|
NEWS
July
2002
Page
7
-
Nick
Article From September 2002 Issue of Seventeen
back up
Source: Seventeen
Nick Carter: After harmonizing his way to millions of dollars and
mega fame, the youngest Backstreet Boy wants to be a rock
star.
By: Dina Singing
First came the rumors: The Backstreet Boys are breaking up. Then
came the denials: The Fab Five parade through TRL insisting there is
no--- repeat---, no----end in sight for the original Orlando-born
boy band. Now, after nearly two years, two marriages and A.J.'s
stint in rehab (which only further fueled gossip about a split), the
Backstreet Boys have finally started working on their fourth album.
Then we heard that resident hunk Nick Carter is working on solo
material. So what's up?
"This is my chance to try everything that's been stored in my
mind musical since I was 12 years old", says Nick, who's making
beats behind a high-tech soundboard at his Los Angeles studio.
"It's my release." He's wearing silver rimmed glasses that
give him an I'm-not- just-another-dumb-heartthrob-look. "The
best part about doing this is that there are no boundaries. There
are certain things we can't do on a Backstreet record, like rocking
out on a song," he says, strumming the guitar he keeps in the
studio. Yep, you heard right...Nick is ready to rock. "I know
everyone will say, 'Oh, he's trying to do rock.' But that's what I
grew up listening to. I've been influenced by groups like Stone
Temple Pilots and classic stuff like Creedence Clearwater
Revival."
The 22-year-old tells us he's experimenting with a harder, more
guitar-based sound. He hopes to show some of his drum and guitar
skills--he's been playing both for a while now--on the album. He's
also considering teaming up with an established female rocker.
"I'd like to do a duet with a girl, someone like Michelle
Branch, Shakira, or Alanis Morissette," says Nick, adding that
he hasn't made any decisions yet. But after hearing him sing over a
fast-paced but still pretty poppy track, we're not quite convinced
that he's abandoning his roots altogether. After all, he is working
a bit with producer Max Martin, the Swedish mastermind behind
several Backsreet Boys, 'Nsync and Britney songs. But several days
later, we're told that Nick decided not to include--or even finish
recording---that cut that we heard him work on. Guess Nick thought
that it was too pop- influenced as well.
Flying solo is also giving Nick the chance to get personal. Though
he's contributed to several Backstreet tunes through out the years
("True" and "Take The Pain Away", to name a
couple), he's written more than half the songs on this album. So
what topics can we expect to hear him sing about? Love---or more
specifically, lack of it. "I've been a heartbroken kid for a
while," Nick explains. "I haven't had a girlfriend in a
long time. The record has to do with wanting love. But I also sing
about being 22 and a little bit crazy."
Ummm, crazy? We hadn't pegged the cute singer as a psycho, but Nick
promises that he's about to bust out his wildside---especially if he
decided to embark on a solo tour (a choice he'll make after the as-
yet-untitled album is finished). "I haven't had the chance to
lose my mind on stage," he says. "I've been a little
restrained. Kevin and the guys want to be more respected. They're
always aware and cautious and don't want to be looked at in a
certain way. Me, I don't care. You can look at me any way you
want."
After hearing that, we're beginning to worry there's more truth to
those breakup rumors than we had thought. We put in a call to Jive
Records, the label behind the group and presumably, Nick's solo
record, to get the truth. Their rep assures us that the guys---
including Nick will begin recording in Sweden in July. She says that
while Nick is working on his own material, it's too early for the
label to have scheduled a release date for his album. Sounds
believable. Besides, Nick himself insists he has no plans to leave
BSB behind and claims they've been supportive of his new project---
well, for the most part.
"Sometimes there can be a little bit of animosity in certain
places," he says offering no details. "But at the end of
the day, this is something I want to do very badly. I know they
won't hold me back." He also brushes off talk about conflict
within the group over which record to release first. "They both
are up in the air. My album is coming along little further," he
says. "Of all the groups out there, I think we have some of the
most talented people. I think we could all be individually
successful and have fun doing it by ourselves. When I hear rumors
about us breaking up, I toss them out the window, because it's not
true. I've been with a group since I was 12 and I just wanted to try
something different. A lot of people sad, 'Don't do it. It's the
wrong time.' I guess I was thinking, When is the right time?"
