A.J. on Kiss 95.1

TJ: Okay, so the deal is, we had an interview lined up with one of the Backstreet Boys. We didn't know which one it was. They just said, 'Hey, you're gonna get to talk to one of the Backstreet Boys, but you gotta record it, because they're in concert, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, we did that yesterday afternoon. We had a little "coffee talk," if you will, with one of the Backstreet Boys. Or if you want...whatever. (They laugh)

Ace: Hey if you're a parent, there's some pretty cool stuff he talks about in here. He's a pretty low-key kinda guy. Ah, but we ended up talking to AJ from the Backstreet Boys. We didn't even know who we were going to talk to when they called yesterday. So, this is our little conversation with AJ from the Backstreet Boys.

AJ: It's AJ.

Ace: Hey AJ, how you doing? It's Ace and TJ. What's going on?

AJ: Same old stuff, different day.

Ace: Which isn't bad if I'm in your shoes, I'm thinking. (AJ laughs) How do you react to all the criticism you get as far as being a "teenybopper band" and a "boy band" and all that kinda stuff? Does that ever kinda get to you after a while, where you just get sick of it and want to lash out and say, 'Hey look! Listen! We're serious musicians, we're very good singers, we're talented people."

AJ: No, I mean, at first, like when we first started out, when we first released the very first Backstreet Boys album in the US, it was kind of inevitable. I mean, we really had no where to go hide, you know, underneath a chair or something and just say, you know, we're not going to take it, and this and that, and kinda run away. We always dealt with it head on and basically, you know, it's gonna happen. It still happens to this day, even though we've gained a lot more respect over the last two years, but it's going to continue to happen just because of our image and because, well you have five white guys, singing pop music, and our main market seems to be the 15 to 25 year old. But yet, what people don't realize is, if you come to one of our shows, we have anywhere from 15 to 65 year olds.

TJ: Right.

AJ: So, I mean, I don't know any "teenybopper band" that brings in entire families, and you know, dad's say how much they listen to our music and stuff like that. That really makes us feel good.

TJ: All right, we're talking to AJ from the Backstreet Boys. Now, and we know you get this all the time about, uh, I have my room wallpapered in your pictures, I'm your biggest fan, I have the albums, I know every word to every song and all. But as a performer and doing what you do, what is the biggest compliment that you ever received?

AJ: (Thinks for a second) The biggest compliment I can think of, um gee, off the top of my head, um, probably the fact that, actually, we had a mom, uh, I can't think of where, oh God, it's going to drive me nuts now, but we had a mom and we have these fan "Meet-n-Greets" that we do once every 3 or 4 cities. We do like a press conference but it's for the fans to ask us questions and stuff like that. And a lot of these girls and guys are asking really good, you know, questions.

TJ: Yeah, probably a lot better than what we're asking.

AJ: Well, no, actually. (Ace and TJ laugh) They got some good ones man, but this one mom said, she's like, 'You know what, I grew up on The Beatles and Three Dog Night, and all this kinda stuff,' and she's like, 'In my opinion, I think you guys are better than The Beatles.'

TJ: Oh, that's cool.

AJ: And I was like, 'Well, I don't know if I'd say that, but I appreciate the compliment. Thank you.'

TJ: (Laughing) You'd probably feel like we would if somebody said, 'Hey y'all are better than Howard Stern.'

AJ: Right.

TJ: Well, have you ever had any scary incidents with people that just go overboard as far as lovin' y'all and everything?

AJ: We've had a couple. We had a girl stow away on our tour bus in Europe one time.

TJ: Really?

Ace: By 'stow away,' do you mean she hid under the bottom of the bus, or...

AJ: No, she was in the back bunk, behind my bunk, she was in our managers bunk. He was in his bunk and went to feel for a pillow, and he felt a leg, and she screamed.

TJ: Wow.

AJ: We've had bomb threats, I mean, numerous things. I mean, you know, there's gonna be jealous, you know, boyfriends and this and that.

TJ: Man, don't I know it AJ. (Ace laughs)

AJ: It's scary man, I'm tellin' ya.

TJ: People don't realize what we have to go through, you know what I'm saying?

