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ON THE COUCH WITH: Backstreet Boys

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ARTIST INTERVIEW

Access All Areas.net.au: Hey, Howie. Where are we chatting to you from?
Howie: Hey, how you doing? I’m actually in my home town, Orlando Florida. We had the holidays off and I had the chance to come back and spend some time with my family before we take off on tour again in February.

Access All Areas.net.au: Have you got a lot of Aussie press today?
Howie: Yeah. I don’t mind. I love it. I can’t wait to get down there. You guys are amazing. We’ve always had so much fun there. Australia is one of my favourite places in the world. So I’m excited about it.

Access All Areas.net.au: The Backstreet Boys was actually my first ever album as a kid back when it seemed the music pop culture was taking over the world.
Howie: Wow, that’s awesome. Thank you. I’m flattered.

Access All Areas.net.au: What was it like for you going through that – being introduced to the music biz in such sensational fashion?
Howie: The fact that we’ve been together for 17 years is to me just an unbelievable accomplishment. It’s been like a marriage. A lot of marriages I know haven’t been able to stand the test of time. I’m just blessed that I’m in the group I’m in and we’ve had the success we’ve had. We’re still hungry and strong, looking forward to more and more of the future.

Access All Areas.net.au: Were you only 19 or so when it all began?
Howie: I was. I was 19 believe it or not. Looking back on it, I was just a young wee lad.

Access All Areas.net.au: So what was that like for you being so young with the band exploding onto the music scene like it did?
Howie: I was so excited; I thought I’d won the lottery. I still think I’ve won the lottery. (laughs) It’s amazing. I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity that I’ve had. What guy wouldn’t want to be travelling around the world seeing a bunch of screaming women and having a chance to see the world? It’s just been amazing. My 20s were the most memorable years I’ll ever have.

Access All Areas.net.au: Nsync, Britney Spears and acts alike were breaking round the same time. Was it competitive with those artists or were you fans of those guys as well?
Howie: We all came from the Orlando area. Even Nsync, I went to college with one of the guys Chris Kirkpatrick. We sat right next to each other in choir. We’re all kind of from the Orlando area. It was never any competition. If anything it was more a friendly competition. They’ve always had their fans, we’ve had our fans. Sometimes they were the same fans, sometimes they weren’t. It was always the ‘what’s good for one is good for all’ thing. It was good for all of us.

Access All Areas.net.au: You’ve spent half your life now in this band now. So how would you describe the lifestyle to those who can only dream of it?
Howie: It’s pretty much whatever you make of it. I’m very blessed that I have a very grounded family who have kept me on my feet. They always set me to the ground. It’s made me appreciate and understand the business for what it’s worth. It’s an amazing opportunity I’ve had. I definitely can’t say enough I’ve been very blessed. It’s really amazing.

Access All Areas.net.au: The ‘This Is Us’ tour is coming to Australia in March. After all these years, does another world tour and trip down under still excite you guys like it did?
Howie: We love touring. For me, that’s where I come alive. Touring was where I was meant to be forever. We have a great show. It’s a Millennium type show with a great, amazing stage. We have four unbelievable dancers with us, a DJ and a lot of gags. It’s a 2 hour entertaining show, from beginning to end. We’re going to hopefully offer (the fans) out of their chairs and on their feet from top to bottom.

Access All Areas.net.au: How do you make the shows better each time?
Howie: We come up with most of the ideas for our tours. We just challenge ourselves. We go watch other concerts…we’re all just creative individuals. We’re all an artist in our own minds. We try and top ourselves and think of what hasn’t been done. Or what has been done, maybe having a twist on it.

Access All Areas.net.au: When you have so many songs to choose from, how do you come up with the set list for this tour?
Howie: That’s the tough part. That is really tough. Sometimes we put together medleys because we’ve had a lot of success songs that people want to hear. To fit them all in a 2 hour show, you have to be creative. We even actually re-vamp some of our songs so they’re still fresh and current for us. Some of the songs we’ve sang for over 15 years. I’m very proud of it. I think we’ve done a great job. Every time we do a tour I always just feel, oh boy how are we going to fit all these songs plus the new album? Somehow we did it.

