The Jonas Brothers have spent the past few years dominating the teen music scene. But after selling millions of albums and winning the hearts of fans worldwide, 22-year-old Joe Jonas is ready to break out on his own.

Jonas is set to release his solo debut album, FastLife, on Oct. 11. And before he starts his gig opening for Britney Spears on the European leg of her Femme Fatale tour later this fall, the singer will be teaming up with R&B superstar Jay Sean to co-headline a 19-city tour, kicking off Sept. 6.

Jonas talked to Parade.com about performing without his brothers, and why he’s not afraid to open up about love and heartache on his new album.

On venturing out on his own.
“It’s been really awesome to see how many people have supported me on this solo project. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling and recording over the past year, trying to do everything I can to get in the studio and work with new producers and writers and try to see what I can come up with. I’ve been really lucky to find some incredible people to work with and I’m really happy with the album.”

His fans haven’t let him down.
“It has been really surprising. The fans have been loving the new music. It’s cool to see that the fans who have been with us since the beginning are the ones who are supporting me now. Even new ones are coming around who may have not listened to the Jonas Brothers before. It’s a really exciting time for me.”

On touring with Britney Spears.
“It is a dream come true. She’s the perfect headliner. I’ve always been a huge fan of her music. I can’t wait to go over to Europe. It’s going to be the greatest experience.”

On performing without his brothers.
“There are times when I miss them onstage, and I wish they could be with me and be able to experience the things I’m experiencing, but it’s good for them to have this time to themselves too and kind of relax. I’m really loving this experience. To be able to get on stage on my own and travel and perform is great.”

On Nick and Kevin’s reaction to his new album.
“They are loving it. They’ve been really supportive. They have their favorite songs already and it’s been really great to see what songs they are leaning towards and what they like.”

On how his new sound compares to the Jonas Brothers.
“It’s a little more hip hop and dance. I’ve been inspired by Kanye West and Kid Cudi, who are trying new things with pop music and dance and hip hop. I’ve been able to work with some producers who have worked with people like them and I’m very happy with the outcome.”

On sharing songs about past relationships with the world.
“Part of me is nervous about that. There are some songs that I definitely go, ‘Ok, I hope people don’t read into it too much.’ It’s a very honest state of mind to go into when you’re writing a record because you want to be completely honest. A lot of the songs are fun and just about having a good time, but there are songs in there that are deep and I get more into my personal life. I want to do my best to be as honest as possible.”

On his experience as a celebrity mentor in the Acuvue 1-DAY Contest, where he worked with Brittany B. of Atwater, Calif., to help her further her dream of supporting the Special Olympics.
“It was really fun to spend the day with Brittany and encourage her to raise money and awareness. Its cool to see young people out there wanting to live out their dreams — and it’s not about music or acting — she wants to give back and that’s incredible. Spending time with her and seeing what a believer she is has inspired me.”

On his personal mentors.
“My dad has always been my biggest supporter. Musician wise, I would say Bono has always been a big one for me. He’s such an incredible inspiriaton in terms of giving back and he’s an amazing musician, too.”

Bron

Joe Jonas from The Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream has launched his solo career already releasing two singles with an album scheduled to come out in October. Joe along with his older brother Kevin and younger brother Nick formed the band, Jonas Brothers and became international superstars. Having won several awards, sold millions of albums worldwide and starred in movies and TV shows, the Jonas Brothers dominated the teen music scene.

Over the weekend, Joe spent some time at the Jersey shore, hosting a party at the night club mur.mur inside the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. I spoke with the artist in Atlantic City about his new album, what he thinks about touring with Britney Spears and what the future holds for the Jonas Brothers.

Are you enjoying your time at the Jersey shore?
It’s been great! Fun to kind of come here and relax and have some fun–do something like this is kind of a dream come true I’m really, really excited. I have a lot of friends that live out in New Jersey so I was able to see a few of them yesterday. We did this really cool thing at the shore in Seaside Heights and it was pretty cool so now I’m in the casino kind of chilling and we went to the club last night we got to see Kascade perform it was really fun.

You began your solo career and have released two singles, what has been the response?
It’s been great–everybody’s reaction’s been amazing the fact that so many people have just been supporting the project and all the fans that kind of existed with the Jonas Brothers have been really showing their love and support and now kind of going even further this new year listening to the stuff–it’s been really great.