AJ: They just don't get it. (Ace is still laughing)

Ace: Now when you've sold, you know, 40 million, 50 million  records around the world, everything you've touched is turned to gold or platinum and everything's been huge, what do you do next? How do you prevent that "New Kids on the Block Syndrome" that you seem to be tied to so closely? Will you do movies? Will you take time apart from each other? What will be the next step for Backstreet Boys to maintain the level of success that you're having now?

TJ: Yeah, 'cause y'all gotta be tired.

AJ: We are tired, like I would say we're more physically tired than we are mentally tired.

TJ: Yeah, that's what I sayin'.

AJ: Mentally, we still have the hunger to keep on going and keep on doing this as long as God will let us but, I think you will see more film, TV. I know a couple of us started doing that when we were younger. I know Howie, myself, and Nick started in, like, acting and theatre and...just as long as we keep our faces out there and we just don't disappear like, for a year, and like don't release a single, don't do any press...

Ace: Yeah.

AJ: ...and hide away, that makes people nervous. I mean, when we left of off...this is our world tour that we're on right now and we're doing the whole US leg and we just finished, back in the summer, we did Europe. And when we left London, which was the last place that we hit, a lot of the girls were all crying. And I was like, 'Why are you guys crying?' And they're like, 'Well this is the last time that we're ever going to see, 'cause you guys are breaking up.' I'm like, 'N- No we're not...' You know, and a couple of girls were like, 'You're not going to be back for a year, or you know, two years, and you're going to go to the US,' and I'm like, 'Well, we have to cover the whole world, you know? It's not something you can do in two months.'

Ace: But AJ, as humble as you sound about that, and you all seem to be very nice, down to earth people, that's got to, at some point, when you look at someone and they're in tears and crying because they know, they think that you're not ever coming back or you're not coming back for two years. Somewhere inside, doesn't that get to you and some point and you think, 'You know, this is all a little bit too much for me. I was just this kid that started out singing songs and now this is..' Does it seem overwhelming at times how you're touching people?

AJ: It really, it honestly, it truthfully does. I'd say about a week ago, we had a fan "Meet-n-Greet," like I was telling you about, or a "fan conference" as we call it, and we had about 6 kids from the Make a Wish Foundation.

TJ: Yeah.

AJ: And we always try to donate anything we can towards any kind of charities. I know Howie has a charity in his sister's name for Lupus.

TJ: Mmhm.

AJ: Brian has a heart foundation and I'm getting ready to set up a diabeties foundation. Um...to see these little girls that you don't know whether you're going to see them a week from now, it really hits home. You know, because here's this 5 year old with cancer and she's saying that her dying wish is to meet one of us. I mean, we're all on the verge of tears in our press conference, and we're trying to hold it back, but you know, a couple of us lost it after the press conference. We didn't want to cry in front of everybody, but you know, we're only human.

Ace: Yeah, so basically to meet you, was, in all honesty, her last dying wish.

AJ: Mmmhm.

TJ: That's gotta be overwhelming. That's so much of a compliment that somebody would have you as their last dying wish.

AJ: As long as we can keep on...regardless of what we look like or, I can't say what we sound like because that's very important, but as long as we keep putting out good music, we'll always have our fans, and we'll always have each other because, that's all this is about. It's not about, you know, the sponsorships, the clothing, the live performance. It's always about the music.

Ace: But the money ain't bad.

AJ: The money ain't bad,  but it's always about the music. (Ace and TJ laugh)

TJ: Well, AJ, we are always quick to tell people, we met you when you were in Charlotte, last year, not this past time you came, but before that. And we're always quick to tell people what nice guys y'all are.

AJ: Why thank you.

TJ: And my nephews are thrilled to death that I actually got to meet and talk with the Backstreet Boys and always tell people that y'all aren't with the big egos and all that kinda stuff, that you were really nice and cordial to us and your fans when we met you backstage at the Coliseum here.

AJ: Well thank you man, I appreciate it.

TJ: And we sure appreciate you taking a few minutes to talk to us. We know y'all are really really busy and everything so uh..

AJ: Any time, man, any time.

TJ: Thank you very much and good luck with the rest of the tour and everything.

AJ: Thank you very much. (End of interview)

Ace: What a nice guy, huh?

Ace: What a nice guy!