Access All Areas.net.au: Is it a different vibe going on tour without Kevin?
Howie: Yeah, definitely. Kevin was like a father figure for all of us. He was the older brother. We always looked up to him, especially with a lot of his creative ideas. So when he came to us and said, ‘Guys, I’m going to take a break on this run’, we all had to step up to the plate and really push ourselves to make the group still go forward. Being in the studio on the last album, it was the last album he took the break on, we had to cover for his parts. And I think for the live show we had to really do what we could. We brought the stage in and wanted to make sure it was entertaining no matter who was missing.

Access All Areas.net.au: What do you like to do to entertain yourselves in between shows?
Howie: Out there on the road on our days off, which are very few, it depends where we’re at. If we’re overseas, we try and do what the locals do. Last time we were in Australia and we were in Sydney I went all around Sydney for a lot of sightseeing. I saw a cousin of mine who lives in Bondi and relaxed with her for a little bit. When we were in Melbourne we went to the zoo. One time Kevin and myself went out on a boat and we went scuba diving. It just depends where we’re at. Sometimes it’s cultural and sometimes it’s local. Night life – we all enjoy that as well. Restaurants and good food...

Access All Areas.net.au: Do you still enjoy each other’s company like you did back when you were starting out? 17 years together, are you still friends?
Howie: Yeah. We’re family. We’re like brothers to each other. We’ve definitely grown so much and we’re as close with each other to the point where we’re family. We’re with each other all the time. I enjoy the guys’ company so much. We’ve got different dynamics with each other too. If there’s things I want to do, this guy wants to do that. Nightlife – it’s Nick. If it’s going out culturally and seeing a museum or something, it’s Brian. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve learnt to appreciate each other’s good points and bad points. We know how to deal with each other.

Access All Areas.net.au: The title ‘This Is Us’ I guess in a way sums up this brothership that you talk about. So tell us who you guys are with maybe a characteristic or personality traits that gives fans a bit of an insight into each of the band members.
Howie: Wow. We’re definitely individuals. That’s what’s so amazing – we each have individual characteristics that when you put us all together, the chemistry and the bond has gone for 17 years now. Nick is the youngest one. He’s the craziest one. He’s like the real kid brother that sometimes you wish you never had, but he’s just part of the family. He’s probably the one for me that comes up with the most creative ideas. Especially for this tour, he had really cool ideas for the stage design. He’s very creative when it comes to music and the production. AJ is the Robbie Williams of the group. He’s the loose cannon. You never know what you’re going to get from him day to day. But that’s what’s so great…you need that bit of spice in the group. He keeps everybody on their toes. He probably has the biggest heart. I’ve known him the longest, over 20 years. He’s a great person to always count on as a friend. Brian is the most level-headed family person. He’s always the one that’s wanted to start a family early on in life and he knows how to definitely distinguish family time and work time.

Access All Areas.net.au: What would they say about you?
Howie: They’d probably say I’m the best, honestly.

Access All Areas.net.au: (Laughs)
Howie: You know it’s funny, a lot of times people will say…even when they hear me sing, ‘Wow, you’re the glue in the group.’ Really? You think so? ‘Yeah, your voice is the glue that ties all the different sounds to blend together.’ I’ll always be the one that listens. If there’s an argument, I’ll be the first one to be like ‘Hey guys, I understand what he’s saying and where you’re coming from.’ I’m the one that can kind of resolve issues the best in the group. I’m the non stop energiser bunny that just keeps going. Work, work, work. I have a family and I enjoy my time with my family – my wife and my kid and my immediate family. I’m always the workaholic. When’s the next show?

Access All Areas.net.au: What’s been your personal favourite time from being in the Backstreet Boys? Was it when it was all fresh and new?
Howie: Exactly that. When we first started out, even though it was a bit hard because people didn’t know who we were and everything, it was also an amazing time in the fact that everything was so new to us. Everything was a first. Travelling around the world, first concerts, seeing screaming girls for the first time, having a fan club, having our first gold record, our first MTV award…everything was so new and so fresh. Now it’s a challenge of keeping it always fresh.

Access All Areas.net.au: So many bands haven’t been able to last. Why do you think the Backstreet Boys have been able to?
Howie: I hope it’s because of the music. We try to put out the best music we can. We try to put out good quality music. And then I just think we were really blessed. I don’t know how the cards fell the way they did, but they did. We get along very well with each other; we appreciate the business and our fans and we always try and outdo ourselves from the last album. I think fans see that. We’re always up for a challenge. We don’t want to be stagnating in one place. We always want to top ourselves.

