Interviews with Kevin

Gio: Kevin's here. Hey Kevin! 

Kevin: Hey 

Gio: How ya doing? 

Kevin: Good, how's it going? 

Kim: Good 

Gio: Hey it's going all right. It's Giovanni and Kim and we're glad you're 
here this morning. 

Kim: Well we hear that you're going to let your fans pick your next single. 
Is that true? 

Kevin: Yes we are. 

Kim: Tell us the deal on this. 

Kevin: How's the deal? 

Kim: Tell us about it. 

Gio: Yeah, how do they do it? 

Kevin: Um, well, we're going...MTV's gonna help us out and hopefully you guys 
at your radio stations all acorss the United States are going to help us 
out. And we're going to do it on the web as well. We've got three songs 
that we feel like that we would like to release as singles and we're just 
going to let the fans pick them. 

Gio: So they just vote on the internet? 

Kevin: Yep. 

Kim: Can we hear them on the internet too? 

Kevin: We're gonna...MTV's gonna help us out...they're going to do snippets on 
MTV and you can hear them...you'll be able to hear them on the web as well. 
But, I mean, most of the fans, of course, have the record so they know the 
songs. 

Kim: Okay. 

Kevin: It's between I'll Be The One (clears his throat), Don't Want 
You Back (coughs)...Excuse me..are you guys...are we on live or are we 
taping? 

Gio: Oh yeah, we're live. 

Kevin: Oh, we're live? Okay, cause I'm coughing like a..like a big dog here. 
It's The One, Don't Want You Back and Don't Wanna Lose You Now. (MTV is listing 
the third choice as It's Gotta Be You.) 

Gio: So do you wanna...I know you might sway the votes but which one do you 
like? 

Kevin: I have a ...I think I have to favor Don't Wanna Lose You Now. 

Kim: Now, do you guys usually agree on which one you want to release next 
or do you have all different opinions? 

Kevin: I mean, it's, with us and the reason we want to let the fans help us 
out with this one is because really we feel like all three songs are very 
strong. And we just want to see what the fans think. I think with the five of 
us, I mean, each song is different. Like I'll Be the One is like, just a 
good radio tune. I don't know if you guys are familiar with the song, but... 

Kim: Mm hm. 

Kevin: But it's a good uptempo radio tune, Don't Want You Back is a little 
edgier, it's definitely a good radio tune and then I'll Be the One is 
a good song for adult contemporary and pop crossover. 
So...I mean...I feel like all 
three of them are really strong, so... (I think he meant to say Don't Want 
to Lose You Now instead of I'll Be the One twice. But hey, who can blame him, 
at that hour of the morning, I was barely awake much less able to form a 
coherent thought!) 

Kim: Now do you guys ever think when you're about to release a song, do 
you ever think, gosh I hope they pick this one cause that's the one I 
sound the best on? 

Kevin: (laughing) That's the one I sound the best on... 

Kim: Yeah, I sound great on that one. 

Kevin: I'm kind of hoping they'll pick Don't Wanna Lose You Now just 
because that's one of my favorite songs..it's always been, ever since we 
recorded it. I've just really liked it, so... 

Gio: Normally, what's the process..who picks the next single? Do you guys 
pick it or is it a consensus of opinion or...how does it go? 

Kevin: We sit down, the five of us and we talk about it. I mean, we picked 
the first single, we picked the second single, we picked the last single, 
so I mean...normally just the five of us sit down and decide it and with this 
one, we were like you know what, it's our last single off this album, why 
don't we let the fans pick it. 

Kim: All right, now speaking of the fans, cause this will probably make them 
very happy but recently you and Brian made some of the fans pretty darn sad. 
Congratulations on your engagement. 

Kevin: Thank you very much. 

Kim: Now when's the date, have you picked a date? 

Kevin: Haven't set a date yet. 

Kim: It's gotta be tough...I mean, you guys are so busy... 

Kevin: Even if I did pick a date, I wouldn't tell you 

Gio and Kim laugh. 

Kim: Well sure. 

Kevin: (laughing) No, I'm just kidding. We just have to keep things on the 
down low or otherwise we'd have a lot of uninvited guests. 

Gio: You think? 

Kim: A lot of helicopters flying over head. 

Kevin: Yeah. 

Kim: Now, has she dragged you to the invitation store, have you gotten the 
Martha Stewart planning book? 

