- If AJ gets an idea I'm gonna go, bing!
(electronic whirring)
(typing)
- [Interviewer] Who do you think wants to do a solo career?
Would you wanna do one, would you?
- I think there's five people here--
- I think we'd all like to--
- A lot of us would like to--
- I think it's definitely gonna happen someday.
But, I mean, as of right now,
it's just the focus is just not really there.
We're all, we are a team as well as five individuals,
so we're all capable of doing a solo career,
'cause we're all equally talented, so--
- We gotta be sittin' in the audience at Radio City
for the Grammys and all of those things (laughs)--
- We gotta be there.
- Yep, all day. - Yeah, we got a lot of things
we still need to accomplish as a group.
- [Interviewer] MTV Awards September 10th, by the way.
- MTV Awards!
- [Interviewer] I've got some questions
about that coming up. - We have two nominations.
I heard, a little bird told me (laughs).
- [Interviewer] I got questions about that.
So, first of all, the new single is
I'll Never Break Your Heart, which, really,
for longtime Backstreet fans is not a new song,
but, how did you decide to release that as a single now?
'Cause most Americans don't know that it's an older tune.
- It's a different side of us, 'cause you've seen
Quit Playing Games With My Heart was a mid-tempo,
as Long As You Love Me was also a mid-tempo,
and then We've Got It Goin' On was an up-tempo--
- [Interviewer] Backstreet's Back--
- Backstreet's Back was an up-tempo,
and then this is just like a totally different
side of the Backstreet Boys.
Granted, I was what, 15,
and you were what, 18 when we recorded it?
- Yep. - Jeez.
- Wow. - Something like that?
I mean, it was a long time ago, but--
- [Interviewer] You were really young then.
- Yeah, we were really young when we did it,
but, you know--
- [Interviewer] This song's a little more soulful.
- Yeah. - More harmony sounds.
- Intricate harmonies in it.
- A lot more harmonies, I mean--
- It's just a step up, I think.
- There is a brand new video.
We did have one video, which was for Europe,
but this new video--
- We shot it two or three years ago.
- Yeah, we shot it so long ago,
none of us look anything like that now.
- We're all different.
- Not to mention we have a really good director
with this video, Billy Woodruff, so,
it turned out to be a really kick-butt video.
I mean-- - [Interviewer] Cool.
- It's totally different than
what we would have expected for the song, but--
- Hopefully y'all gonna have that next week, so (laughs).
- Yeah, so be lookin' out for that, MTV (laughs).
- Hopefully! Hint, hint.
- [Interviewer] So, speaking of videos,
Backstreet's Back got, as we just said, two nominations.
Can you tell me a little bit about the idea,
how this monster thing came about.
And was it your idea, the director's idea?
- It was our idea.
Our idea.
- It was all mine, no I'm just playing (laughs).
- It was, I mean, it was kinda funny because
we had talked to a record company about it
and they were like, you know,
"Oh, I don't know, we'll talk about it later."
and all this kind of stuff.
And we had this idea in our head, you know,
and it took a while, and then
we eventually got them to do it.
And they came back and they're like,
"Thank you guys," 'cause it turned out to be
a really great video and everything.
So it was just really creative.
I mean, what we wanted to do was take like
the Michael Jackson Thriller thing,
and just make it a little bit different,
more of a '90's feel.
You know, of course, a little bit
lower budget than that was, but (laughs).
- With five, though.
- With five guys, you know, and just take
of course, the monster characters and have dancing in it,
and it was just really fun.
- Bunch of incredible dancers, and incredible crew,
incredible director, incredible choreographer, so--
- [Interviewer] Now, did that come out last fall in Europe?
- Yeah, see actually the way that happened was--
- It was the first single off the album--
- Yeah, the first single off the new album for Europe.
- Which was called Backstreet's Back.
- It wasn't planned on being released in America at all.
