Carter: 'We won't be raunchy like GaGa'

Saturday, July 25 2009, 16:42 BST

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a1672 … -gaga.html

New Nick Interview

Call them bubblegum. Call them a boy band. Call them, well seeing as how they’re much older than any Jonas, Backstreet Men. It doesn’t matter to Nick Carter so long as people keep listening to their unapologetic dance pop music and buying their records. “Words can’t describe the way I feel,” the Backstreet Boy said of his band’s forthcoming new album “This Is Us” – out Oct. 6. “Everything just fit like a glove.” The band’s seventh studio album is vintage Backstreet: infectious dance tracks (like first single “Straight Through My Heart”) to killer ballads but with a twist. The producers and writers on the album include T-Pain, Max Martin, RedOne, and Soulshock. Impressive, and Carter knows it. I spoke with him late last month about the record, and how he and bandmates (Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean) have managed to stick together no matter how many times they’ve been thrown under a bus (especially Carter).

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from you guys. What was the logic going into the studio this time out?

It’s been a little while. We found this out in the past – when you over think something in the recording process, it just sort of gets a little muddled. This was just the right amount of time. We just immediately had a direction we went in. We did only 25-30 songs in the demo recording process. [The album has 11 cuts.]

What are your hopes at this point for the album? Yet another hit single or acclaim?

Honestly if we have success of this in a commercial way that’d be great, but I think the music just feels so good that we just want to take it to the stage, and perform this amazing show on the caliber of great artists like Michael Jackson, Janet and Britney. We want to do what we do best and that’s entertain. That’s our main goal: [to] reach out to people who are fans, and people who were fans. We want them to come to a show with their families, girlfriends, boyfriends and have a freakin’ blast in a time where honestly there’s not a lot of great performances anymore.

Not too many great performances?

Sure there’s bands. I love rock bands — guitar and drums — but we’re bringing four dancers on the road, having a magnificent million dollar stage — on a level like only a certain amount of pop artists can do. We’re dancing again. We’re in great shape. Madonna does stuff like that as well, but we’re younger than Madonna. We’re younger than Janet. We’re younger than the late Mike [Jackson]. We still have got a lot to offer.

How have you guys evolved throughout your career? You guys are all grown men now.

The good thing about us is we can always sing love songs. The majority of our songs are the good side of love or the bad side of love. We never get too political on issues that have gone on. We don’t tend to put them in our songs as much, because who wants to hear that from a boy band? We just want to create music people can dance to, and [let people] just smile and forget about the problems. We’re not a candidate to be president or anything.

You don’t mind the label of boy band?

Call us whatever you want to call us. We really don’t care anymore. I think when you put the title of “boy band” it’s looked at as some kind of negative but we have gotten positives.

What’s your secret to staying together for so long?

We’re all group guys and love pop music that’s all it is. We have a common goal and we’re entertainers. We’re performers and we love being on stage singing, and love creating that next album.

You’ve been through the ringer with tabloids — how do you all; stay focused on the music and drown out the noise?

It really doesn’t matter what others think. If we start worrying about the outside world too much then it starts to affect your decision making. You’ve got to dig down deep enough, and know what you’ve done for the past 17 years been together.

And you guys all learn from your mistakes and it makes your relationship stronger?

Yeah exactly that’s what it’s all about: evolving. We’ve always been a little sheltered — stepping out here and just learning.

Are you guys often bothered to give advice for today’s boy bands like the Jonas Brothers or whoever?

They ask advice. Ultimately, everyone has their own path and everybody’s life is different. I mean there’s some fundamentals that you should take into consideration when it comes to career. Always pay attention to history. It’ll teach you not what to do.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/28602

Коротко, о чем идет речь.
Добро пожаловать в SportsNation! В среду номинирующие на Грэмми BSB зайдут, чтобы рассказать о своем новом альбоме, о своих достижениях. Немножко об истории группы, об уходе Кевина..., о новом звучании альбома, который выйдет 6 октября...
BSB дебютируют новый материал в семинедельном европейском туре, который начнётся 30 октября в Лиссабоне, в поддержку их нового альбома.
Отправьте свои вопросы и присоединитесь к Нику, Howie, Брайану, и AJ в среду в 12:30... Типа того...

The Boys are back in Biloxi - Interview with AJ McLean

Together almost 20 years, Backstreet Boys Nick Carter, Howie Donough, Brian Littrell and AJ McLean have sold more than 76 million records worldwide.

