For its 25th, local retail giant Bench blows out the birthday candles with pop phenom Joe Jonas and an exciting new collaboration. Yes, Philippines, it’s love bug again.

There aren’t many better ways to break the ice than to offer someone you just met a massage.

“Do you like massages?” Isabelle Daza asks Joe Jonas. And before he can answer, a beat; “Not from me!” Belle exclaims, realizing that the whole table had turned their heads toward her. “I mean there are lots of places to get good massages here!” Well, you can’t blame a girl for getting tongue-tied, especially where Disney-approved pop stars are concerned.

It’s Tuesday evening and the 23-year-old Joe and a select few of Bench’s friends and family are huddled together in a private room in Budhha Bar having dinner. The core team of Bench are here of course—everyone from retail visionary Ben Chan to staple Bench stylist Noel Manapat—as well as endorsers past and present (from Lucy Torres-Gomez to Borgy Manotoc). Although he just flew in this morning, everyone’s asking him how he finds Manila, what he’s done already, and what he should do—the way Filipinos are wont to do with any tourist, famous or not.

Except we were wrong. Joe doesn’t exactly need An Idiot’s Guide to Manila, not when Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, the part-Filipina actress who played Ashley Dewitt on the hit Disney show Hannah Montana, is a good friend. “I learned a lot about the Philippines through her actually,” Joe says. “She’d mention some things and places sometimes… And I don’t mind the heat. I love it. Sometimes you just wanna get out of the cold.”

Throughout the dinner, he’s quiet and a bit reserved, as if, ironically, he’s not really used to crowds. But he indulges us anyway. Pacquiao? “Yeah, I actually saw a Pacquiao fight. That guy’s awesome.” Beer? He orders himself some Pale Pilsen. Too Hollywood for us? Nope, he actually uses a fork to eat sushi.

At one point, he kind of gazes out into empty space, as if lost at his own party. “Are you having a Lost in Translation moment?” I ask him. “No,” he says, laughing. “I was just thinking how chill everything is. Everyone’s talking in English and talking about restaurants in L.A.” When Georgina Wilson mentions the famous Kogi food truck in L.A. he says, “Oh, awesome. You know Kogi? You’re my favorite people right now!” It doesn’t take a lot of getting used to, apparently.

“He’s so chill,” Ava Daza remarks. “He’s just like my kabarkada or something!”

The next morning, during his one-on-ones with the press, Joe is effusive and amiable, a lighter presence than you’d expect those Hollywood types to be. He flew in Tuesday morning, did shop visits in the afternoon (apparently, the Glorietta visit got pretty wild, if Instagram’s anything to go by), had dinner with the Bench team at night, tried to get sleep, and went straight to the press appearance today. “Yeah, I woke up at 4 a.m. and spent an hour wondering how to get back to sleep,” he admits, laughing.

But the jet lag doesn’t show and in a discussion about everything from independence to riding “g-peas” (read: jeepneys), I find that the middle Jonas is his own man, with tricks up his sleeve and the drive to break away from the Disney tag.

YOUNG STAR: Okay, so let’s start things off with the reason you’re here: What made you sign up with Bench? I’m sure you get a lot of offers and the Philippines is so far away from L.A. What about the brand made you go the extra mile?

JOE JONAS: I signed up with Bench because it was such a great partnership. They have such great clothes, first of all. It’s also my first trip to the Philippines. It’s the first time anyone’s ever invited me over here and me and my brothers, we always wanted to play concerts over here.

That’s right, you have a pretty big following here.

Yeah, it’s really exciting, you know. You go to a city like… I went to Africa and I didn’t know what it’d be like and people had (Jonas Brothers) T-shirts! It was the same thing with this.

I was so shocked at the (Bench) stores, I was just all smiles because I was so overwhelmed having that kind of response here. The fans are so supportive and I didn’t even know I had fans here.

I remember early on, you and your brothers used to rock a kind of preppy look with the suits and the button-downs. Now I see you being more street, with the sneakers and the T-shirts. How would you describe your style? It seems like a constantly evolving thing.

Yeah, definitely evolving… Me and my brothers were so young at the start of all this so we kind of told ourselves that we wanted to be taken seriously so we really dressed up. We had suits and all that and we liked dressing that way. But you know we’re older now and we have facial hair and we can’t help it. (Laughs)

We don’t really focus on that anymore. Let’s just have fun with clothing. Let’s have bright colors. Me, personally, I’ve always liked bright colors and I’ve always loved to take risks onstage. When I look at clothing, I always see if I can use it onstage, whether it’s a sneaker that could be comfortable but kind of pops, or a jacket that would be nice to wear. I’m always looking for something different from the normal.

You went to the store yesterday, right? What kind of items did you check out? Any favorites?

I think the polos are really cool. I like how everything’s really fitted well. That’s something people are starting to capture in the US too. People are liking clothing that fits well.

I thought the shirts were really cool too. I’m a T-shirt kind of guy. T-shirts and jeans are basically all I have. So when I see a good T-shirt, I jump on it.

Yeah, with some American brands, the shirts are a bit billowy.

Yeah, that’s true… And the clothes (from Bench are made from) good fabric. They’re really comfortable and it’s just nice to wear.

It’s been three years since (the last Jonas Brothers album) “Lines, Vines, & Trying Times” and it seems like you guys are really taking control of the music now.

Yeah, it’s really exciting because now it’s all about creating the music. Being able to get in the studio again with my brothers has just been an exciting process.

What kind of direction do you think you guys will be going in?