Access All Areas.net.au: You would have seen and experienced so many changes in the music industry in that period of time.
Howie: There’s definitely been a lot of challenges. The music industry has done a 360 from what we started out with. We were part of a historical era, before downloading, with record sale numbers I don’t think we’ll ever see again. It’s definitely a challenge but it’s a challenge we’re up for and I think we needed it. It’s a reality…what it takes to struggle and conquer and want to be on top. I think it made us stronger musicians, stronger as numbers to the group, stronger friends. And we had to take a step back and turn our thoughts on the business and how it’s changed.

Access All Areas.net.au: If your son James grew up and wanted to join a band of any sort, what advice would you give him?
Howie: Get a good lawyer! I would definitely encourage him. My mum encouraged me. I had older siblings in the music business. And I’ve always been into trying to help other people. I’m into management right now – I do co-managing other artists, trying to give a helping hand like I was given a helping hand. I’d just encourage my son to follow his dreams whatever he wanted to do, whether that was a musician, a doctor, lawyer, astronaut…just do what makes him feel good.

Access All Areas.net.au: Is there a few sons of the band now?
Howie: 3 boys. Kevin has a boy, I have a boy and Brian has a boy. We’ve got our own little Backstreet Little Boys. (laughs) We’re the Backstreet Bigger Boys.

Interview by Danielle Ralph

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

For more than 16 years, Backstreet Boys have delivered the very finest pop music has to offer – tightly crafted songs, floor-shaking rhythms, and unmistakable harmonies. The new “THIS IS US” showcases their preeminent pop mastery with a collection of indelible tracks that surely rank among their biggest and best hits. After mastering an organic, more adult contemporary flavor on 2005’s “NEVER GONE” and 2007’s “UNBREAKABLE,” the new album sees Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and AJ McLean revisiting the groundbreaking dance-pop sound that first made them international superstars. Songs like “PDA” “Bye Bye Love,” and the RedOne-produced first single, “Straight Through My Heart” are classic BSB, bursting with big hooks, unforgettable melodies, and high-energy rhythms that both highlights the group’s classic sound and vision while also placing it squarely in the here and now.

“This record here,” says Howie Dorough, “we reached back into what made us who we are – that’s great pop melodies, great harmonies – and made it current and relevant.”

“We made a conscious effort to go back to being ourselves,” notes Brian Littrell. “It’s important for the fans to remember what was, but it’s also important for them to know where we’re headed.”

One of the most successful groups in music history, with countless #1s, record-setting tours, and worldwide sales in excess of 100 million, Backstreet Boys are also among pop’s most influential. Turn on the radio and you’re certain to hear massive melodies melded with Eurodance grooves, a modern pop style inextricably rooted in the group’s innovative approach.

“When we first started,” says AJ McLean, “the Euro sound wasn’t really happening yet, but it led to Britney and ‘N Sync and all those other people that came after us. Now music is going back in that same direction, with great pop songs that are just as rhythmic as they are melodic. That’s what and who we are.”

The “THIS IS US” sessions kicked off in April 2008, while the group – a quartet since 2006, when founding member Kevin Richardson left to start a family – was still in the midst of the “UNBREAKABLE” world tour. Backstreet Boys took a short pause in the itinerary and teamed with producer Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic fame) in a Manchester, England studio to record what would become the album’s closing track, “Undone.” The Boys were fighting fit from having been on the road and as a result, the song crackles with the same electricity the group puts out on stage every night.

“This was the very first time we were recording while we were touring another record,” Littrell says. “We’ve always taken a year or so off to really get out of touring mode, but this time we wanted to try and get that energy from our live show onto the record.”

Almost immediately upon the tour’s conclusion, Backstreet Boys resumed recording at L.A.’s Conway Studios – “one of the most chill places to record,” according to McLean. To truly put their own creative stamp on the album, the group personally reached out to some of their very favorite producers and songwriters, just about all of whom were thrilled for the chance to work with the Boys.

“We took it into our own hands to call and develop personal relationships with all the producers and writers,” explains Nick Carter. “And for the most part, they were just as excited to work with us as we were to work with them.”