Kevin: Uh, we haven't gotten the Martha Stewart planning book but 
we've been talking every day about it and I'm excited and uh...I mean I'm , 
I've looked forward to getting married my entire life and starting a family. 
I have...I had a great childhood and a great family..with my mom and 
dad, they were high school sweethearts so I look forward to being a married man. 

Gio: Not giving anything away but do you think you're going to get married 
someplace where it's warm or are you going to be in Orlando where you're 
from or what do you think? 

Kevin: Um, I think I'd like to get married outside, if that gives you any... 

Kim: Now that would be good. How does she handle, your fans, obviously rightly 
so, because you guys are all very hot young men, your fans just go crazy over 
you guys...how does your fiance handle that? 

Kevin: Well, she's been...we've been dating for like eight years now, 
on and off, so I mean she knew me before I was ever involved in the group, 
she knew me when I played in rock bands and stuff, right before I met any 
of the fellas, so I mean she's really cool, she's so laid back, so cool, 
she's totally supportive and she's just secure in who she is and the way I 
feel about her and she's totally supportive. 

Kim: Have you heard from any disappointed fans or are most people pretty 
happy for you? 

Kevin: Mostly everybody's been really happy. 

Kim: Oh, that's good. 

Kevin: I mean at the concerts we got big signs in the audience, people making 
big signs that say congratulations Kev and Brian and they're throwing like 
stuffed animals up on stage, like teddy bears with like tuxedos and 
wedding gowns...so it's been really positive. 

Kim. Aw! I guess it's okay for you guys because you're the first so we know, 
all the fans know that there are still three more single guys up there. 

Kevin: (laughs) And you know, the fact that we're getting married is not 
going to affect our voices or our music so.... 

Gio: Everything will keep rolling on. 

Kevin: That's what's most important. 

Gio: The Backstreet Boys train will keep on rolling. 

Kevin: That's what's most important. 

Gio: So after Dallas where are you heading? 

Kevin: After Dallas, we're headed to St. Louis. (He pronounced Louis 
like Louie) 

Gio: All right. 

Kevin: Home of the national champions of the NFL. 

Gio: Yeah you're right, that's right. 

Kevin: Yup, we're going to play in the big dome there. 

Kim: Oh really? 

Kevin: Yeah, we're psyched about that. 

Kim: Sounds great. 

Kevin: We've had like six stadium shows on this tour, it's been crazy 
he really out a lot of emphasis on the word crazy), all these people, these 
have been the biggest shows we've ever played. 

Kim: Any idea when you're coming back to the Providence area? 

Kevin: Well, we're definitely going to swing through on our promotional 
tour for our next album... 

Kim: Great! 

Kevin: And then once we put a tour together for the new album we'll be 
back through there. 

Gio: You guys ever going to take a break? 

Kevin: Well when we write and record, it's kind of like a break to us 
because we're at least in one spot... 

Gio: Yeah, cause you're not... 

Kevin: As long as we're in one spot, it's like a break to us. 

Gio: So when you're not touring that's more of a break to you... 

Kevin: Yeah. And we really enjoy being in the studio, we really enjoy 
creating, so... 

Gio: Well, apparently everybody enjoys the music, Kevin. 

Kevin : Cool. 

Kim: I think this new promotion letting the fans pick the next single is 
so cool. When's the first time we can catch it on the web and on MTV. 

Kevin: Well, we're trying to set it all up by this weekend so at the first 
of next week we can start having the contest. 

Gio: Okay, beautiful. 

Kim: Great! 

Gio: We'll keep our eyes open for it and let everybody know when they can vote 
and where they go and all that. 

Kevin: All right , thank you guys for pumping the music, we appreciate it. 

Gio: Kevin, thanks, thanks a lot. 

Kim: Thank you. 

Kevin: All right 

Gio: Take care. 

Kevin: Bye bye. 

Gio: All right there he goes, Kevin from the Backstreet Boys, 
92 PRO-FM. 

Kim: Mm, thank you for making the music for us to pump. 

Tarzan Dan: Hi! 

Kevin What's up, man? 

Tarzan Dan: What's up? 

Kevin How ya doin'? 

Tarzan Dan: Or as they say in the commercial (in a low and funny voice) 
What's up? 

Kevin: (in a funny voice): What's up? 

Tarzan Dan (laugh): Kevin from the Backstreet Boys. Tarzan Dan on your radio. 
How ya doin'? 

Kevin I'm good man. How are you? 

Tarzan Dan: It is so good to talk to you. I haven't talked to you in a while 
and last time we talked, you were goin' "Maybe, you know, I should like 
maybe, like propose to my woman" and look what happened. 

