They Came and they went in the blink of an eye. So when you've only got the BSB for just a few hours, you have to ask the questions that really matter...
Why only four months between the last single from
�Millennium� and the first single from the new album?
Kevin:
A bit quick for you? (laughs) It�s a good time
for us to come back. We haven�t been gone too long but
we have been gone. Gone but not forgotten! That should
have been the name of the album.
Howie, you�re another pop star who�s going into
acting. What�s with that?
Howie:
I did the last episode of �Roswell�. I was a
cliff-hanger! In the last one of the last episode of
the last season. I introduce some new alien life for
the next season � and I�m the leader!
AJ:
What do you wear?
Howie: I have a grey suit with a tie.
Nick: So how long were you in it?
Howie:
Oh, five seconds. It was the last line � it was
like, (adopting gruff, whispering alien voice) �It has
begun�. Like one take! They asked me to come back next
season, so depending on my time schedule...
AJ:
You wait till you see me and Nick! We�re gonna
blow up!
Nick:
I want to be in an action film. If I could be
Arnold Schwarzeneggar and not have to talk, then I�d
be happy.
AJ:
When Nick and I were both younger, we were really
into comic books and we both really loved the X-Men
movie. There are a couple of characters that they�re
gonna re-introduce in the next one and I�d love to be
one of them. I know Nick would too.
When will you split up?
AJ: Well, Howie has his stuff, Nick wants to do stuff
with his brother and I did the whole Johnny No-Name
thing. We�re all starting to ease into things, but
we�re not saying �Ok fellas, I�m gonna go record my
album next week while you guys go on tour�. Everyone�s
doing something that makes them happy. Kevin can�t
really do much right now �cos he�s hurt his knee. But
he�s still enjoying things.
Who�s gonna make a solo record first?
Brian: I have noooooo idea.
AJ:
Nick! (sarcastically) Hahaahaha!
Howie: You know what? We don�t know. Maybe all five of
us will do it at the same time.
Do you think about how long you want to stay around?
Kevin: As long as we�re having fun, I guess.
Brian: As long as we can put our heads together and
make good music. Several of us have aspirations to do
solo stuff and we�d never stand in the way of somebody
wanting to do that. But at the same time, the group
comes first. That�s the way we started, and we plan on
finishing this mess that we got ourselves into
(everyone laughs)
When you did a photo shoot of music mag Rolling Stone
- why did you drop your pants?
Kevin:
We were just shooting and they said �Let�s do
something crazy�. So I decided to drop my drawers...
Brian:
(sarcastically) And he�s the leader so we all
had to do it.
Howie:
Yes, we were able to air...
AJ:
(interrupting) We�re getting ready to do another
shoot with them. It�s kind of an 80�s pop vibe. Kevin
wants to wear eyeliner, I�m gonna wear lipstick and
Brian wants to have a mohawk. It�s very 80�s punk,
with short shirts, tight jeans and big spiky hair.
Nick, you�re single at the moment � who are you after?
Nick:
(looking at a copy of Smash Hits and spotting a
piccie of Billie and saying to it...) Hello! Hey, how
ya doin�? I love Billie!
Why did you call your album �Black & Blue� � why not
�Yellow andPink�?
Kevin:
(sniggering) We thought about �Fuchsia &
Orange�.
AJ:
(laughing) It�s a good thing that we weren�t
wearing different colours that day! We were taking a
picture wearing black outfits on a blue background,
and Brian said �We all look black and blue�. It�s very
symbolic for us. In this business you take alot of
punches. It�s always trying to bring you down,
searching through the cracks to find some flaws in
you. But nobody�s perfect. You can throw what you want
at us and do what you want. But we�re gonna stay
around for a while. We ain�t going anywhere. So keep
those punches coming � just don�t hit below the
belt...
What would you do if �Black & Blue� sold a grand total
of eightcopies?
Kevin:
That would suck (everyone laughs)
Brian:
I�d have to buy eight copies more myself so
that I could double the sales overnight.
AJ:
I�d start crying and go play with traffic!
Nick:
I tell you what, I got a boat, and if that
happens, I�m gonna get on my boat and drive off
somewhere and never get bugged again.
AJ:
No, you know what? Honestly, if we sold eight
copies then maybe that�s our destiny telling us we�re
not happening anymore. We�ve done a great thing.
Nick:
We pray to God it doesn�t happen!
Howie:
It�s not gonna happen, but if it does, we�ll
just make another album really quickly!
Kevin:
We�d call an emergency meeting and regroup.
Brian:
We try not to set our goals too high.
So you�d be happy with nine copies?
Brian:
Ten, maybe...ten and a half if we�re lucky.
So after selling millions of records, how famous do
you think you are?
Kevin:
(thoughtfully) I would say at least 50% of the
world have heard of us.
Brian:
There�s how many billion people in this world?
There�s still lots of people who don�t know who we
are.
So 51% or 49%?
Kevin:
Let�s go for 51%!
Source: Smash Hits January issue