Watch the Jonas Brothers'
video for Burnin' Up
Jonas Brothers are at least an hour away from arriving at Bryant Park, in New
York, yet it’s sheer pandemonium. Quivering girls shriek, shake and wave
banners bearing messages such as “Joe, be my lover” and “The Bronx luvs U”.
Forlorn-looking discarded deckchairs and empty pizza boxes are evidence that
many of these tweens, teens and tired-looking mums have been here for the
long haul. “I did the same with Bon Jovi, but I never expected to be doing
this all over again,” groans Marie’s mum, who holds aloft a homemade placard
reading “Joe’s future mother-in-law”. “We arrived three days ago,” says -
well, squeals - Marie, 14, her body emblazoned with hand-painted Jonas
tattoos. “There were thunderstorms and we even slept with mice - but it was
worth it.” Others, such as Rachel, 19, parked themselves on the pavement
after driving from Massachusetts just to see the Jonai perform four songs at
this outside broadcast for the breakfast television show Good Morning
America. With more than 15,000 people packing into Bryant Park before 5am,
it’s the programme’s largest live audience to date.
“We were in our hotel room, 70 storeys above the park, looking out at
thousands of people chanting our name,” says Kevin Jonas, one third of the
band responsible for theMid-town mayhem. “It was pretty incredible.” Excess
oestrogen is on display again the following afternoon, when the boys play an
intimate show for competition winners in Chelsea. Later, they head four
blocks east to Madison Square Garden to perform the first of three sellout
shows to more than 60,000 fans. “Playing here is a huge moment for us,”
points out an unsurprisingly croaky Joe Jonas a few minutes before taking to
the stage. “Growing up in New Jersey, this is the place you always wanted to
play.”
For Kevin, 20, Joe, 19 and Nick, 15, performing at the Garden is the latest
dream ticked off their to-do list. They’re signed to the Disney-owned
Hollywood Records, and their perky pop-rock is headline news in America,
with a No 1 album, the cover of Rolling Stone and sellout tours under their
colour-coordinated belts. Their Disney TV film Camp Rock,which stars Joe as,
er, a teen pop star, attracted 8.9m viewers and is the channel’s most
watched nonsequel to date. Add to that a forthcoming reality show and a
comedy series, both for the Disney Channel, a 3-D film of the tour, a mooted
video game and production work on their Camp Rock co-star Demi Lovato’s
debut album, and it’s becoming increasingly impossible to avoid this perky
trio and their sprightly hair.
“It’s been amazing, far beyond what we would have hoped for,” enthuses Kevin,
the band’s main mouthpiece. Even in the UK, the Jonases’ popularity is
spreading exponentially, with every tween worth their Claire’s Accessories
lipgloss as obsessed by them as they are with all things High School
Musical. Their show at Islington Academy in April was overrun with
flush-faced females high on pheromones, while this week’s performance in
Hammersmith sold out in minutes.
It’s no surprise that it takes two days of waiting around before one is
granted an audience with the Brothers. So high is demand on their time,
they’re doing meet-and-greets with some 800 fans, and interviews with press,
literally 20 minutes before taking to the stage. How on earth do they cope
with such colossal success? “There’s a quote from Oprah Winfrey where she
says, ‘My feet are still on the ground, it’s just that I wear better shoes.’
That’s the best way to explain it,” says Joe, the gorgeously coiffed middle
brother. His younger, curlier sibling, Nick, the group’s chief songwriter,
adds that being related is key when it comes to keeping cool in the chaos.
“Because we have each other as brothers, it really helps everything.”
Like the Osmonds and the Jacksons before them, the Jonases are a strictly
family affair. They are co-managed by their pastor father, Kevin Jonas Sr,
while their mother, Denise, a former sign-language teacher, is a regular
part of the travel team. Bringing up the rear is younger brother Frankie, 7
(also known as Bonus Jonas), who recently set up his own band, Hollywood
Shakeup. Raised in a Christian household in Wyckoff, New Jersey, both Nick
and Joe performed on Broadway before Nick made a spiritual solo album,
Nicholas Jonas, released in 2005. The boys then formed Jonas Brothers, but
were dropped by Columbia Records in 2007. “There were definitely moments
where we weren’t sure if we could continue doing this,” Kevin admits of
their not-so-overnight success. “It was a learning experience,” Nick
continues. “We’re so thankful that we actually had those days, because we
are who we are because of it.”
