Date: January 2002
Source: Online Sun (UK)
By JACQUI SWIFT
Submitted by: Brandy
The Backstreet Boys are one of the biggest pop bands in the world.
They've enjoyed hit after hit with records such as Larger Than Life, Everybody (Backstreets Back) and I Want It That Way.
They've also toured the world many times over with tickets for every venue they play, selling out in hours.
As a special New Year treat for you, AJ, Howie, Nick, Brian and Kevin are our first webchat guest of 2002.
Hundreds of you emailed in questions for the boys and so here are their answers.
Read on to see what they had to say about the Queen watching MTV, getting homesick, splitting up and their next UK tour.
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When will you next be playing in the UK?
Simone Wright
AJ: At the moment we�re preparing to go back into the studio. Maybe we�ll hit the road again in the summer, maybe the fall. It�s all being planned out at the moment. We hope to be back in the UK as soon as we can.
Nick: I love it there in the UK! We have such a great time over there, and fans are really supportive. You look outside the hotel and they�re all waving. You get to the venue and those same fans are there already!
Howie: We�ve been on tour in the USA for the last 10 months and then we went to Japan for two weeks for a show there. We�d love to take the show back to the UK. The response we get from the audience over there is electric � they know every single word. You can�t hear the music over the fans!
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If you could change one thing about being a Backstreet Boy what would it be?
Den, Wales
Kevin: I wouldn�t change anything major. Even when we�ve been on the road for two years with little time off it�s hard, but you know it�s why you joined a band in the first place. It all adds to the experience you get.
Brian: I agree. I think the only thing that gets to you is the time away from family and friends, but they understand and it makes the time we do get to spend at home more special. I also take my wife on the road whenever we feel we need each other for support.
AJ: The only thing I�d change is that we have to do everything to a tight schedule. We�d like to spend more time visiting the sights when we�re in a cool city, or spend more time meeting fans when we go to a record signing but we have to keep to a schedule. That�s the way it is otherwise we�d never get through half the things we need to do.
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Is it harder to be virtually unknown in the music business and try to work your way to the top, or to be at the top and try to maintain that status?
Angie Hiers
Nick: Trying to make it as a band is hard work. I�d say both are just as hard.
Howie: When you�re trying to make it you struggle to get yourself support and loyal fans, as that�s the most important ingredient. Once you�ve had that success you have to continually promote your records and tour the globe to meet all the demand. Whichever one is harder, I�m just grateful we�ve been given the opportunities we�ve had.
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What are your future goals as the Backstreet Boys or as individual artists?
KTF
Kevin: We�re eternally grateful to our fans for all the support we get from them.
Brian: We all have a dream we still want to pursue, but that�s the same for everyone. We always have hopes and ambitions. I�d like to do some acting I think but at the moment we�re all still concentrating on the band and where we want to take the sound next.
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A friend and I are trying to start a group. What is the best way to record the songs and send them off to a record company.
Rik
Nick: Cool! You just gotta keep going at it. Keep a diary with you to write ideas and words in. Even scribbling two words can help, that way, it�s there to remember.
Brian: Once you�ve recorded the songs make loads of copies, I mean loads. Get sending them out everywhere and do not be afraid of pursuing the record company to get noticed. Also send it out to people you�d like to manage you as it all helps.
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AJ where do you get your clothes from? I love all of the t-shirts you wore on the Black & Blue tour!
Shaylee, Leicester
AJ: We get them from everywhere but the tour costumes are usually designed by us and our costume designers. We meet up and discuss everything like the stage, lights, cameras and costumes. We want to give the fans a night they�ll remember and an experience too.
Howie: We all have different tastes when it come to clothes, so we agree on a style that we want and how we each choose to follow is up to us. You can�t have someone tell you what to wear exactly. It would feel uncomfortable.
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If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere, where would it be and why?
Cheryl Prince, Manchester
AJ: I�d like to be in Buckingham Palace. I want to see if the Queen is as well mannered as people think. I bet she�s like the rest of us. She probably likes to just sit around and watch MTV and eat pizza.
Brian: I�d like to be in the studio with Elton John. He is an amazing artist and to watch him work would be the best. We performed live with him and he�s such a professional, we learned a lot.
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What do you think makes Backstreet Boys so special?
Charlie Jones, Essex
Nick: I think we have a lot of fans that have grown up with us. We�ve matured and our music�s matured and so have our fans. They know that we�re doing this for them and that makes it special for both of us.
Kevin: I think it�s that unknown element. You can�t say it's any one thing on its own but it�s something. We often sit around and talk about this stuff, how amazing it all is and how much we�ve achieved. We still don�t know what it is that gets the fans so hyped though.
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There has been so many rumours about a split. Set the British straight and tell us what�s happening? Will there be any break? Have you ever talked about a split?
Stephanie, Bolton
Brian: We�ve never talked about a split. We get asked this question whenever we do an interview and it's not true. Why would any of us want to give up the amazing lives we have. We�re not splitting.
Howie: We joined a band �coz we love music, right? And we still love music and touring and especially meeting new fans, so why would we want to stop?
We are planning the next album to be recorded in the spring and can�t wait. So you fans don�t need to worry about a thing. We�ll continue for as long as the fans want us.
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If you could all go back and live one moment of your lives again, what would it be?
