Jon Bon Jovi on The Moment with Brian Koppelman

Jon Bon Jovi & Brian Koppelman
(Photo: @briankoppelman/Instagram)

Jon Bon Jovi was recently interviewed by Brian Koppelman for his podcast The Moment. The episode aired on January 9, 2018.

In the hour-long interview, Jon talked about:

• getting his start playing in bar bands as a teenager and working at Power Station Studios;
• how "Runaway" came to fruition;
• burning out and gradually learning to appreciate special moments in his career;
• how the original Bon Jovi band was formed;
• his songwriting process, including how he and Richie Sambora complemented each other as songwriters;
• the importance of the arts; 
• the gaping hole left by Richie on the Because We Can Tour and 2015 Asian Tour and how others, especially David Bryan, stepped up;
• Bon Jovi's influences versus the hard rock bands they opened for early in their career;
• collaborating with Desmond Child and later Billy Falcon;
• the validation of finally getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame;
• his upcoming business venture: making wine with his son Jesse.

Jon also said Bon Jovi intends to play 30 shows in March, and is planning to tour on a smaller scale from now on (long breaks, fewer stadiums). They still haven't announced tour dates though, so if it's going ahead in March, they're leaving it pretty late. (The interview was conducted in December, I believe.)

*UPDATE 11/1/18: North American dates have been announced for March, April and May 2018. The new version of This House Is Not For Sale, featuring additional tracks "Walls" and "When We Were Us" will be released on February 23.*

This was Jon's first podcast interview (not including radio interviews that were later made available as podcasts) and I thought it was pretty good. Jon seems more relaxed and candid than he has been in the past. And there's some swearing but nothing you haven't heard before. 😉

You can listen to The Moment podcast on iTunes.