When the new wave of boy bands started showing up a few years ago, many in the music press tried to ignore them in hopes they would finally get tired, pack up their matching outfits and go away.
But just the opposite happened.
Instead, the guy group phenomenon has ballooned to proportions no one could have expected. Last year the Backstreet Boys broke first-week sales records by selling more than a million copies of their “Millennium” album in seven days. But last month, ‘N Sync dwarfed that figure by selling 2.5 million copies of “No Strings Attached” in its first week.
Now it is hard to turn on the television or scan a magazine rack without seeing an ‘N Syncer peering back at you.
So last week, when the quintet’s label announced it would be hosting a telephone press conference with a couple of band members, we decided to join the frenzy. Although the conference attracted some of the usual lame-o questions that we have come to expect from boy band chats (see story inside), it also touched on some meatier issues that the boys obligingly addressed.
These include the 5-year-old band’s recent successful lawsuit to cut their ties to boy-band impresario Lou Perlman as well as some controversy over the new songs they wrote for “No Strings Attached.” While these five harmonizing dudes (Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, JC Chasez and Chris Kirkpatrick) are nearly all in their 20s, many of their fans have not even entered their teen years. Finding material that suits them both on this album has posed a bit of a challenge. Here’s an edited transcript of the press conference with Kirkpatrick and Chasez:
Q — For years, you were called Backstreet Boys wannabes and, indeed, young music fans seem to fall into two fiercely loyal camps for one band or the other. So have the recent Backstreet busting sales figures felt like some kind of hard-won triumph?
Chasez–Actually people make a bigger deal out of it than we do. It is not something we concentrate on. We just do what we do day in and day out. We concentrate on our music and our shows. . . . People make a competition out of things but even basketball players don’t go to bed saying, “I hate those other guys.” They just want to be better for themselves.
Q–Were you concerned that “Digital Get Down” (a first-person tale of cyber sex co-written by Chasez on “No Strings Attached”) would offend some parents of your fans?
Chasez–The song idea was brought to me by one of the co-writers. He said, “I’ve got this idea and everyone is talking about it.” So basically we came up with our own version of what it would be like. We tried to take it into the future where you could see everything with Webcams and stuff like that.
Q–Was there any concern about a reference to a woman touching herself in the lyrics?
Chasez–No, we were just speaking our minds. We’re not cussing and swearing and telling people to do this or that. . We are a little past teenagers, even though a lot of people who listen to us are teenagers. But all that we’re doing is saying something that everybody is thinking about at times. It’s not like we’re telling people to go out and do it.
Q–Have you seen “Making the Band” (an ABC series on the making of a boy band) or “2gether” (a TV movie that spoofs boy bands)? And what did you think?
Kirkpatrick–I think “2gether” was a great show because it was poking fun at it and it’s comedy. . . . We make fun of ourselves more than anybody. But I think “Making the Band” is kind of cheesy because that kind of hurts our image and it has nothing to do with us. But since it was made by (Perlman), one of the guys who put money behind us in the beginning, they make it seem like he’s out there, he’s the one who put the group together and he’s the one sitting in choreography rehearsals putting in his input and he’s in vocal rehearsals when in actuality we didn’t talk to him for months at a time. It kind of made it seem like we were that group and it takes away from our credibility.
Q–Have you learned anything from the guys in bands like New Kids on the Block who came before you?
Chasez–Jordan (Knight) toured with us and those guys went through some of the biggest highs and the lowest lows, and from what I can tell from talking to him, he came out a decent person. The one piece of advice that he gave us was “know your power.” When we were going through that lawsuit thing, I just kept that in the back of my head. . People want to take things away from you, but it’s your career so don’t be pushed around.
Q–Has your lawsuit with Perlman left you bitter?
Kirkpatrick–I don’t think the lawsuit left us bitter, but it left us more aware. This is the music business and not the music fun times. So, now, every time someone spends a dollar we ask what they are spending it on. When we are planning our show we try to cut costs and ask if it is going to be worth doing. It has made us a lot more aware of the money side of things.
Q–You say you want to make a movie, but how well do you think singers do as actors?
Chasez–Most bad musicals happen because they tried to get actors to sing. But usually when you see a musical movie, a good singer can make up for a lot of bad acting. If we get crucified, we get crucified because we’re not actors. But we want to bring a different style of music to people, something fun, a change of pace.
Q–You said you want to do less dancing in the future. Why?
Chasez–Cause we’ll be old. These bones won’t be able to take it. I’m in rehearsals now and it’s killing me. We have a lot of sets with a lot of fast songs so when we get older we are going to want to slow it down a bit. This tour is going to be physically exhausting. I think everybody who sees the show will walk away amazed but they will walk away tired. … We are literally now just trying to find places [in the show] where we can breathe.
Q–Do any of you plan to go to college down the line?
Kirkpatrick–I already went to college and I got my associate [degree]. But before I could get my bachelor’s six years ago, the group came up. So I’m done. I think the other guys may take some classes, but Justin still hasn’t finished high school. So when he gets his GED he might move on to college. But if we take any classes, they will be to learn about things we’re interested in.
Chasez–The main reason people go to college is to figure out what they want to do and we pretty much know what we want to do. And so now if we take any classes it would be to enhance our knowledge of what we want to do and I don’t think we need a full degree of some kind.
‘N SYNC ON LIGHTER MATTERS
And now, for the lighter side of our discussion with ‘N Sync.
Q–What was it like to perform at the Oscars?
Chris Kirkpatrick–“It was awesome just to be there . . . We kept saying, `Dude, I recognize that guy from that movie, and I recognize her too!'”
JC Chasez–I must say this, it was fun to perform but it was long sitting through those acceptance speeches.
Q–What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever gotten in the mail?
Chasez–A lot of people have put videos together, but we have also gotten some really creative stuff like placemats made from Gummi bears that are sewn together. [We get] stuff you can’t imagine–cardboard stages with figurines on springs from pens. You should see some of the wild stuff.
Q–Do you have a piece of clothing that is really old and you never want to get rid of?
Kirkpatrick–I have some skate shorts. They’re big, baggy jean-like shorts. They even have a rip in the side from where I’ve wiped out a couple of times. I just love the shorts and I wear them all the time, and just the other day JC said, “Man, how long have you had those shorts?” I’m not going to throw them out, but friends of mine might.
Chasez–I say, burn ’em.
Q–I understand you recently attended a Kiss show. Will you be using any of the elements from their show in yours?
Kirkpatrick–We were thinking about wearing the tight leather suits and the five-foot platforms, but I don’t thinkLance wanted to come out with an axe guitar. I used to like Kiss when I was younger . . . “Dr. Love” is my favorite song of theirs, evah.
Q–If you could meet anybody at any point in history, who would it be?
Chasez–I would have loved to meet a great leader. I would have liked to be around to meet Jesus or Beethoven or Shakespeare . . . You would have hoped to be around them and been inspired by them. If I had to pick one, I would pick Jesus definitely. He has inspired everyone.
Kirkpatrick–I would have also picked Jesus, but if I had to pick someone else it would be Mozart. But I would also have liked to have been back with the knights and chivalry because I am really into chivalry, holding the doors for ladies and things like that. There weren’t that many musicians during that time. It was more madrigal junk then.
Q–You travel a lot. What is one essential piece of luggage for you?
Kirkpatrick–I carry my laptop with me. It is a major part of my luggage because it is my connection to the rest of the world when I am in my little hotel room. It’s pretty pathetic because when we go to cities to do shows we can’t get out and walk around, so, for the most part, we are stuck in our hotel rooms eating hotel food. So we get on-line and figure out what’s new in the news and see what new video games I can destroy.
