Nick Interview with CD: UK Mag - http://www.itv.com - Sept 13, 2002
The first time your CD:UK reporter met Nick Carter, he was 15 years old. BSBs hadn't even released a UK single yet. Soon the quiet kid travelled the world. A tutor taught his highschool studies backstage at sold-out shows. He called grown-ups "Ma'am" and "Sir", scoffed burgers, and got oh-so-shy if someone talked about girls.
Seven years, 65 million albums and millions of dollars later, Nick's sitting on a sofa in a LA hotel, set to release his solo single. BSBs are 'on a break'. Now he's out on his own and he knows it.
CD:UK Mag: Nick! Welcome back!
Nick: Thank You. It's good to be back.
CD:UK Mag: How do you feel?
Nick: I'm very excited. I was really nervous before, yeah...(grins bashfully) and I guess I am still really nervous!
CD:UK Mag: Does it feel odd doing interviews on your own?
Nick: It's weird for me. I'm used to having the other guys beside me, all talking. Sometimes I wouldn't have to say anything at all. I could just sit there and listen. Now it's like...(searches over each shoulder and shrugs)
CD:UK Mag: ...You don't have that choice anymore?
Nick: I have no choice. I have to answer all the difficult questions now!
CD:UK Mag: How do you feel about your solo project?
Nick: If excitement was more than a word, then I could tell you how I feel! I dunno how I can describe it. It's like I'm jumping out of a plane with no parachute on.
CD:UK Mag: Is now the right time to do it?
Nick: I've been with the guys since I was 12. I'd dedicated 10 years of my life to the Backstreet Boys.
CD:UK Mag: And now?
Nick: And now I just feel like...I don't know if there was ever going to be a right time, but I feel I have to try. I've been dying to do it for so long, you know it!
CD:UK Mag: If you could win any award for the new album what'd it be?
Nick: The most shocking!
CD:UK Mag: The phrase "more Bon Jovi than Backstreet" is being used about the album. Care to comment?
Nick: I guess it is. The songs are more rock. It's Backstreet, but with a rock twist. Or rock with a Backstreet twist. I've always been a fan of people like, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins...
CD:UK Mag: Who heard the tracks first?
Nick: My friends. We jammed out some of the songs. I do that all the time.
CD:UK Mag: And have the other Backstreet lads heard it?
Nick: Yeah. (sighs) I let them hear it. And they're cool, you know, they're OK. They're down with it a little bit, but it's different to their taste.
CD:UK Mag: Brian said your solo project could damage the band's future. What's your reaction?
Nick: I don't know about that, I heard some rumours. But things have been kind of different within the band for a while now anyway, since some of the guys got married.
CD:UK Mag: But Brian was always your best mate in the group?
Nick: Yeah, he was. And I didn't know what he'd said 'til I read it. But Brian's definately changed a bit. We don't hang out like we used to. He has a wife now. We're just at different stages in life. And that's why I hope the other guys aren't mad at me for doing this.
CD:UK Mag: Do you feel like the guys changed and you didn't?
Nick: Put it this way - I was 20 and wanted to have fun and be crazy. They were all about weddings and stuff. They grew up, they want to have kids. It's really weird for me.
CD:UK Mag: And probably for AJ. You guys hung out more...
Nick: We were party buddies, so, yeah, but he had his own thing going on too.
CD:UK Mag: Did you feel the need to rock out and rebel a bit?
Nick: Oh yeah! I went partying a lot. Sneaked out. Stayed out.
CD:UK Mag: Was there a point in your friendship with AJ where you thought, 'I don't wanna go down that road'?
Nick: I was still partying hard when AJ was in treatment. I was still doing it after AJ stopped, so I guess not.
CD:UK Mag: But you're clean-living now?
Nick: I'm taking care of myself. I just got to a point when I'd had enough. But this wasn't long ago. It was recent.
CD:UK Mag: Well, you're looking good!
Nick: Hey, thanks. I'm trying!
CD:UK Mag: What are your priorities now?
Nick: Work hard with my album. I just wanna be happy and have fun.
CD:UK Mag: Does happy mean dating?
Nick: I haven't had a girlfriend for more than a year. I'm a long way off getting married! If I was dating I'd tell you.
CD:UK Mag: So what does make you most happy these days?
Nick: I've been learning to surf. I'm having a great time with that, I've just taken up tennis too. And I still love video games!
CD:UK Mag: And the day you give up games...
Nick: ...is the day everything stops!
CD:UK Mag: Did you think of doing a Robbie and taking a year out?
Nick: I have too much to do, and too many new things to try. I have loads of energy. I just want to get out there!
CD:UK Mag: Your solo career's not instead of life with BSBs though, yeah?
Nick: Yeah. In a band you have to please everyone. Here, all the ideas are mine. This is what I've always been wanting to say. But I wanna go back to BSB. I don't want it to be over.