Direction? I think we’re still exploring the process right now. We’re not really sure exactly yet whereabouts that will go. I think it could be dance, it could be rock, it could be pop but we wanna challenge ourselves as musicians and also give the fans something they’ll like… though of course it’s gonna be different from years ago because it’s been so long.

Yeah, I mean your solo album “Fastlife” (released last year) was a bit more clubby and Nick’s doing Broadway. So with all that, and such a long time after the last Jonas Brothers album, which Jonas Brothers song do you not mind playing and which song are you like, ‘Oh God. We need to play this one?’

(Laughs) I like that question.

Yeah, you were so young. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna be doing what I was doing when I was 16.

Yeah, for me, to be really honest, the songs that made your career when you were younger are the ones you kind of, from playing it so many times, you get tired of?

For a while, Year 3000 was a song that like, okay, can we not play this anymore? And me and my brothers were looking at each other and like, okay, guys, we have to play the hit song for the fans. So we change it up a little bit. We’ll do acoustic or a little more rock or a little more funky, just to keep us excited.

A song I love to perform, right now, is a song called I’m Sorry. It’s a song I was really able to pour my heart out in. I just felt really passionate about it. And with my brothers, it’s When You Look Me In The Eyes. That’s a song where people’s eyes really water up and you see couples holding hands. You see how a song has touched them and for me, that’s an amazing feeling.

Well, for me, you just have to play Much Better and Love Bug, which is one of my shower songs. My not-so-guilty pleasures.

Oh, I love it! Those are some of my favorites too. That’s awesome. Thanks, man… Love Bug was also one of my favorite videos to film. It was so much fun.

You went a bit more club-oriented with “Fastlife.” Was it because you were going out more and stuff like that?

Yeah, it’s really a mixture of that and it’s just really a coming-of-age record for me. As I got older, I was able to hang out and hang out with friends and discover music on my own. I felt like that was the kind of vibe I was feeling. I was really proud of that record. I was really happy to create something different because I’d been with my brothers for so long.

The nice thing, again, with creating new music with my brothers is we’ll be able to pull those different inspirations together. Nick and the theatrical stuff he’s done, the club music and dance records that I did, even the inspiration of Kevin… I mean, he’s gotten married since last we wrote. There are a lot of things he’s gone through and is going through — good and bad — and he’ll be able to put that in the music. We’ll all be able to put it together.

A long way from the Year 3000 days.

Exactly. (Laughs)

Okay, so you’re doing (the dating show) The Choice, right?

Yeah, I did one episode. I think people thought it was like The Bachelor a little bit but it really was just for fun and something like The Voice.

(Laughs) The Choice and The Voice?

Exactly. (Laughs) I can’t give away too much but it’s a dating show with a bunch of really nice girls and they have an opportunity to go out on a date with celebrities. So it was a lot of fun. At first I was a little bit, I don’t wanna do a show like this. It’s not really me. But I had so much fun and I think America and maybe the world will think it’s great.

Hopefully, you guys get it over here?

Yeah, we usually get a lot of the shows. Doing a reality show though and your brother doing (the reality show) Married to Jonas kind of opens your lives up to the public. Why the decision to let the public into your lives?

That’s a good question. Yeah, sometimes it’s nice to be able to say you don’t want to talk about this or that in an interview because that’s one thing you keep to yourself. For Kevin and Dani, a lot of the world’s gonna see every second of their life, whether it’s them brushing their teeth or them getting into a fight. Me and Nick are gonna be in and out of the TV show. It’s not really about us. It’s more about their marriage.

But obviously, you know, the one time time I see Kevin five days ago, there were cameras. There’s gonna be a lot of me and my brothers but I think it’s good for Kevin and Dani because they’re really fun to watch. Me and my friends are always laughing because the arguments they get into and the situations and the trips they take are just so elaborate and so funny, we always say, “You need a TV show. You guys are too hilarious.”

For instance, in the trailer, Kevin’s taking longer to get ready than Dani.

Hey he has curls, right? Cut him some slack.

Exactly! I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch.

Okay, after all the press and appearances, what’s one thing you’re looking to do before you leave the Philippines?

See, I don’t know if this still happens but I heard you can get soda in a plastic bag here. (Laughs)

You can. (Turns to Joe’s team) You need to take him there.

And I wanna ride one of those g-peas…

Jeepneys?

Jeepneys! I need to get in on one. I think I have to. And also the motorcycle taxis, the tricycles. Yeah, I’m down for anything. I think we’re doing that (Intramuros) walking tour today (with Carlos Celdran). And then obviously we’ll be bouncing around the city so I’m just going to try to eat as much food as I can. (Laughs)

JOE! JOE! JOE!” the press conference has barely startled and the fans—mostly teenage and pre-teen girls—are going insane. Without a live band, even without his brothers to share stage duties, Joe Jonas has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Serving up energetic versions of solo songs like Just in Love, he proves to anyone doubting the power of a solo Jonas that where teenage girls are concerned, he can still make theme scream.

“I bumped into my theater student and she was crying!” Young STAR’s Christopher De Venecia tells me, when I bump into him. “She was in line for the meet and greet but she didn’t make it to the cut-off. Lines, vines, trying times, and tears? It was definitely an emotional moment for the Jonas faithful. Preview girls Eunice Lucero and Isha Andaya actually ended up taking photos for some of the fans who were too far from the stage to get a good photo. “You’re my husband, Joe! You are!” and “You’re so hot! You’re hotter now!”—out of the mouths of babes.