FROM POPSTARS:MARCH 2001 ISSUE!

POPSTAR!: HOW IS YOUR NEW CD DIFFERENT FROM YOUR PREVIOUS ONES?

KEVIN:I Think this album is nice in growth musically for us. We experimented with some new producers, with Babyface, Rodney Jerkins, two new writers and producers from Sweden and also some of our old friends. I think we have a nice mixture of old and new, and we have a little bit of counrty flavor on the album, a little bit of an R&B flavor, a little bit of an edgy kind of an almost hip-hop vibe.

HOW MANY TRACKS DID YOU WRITE?

NICK: Altogether......around seven.

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT WRITING SONGS?

KEVIN: This time we all decided to come together as a unit and see what happened, and we wrote eight songs in the Bahamas. It was pretty wild-we were there for two weeks and we had anything from rock to hip-hop to country to Calypso. Nick wrote this little Bohemian Calypso vibe song and it was a lot of fun. We had a good time and we're gonna do it more often.

WE ASKED NSYNC.....DO YOU FEEL STRONG COMPETITION BETWEEN THEM AND YOU?

NICK: It's kind of, like, y' know, it's inevitable that, just because of the things that have happened along the way you tend to feel a little bit like....it's not necessarily, you know, competiton. I really don't know what you could call it. It's just more of we're just looking at it as we're doing our thing and they're doind their thing. I guess we're trying to please our fans.

Kevin:I think if there wasn't a Backstreet Boys there wouldn't have been an NSYNC, because originally after we started having some success I remember we would go out to dinner with Mr. Pearlman and we'd go to a place called the OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE and there was a guy that worked in there his name was Chris Kirkpatrick!
He used to come up and he used to wait on us and talk to me about the group and say: "I'm talking to LOU, you know, I'd like to be doing some stuff like you guys are doing, it's like I sing at Universal..." So I respect the fact that they have dreams and aspirations, too, and i respect the fact that they're talented and they just wanna make things happen just like we wanted to make things happen. But it's just the circumstances, our management company taking them the exact same route as they took us, behind our backs. I don't know them very well, but they are talented. They can sing!

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO SAID BSB WOULDN'T LAST?

NICK: Well, people like us, you know, when we first started people were like-especially in Europe-they thought we were gonna be just in and out really quick. We kept telling them, "Hey, we're gonna be around! We're gonna be around! So don't get sick of us yet!"

WERE YOU EVER CLOSE TO BREAKING UP?

NICK:I don't think we've ever come close to breaking up, have we?

KEVIN: We've not come close. We've been really burned out like when we were going through our breaking up from our management company. That was the time of my life that was probably the most stressful, the hardest time in my life because we were fighting, you know, with lawyers and contracts and it's so drainig,and at the same time we were trying to maintain our career and maintain the music. It's like, "Either we want our freedom or we don't wanna do it anymore." So that was close. That was the closet we came and that was right before MILLENNIUM.

HOW MUCH OF A CLASSIC ROCK 'N' ROLL CIRCUS IS STILL AROUND IN THE BIZ? DRUGS GROUPIES..ARE YOU DEALING WITH THIS?

KEVIN: We're not your classic rock band or anything like that, but I think the entertainment business breeds drugs and sex. You gotta just be careful and make decisions for the future, you know, think about what you do. You know, we're not perfect-we make mistakes, we screw up, we make bad decisions but staying healthy and taking care of yourself are important. If you've got strong friends and family around you-and we keep each other in check, we're hard on each other-it's fine.

THE FINAL THREE SINGLE BSBs...ARE THEY PLANNING TO MARRY.

KEVIN: They're taking up the slack.

NICK: I'm looking!(laughs)

DO YOU HAVE INCREDIBLE "CRAZY FAN" STORIES?

KEVIN: We've had plenty stories. They've hitchhiked, they've hidden in our luggage bay on the bus, they've hidden in the bunks of our bus. I get the doors open, they sneak into our loading luggage and stuff on the bus. One time we were traveling and one of our managers was laying in the bunk and rolled over and his hand hit something and he started feeling it and it was a fan, it was her leg!

WHAT DO YOU INVEST IN?

KEVIN: The market, reall estate...Ihave, like, an investment banker and we have a little bit of my money in high-risk stuff and then a lot of stuff in like CDs and stuff that is really saved. Just so I have my money doind something, working for me. But safe-not a lot of risky stuff.

ARE YOU ADDICTED TO SUCCESS?

KEVIN:I'm a competitive person, you know, I like to win. We're all competitive, we like to play basketball, sports and we don't like to lose, so, yeah, I'm a competitive person.

IS SUCCESS A GAME?

KEVIN: I think overall success ahs a lot more to do with your entire life than just your career in the music business. I mean, I think success has to with your family life and the quality of your life. I mean, if we're not selling as many records on this album but I'm having a great time and I'm healthy and we're still getting to tour and still getting to perform and do all we want to,I think that's the most important thing.

