“Waffle House”
Jonas Brothers
How did “Waffle House” come together?
JON BELLION I was envisioning the Jonas Brothers as these older, final form, evolved Pokémon [and] what I would love for their maturation because they’re fathers now. We started to envision a bit of the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates — all of these incredibly sound pieces of music that still felt so good, so breezy and so easy, even though they were super rich musically. I think that was a great place to start from.
Have you worked with the Jonas Brothers before?
I haven’t. They wanted to start being a bit more polarizing and making music that people are talking about while still connecting to their roots. I loved the fact that they were so open with their personal lives — they wanted to dive into the fact that they’re fathers and that they’ve gotten into fights at Waffle Houses on tour when they were younger. They really gave me the keys to explore creatively when I was working on the music. They said, “How would you hear a song about us being girl dads? What would your take be on a metaphor or song title?” To get asked those questions by a staple in American culture and an iconic band was an honor.
Do you have any plans to release new solo music soon?
I’m in no rush. I do have some songs on the side, but the idea of me ending my day at 7 p.m., seeing my son, playing video games, eating a good meal and waking up and doing it again with no pressure of touring, press or anything like that — in this moment of my life, it’s just breeding thankfulness. As long as the train keeps moving, my ideas are respected and I get to be creative and express myself every day, I think I’ve won already.