Backstreet's Back, Alright

Backstreet's Back, Alright
Backstreet Boys are back in form
By SHARMILA NAIR

IF YOU ever get the chance to meet the Backstreet Boys in person, do not blow it by asking them when they’re planning to change the group’s name to Backstreet Men. That is one question they really don’t want to hear again.

Fortunately, I escaped their annoyance because my first interview question to them was, “Which questions are you sick of already and don’t want me to ask?” Besides the one above, the other question the boys wanted me to refrain from was, “How is this album different compared to the previous ones?”

Good thing I asked that first question, then. The band was in Singapore recently for the listening party of their latest album, This Is Us.

As I walked into the room, I could hear Brian Littrell and Nick Carter singing away (Howie Dorough and Alexander ‘AJ’ McLean were being interviewed in a separate room).

And so I asked, “Do you guys have to sing everything out?”, to which Brian replied with a long and high-pitched “Yessssss.”

The Backstreet Boys were in Singapore recently for the listening party of their latest album This Is Us.

Considered the talkative ones in the quartet, Brian and Nick seemed a little tired and worn-out during the interview, most probably because they were still jet-lagged from their long plane ride. The boys had earlier Tweeted, “About to take off. Singapore here we come. We’ve got a 14 hour flight to Hong Kong first. Oh man ... this is going to be a long night!!!”, from their official Twitter account.

Nevertheless, they were still game for a short chat and spoke about everything – from Michael Jackson’s death to how Nick doesn’t want to ever get married to how AJ is the “conflicting” one in the group.

They also shared the reason why, despite having lots of money in their bank accounts, adoring fan and monumnetal fame around the world, they are still slogging it out in the studios to release a new album.

“This is fun. You know, we make music because we’re passionate about making music. We get to travel the world and see all our fans,” said Brian.

For their latest album, the Backstreet Boys worked with new producers and artists such as T-Pain and Pitbull, and they’re excited with the new sound that they brought to their songs.

“It’s exciting to get into the studio with the new producers and things were just falling into place. It didn’t seem like we were hitting any kind of wall and it just flowed because it was the right thing to do.” The duo was also looking forward to sharing their album with their fans.

“When we play it for our frigging family and friends, they are like ‘Nyeh’ and ‘Whatever’, but when a fan or a critic hears the songs and likes it and you hear their feedback, that’s the exciting part,” said Nick.

Brian added that if there ever is a day that they don’t find it all fun any more, they’ll definitely quit the music industry. Don’t worry folks, that day is nowhere in sight for the moment.

“As of right now, it is still a lot of fun to go through the highs and the lows of the business. Besides, we’ve been doing this for a long time, so it’s pretty much all we know,” he added.

When the band first started out in the music business, they had competition from other singers their age like N*Sync, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. These days, though, the industry is filled with the Miley Cyruses, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swifts who are yet to reach their twenties.

However, the Backstreet Boys don’t see these young teeny-boppers as competition, and they mean it in a nice way.

“Not to say that we’re in a league of our own, but we’re in a different time-frame of music. We’ve always stuck to what we do. There are outside forces who tell us we have to be that or do that, but we stay clear from that.

“We started in the music business when we were still making vinyl records. Then it went to cassettes, then it went to CDs and now it’s over the Internet. The music business has changed tremendously since we started and all we can do is do is just keep doing what we do,” said Brian.

After more than 16 years in the music industry, they are also aware of the changes in expectations. They acknowledge the fact that now, the industry and fans are more interested in an artiste’s personal life than their talent.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to be who we are and do what we do. It’s unfortunate that people (I’m not trying to compare ourselves to Michael Jackson) dogged Mike until the day he died,” said Nick.

He went on to say that after the legendary performer’s death, people in the industry and fans were like, “Oh, we love Mike again,” when in fact that some of them didn’t even want him in the country.

At this point, Nick took up an empty cup that was by his side, and used a marker to draw a ‘frowny’ face on it, to emote his feelings about the whole situation.

“Sometimes, you just don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. That’s just human nature. But we can’t pay attention to that, cause we’d probably go insane. So, we just have to live and love in the moment,” added Nick.

Brian shared that the hospital where Michael’s body was taken to was right down the street from his home in Los Angeles, California.

“I was in disbelief when I first heard the news. I didn’t think it was true and I turned on the news and saw all the helicopters around the hospital. It was crazy,” he said.

Nick, like many other Michael fans, was in shock and couldn’t comprehend the sudden loss of a superstar.

“Mike named one of his album Invincible and he gave the perception, which I believed that and I think the world believed, that he couldn’t be destroyed. But when something like that happens, it hits you and you go ‘Wait a minute, we are humans, flesh and blood, and it can all go away. Whenever God wants to take you away’,” he said.

The boys quickly snapped out of the sombre topic and discussed about all the good things that have happened to them during the time they’ve been together.

One of it, Nick said was that he’s a better dancer now compared to when he first started. Nevertheless, he doesn’t want to compete with his brother when it comes to that department seeing that Aaron is doing so well in Dancing With The Stars competition.

“I don’t wanna try to beat my brother. He’s in his own category and he’s doing what he does. I’m a singer first and always have been.”

Brian, on the other hand, believes that after all these years, they’ve gotten better as being a team.

“There was a time when we were headed in different direction but now, the one thing that keeps us together now is that we’re seeing the same thing. I think that we’re better at sticking together and having each other’s backs,” he said.

Source : Got Backstreet?

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