FROM J-14 FEB. ISSUE 2001!

AFTER THE BACKSTREET BOYS RETURNED FROM THEIR WHIRLWIND TOUR AROUND THE WORLD TO PROMOTE BLACK AND BLUE, J-14 CAUGHT UP WITH THE GUYS AND ASKED THEM THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ON EVERYONE'S MINDS. YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAID!

WHAT WILL THE CONCERTS ON THIS TOUR BE LIKE?
HOWIE: We're going to do mostly arenas in the first leg. During the second leg, when we come back in the summer, we will do stadiums. The song selection will be mostly new stuff from the album, plus the greatest hits from the last couple of albums.

BRIAN: We're hoping to have black and blue flags flying high on tour!

WILL YOU EVER CHANGE THE BAND;S NAME TO BACKSTREET MEN?
HOWIE: We will always be the BACKSTREET BOYS, because "boys" for us is just slang for "friends." There's the BEACH BOYS, the PET SHOP BOYS-they never changed their names to BEACH ME or the PET SHOP MEN. We'll always BOYS@

HOW DO YOU LIKE BEING COMPARED TO THE BEATLES?
KEVIN: I don't think we feel worthy of a comparison to the BEATLES. There are some similarities between the two bands because the BEATLES had quite a following-and quite a young following, but to be compared musically to legends such as the BEATLES is a nice compliment.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE HAVING FANHS HELP PROMOTE YOUR ALBUM?
KEVIN: having an army of fans working for you is pretty incredible because they're more passionate than anybody. We thought it was a great idea and we jumped at the chance to make it happen, and we want to thank our street team and we hope that they had a good time! Thanks, you guys!

IS IT HARD TO GO OUT NOW THAT YOU'RE SO RECOGNIZABLE?
KEVIN: We try not to go where we might get jumped. You just have to call the resturant ahead of time and say, "I'm coming there with my family, can you give me a private room?' or call movie theaters. We almost have to do our own advance work, just to make sure. You can also go shopping like BRIAN and I do, at three in the morning!

WHAT WAS IT LIKE FLYING IN YOUR PRIVATE PLANE?
NICK: I got to run around in my boxers a lot!

BACKSTREET BOYS "LARGER THAN LIFE, PART I"

MTV News' John Norris: Eight years on, is it any harder to get pumped up for a tour?

Brian Littrell: We don't do it all the time, seven days a week. We always take time for our personal lives so we can enjoy normality. When it's the right time, a new album comes around, we all come together and we try to put together a quality show for the fans. It's not really a show, but an event, something that they can take with them.

Norris: You guys had a longer-than-usual break before Black & Blue came out. That led to some concern about whether the audience would still be there. They seem to be.

Nick Carter: I had a nightmare last night, a terrible nightmare. I was walking into the audience right before our show went on, and there were just a couple people scattered here and there. I started crying, then I woke up. I'm so humble and so happy that our fans are there for us. It's a great feeling.

Norris: Since you know the ins and outs of touring, do you take a little more businesslike approach when you go out now?

Littrell: Our outlook has changed a little bit. The production is the biggest that it's ever been. I think we are carrying the largest show that's ever gone out.

Norris: It looked like there were 15 rigs outside the opening-night show.

Carter: There's 20 or 30. But the main concern is to get out there and put on a good show for our fans. That's why we put the extra time, effort and money into making everything as good as it can be.

Norris: There have been some changes in your personal life, including two marriages. Does that make things a little different for you?

Littrell: Last night in front of 21,000 fans, to get behind a microphone and greet the audience, it's like it always has been. They cheer for each of us just as they've done before. We had been living with the new music for a while, so we were anxious to get on the road and show people the live show.

Norris: A.J. stepped to the mic and said, "Backstreet's back!" Is there a sense of reclaiming your spot, one that might have been overshadowed by other artists?

Carter: Our spot. [laughs]

Littrell: We've always tried to create something for ourselves. There's been so many groups, and the market and music scene have changed so much just in the past five years. We always look ahead. There's really no now; we're always preparing for tomorrow.

Carter: We're kind of afraid of people forgetting about us. But when you do three nights in a row and you see all the people out there for you every night, you say, "Maybe I'll calm down a little bit and not worry so much."

Norris: When Black & Blue came out, there was speculation about the horse race between you guys and 'NSYNC, and how the record was going to do. Are you happy with the way things are going?

Littrell: There was no disappointment at all. We tried to set it up right; it was all our creative involvement to jump on the plane and fly around the world. We have so many fans all over the world that America is really small in the whole scheme of things. To sell more than 5 million records the first week worldwide, that's like something Michael [Jackson] or the Stones would do. It's amazing.