Fans are excited for your new album scheduled for release in October, what can they expect?
Well, the music is a little bit different then the stuff I was doing with my brothers it’s a little bit more hip hop, dancy and just kind of a feel-good record. It’s something that I’ve been working on for the past year, I’ve worked with these producers that I’ve really looked up to, really loved and looking forward to being able to release it.

It’s been announced you will be touring with Jay Sean and JoJo; are you looking forward to the tour?
We just released the Jay Sean co-headlining tour that I’m going to be on, we’re having JoJo open up it’s going to be really cool. It’s going to be a 19 city tour we’re going to be going all over the place and I’m really looking forward to it.

You’ve said the first CD you ever bought was a Britney Spears album, are you excited to join the European leg of her Femme Fatale Tour?
Yeah, it was the first CD that I ever bought. The funniest thing about that is I was actually in N.J. not too long ago opening up for her and it was my first kind of taste tester of what it would be like, it was really cool. She’s an amazing performer still to this day and kind of to have that as something to be looking forward to is going to be really exciting.

Will you and your brothers ever collaborate again as the Jonas Brothers?
Yeah, absolutely. Right now, just focusing on the solo project but when the time is right, we’re definitly going to be releasing more Jonas Brothers stuff together.

THE BROTHER WE WANT TO SMOTHER
(with kisses not a pillow)

Did he go out with Pixie Lott? what advice does he have for Tulisa? Who is his 90-year-old best friend? We asked. He told.

Look at you, all grown up and making proper good music.
Well, it’s very exciting. I’ve been working hardcore for about six months. The single See No More is a little bit slower than the rest of the album, just because that’s where I was at when I wrote the song.

Which is going to do better, Chris Brown and Justin Bieber’s track or Chris Brown and yours?
Ha-ha! I dunno, I mean I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, right? But Close To You is pretty cool.

Why did you go solo, were you bored in the Jonas Brothers?
It just happened over time. I wanted to be able to work on a solo project and I brought up it up to my brothers. They were really supportive so I went for it.

How scary is going solo on a scale of spider in the bath to shark attack?
Well, both are both pretty freaky for me. I’ve swum with sharks but spiders freak me out.

How many of your songs are about girls?
Errrm, a good percentage! Some songs are about fans, some are about touring, but of course the majority are about relationships.

You guest judged on American Idol, have you got any tips for The X Factor judge, Tulisa?
I would say you gotta be really honest and that’s the tough part. If a person’s not good, it probably isn’t the right career for them. But there are some crazy fans of the show and you never know if somebody will show up at your house if you say there no good.

That didn’t happen though?
No, but they did say, “You live in Texas, don’t you?” she looked mad.

Texas is a really big state.
Yeah, luckily.

Justin Timberlake says he wont make another, and he’s only made two! what a jip. Can you imagine giving up music?
It’d be hard for me to give up music. I can see myself taking a good amount of time to do some more acting if it comes about. But right now I want to focus on the music.

Did you have fun appearing in the sitcom Hot In Cleveland?
It was awesome. Betty White (who plays Elka) is hilarious. she was sitting knitting away, and I went over and talked to her for like an hour. she was just the coolest.

Is she the oldest person you’ve tried to make friends with?
Ha-ha. I think so. she’s like, 90 now.

Growing up you wanted to be a comedian; know any good jokes?
What do you call a joke with no front legs and no back legs? you don’t call it, because it wont come anyway! quite sad but, you know, funny.

Have you seen Russell Brand since he joked about the Jonas Brothers at the MTV Awards?
I have, yeah. You gotta just sit back and laugh. I think he’s hilarious. I love his movies and I love his acting.

There were reports last year that you were dating our very own Pixie Lott – did you?
we went to dinner. I wouldn’t necessary call it a date, but of course somebody’s going to take a picture. She’s a good friend of mine; we actually wrote a couple of songs together.

But there’s no sign of Pixie on your album?
No, nothing. we were thinking of them maybe going on her album but she went in a different direction. If people want to hear the songs, I’ll reach out to her and we could do it again.

Do you regret talking so openly about your beliefs on virginity, because it was something people focused on too much?
I think there’s a bit of that. A lot of it was pretty private. If I could go back in time and be like, ‘don’t even talk about it, Joe’ then I probably would. At the same time I’m confident with the person I am today. As you get older you take some and you leave some of what you grew up with. I’m an adult now and i can make my own decisions.

