Teen Machine December 2000 Page 66-67
Thanks to the LMNT Girls' site!

What elements are necessary to create a successful group? Just ask Bryan, Mike, Ikaika and Matt--a.k.a. LMNT. Teen Machine caught up with the guys to discover more about this earthy quartet!

When the five finalists for the group O-Town were chosen on ABC's Making The Band, Bryan Chan and Mike Miller didn't make it. However, they didn't let that ruin their dreams of becoming pop singers. They took matters into their own hands and decided to form their own band.

The pair set out to find an additional member for the group. This was right about the time that Ikaika Kahoano-- a friend from Making The Band who actually made it--decided to quit O-Town. "I thought that was a good opportunity, so we approached Ikaika," recalls Bryan. Ikaika, however, said he needed some time to think about it.

Undiscouraged, Bryan and Mike started auditioning potential bandmates in New York, California, and Dallas. At one tryout, they met former Broadway actor Matt Morrison. "We met Matt and the minute he walked in the door--we were like, 'Yeah,'" says Bryan.

Mike remembers feeling a little bummed. "I'm just sitting on the couch and I'm just upset because it's been like a month that we were looking for someone--and it was just not working. I'm thinking this could be so much better," he says. "Matt walks in and I looked him up and down--cause he's like 6-feet tall--and I'm like, 'You're in and oh, by the way, you have to sing for us.'"

After acquiring Matt, everything else seemed to fall right into place. "The next day Ikaika called and said, 'Are you still looking for a fourth member?'" remembers Mike. "And we said, 'Well there are three of us now.' So we took a little bit of time and said, 'Sure, come on board!' It's been going perfect ever since."

The foursome chose New York City as their new home base and settled into a house in nearby Hoboken, New Jersey.

The first order of band business was deciding what to call themselves. The guys asked kids on the Internet for inspiration. "Some of [the names] were kind of cheesy," remembers Matt. "Like Frontstreet Boys and Frontstreet Guys and Erotica Boys. Some really bad ones, but a lot of really good ones too." One of the entries was Element. "I went to the dictionary when I saw Element," explains Matt. "And there are four things that make up the Earth--earth, wind, fire, and water. There are four of us and we all kind of represent different things and we all came together to form one thing. It's so symbolic." To spice up the title, the guys decided to use capital letters spelling out the name the way people say it. "Four letters, four guys--it's just cool," says Mike.

Right now LMNT is rehearsing hard--about 10 hours a day--to perfect their act. The guys have recorded four songs that they are shopping around to record lables. "I think, at this point, our next goal is to secure a label and continue working on the rest of our CD--and just get it out as quickly as possible," says Bryan. When asked to describe LMNT's sound, Mike says, "If we could take Boys II Men, Michael Jackson, and 98 Degrees and mix them all up, I think you would have our sound."

Mike, additionally, can't wait to perform live for fans. "When we went to see the 'NSYNC concert I was watching the fans' faces and I was like, 'I want that!'" gushes Mike. They are already working on moves to make future live shows spectacular. Matt brought in a choreographer he worked with on the Broadway musical Footloose to jazz up their act and they even have a secret weapon--gymnastics! Following Matt's suggestion, they guys signed up for lessons and are trying to master the sport. "We're learning how to flip and stuff to incorporate that into the show and add another twist," says Mike.

With so many male pop vocal groups out there, what's going to separate LMNT from the rest? "We've put together four guys that are obviously very different and we hope that the sound and image that we project is going to be different. We're going to do that by just being ourselves and doing what we know."

Ikaika sums it up best by saying, "We are all very focused as a group and we are mentally on the same page, and we want to be successful and we are stopping at nothing to do that!"