"It wasn't suppose
to work," Trevor of O-Town speaks about the show that gave the band their
start, “Making The Band”. "But from day one we have all been on the same
page. We have all wanted to be successful musically. After "Making the
Band" and supposedly being manufactured, we are a successful group."
Now that the days of 'Making the Band' and Lou Pearlman are behind them, O-Town
is looking forward to proving that they truly are talented musicians. "We
put everything into this album. With our last album it was like 'Here's this
song. Go record it. Go to this photo shoot. Here's how it looks.' Basically
everything was just given to us. It was our first album so we really had no say
so," Trevor explains. "This time we really were involved in the
artwork and things like that. We chose where we wanted the photo shoot, who
will take our pictures, the type of layouts, the order of the songs on the cd,
writing songs, producing songs. We have been so involved with the record
company on everything." Asking whether the band is still as satisfied with
their record company, J Records, as they were when they first signed,
"Definitely, extremely," Trevor exclaims. Of course, who wouldn't be
happy with having Clive Davis as their boss.
With the release of their new album titled, "O2" the
band is taking on a new look, attitude, and sound. The guys hope that this
album will finally separate them from the 'boyband' title. As for the new
sound, Trevor tells us that the songs were influenced by their true situations
in life. "Some of the songs in the beginning that we were writing was when
we were stopping "Making the Band". That was a big transition period
for us. 'Man... we're not going to be on TV anymore. We're finally just going
to be music.' And that is when we were really concentrating on writing. Because
it was like 'I don't want to be on TV anymore' and we finally got to just focus
on music. Ashley was doing a lot of songs with guitar, he's a big Third Eye Blind
fan. You can hear it in those songs and R&B and the stuff that we grew up
listening to. I don't think there was anything specific at the time." The
band members take credit for writing several songs on this new album, but they
told us that it wasn't easy. "It was long and there was a lot of
rejection. As a group we wrote over forty songs. We submitted songs that didn't
get submitted for the first album. And a lot of times Clive is just like,
"ehh.. no, no, no" so when you get that first yes you are just so
happy." But, what about those songs that are turned down? "It's
tough," Trevor sighs. "There are some songs that certain people fall
in love with and connect to. And then for it to not make it on the record it's
like 'wow! I wanted this song out and have people hear what I have to say. How
is it going to now?' So, then you have to try to place it somewhere else like
getting it on someone else's album or waiting till next album
and making some changes." Getting their songs on other
albums may not be so tough. Trevor and Dan were surprised to hear that a song
they wrote together called, "Take My Girl From Me" might be turned
into a hip-hop/rap song. "It was really weird. One day me and Dan were with the producer we wrote it
with and he was like 'listen to this' and it was a girl rapper. And she was
rapping verses and then when it came to the chorus she was rapping the chorus
we had written. It was cool though. The beat is really hot. It was the first
time that any of us heard something we did with someone
else."
O-Town's first single from their new album is called, "These Are The Days". The song takes the band to a new level with a sound you might expect to hear from Bon Jovi. "It's kind of depressing, but uplifting at the same time. I don't know if that is possible," Trevor laughs. "We shot the video in a lot of forgotten places like junkyards, old cafes, old hotels, like that. Alot of it is us by ourselves, like me by myself and the guys by themselves and then at the end we finally come together and it uplifts the whole situation."
Though other bands such
as the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC are temporarily parting ways for their
members to breakout as solo artists don't expect O-Town to follow, at least for
a while. "We are just concentrating on O-Town and this second album and
promoting it and getting out on tour. We're excited to have people hear this
new album and our new music. But in the future I know there will be a lot that
comes out of this. I know myself and Ashley always wanted to be actors since we
were real little." When "Making the
Band" premiered we never expected that a truly talented band would evolve,
but it seems we were wrong. As a sophomore album, "O2" is a
masterpiece. While most bands are still trying to figure out where they
"fit in" and who they want to be, O-Town proves that they know where
they want to be and where they are going. - Chad Kennedy, President/CEO