One producer with whom the Boys already had a rapport is the legendary Max Martin. The Swedish studio superstar – who was behind the boards for such BSB classics as “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” “I Want It That Way” “Larger Than Life,” and “Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely” – dined with the group when the “UNBREAKABLE” world tour hit Stockholm and right away, sensed that their passion for making music was in fact greater than ever before.

“He really saw the fire in our eyes,” Littrell says, “like we were young kids again. If there was one producer I had to pick to join the Backstreet Boys, I’d pick Max. He understands us inside and out.”

Perhaps it’s something in the water, but Sweden’s current hottest hitmaker, RedOne, also had a faultless grasp of the Backstreet Boys signature sound. One of the most in-demand collaborators in the world, thanks to his work with Akon, Lady Gaga, and Enrique Iglesias, to name but a few, the producer was initially too busy to work on “THIS IS US.” But just as Backstreet Boys were wrapping up the recording, word arrived that RedOne had indeed crafted a couple of tracks, one of which marked the album’s definitive musical moment.

“We had almost closed the door on the record before it happened,” Dorough says. “I’m so glad we didn’t, because RedOne was able to capture the sound we were looking for, especially on ‘Straight Through My Heart.’ It’s this great mixture of Eurodance-meets-our pop/R&B sound, which is kind of like where we started.”

“It was exactly what we were looking for,” McLean says of the single, “the exact all-around sound that was perfect for everything we needed. It’s a great song, especially for the fans who want to hear us being us again.”

At the same time, Backstreet Boys also opted to stray from their comfort zone by collaborating with a number of producer/songwriters better known for their work in other genres. The one and only T-Pain put his trademark sound on the sizzling slow jam, “She’s A Dream,” while Claude Kelly – famed for writing such hits as Britney Spears’ “Circus” and Kelly Clarkson’s #1 “My Life Would Suck Without You” – paired up with the team of Soulshock & Karlin (JoJo, Fantasia, Nelly) to produce two of the album’s hottest tracks, “Bye Bye Love” and “If I Knew Then.”

“We really wanted to push the envelope with this record,” Dorough says. “We wanted to reach out to some writers that people wouldn’t have expected us to reach out to.”

“Working with Jim Jonsin or somebody else that people wouldn’t necessarily see us working with,” Carter says, “that’s just our creative side coming out.”

The collaboration with Jim Jonsin proved one of the album’s most productive partnerships, yielding three songs including the explosive title track. Best known for helming hip-hop hits by T.I., Soulja Boy Tell Em, and Flo Rida, the Grammy Award-winning producer astounded BSB by confessing his lifelong affinity for the group’s music.

“It was like, ‘Hold on a second, you’re a fan?,’” Carter laughs. “’You’re one of the baddest beatmakers right now!’”

Among the Florida-based Jonsin’s key contributions to “THIS IS US” is bringing the group back to its own homestate roots with the Miami Trance-flavored “Helpless.” Hailed by Carter as “the Don of hip-hop” for his countless connections, the producer nailed the track by reaching into his little black book to procure a razor-sharp verse from yet another Miami-based star.

“We came into the studio and Jim said, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you,’” Nick recalls. “We were like, ‘What do you mean? No one surprises the Backstreet Boys.’ But he had sent the track to Miami and had Pitbull put a verse on it. We’re all huge fans of Pitbull’s, so it was just awesome!”

Despite the smorgasbord of producers and songwriters, “THIS IS US” is ultimately made a cohesive work by the Boys themselves. “We’re a vocal group first,” avows Carter, and the album makes plain how BSB’s purest artistic stamp comes via the magic of four distinctive singers performing in tightly knit harmony. Their unified voices reveal Backstreet Boys as still in thrall to making the most vital music imaginable, constantly striving to create influential, unforgettable pop.

“We always want to top our past albums,” says Carter. “That’s always our objective, to create an album where every song could be a single.”

“Our goal is always to push ourselves as much as possible,” adds Dorough. “We’re always working to become better musicians, songwriters, singers. “

“We want to continue to move forward,” promises Littrell. “We want Backstreet Boys to keep setting the template and raising the bar.”

With “THIS IS US,” that bar has just been raised a little higher…

www.backstreetboys.com

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