As many a one-time Disney star will vouch, it's no easy feat trying to rebrand yourself as a credible artist after countless tween-pop album releases and sickly-sweet TV movies. So, when Jonas Brothers star Joe decided to make a solo album chronicling his journey into adulthood and infuse it with dance beats inspired by the likes of Swedish House Mafia, you can imagine we were full of questions when we phoned him up for a chat last week.

Are you happy with the response to your debut solo single 'See No More'?
"Yeah, I've been very happy with it. Everyone has been so supportive and I've been hearing great feedback, so I'm very pleased."

Why did you decide to pick it as your first solo single?
"I was actually finishing up my record when I wrote 'See No More'. The album was almost complete, but then I got the opportunity to write with Chris Brown. We wrote the song and then by a majority vote from my team we decided to go with it as the lead single. We felt it had a pretty big chorus and it was a strong way to come out and introduce what I was doing now compared to the sound with the Jonas Brothers."

What was it like working with Chris Brown?
"It was great. Chris Brown is a fantastic artist and songwriter and to be able to work with him was kind of unbelievable. It was really interesting because we weren't actually supposed to end up writing together. We both found time to work with each other and just got together and wrote."

Was 'See No More' the only track you wrote together?
"It was, but he wrote another song that I've used for my record called 'Lighthouse'. I hope to work with him again in the future. Chris and I worked really well together and if we could find time again soon I think we'd both definitely do it."

How was it working on your new album Fast Life?
"Writing Fast Life has been an incredible experience. It's something totally different from what I am used to. It took a while to get to where I was musically because I had this idea that I wanted to start to make music that was more dancey and urban. When I started working with producers that I had wanted to collaborate with for so long, they really helped me get into the mindset."

What did the album initially sound like then?
"It sounded completely different. It was very much a Michael Bublé type of record - just a proper singer's type of record. But as I went on writing I discovered that I could really go along with the kind of music that I listen to, which is a lot of hip-hop, dance and electro pop music. There are one or two songs that we pulled back into the new sound by tweaking them."

Were you nervous working without the security of your brothers around you?
"It's an exciting experience. Having their support means everything to me, because if I didn't have it it would have been a very difficult process. I was nervous to play them the music at first because I knew they would find it easy to tell me what they liked and disliked. But once I was comfortable with playing the music I played them the entire record and they were really supportive and loved it."

A lot of people are now comparing you to Justin Timberlake; how does that feel?
"I think it's flattering - he's a fantastic artist. At the same time I feel like Justin Timberlake has his own lane and I'm trying to make something that is different and personal and not like anything else. Of course, it's still a very big compliment."

You also worked with producer Danja on the LP who has also worked with Justin...
"We definitely spoke about the stuff Justin Timberlake did and the material he did with Mary J Blige and even Britney Spears. I told him that this was the kind of music I wanted to do and the type of album I wanted to create. At the same time I wanted to make something that was my own. We had two days apart and then came back and he presented me with some tracks and they were perfect. He was very easy to work with."

Are you nervous about sharing songs about past relationships with the world?
"I wanted to be honest, and when you do that you have to go there for certain good or bad reasons. It can be difficult to go, 'here's my heart on a platter', but at the same time you've just got to go for it. I hope fans can relate to it - I have grown up and so have my fans; they'll be going through relationships that are more mature and hopefully they'll understand what I'm speaking about."

Were there any songs you ended up having to take out for personal reasons?
"I have definitely written a happy song about someone and then we ended up splitting up, but you have to put those kind of things to the back of your mind and tell yourself that it's a good song and it works on the album."

Is there a track you're excited for fans to hear?
"There's a song called 'I'm Sorry' and a song called 'Fast Life' that I'm excited for people to hear. 'I'm Sorry' is one of those really honest songs about ending a relationship too early and you want them back in your life and all you can do is apologise. 'Fast Life' is just about going out with your friends and having a good time - I think it's one of those songs that people can relate with and like."

Are there any plans to tour the UK?
"Hopefully soon. I have couple of ideas about touring and opportunities - It'll probably be around fall time. I'm probably going to travel all over, but I definitely want to come back to the UK for sure."

Are you considering a return to the big screen anytime soon?
"I'm actually developing a project with my friend out in LA. He's a producer and writer, but it's too early to say what the movie is about. It's a really exciting role and it's something I've been dreaming about. I will be producing and acting in it, which is really exciting!"

Bron