But while probably still best known for their successes in the late 1990s, the band is not standing still.

As they kick off their 37-stop tour of the U.S. and Canada, AJ McLean took time to talk with the Sun Herald recently about what the band is up to and what fans can expect when they appear at the IP in Biloxi on June 4.

What’s life on the road like? Do you love it or hate it?

Life on road, it’s kind of a love-hate relationship. I love what I do, it’s all I know, and I absolutely love being on stage. I love to perform for people. But now you know, I’m getting older, I got engaged, I am starting a life of my own. It’s different — I’ve got my own house, my dogs, and when I’m on the road for too long, it gets a little hard.

When I’m home, I enjoy being in my house. I don’t want to go out. I just veg at my house, work out, play video games and write music, really.

When I’m on the road, I try to take the crew out for golf, or dinner, or do things like that. I’ve really gotten back into photography as a hobby.

I’ll get up in the morning, go out and walk around, especially if it’s a place I haven’t been to before or a place I’ve been to but not really seen, and take my camera, look around, take random pictures of random people and cool stuff. I’d like to put together a coffee table book or something like that.

What’s next for the Backstreet Boys? Another album?

We are going back into the studio in September to work on the next record and we have some pretty big surprises for that — which we can’t talk about just yet, but I’m sure after say, the (June 8) Boston show, people will have an idea about that.

Hmm, that’s cryptic, could it be a collaboration, perhaps?

Possibly….

Or maybe a new sound?

Maybe a little bit of both. We’ve just started talking about what direction we want the next record to go in. You know when you continue to grow, obviously our (fan) demographic now is 25-45, we’re a little older, they’re a little older.

Granted, we still have a lot young people who come to our shows, but our core audience is older, so probably leaning toward a little more of a grown-up sound, maybe a little Eagles-ish. We’re trying to keep that longevity going, permanently putting our feet in the ground and saying, we’re here today, coming up on 20 years, and it’s good.

Who are your influences these days, who are you listening to?

The Temper Trap, One Republic, Muse — a little of everything. I go online and seeing who’s new.

I’m a bit obsessed right now with the one kid, I don’t know his name, the kid that just got the record deal with Ellen DeGeneres, who did Paparazzi. He is sick, he’s amazing. I’m sure we are all gonna know his name soon.

But I’m all over the board. My iPod is all over the map, everything from Enya to Nine Inch Nails to a lot of old Johnny Cash.

It’s crazy, and I try to bring all the sounds I listen to, to bring it into the studio. So if there’s a song that one of us writes, and we listen to it, one of us might say, you know, I see that going more Johnny Cash, or more Prince, or whatever.

When you come together, and you all have your own perspectives, does that mean you have to compromise, you know how they say a compromise means nobody’s happy, or is there a common thread?

Definitely with the rest of the guys there is a common ground. We all have very eclectic selection on our iPods. Like Brian listens to everything from Frank Sinatra to rock and roll, …Black Sabbath, whoever, and that’s why we have a unique sound, because we all bring different elements to the table and we find the common ground.

So what can folks expect when you come to the IP? Is it very different from the old style?

It’s very different from the old stuff. About 85 percent of the show is dancing, start to finish, straight music start to finish, there’re no breaks. We don’t have a band this time; we have four female dancers and a DJ. One of my favorite parts of the show are the four films that we taped and transposed ourselves into — I’m in “Fight Club” and “The Matrix,” Brian’s in the “Enchanted,” Howie’s in “Fast & Furious” — we utilize those films for quick change time, and we changed the dialogue so it’s really funny, and really cool.

It’s a really well-rounded show — we do about three quarters of the new CD, and every one of the “Chapter 1 Greatest Hits”.

Be prepared for an absolutely amazing kick-a-- show, and thanks for all the love and support for all the years.

We are anxious to come to Biloxi for this show — bring the whole family out and get ready for two hours of entertainment.

Larger Than life: Boy band? Maybe. Phenomenon? Yes. Backstreet's back

The Backstreet Boys find themselves at a career crossroads. Part of the wave of early '90s boy bands, they have recently parted ways with Jive Records, their label of 17 years, and are exploring what comes next.

The group, although never a critical favorite for its brand of dance-pop, nonetheless has sold 130 million records and tallied seven Top 10 albums, including last year's "This Is Us."

