Q & A with NICK CARTER - Teen People - Sept 2002

THE BACKSTREET BOY TALKS ABOUT THE UPS AND DOWNS OF GOING IT ALONE -- IN BOTH HIS MUSIC AND LOVE LIFE

Nick Carter - the cute one, the young one, the Backstreet Boy most likely to go solo - is finally doing it. Nick, 22, has been holed up in a Swedish recording studio with veteran Backstreet/'Nsync/Britney writer-producer Max Martin, readying his solo debut for release in October. In addition to playing drums on several tracks, Nick, who's from Tampa, says this time he's writing rock-influenced songs inspired by "all the stuff that's been happening to me," including an arrest last January for resisting an officer without violence in a Tampa nightclub. Speaking via telephone from Stockholm, Nick was in good spirits, although he admited to recent bouts of loneliness.

You love Journey, Bryan Adams and playing the drums. When did this midlife crisis start?
When I grew up, my mom and dad always played that music around the house, so it's probably a parental thing. I don't know if I'm an old soul, but I like history, I love old stuff.

Do you play drums on your solo album?
I'm getting ready to lay down some drums right now. I'm probably gonna have 50 tracks done before we even start to pick. I'm busting my ass.

What does the album sound like?
I'm trying to put my rock influence in, big time. A lot of the rock nowadays, you know, everybody's digging Linkin Park and all that stuff, but I want to bring more of a pop essence to the rock, but still keep it from being corny. I'm definitely pushing the envelope.

Is it hard being the youngest in the band at this stage, when two of the guys are married?
It's a little different because some of the guys are more settled down, and they're not crazy like I am.

What kind of crazy are you?
I like being 22. I like to have fun. I'm not perfect, I don't do everything right. I do what a normal kid in college would do, except I want to rock out.

You've insisted that you didn't do anything wrong during the incident that led to your arrest over New Year's, but you ended up agreeing to a pretrial intervention program. Why didn't you take your case to court and prove your innocence?
There are a lot of reasons. Number one: I had to start recording. If I did take it to that level, I would probably be taking up a lot of time doing unnecessary stuff in court. And then, when they told me what I was going to do in order to get the case to go away, I was like, "Cool." I get to go visit some sick kids in a hospital? I'd love to do that anyway. So that's what I did. And at the end of the day, when I got out of the hospital, I felt like God straight up put me in the position to do that. I'm the kind of person who thinks things happen for a reason.

As part of the pretrial intervention, you had to write a letter to your arresting officer. What did you say to him?
I said, "Hey, if there was any misunderstanding, I apologize." I'm not the kind of person to have an attitude. If I did something or if he felt like I did something, then I'm sorry. 'Cause at the end of the day it's what he thought. I know the situation that happened but, hey, it's all right. I know when to say sorry.

In the past you've said that girlfriends take time you don't have. Do you have time now?
I don't know. I've got a problem, man. It's hard to trust people. You wonder what they want, what they're after. That's why I've been single for a year. I'm kind of scared [of] the whole situation with dating somebody. [Nick dated singer Willaford for about two years.]

You sound lonely.
I"m lonely, but I'm content with the way I feel. I've got my friends, and I'm just chilling, writing music. Ain't no man gonna say he ain't lonely. But things will happen the way they're supposed to.