And with that, he heads into the sound booth, looking happy to be
singing his own tune.-
-
Amber,
mom know Boys from AJ to Z
back up
Source: Orlando
Sentinel
By: Douglas Quan, Sentinel Staff Writer
Amber Bryant and her mother, Angie, had been living in Orlando
for just eight weeks when they spotted him.
It was Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean driving along Sand Lake Road in
his SUV.
"Drive!" the 19-year-old barked at her mother.
Angie tailed McLean all the way to Downtown Disney.
When they pulled into a parking lot, Amber was too scared to get out
of the car. Her mother jumped into action.
"Sorry to bother you," Angie said to McLean as he got out
of his car. "We just moved to Orlando. Will you say hello to my
daughter?"
"Certainly," McLean replied.
And he did. Even posed for a picture with Amber.
That event ranked pretty high on the Bryants' list of their boy-band
encounters. It was even better than the time McLean gave them the
shirt off his back at a concert. Well, not gave, exactly. Amber and
her 43-year-old mother had to wrestle away the sweat-stained garment
from a group of other screaming fans.
But that was years ago, before the mother and daughter from Austin,
Texas, decided to drop everything and move to Orlando -- just so
Amber could be close to her beloved Backstreet Boys.
'Really' devoted
Amber Bryant is a fan, she insists, but she's not
obsessed.
Obsessed describes those crazed people who follow bands from tour to
tour, hiding in their buses and sneaking into their hotel
rooms.
"Doing extreme things that could get you in trouble is
obsession," says Amber. "I'm devoted."
OK, really devoted.
Amber started listening to the Backstreet Boys about five or six
years ago. She liked their music. Their dreamy songs cheered her up
when she was feeling down.
Then she saw how cute they were.
Amber would spend hours a night online with other fans talking about
the Boys -- their songs, their clothes, their lives. Pretty much
"anything and everything," she says.
Amber felt a particular kinship to McLean, the band member often
dubbed the "bad boy" of the group.
He was raised by a single mom -- just like Amber.
When the Boys launched their Millennium Tour in 1999, Amber begged
her mom to go see them in concert in Memphis, Tenn. Angie didn't
need a lot of convincing. She, too, had become a big fan.
"I'm a sucker for those romantic songs," she says.
But seeing their concerts live wasn't enough for Amber. She had to
meet these guys.
In December 2000, Amber and her mom came to Orlando for a week to
attend a charity event being sponsored by Backstreet Boy Nick
Carter.
By the end of the trip, Amber was hooked on Orlando.
"Why don't we move here?" she asked Angie.
Mom's answer: "OK."
Best friends
Ask Angie or Amber Bryant a question about the personal lives of
any one of the Backstreet Boys, and they race to see who can answer
first.
"Kevin is married to Kristen, Brian is married to Leighanne,
Howie is not seeing anyone, but his sisters are Pollyanna and
Angie," says Angie, counting off each name on her
fingers.
Amber chimes in with the names of A.J.'s pets. "Panda, Bear,
J.D., Vegas . . . "
The way they banter, it's almost as if Amber and Angie are sisters,
not mother and daughter.
"More like best friends," says Angie.
They go out for pizza every Friday night. And they always go to
concerts together.
Amber says she can't imagine going to a concert without her mom,
even if she gets a little embarrassed when Angie gets up to
dance.
"We've always been close," she says. "It's always
been me and her -- since I was three."
Angie acknowledges that the move to Orlando last October was filled
with risks. Neither of them had jobs lined up.
"But Amber wanted to go. And I had been living in Austin for 43
years. Why not make a change?"
But their first few months were tough. They lived out of a hotel. It
wasn't until February that they found full-time jobs -- Angie in the
supply management department at Darden Restaurant Group, and Amber
as a day-care teacher.
