness that they actually have of maintaining a level of peace in their life. Because what they know is so dangerous. It’s interesting how you can have that self-control even though you spend hours in the gym fighting. It really is controlled and it’s more about the art of it all.

Is there kind of a parallel there between your life and theirs, trying to maintain a sense of peace and normalcy as a celebrity?

I think that’s true. My world has, for the last seven to eight years, been pretty crazy. But I don’t view it as anything different or more intense than other people’s circumstances. Everyone has their own journey to go on and I’ve loved mine, even though it’s had its good moments and bad moments. That’s kind of what life’s all about.

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