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And gets the lowdown on the U.S. boy band who count her daughters amont their legion of fans.
My introductions to the Backstreet Boys was courtesy of Beatrice and Eugenie on day on the way to school. "Cute group, great clothes," said Eugenie. "One of them wears a hat," said Beatrice. "Great voices," they both chorused from the back of the car.
A few weeks later I found myself at MTV studios, all set to interview the heart-throbs of the teen pop scene. Never one to miss out on a challenge, I soon realized I had quite a task ahead of me.
Several years ago, the boy--A.J. McLean, 20, Howie Dorough, 24, Nick Carter, 18, from Florida, and cousins Kevin Richardson, 25, and Brian Littrell, 22, from Kentucky--were still struggling to find an audience in the U.S.. Now they are mega-stars in Europe where they have clocked up seven Top Ten singles, including Quit Playin' Games (With my Heart) and their current release All I Have to Give. Indeed, Quit Playin' Games (With my Heart) rose to number two in the U.S. and marked their first victory on home turf.
The boys have also won numerous awards including the 1997 European MTV Select Award and the highest accolade in the teen scene--the Smash hits Award for being the best band in the universe. Their latest album Backstreet's Back has sold more than nine million copies worldwide. This was not a group to be taken lightly.
I hadn't planned what questions I was going to ask as I felt spontaneity to be the best course of motion. Any fears I had were quickly eclipsed when I met the boys. Their professionalism, maturity, and solid views on life were immediately apparent and uplifting.
I first asked them to sing their biggest hit for us. They readily agreed and performed As Long as You Love Me a cappella. Afterwards each explained his role in the band.
Brian: I do vocals and have been dabbling a bit with the guitar since last Christmas.
Kevin: I've been playing keyboards since i was about nine years old, and I also do background vocals.
Howie: I play a little guitar and do background vocals.
A.J.: Bass and vocals.
Nick: I've been playing the drums for the last two years.
How did the group come together?
Howie: A.J. and I met eight years ago at a talent contest and we ran into Nick at various auditions. The three of us formed a trio, then we met Kevin and Brian, who are cousins. We've all been together now for five years.
You've traveled all over the world. Where have you enjoyed playing most and where did you get your best reception?
The Boys: Wembley.
Howie: We really enjoyed it and we're getting ready to play there again in March.
What do you hope to accomplish as a group?
Brian: Just to make good music, respectable music, music for people of all ages to enjoy. We're not about a market or an image, we're about good quality music. We believe that as long as we focus on the music and don't get distracted by other things, we'll hopefully be around for a long time.
What kind of impact has fame had on your lives?
Brian: It definitely changes your schedule.
A.J.: We have less time off and we have had to get used to a lot more work. It's been lots of fun and really worth it, even if it's taken a lot of dedication and patience. But we all have strong family backgrounds. With the support of our families, friends and each other, it's been great.
What is it that keeps your feet on the group?
Howie: The five of us.
The Boys: Our moms.
Nick: The best thing is that our mothers aren't afraid to tell us anything.
Kevin: Our management and record company. Our family and friends.
You come across as being very centered and showing great inner strength. Where does that come from?
Howie: Again, that's from our families. We all come from middle-class backgrounds, hard-working whole-some people. We've all worked very hard to get where we are today and we appreciate very much what we have. We never take anything for granted. We know that we still have a lot of goals to reach.
Were you prepared for the sudden loss of privacy that comes with fame?
Nick: We knew that was something that was going to come with the territory. But I ask think we're big hams. We love the attention.
Howie: It's not such a bad thing to have lots of screaming girls out there.
Kevin: It was sort of strange at first. Our popularity in Europe was so big and the number of fans was amazing. Our success started there. We would leave Europe and have a couple of hundred fans at the airport. Then we would come home to the U.s. and have no one know who we were. Now our music and popularity int he States is beginning to grow, so that gap is getting smaller and there are fewer places we can go and not be recognized. It's very exciting, but scary at the same time.
How do you feel about the tabloid press?
Brian: It's funny. when you see things in the paper at the supermarket, you wonder how it's possible they can write such stuff. And when you realize that what they write about you isn't true, it's pretty hard to even look at what they write about anyone else.
So many bands break up soon after their initial success. How will you avoid that?
Nick: That's one goal which goes agains the odss. but I believe that as long as we keep communicating, we will beat them.
Kevin: There are five of us. We know that we are five individuals and we have to allow each other to be himself as well as a group. Eventually, there may come a time when we might want to take a break and each do our own thing for a while. When that time comes, we'll sit down as a group and decide what will happen.
Brian: We'll never call it quits, that's just not possible.
Where did the name Backstreet Boys come from?
Kevin: A place in Orlando called the Backstreet Market where we used to perform. when there wasn't anything going on there, kids would still go in their cars and just listen to music. The word "boys" is also slang in the states for friends, and that's what we are.
How do you feel about your responsibility as role models to the younger generation?
Howie: We never set out to be role models. We're just five guys who love music. The Man Above has blessed us with talent and we're just trying to share taht with the rest of the world.
Music can be so healing can't it?
The Boys: It's the universal language.
Kevin: Absolutely. We received a letter once from a woman who had recently lost her husband and she wrote that our music helped bring her and her daughter close. That's the kind of thing that makes it worthwhile.
A lot of people may say that what you're doing is easy. What has it taken for all of you to get where you are today?
Howie: Two years of practice six days a week, small tours of schools around the States and then, after we signed with Jive Records, there were three years of touring. People have this misconception that we do a show, go to a party, sleep in the next day, go shopping, lie by the pool, and go do the next show. But we haven't seen that yet. Mostly, when everyone else is at the party, we're on our way to the next gig, getting there with barely enought time to shower and rehease before going on.
Where do you see yourselves in the year 2000?
Brian: Hopefully, performing for about 250,000 people somewhere. Still working together, still writing, and still at the top of the charts.
Why do you think peole like you so much?
The Boys: Hopefully it's the music.
Howie: It's all about the music.
What would you like people to know about you?
Kevin: That we've had the benefit of co-writing our songs with good songwriters and producers who we've learned a lot from--their experience has helped us to grow. That we are not just pretty faces. That we sing and that we are artists who are constantly striving to get better.
Howie: We are simply five normal guys and what you see is what you get. The people that you see on the cover of the CD are the same people that you see on the stage and, even more importantly, the same people you would meet at the side of the road. We keep it simple and honest. Honesty is the biggest part.
Brian: There are no "fronts" about us.
Well, it's "fronts" that ultimately fail.
Howie: That's why we plan on being around for a long time.
If you had a chance to spread a message to your audience, what would it be?
Nick: Dreams. If you have one and want to succeed, just don't give up. That's how we got where we are today. We kept striving and working and never gave up.
Howie: We also hope to bring universal harmony to all countries through our music and help bring them closer together. Harmony and peace.
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