Three months later, they were able to afford an apartment, where
Amber's bedroom has become a Backstreet shrine.
It boasts Backstreet posters, a Backstreet lunchbox, Backstreet toy
figurines and two plastic tubs filled with videotapes of the band's
television performances.
And taped to the wall is the photo of Amber with A.J. McLean at
Downtown Disney. It's among her faves.
Both say they have no regrets about their move.
"You never know who you will run into here," says
Angie.
Natural succession
Amber and her mom aren't devoted exclusively to the Backstreet
Boys. Amber got her tongue pierced last year when a radio station
asked listeners how far they would go to meet the band O-Town.
And the mother-daughter tag team often waits -- sometimes hours a
night -- in the parking lot of the recording studios where the group
Natural rehearses. Angie isn't merely the chauffeur; she'll jump in
and chat with the guys, too.
"They know her better than me!" says Amber.
Paul Russo, Natural's manager, smiles and shakes his head when
informed of the Bryants' move from Austin to Orlando.
It happens more often than you think, he says. Some fans will go to
extremes.
He says he has encountered mothers who introduce their daughters to
band members as if they're "giving their daughters
away."
Lou Pearlman, the man who created the Backstreet Boys and spawned
the boy-band phenomenon, divides fans into two groups: "You
have fans, and you have fanatics," he says. Fans wait outside
the front of the hotel for their favorite band members to come out.
Fanatics find their way to the back entrance.
"It's wild and crazy," Pearlman says. "But it's
harmless."
He says the worst thing that could happen to a group is to show up
in a town and discover there are no fans waiting.
"These guys live for fans," Pearlman says.
Star-struck
It's the morning of the "Red, Hot and Boom" concert in
Altamonte Springs. Amber stands in front of the mirror at home
admiring the blond streaks in her strawberry hair. Every bang has to
hang just so.
The July 3 event will feature O-Town, Avril Lavigne and Rich Cronin.
But nobody in the lineup makes Amber's heart thump more than Aaron
Carter, the 14-year-old baby-faced sibling of Nick Carter, of
Backstreet Boys fame.
"Aaron is as cute as a button," she says. "He's so
fun to watch in concert. He reminds me a lot of Nick. There are
people older than me who like him too."
At a concert last year, Amber snatched one of the white towels that
Aaron used on stage. She's determined to have him sign it at
tonight's show.
Amber is about to start dressing when the phone rings. It's the
day-care center wondering whether she's coming to work today.
"Tell them I'm sick," she says.
Amber's mother doesn't care that Amber is skipping work for the
concert. She'll be ditching work today herself.
They arrive at Cranes Roost Park around noon. The sun is blazing and
the area around the floating stage is already covered with sun
worshipers, beach blankets and umbrellas. Some arrived at 3
a.m.
Amber, her mother and Amber's two friends find a place to sit.
Amber brings an O-Town poster to get signed. And, of course, she has
the white towel. But if Amber is hoping to have Aaron Carter sign
it, she's going to have to fight for it.
Hundreds of other screaming girls here want a piece of him
too.
The show begins around 4 p.m., but Amber's favorite performers won't
be up until later in the evening. She and her friends spend much of
the afternoon casing the lobby of the nearby Embassy Suites hotel,
hoping to glimpse the stars before they head out to the stage.
At 5:43 p.m., Rich Cronin, lead singer of Bad Mood Mike, enters the
lobby. He's got the boy-next-door look that makes teenage girls
swoon.
Amber joins the small mob of girls rushing over to snap pictures
with him.
Mob rule
By sunset, the park is packed shoulder-to-sticky shoulder with
spectators. After nine anxious hours, Amber's wait is over.
"C'mon, make some noise for Aaron Carter!" screams the
announcer.
The crowd erupts.
Roving strobe lights intersect in the distance. Carter skips
onstage, wearing white pants, and a white, collared T-shirt with
orange flames on the front.