For now, the show goes on for the four remaining Boys - Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J. McLean - who are performing this weekend at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. (The fifth member, Kevin Richardson, left in 2006.)

Ahead of their stop, McLean talked about how the quartet might reinvent itself and why after all these years the term "boy band" no longer has quite the same sting.

Question: Are you still pulling out the dance stops for your live shows?

Answer: It's nonstop dancing from start to finish … We spend a month and half in dance rehearsals really preparing for the show.

Q: How have you adjusted to not having Kevin Richardson in the lineup?

A: At first, going into the studio making the "Unbreakable" CD without Kevin was a little weird. It was a little awkward having to re-block things. When it was five of us, one guy would have the forefront and the four dancing behind us. Now everybody is dancing at all times. Everything is done more as a unit now.

Q: What's next for the group, now that you've left your longtime label, Jive?

A: There's the possibility of moving to a new label or doing a straight distribution deal. The upside is we have the freedom to do whatever we want, to be much more creative, as artists and as performers. We now have the freedom to do whatever we want. If we go with another label, we may have another outlook on the next 17 years for our career.

A lot of us have been talking about playing instruments again, maybe going the Beatles route. We have always emulated groups such as the Stones, the Beatles and the Eagles.

Who knows what could be the future of the Backstreet Boys? The concepts and ideas are infinitely limitless.

Q: But it sounds as though you're in this for the long haul?

A: We're going to keep making music until we don't want to do it anymore. We have the best fans in the world, and we don't foresee (an end) happening. Each of us has individual aspirations. I'm sure after our next album, we'll take a (much)-needed break.

Q: Your solo record, "Have It All," is already out in Japan and will be released in Europe, Canada and the U.S. later this year. How does it compare to Backstreet Boys' material?

A: It's a real personal record. When I started writing, I tried to write straight, up-the-middle pop. But it became this therapeutic process. It's about the relationship I don't have with my biological father and my relationship issues with girls.

There's no proper love song on the record - there's the anti-love song. It's a record guys especially can relate to. I'm really proud of it and anxious for the rest of the world to hear it.

Q: Backstreet Boys are forever linked to the '9
0s boy-band phenomenon. How do you feel about the term, and do you think it still applies?

A: We qualified ourselves as a vocal harmony group such as The Temptations and Boyz II Men. At first, we didn't like being called a boy band - that meant two guys that sing and the rest of the guys were pretty faces. In Backstreet Boys, each of us can sing, and we're all equally talented.

Nowadays, if you want to call us a boy band, we're kind of over it. It makes us feel as though we're young again. You know what - just call us.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/ats/ … 50f92.html

Интервью с Ником: Информация о его втором сольном альбоме

Все мы знаем, что Ник Картер в настоящее время записывает второй сольный альбом, который предполагает выпустить в октябре этого года.
Ник прокомментировал ...

Это второй сольный альбом. Каковы отличия от первого?
Ник: Тип и стиль- выросли и созрели музыкально во мне. Стиль стал немного сложнее.

Сколько песен вы написали? О чем эти песни?
Ник: Я записал  7 или 8 песен, которые говорят о любви и отношениях в целом, о дружелюбии.

Какой будет обложка?
Ник: Это тайна ... sssshhhh (смеется)

Как ты думаешь, где он выстрелит в первую очередь?
Ник: Диск будет взрывной, и выстрелит сначала в Европе и Азии.

Какая твоя любимая песня?
Ник: Я все еще должен ждать выхода альбома. И определить, какой первый сингл.

Когда ты выпустишь первый сингл?
Ник: Очень скоро, как закончу запись альбома, начну выбирать первый сингл.

Ты считаешь, что в какой-то момент ты можешь создавать собственные фильмы?
Ник: Я бы сказал, да.

Можешь назвать некоторые песни из будущего альбома? Сколько их будет?
Ник: Скоро узнаете, это всё ещё тайна. Возможно 14 треков.

Собираешься ли ты включать в новый альбом песню  "Great Divide" ?
Ник: Да ... hhmmm ... На этом всё! Достаточно? (Смеется.)

Да. Большое спасибо!
Вот названия некоторых треков, которые просочились:
- Scream
- Don’t know why
- Restless
- Never Surrender
- I’ve been looking for you
- Everything Will Be Ok
- Pass Me The Rock
- Prisoner
- Relax

http://www.backstreetboys.cl/main/entre … tario.html