For Nick, there was another shock when he was diagnosed with diabetes at the
age of 13. “Originally, I asked the question, ‘Am I going to live?’ Because
I wasn’t educated on diabetes, it was a little bit scary at first. But the
doctors told me I was going to be fine and it was all good. It’s an easy
illness to manage.” Their recent single, A Little Bit Longer, is about
living with diabetes. “I wrote it in about 20 minutes,” he says of the
earnest ballad, which contains the breathy closer “I’ll be fine”. When he
performs it at the Garden that night, it’s unintentionally hilarious; plenty
of pained eyebrows and meaningful glances down . . . pause . . . then
baleful blinks back at the crowd. “I said I wouldn’t let it stop me,” he
whispers, almost managing a tear. “And I didn’t.” The fans lap it up.
They’re a great live act, though, with lots of acrobatics, fireworks, foam and
impressive stage sets. While Nick cites songwriters such as Prince and
Johnny Cash as inspiration, they’re not too far removed from the McFly
school of melody-stuffed guitar. The sound isn’t sonic science, perhaps, but
it’s bouncy, catchy, polished pop that they perform with plenty of punch.
The first album for Hollywood sold 1.4m copies; their latest, A Little Bit
Longer, released in America last month, has clocked up more than 1m sales.
More than the music, however, it’s their wholesome, clean-cut, Christian
approach that’s a large part of their success. Jonas Brothers are the band
parents pray their children worship; watching the machine at work over three
days in New York is less sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, more oestrogen, insulin
and pop-rock-soul. They don’t drink, smoke or swear, and all three wear
“promise rings”, a declaration that they will remain virgins until their
wedding day. “That’s personal, so if we could focus on other subjects, that
would be great,” says a polite but firm Kevin when I ask him whether it’s a
tough vow to maintain.
Hollywood is home to fellow tween idols Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens and
Hilary Duff, but the label insists it isn’t necessarily the clean living or
obvious marketing drives such as the movie tie-in that have created such a
musical monster. Rather, it was the way the brothers themselves approached
the industry. “[They] were extremely internet-savvy from the beginning, and
had a direct relationship with their fans,” says Abbey Konowitch, general
manager of Hollywood Records. “As the band became bigger, they expanded
these relationships on their own, rather than waiting for the label to do
it. Hollywood Records maintained that philosophy by not taking down the
hundreds of YouTube fan sites . .. We instead decided to feed the frenzy.
Everyone will talk about the Disney platform, which was well coordinated,
but it always relied on the momentum of the press and marketing machine
behind Jonas Brothers. And when it succeeded .. .” When it succeeded,
Hollywood and Disney raked in the multi-millions. And continue to do so.
The screaming fans back at Bryant Park have other theories about the Jonas
juggernaut. “It’s their hair,” one fan with OJD (obsessive Jonas disorder)
swoons. Their funny, charismatic mother, Denise, the woman behind the
brilliant bouffants, thinks it’s more to do with good old-fashioned hard
work. “I think my boys are smart, they’re very business-minded and they’re
tenacious,” she decides. “They never got discouraged - even when they got
dropped from the first label, they just kept going. The schedule can be
incredibly tough, but they keep going and they seize every opportunity,” she
says, before wandering off to feed her Bonus Jonas.
The workload does seem unrelenting, and is doubtless key to maintaining the
money machine; the day before the Bryant Park appearance, the trio were
promoting and doing shows in Boston until the early hours. A short flight
later, it’s Good Morning America and a day of solid promo. The rest of the
weekend is a blur of shows, lunch with Rolling Stone, PAs at the Apple store
and slots on MTV’s TRL show. Despite the punishing schedule, the multiple
meet-and-greets, the constant daily grind, the Jonai wouldn’t change a
thing. “We have the coolest life, and there’s no denying that,” grins Joe.
“We’re very, very happy. We want to do this for ever.”
The single Burnin’ Up/When You Look Me in the Eyes is out on Sept 22, the
album A Little Bit Longer on Sept 29. Camp Rock premieres on Sept 19. Jonas
Brothers play Hammersmith Apollo, W6, on Thu
