Boys To Men - AJ and Howie interview
Come of age and they're ready to diss anyone who stands in their way, 
from 'N 
Sync to former managers to critics who dare say they're just another 
boy band.

worldpop: Do you still not consider yourselves a boy band?

AJ: We never once considered ourselves a boy band, we've always 
considered 
ourselves to be a vocal harmony group - a true singing group. But when 
we 
came over to Europe for the very first time, we got thrown into this big 
melting pot under the boy band title, which really sucked because it 
limits 
you. 

worldpop: So does the boy band label really wind you up?

AJ: As long as people know we are for real, eventually they will start 
distinguishing us. There are so many groups like us I can't even count 
them 
all on both my hands and my feet! There's just so many but we were 
the first, 
so take it for what it is!

worldpop: How did you feel when 'N Sync broke your record for fastest-
selling 
CD with their No Strings Attached album?

Howie D: I think it was inevitable. There was a lot of hype behind it. I 
expected them to break our record because we put our album out during 
one of 
the harder times of the year and theirs came out with perfect timing. It 
was 
a perfect set-up so if they didn't break it then something must have been 
wrong. 

worldpop: Were you glued to the charts when the album was released?

AJ: No. It doesn't matter if some other group outsells us or breaks our 
record because at the end of the day it's how good the music is. I don't 
care 
if you sell 10 million albums the first week cos you might not sell 
another 
album ever after that. All we're focussing on right now is taking the next 
four months to try to top ourselves and put out an incredible album

worldpop: You've already begun work on your follow-up to Millennium, 
how did 
you find writing on your own for the first time?

AJ: We're not professional writers, producers, engineers or musicians. 
We're 
singers and we're artists. There are people who train their whole lives to 
learn how to use a mixing board, to play a bass guitar, to become 
producers 
and we need to kind of suck in all that stuff just to learn from it. 

worldpop: You did some writing in the Bahamas didn't you?

Howie D: Yeah, it was our very first writing trip together. We were 
down 
there for 12 days and we got about eight songs done that we wrote and 
produced ourselves. We played all the music except for piano and guitar 
here 
and there. 

worldpop: Why did you choose the Bahamas?

AJ: We wanted some place remote where we wouldn't be recognized 
and we could 
brainstorm. We had so many ideas - as soon as Howie finished writing a 
song, 
Nick was there writing a song and when Nick was done, I was writing a 
song. It
 was a constant process of writing music 

worldpop: Are you pleased with the results?

Howie D: We got a lot of good stuff too, I think every song we did 
should be 
on the album. And we're gonna do it again soon in the UK. 

worldpop: Did you invite your girlfriends to join you?

AJ: No, we had our own house on a private beach and nobody brought 
their 
girlfriends or fiancées so it was just us five. We got to bond again, we 
got 
to be a family. 

worldpop: Why did you decide to let fans choose your new single?

Howie D: AJ had the idea of letting the fans choose the fourth and final 
single from Millennium. It was between The One, Don't Want You Back 
and Don't 
Wanna Lose You Now and the fans chose The One. Originally we had a 
different 
idea for the video but when we looked at our tour footage we realised 
we had 
a lot of great material on there.

worldpop: How did you survive the situation a year ago when you 
changed 
management and your future was marred by lawsuits?

Howie D: The five of us bonded together cos we knew at the end of the 
day, no 
matter what happens, it's only the five of us that make the final 
decisions.

AJ: Tour managers come and go, dancers come and go, bands come and 
go but 
we're gonna be here forever and we needed to stay locked in tight and 
not let 
it get to us. Believe me, there was many times when all five of us got 
fed up 
and said, 'You know what, this is not fun any more. Why do this any 
more?' 
but then Howie said, 'You know what? We can do this, we can get 
through 
this,' and we did.