Nick Jonas and Greyson Chance at Grammy Camp: Girls, Gaga, and (Maybe) Miley
At the 7th Annual Grammy Camp, superstars Nick Jonas and Greyson Chance, along with some other industry professionals, stopped by to offer campers their words of advice about the music industry. The guest professional day is part of the two week long camp held in Los Angeles on the USC campus. High school students passionate about music, including producers, performers, promoters and journalists, got the chance to quiz the stars about their musical journey. Some even got the chance to sit down with the professionals in small groups to hear about their individual careers and answer additional questions.
Nick Jonas, not only 1/3 of the insanely successful Jonas Brothers, but now a producer for other artists, sat down to talk one on one with performer and producer campers. He offered up advice and suggestions as campers played music that they had composed during their time at camp. Nick was very kind and chatted with the group about becoming a producer, new artists he’s working with and writing songs about others. “I think there’s a song out there written about me,” Nick explained. “I haven’t taken offense to it.” Could Nick be talking about Miley Cyrus‘ “7 Things?” “When I write songs about others, I usually tell them, like ‘Hey, there’s gonna be this song coming out and it’s about you.’ It usually doesn’t go over so well.”
Later that morning the campers headed to the master panel where they had the chance to quiz Nick, Steven and up and comer Greyson Chance. The conversation flew from social media, touring to inspiration and included some joking around.
Greyson admits he has had an “unusual experience” getting to this point in his career, but he’s most certainly loving it. “I can tweet out a picture and suddenly millions of girls can see it,” Greyson exclaimed while speaking about the value of social media, which was met by some laughter from Nick. “Millions of girls? Seems like he’s got it all figured out!” Nick retorted.
Watch our interview from the ground at Grammy camp:
Audio engineer Steven Slate, Brian London, musical director for Lady Gaga and producer Mike Elizondo also chatted with campers. Slate talked about the progression of his career from simply “wanting to be a rockstar and get babes” to a serious profession and owning Slate Audio Pro. Brian London shared some funny stories about being on the road with Gaga, including the way-too-tight jeans and shirt that she thought was perfect. “It was freaky stuff. Weirdest thing I ever had to wear.” London also pointed out that what you see is what you get with Gaga.
“She IS Lady Gaga. What you get on stage is the same off. I’ve never seen her in jeans. If she doesn’t have clothing, she’ll be in underwear!”
Nick, who mentioned his nac for finding studio collaborators on Twitter, spoke about recently collaborating with Greyson in the studio and their extreme passion for music. “On breaks, Greyson didn’t go and play video games or anything. He went and played piano. He really pushed me to the next level.”
Nick and Greyson proved to be the perfect studio pair. Not only did they both site “family, friends and faith” as important factors to keeping them grounded, but both felt strongly about the importance of music education. And from the looks of it, there may be more Nick J. and Greyson collabs to come. “People have to tell me to stop writing,” Greyson explains. “I’m inspired when I tour so I write on the road and am ready to work on the second album. Everyone’s like ‘We have to finish the first!'”
Grammy Camp is supported by the GRAMMY in the Schools program. The program is able financially assist more than 70% of campers and continues to bring music education to schools across the country. Find out more information about the GRAMMY in the Schools program on their official website.