And then finally it just blew up so much over in Europe,
that the record company, along with us, said,
"Let's put it on the American album."
'Cause we needed a good up-tempo song--
- See what happens, and, well okay.
- [Interviewer] I imagine it's fun to do a video
where you can just sorta' have a good time
and not worry about lookin' as hot as possible
or, you know, this and that.
- There's gory makeup. - Just playing a character.
- [Interviewer] Just playing a character,
and getting in that costume--
- Just doing something totally not yourself.
- It got us back into our acting field,
which some of us did in the past.
So that's cool.
- But it was hard to convince the record label
to do this video, because it was a risk.
Doing this type of treatment, if it wasn't done
with the right budget, the right costumes,
the right choreography, the right set,
it could come off really corny.
- Really waaaaah (laughs). - Really wack (laughs).
- And so we wanted the support of the record label,
we wanted the budget, we wanted everything.
And the record label wasn't sure if it was gonna be a single
that was gonna be released worldwide,
including the United States.
So they weren't sure that they wanted
to spend that much money on it.
And we were like, "Come on, do it.
"It's a great idea, give us, you know,
"let's work together, let's do this."
And then afterward they're thanking us because
it was number one most requested on MTV Requests
for like, 13, 14 times, something like that.
- [Interviewer] Okay, let me just tell you,
you got two nominations.
One for best dance video; you're up against:
Janet, Together Again, Madonna, Ray of Light,
Prodigy, Smack my Bitch Up, - (laughs).
And Will Smith, Gettin' Jiggy Wit It.
- Wow!
- [Interviewer] Any thoughts on the competition?
- Oh wow! - I like Prodigy.
- A lotta competition. - All great videos.
- I like Prodigy's video.
- [Interviewer] Who would you vote for
if you guys didn't win?
- Who else is in there?
- [Interviewer] Prodigy, Smack My Bitch Up,
Will Smith, Gettin' Jiggy Wit It,
Madonna, Ray of Light, and Janet Jackson Together Again.
- I think Will Smith, probably.
- I would be tossing between--
- Ray of Light-- - Will Smith.
- Ray of Light, Madonna's video is dope.
- Yeah Madonna's got some good stuff goin' on too, though.
Especially Madonna's got this UK flavor.
- I actually, I think--
- I like Backstreet's Back, no I'm just kidding.
- (laughs).
- I'd say Backstreet's Back.
- My choice would definitely be Backstreet's Back, though.
- [Interviewer] Okay, final thing, alrgiht,
you just mentioned Madonna, and we're asking people,
because you guys may not be aware,
but August 16th is a milestone.
Miss Madonna turns 40 years old on August 16th.
- Wow! - Are you serious?
- She is? - Wow!
- [Interviewer] Do you have any thoughts on Madonna?
You guys fans?
- Yeah.
- Can we go to her birthday party?
- Congratulations!
- She looks 20! (laughs).
- Congratulations.
- Okay that's--
- She looks wonderful, and before we got in this business--
- We'd love to come to her birthday party.
- Before we got into this business,
we didn't know what it was like.
And now, we got a little taste of it, so, you know.
- [Interviewer] That's a nice warm prayer.
- Yeah. - And we admire her.
- Yeah she's had an incredible career.
- We respect her.
- [Interviewer] She's still kickin' it.
- We heard her in one of our international press interview--
- That she was singing one of our songs.
- Yeah. She was singing Quit Playing Games (laughs).
- Yeah during one of the MTV Asias or something like that.
One of the guys was interviewing her.
He said, "Yeah, I was interviewing Madonna last week
"and she was singing Quit Playing Games With My Heart"
either at the break or during the actual thing.
- Yeah, it was really cool. - I was like, wow.
That's definitely an accomplishment for us.
- [Interviewer] Once she got her little girl through
a Spice Girls show--
- Oh really? - Whoa.
- We coulda' given her tickets to the Backstreet Boys!
- There you go!