Girls everywhere are swooning for the sweeties of O-Town, the newest boy band on the block....even though the five foxes haven't even recorded a CD yet! They're making our hearts hum with their hilarious hijinks and tune troubles every Friday night on ABC's MAKING THE BAND. YM hung out with the small-screen singers to get the complete, uncensored scoop on a real day in the life of O-Town.
Their song story began when they beat out 1,800 other boy-band wannabes. Each guy had to sing, dance, and interview with a panel of judges headed up by Lou Pearlman, the legendary boy-band backer of 'N SYNC, BSB, LFO, and Take 5. Soon, the guys were hooked up with a killer waterfront pad in Orlando, the Florida city nicknamed O-Town. Yet life hasn't exactly been cushy for the crooners.
Each day's hectic schedule includes, 2 hours of voice lessons, 5 hours of dance rehearsals, workouts at the gym, personal apperances, interviews, photo shoots, and time in the studio recording their upcoming album. (look for it on Jan 23rd/2001)All the while, they're wearing mikes and and being stalked by cameras.
Taping the show has definitely taken it's toll. The guys weren't quite prepared for their TV audience to have an all-access pass to their lives. "There has been no privacy," says Trevor. "If you ask the TV crew for a little time alone, they just say, 'you signed the contract.'" Adds Jacob, "Its especially hard having our phones tapped and wearing microphones 24 hours a day. But its forced us to be comfortable with ourselves."
The guys haven't always appreciated the way the cameras captured them, however. "Sometimes the show takes one aspect of our personalities and blows it up," says Ashley. That's been especially tough when a less-than-positive personality trait is involved, such as Erik's hot temper. "Yeah, I may have an attitude," admits Erik, "But they don't show the other 90% of the time, when I'm goofing around. I guess it helps the story line, but I don't like it when the viewers say 'I hope you lose the attitude.' Because I don't usually have one."
Still, Ashley believes that overall, the TV audience has gotten to know the real guys. "Seeing us in our bad moments, messing up, has made us more human," says Ashley. "We've shown our weaknesses. Trevor and I are the criers. We're the totally emotional ones."
That emotion emerges in tunes such as "All for Love" and "Baby I Would." Yet Ashley insists they don't want to follow in the footsteps of every other boy band: "We want our sound to be more aggresive pop/R&B." The guys are now writing some of their own songs and working with the biggest hit-meisters in the biz, such as Diane Warren, wwho has written for Christina Aguilera and Aerosmith.
O-Town hopes to earn respect from their industry peers, rufusing to let boy-band bashers get them down. Dan is quick to point out that, besides writing some of their own music, the guys also choreograph some of their own dance numbers. "And we wear what we want!" he says. "We're not letting anyone tell us what to do."
Time will tell whether these guys are not just cookie-cutter cuties. But with a hit TV show, a deal with a major record label; and a CD and world tour planned for next year(2001), it looks like they're planned for next year, it looks like they're off to a rocking start.***
September 2000, YM