Carter: We can't be any happier. There's a lot of people out there that work their butts off to get to the points that we've been to before, and we're working really hard, too. We've been around for a while, but we're grateful to be able to sell that many records in the first week. The Backstreet fans are the strongest out there. That's no disrespect. [RealVideo]

Norris: Had [1996's] "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" never broken when it did and the way it did, a lot of artists might not have had the careers they have.

Carter: When we first came here, it was us, it was Hanson and it was the Spice Girls.

Norris: It was pre-Spice Girls, wasn't it?

Carter: It was pre-Spice Girls, but we were like, "Darn it, man, Spice Girls are blowing up the spot and we're still sitting around working our butts off." Finally, we got what we deserved. I think it was lucky timing. Everything goes in cycles, from fashion to music. And when we first came on the scene, in '93-'94, it was Nirvana and Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. We were completely outnumbered trying to make a mark.

Norris: In this country.

Carter: Yeah. When Nirvana and Snoop were huge, we blew up in Europe, so they shipped us out.

Norris: You played in the round on the Millennium tour. This time, you've got a traditional, end-of-the-arena stage set. What are the biggest differences you've seen in terms of playing?

Littrell: Being in the middle was like a constant circle. We were running all the time, and the show was just like clockwork. When we get the Black & Blue show to that point, it'll be easier. We're still a little bit out of shape, trying to get back into the flow of things. And it's hard to sing 21 songs a night live.

Norris: Is this the biggest set list you guys have done?

Littrell: Yeah. We did 19 on the Millennium tour, but we have to do medleys now because we don't have time to do three or four albums' worth of stuff. We're trying to figure out how the Beatles did it and how the Stones do it.

Norris: So "Quit Playing Games" and "As Long as You Love Me" get put into medleys.

Littrell: Yeah. We want to fit them in, but we're talking about maybe pulling some of them out.

Norris: You play virtually the entire Black & Blue album.

Carter: That's what we want to do. We want to be able to show the fans the new songs.

Littrell: That's exactly what we did on the Millennium tour. We did the whole Millennium album, except for one song.

Carter: It's hard to toss up all those songs. But thank God we've had so many singles.

Norris: "We've Got It Goin' On" is not included for the first time.

Carter: First time the national anthem is not in there.

Littrell: The Backstreet anthem. I didn't even realize it until you brought it up.

Norris: You're not too nostalgic. [laughs]

Carter: We'll do 10 seconds of it and it'll be in the show. We really love that song, but we've been doing it for seven years.

Littrell: You end up hating the choreography.


Norris: You start the show with "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "Larger Than Life," which are fan-oriented songs. Is it important to start off with a tribute to the fans?

Carter: Oh yeah.

Littrell: We've always started with the anthem song to the fans, because that gets them riled up. We want to keep it going with the dancing and keep the intensity up. And then we do the traditional costume change and try to do some low ballads. We try to make our show up and down, up and down, so everybody can stand up for a little, then sit back and listen, and then stand up and dance.

Norris: It's also easier for you to do it that way. There are some costumes that are better for up-tempo songs. You couldn't really dance around in those white coats.

Littrell: You don't want to come out and do all of your up-tempo songs back-to-back, because you would kill yourself. And then there would be mid-tempo numbers and ballads that you just sit around singing and people would be like, "What's gonna happen next?" We were just talking a couple days ago about how the dancing is coming along a little easier, just because we've had more of a chance to do it singing. When you try to put the singing with the dancing, that's when it becomes a train wreck sometimes. But that's what the rehearsals are for.

Norris: The Grammys are coming up. Are you going to make it to the ceremony?

Littrell: It's the 21st of February, right? I think we've got a day open on our schedule. We have been preparing for that, and we would like to be there if at all possible.

Carter: It's tentative.

Norris: You're up for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely." That's got to be nice, because it's a real personal song.

Littrell: It's awesome to be nominated for a Grammy.

Carter: Being nominated is like an award.

Norris: Not too surprisingly, you're up against a tune called "Bye Bye Bye."

Littrell: Wow, who does that?

Norris: Some guys from Orlando. On MTV last year, Kevin was asked, "What song would you like to never hear again?" And he said "Bye Bye Bye." [laughs]

Littrell: Kevin [Richardson] will never live that down.

Norris: Any thoughts on competing with that song?

Littrell: You're competing with everybody.

Carter: You're competing with the same producers. When they write for 'NSYNC, their stuff is a little more dance-oriented. It's a little less vocally challenging, I guess you could say. It's just two different styles on the radio.

Littrell:Sometimes you hear a song you like on the radio and think, "If there wasn't an 'NSYNC, we could have had that for our next album." Now there's all these different groups, and with success comes popularity. And then people are throwing themselves at you and trying to get a piece of everything. That happened to our producers.

Carter: It's a ruthless business, and people try to get what they need out of it. But I'm happy to just be able to sing and perform for our fans. We're blessed to be in this position. As long as we can keep doing that, we're cool.