Luisa, Brazil
Nick: Good question. Mmm, I think it would be the first time I heard one of our songs on the radio. It was amazing. We were just sitting in the studio, playing pool and someone came running in screaming, �turn on the radio, turn on the radio�.
AJ: Yeah, moments like that are the ones that you can�t beat. It�s like the first No1, or your first piece of fan mail. They�re special times that we�d all go back to as at the time it doesn�t really sink in.
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If you had to nominate one other Backstreet Boy to get thrown out of the group, who would it be and why?
Cerys, Cwmbran
Nick: Brian � he�s always knocking things over.
Kevin: AJ � He likes to play tricks on us when we�re on tour. I remember when he told the hotel reception that we all wanted wake-up calls at 6am. We�d only got to bed at around 3am, so that didn�t go down too well.
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If you weren�t famous and did not have the talent to sing and dance, what job do you think you would be doing?
Cool J
Nick: I�d like to be a teacher. I don�t know why but recently I�ve realised how important kids are in the world and teaching them is more of a duty than a job. So that would be cool.
AJ: I�d like to work with animals - maybe a zookeeper or at a sanctuary. Animals are so cool and there are a lot of endangered animals out there. Running a sanctuary would be the sort of thing I�d like to get involved with.
Kevin: I�d like to open a restaurant. I love food and think restaurants are a great place to go and hang out with friends. If you have a cool venue, you can make a real cool set-up. Loud music, dancefloor and great food. That�s what I�d like to do.
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What sort of songs will be there on your next album?
Fanny, France
Kevin: We all have different tastes within the group and the direction of the next album will be a step forward. We still have that mix of ballads and up-tempo songs as that�s what the fans want. We�re still putting the album together so you�ll have to wait and see. It will be cool I promise.
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Brian now you are married when do you plan to have children?
Renee, Canada
Brian: I am very happy at the moment, and I take every day as it comes. We have discussed children and would love to have them one day. But we are not planning to have them at the moment.
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After nearly ten years in the business is there anything else that The Backstreet Boys could achieve both as a band and as individuals?
Soraya, London
AJ: I think there�s still a lot to achieve. You can never think you�ve done everything and just stop. We have done so much and we�re really proud of that, but there are still places we�ve never been to and musical styles left to try.
Howie: If you don�t try and keep doing things in a different way, then there�s no soul in your work and you lose motivation. We�d still like to make people go �wow�. When we do the next album and especially with the live shows. We put in a lot of time and effort to do things in a fresh and exciting way. We owe it to our fans.
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Do you still see yourselves as Backstreet Boys in five year's time and if so what do you see as your style as a band by then?
Norie
Brian: I hope so. Our style will change that�s for sure. As we get older, so do our fans. No-one would�ve predicted that we�d still be doing this ten years ago and we certainly wouldn�t have counted on having the success we�ve achieved, but we have. So, in five years time I�d want to still be giving the fans what they want.
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Do you think you are still the best band in the world?
Rachael Adair, Australia
Howie: We think we have the best job in the world that�s for sure. All we care about is being the best band that we can be. If the fans put us up there in that honour then we are eternally grateful.
AJ: We love being in this band. If people say we�re their favourite, then it only makes us work even harder to give them what they want. I don�t think anyone can really be the best, it�s like saying, �I�m perfect�. You just got to be the best that you can be.
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There�s been talk that you don�t get on with N Sync. What has happened between both bands?
Paula
Brian: There�s no problem between us. They�re cool and do their thing and they�re cool with us doing out thing. There�s no beef.
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AJ, you've had a tough time with your rehab. How are you now and what was the lowest point for you?
Tam
AJ: I was upset we had to cancel shows on the tour so I could get better. I�m happy to tell everyone that I feel amazing now. I�m healthy, happy and have never felt better.
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When was the last time you had the chance to be with your family?
BSB Fan
Kevin: We had some time off for Christmas which was great. We went back to our homes and families to spend the holidays and chill.
Howie: I hadn�t seen my family for a couple of months now. We speak on the phone all the time so I was really looking forward to seeing my folks.
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Do you ever get homesick?
Marina, Manchester
Brian: I get homesick a lot - I think we all do. When you spend all your time on the road, in different time zones you can feel quite down and that�s when you want to be home.
Kevin: I used to get it real bad when we first started touring. I�d phone home about 10 times a day and just talk about nothing else. Now we're so busy doing promo, rehearsing and sound-checking that you don�t get a lot of time to think about home.
Nick: I think you just learn to enjoy yourself on the road and that makes it easier. We�re like brothers so we�ve always got some family with us. When one of us is down or homesick then we all help pick that person up, so it�s cool.
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How do you feel about fans adoring you all over the world?
Nancy, Leeds
AJ: It's the reason why we work so hard. The fans give us so much, and we just want to give back as much as we can.
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What�s the one thing you absolutely hate about interviews?
Paul Carrick
Brian: Getting asked if we�re splitting.
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Do you ever feel that you can�t cope with all the fans and the attention you get?
Lindsey Mahoney
Kevin: No, it�s part of being in a band. They put us where we are so it�s understandable that they want to know everything.
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Has a girl ever broken your heart?
Fatima Ahmed, Denmark
AJ: Yes Howie: Yes Nick: Yes Brian: Yes Kevin: Yes