Chatting with A.J. (Tiger Beat, Feb '99)

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Dec 30, 2098 Source: Tiger Beat Magazine Submitted By: Heidi (clarissa_13@hotmail.com) for sending this in. The gang here at Tiger Beat always have a blast whenever we catch up with the Backstreet Boys' irrepressible A.J. McLean. Just prior to starting the groups recent concert tour, we spent some time chatting with him at the celebration bash of Transcontinental Records' new studios in Orlando. The label was hosting many of it's latest finds, including Innosence, C-note, Black and others, as well as welcoming Orlando's music community to take a look at their state-of-the-art facility. As for A.J., he was in good spirits, and let us in on what's been happening with Florida's Fab Five. Tiger Beat: Backstreet Boys are currently on a break. How are you all spending your time? A.J.: Kevin's up in Kentucky right now visiting his mom for her birthday. I think he wants to get his mom a car like mine (A.J. has a new purple corvette!). His mom has done everything for him since he was a kid, so it's time to pay mom back in some way, a nice birthday present. Howie's in New York recording, which is where I'll be next week. We're getting our individual writing trips- where each of us can go write with different people, and get kind of a different span of music, stuff like that. That's what he's doing. Nick's in Tampa, and he's just veggin' out, riding his boat, playing with his brother and sisters and just crusin' around, going to the mall, playing basketball. Just bein' a kid. Tiger Beat: Does Nick feel any competition from his baby brother Aaron? A.J.: No, I don't think so. He's been kind of more or less like a father figure to Aaron. Lke when he feels Aaron's overworked, even when Aaron might want to keep going- he's a little kid, he's got so much energy- Nick will say, "I don't want Aaron working anymore. I want Aaron to to just come back and be a kid." Nick just bought him a little four-wheel ATV to just run around on, so Aaron's just having a blast doing that. Tiger Beat: What else is new? A.J.: Well, Nick's dog almost killed me the other day! I went to go visit Nick just out of the blue, I decided to drive over to Tampa. And I have heard about his dog; I knew it was a golden retriever, but it's trained to kill! (laughs) So it about killed me. I had to jump back in my car. His dog is like Cujo. Tiger Beat: Maybe Nick has the dog trained to keep all you Backstreet Boys away! A.J.: (laughs) Right! And he's saying, "Now when this one comes... kill!!" So that's his way of getting us back for all those times we picked on him when he was a kid. Tiger Beat: You changed your hair to blond again. A.J.: Oh, my hair changes like I change my underware. Daily, basically. I had polka dots last week, and I had a zebra print the week before. Now I'm back to blond. I'm really bored. Really, truly I can honestly say I am bored on my vacation. But it's good. I mean, I actually went and saw N'Sync's show last night. It was an excellent show. Innosence did incredible. Those girls are incredible. Those girls did a really good job. Average Joe did a really good job. He's one of our close personal friends, all of them are. Tiger Beat: How did Brian's heart surgery affect the Backstreet Boys? A.J.: After Brian's surgery, we all kind of took a little time to really grow up. I think we all... Brian especially made a comment to me the other day that he's really grown up in the past time that he's had the surgery up to now- and that I think all of us have taken the opprotunity to really look at this and see that it can happen to anybody. It doesn't matter how old you are. And it's not a bad thing, or a good thing. I think everything happens for a reason. And it was bound to happen one day or another. Tiger Beat: Has that new knowledge affected the songs you're writing for Backstreet Boys' next album? A.J.: I think it has affected the way we write, but we're writing more on an adult level now. It's still songs for everyone, of every race and color and age, but it's just I think we're thinking more now than we ever used to. [To] not just write a song about "let's go have a party and have a good time," and all this stuff that you here nowadays. We're all a little bit more grown up. Even Nick looks like he's 30 now! Nick's getting facial hair for crying out loud! Before you know it, Kevin's going to be 30, and that's gonna be scary. Because once nick turns 21, Kevinwill be 30, and there'll be a 30-year-old Backstreet Boy! That's really weird, man! Tiger Beat: Have you got a message for your fans? A.J.: Yeah. I wanna say thanks to all of them. Backstreet Boys would not be where we are today without them and we remember that every single day. -- Interview by Dennis Walkling Comment on this item. 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