Amber extends her left arm toward the stage. She's screaming.
For the next half-hour Carter performs a mix of rap tunes and love
ballads. In between songs, he flirts with the girls in the
audience.
Each comment is met with more screams.
After the performance, Amber joins a mob of girls chasing Aaron and
his bodyguards into the hotel. They're stopped in their tracks by
hotel security.
Angie, meanwhile, collapses in a recliner in the hotel lobby. She's
had a long day.
By 11 p.m. Amber and her friends are standing in the parking lot
behind the hotel with about two dozen other girls. They arrive just
in time to see O-Town leaving with their suitcases. Around midnight,
Angie swings her car around to the parking lot. Carter has still not
shown up. Maybe it's time to go.
Then some of the other girls begin serenading Carter with one of his
love ballads.
He appears on the balcony and tells them they need singing
lessons.
He's joking, of course.
"I'll be down in 30 minutes," he assures them.
Thirty minutes pass -- and still no sign of Carter.
Only a handful of fans remain in the parking lot. Hotel security
officials order everyone out.
"You're loitering," they say. Some of the girls throw a
few angry words up at Carter's room.
"I just wanted my towel signed, that's it," Amber
sobs.
By 1 a.m., the parking lot is quiet. Amber and her friends are the
only ones left. They all reach the same conclusion: Aaron Carter
won't be coming down.
"This is the chance that you take," Angie says.
Amber takes one parting glance up at the hotel room. The light is
still on. But the drapes are closed.
"It bothers me that he didn't come down," she says.
But she's a devoted fan.
"I won't hold it against him."
Eternal hope
Sure enough, two weeks later, Amber is sitting in her bedroom
talking about future promotional tours and concerts where she might
be able to meet the Carter brothers.
"Nick and Aaron are my next goal. I want to meet them,"
she says.
Amber reports that she's started dating a guy.
He doesn't like boy bands. Nor does he look like a boy-band
member.
That's OK, though.
Amber cares more that the guys she dates are "nice" and
"funny."
"But if they look like A.J., that's a plus."
-
Judge
dismisses BSB lawsuit against Donna Wright
back up
Source: L.A. Daily News
The Backstreet Boys' legal battle with former co-manager Donna
Wright ended Friday, with a Los Angeles Superior Court judge
dismissing the litigation, thanks to a settlement reached in
May.
Details of the settlement were not disclosed. In May, attorney Paul
Karl Lukacs, representing the band, said both sides had
"settled their differences" and were awaiting the
completion of paperwork.
Lukacs did not return a call seeking comment on Friday.
The Backstreet Boys sued Wright in October to invalidate their
contract with her. The band accused her of being incompetent and
unlicensed. Before the lawsuit, Wright had a 25 percent interest in
Backstreet Management Inc., according to the Orlando Business
Journal.
-
More
News On BSB On Arthur
back up
Source: PBS Kids
The Backstreet Boys visit Elwood City in ARTHUR It's Only Rock 'n'
Roll, premiering on Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8pm on PBS (check
local listings).
And beginning Monday, August 19th, the ARTHUR Web site will host
brand new Backstreet Boys features, including:
- Music video clips featuring the Backstreet Boys and U Stink from
the prime-time television special
- Lyrics from the show's two original songs
- Exclusive Backstreet Boys and U Stink coloring pages to print,
color, and keep
- A printable version of the ARTHUR It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
promotional poster
-
Tension
among the Backstreet Camp?
back up
Source: New
York Daily News
A insider says singer Nick Carter has riled his bandmates by
focusing on his solo album while they've been struggling with their
latest group effort.
"He wants to release his CD before the band has even finished
theirs," says the source. "The other guys are really
----ed."
"There could be tension," Carter's manager, Kenneth Crear,
admits. "But I haven't witnessed it. This is a chance for Nick
to step out. It can only help the Backstreet Boys."
A rep for Jive Records, which is releasing Carter's CD and the
band's, says, "Nick's album is further along than the
Backstreet Boys', but they're all working together now."
|