Kevin Yeah, I did it. 

Tarzan Dan: Now, did you do it in a romantic way or did you just go, 
"Hey, ya wanna get married?" 

KevinUm, I took her to the first place that I told her that I loved her… 

Tarzan Dan: Aaahhh, you’re a big suck, aren't ya? 

Kevin …about 7 years ago. 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, no way! 

Kevin And, uh, yeah. It’s a bed and breakfast on the east coast down in 
Florida. I took her to the first spot that I told her I loved her and that’s 
where I popped the question. 

Tarzan Dan: Wow, man. You're romantic and all that. 

Kevin Ah, I try. 

Tarzan Dan: You're my dreamboat. (laughing) 

Tarzan Dan: Ah, man, I'm so happy for ya. I know we were talkin' about 
it that last time and, uh, you were sayin' you were gonna do it, by we 
didn't know exactly when. So, congratulations! 

Kevin Thank you! 

Tarzan Dan: Uh, now, as well, are you guys, uh, it waas so overwhelming 
for me. Um, back in December, I got a triple diamond award from you guys. 
Uh, and I just want to say thank you, that it meant so much to me, that, you 
know, after all this time and all these years that we've known each other, 
that you guys would remember little old Tarzan Dan. 

Kevin You were always very supportive of us and not only that, but you 
are our friend too, ya know, so… 

Tarzan Dan: Ah, I got a tear in my ear. 

Kevin A tear in your ear! 

Tarzan Dan: Now, I just saw this, today actually. And, trust me, I never 
looked at the pictures, okay. But, you guys were named, uh, Playboy, 
uh, R&B and Pop Group of the Year. 

Kevin: Playboy? 

Tarzan Dan: Yeah. 

Kevin Wow. 

Tarzan Dan: And I never looked at the pictures, of course. 

Kevin Whoa. 

Tarzan Dan: Whoa. Did you know that? 

Kevin No, I did not. 

Tarzan Dan: You did not know that? 

Kevin No. 

Tarzan Dan: Well, well, now you know. 

Kevin My mom's goin' to love that. 

Tarzan Dan (laughing): I of course, rolled around on the magazine and got 
paper cuts, but it was a fun experience. (laughing) 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, man. Well, we're goin' to play "Show Me The Meaning", 
okay? 

Kevin Okay. 

Tarzan Dan: Okay, so let's play "Show Me The Meaning". Kevin from Backstreet 
Boys is my special guest on KISS 92. (Show Me The Meaning plays) 

Tarzan Dan: KISS 92, Tarzan Dan, are you ready? Kevin from the Backstreet 
Boys, my buddy, my friend, my pal is here. 

Kevin (funny voice): What's up? 

Tarzan Dan (funny voice): What's up? (laughing) 

Tarzan Dan: So, now, you're comin'g on tour. We can't wait, we're so 
excited about it. Toronto is just so blown away and I know that the Skydome 
is going to be one of the biggest shows you've done. You're bringin' in 
more pyro, more sound. Anything new that we can expect? 

Kevin Uh, we've got some, uh, new outfits 'cause we, uh, pretty much trashed 
our old ones on the last tour. So we had to upgrade our opening outfits 
and uh, basically, its gonna be pretty much the same show. Uh, but we 
got a couple of changes on the outfits. And also, we upgraded the sound, and 
the lights and the pyro for the Skydome so we can blow everybody out. 

Tarzan Dan: Uh, you guys got a new comic book too. 

Kevin Yeah. Nick developed that. That's been one of his dreams to do 
something like that.. I mean, I know you know he's always been sketching 
and drawing and stuff. 

Tarzan Dan: No kidding. Yeah 'cause we were, he and I were workin' on 
something for awile. And then, uh, I know he went on to do it with Stan 
Lee and what have you. And I'm so excited for him and that is just so great 
and you'll be able to only purchase it at the…you can get it on the site 
backstreetboys.com or you can get it at the concert, right? 

Kevin Yeah. 

Tarzan Dan: Now, I gotta ask you this question 'cause I got a tonne of email 
after it happened. The Grammy's, you guys were up for ten thousand awards 
and you has the best party afterwards. Everybody was raving about the 
Backstreet party afterwards. Was it a little tough to swallow? 

Kevin: Um, actually, not really. I wasn't surprised at all. 
That was a great album by Santana. I have the album. Its great and, you 
know, he collaberated with so many other artists and it’s a really cool 
project. I wasn't surprised at all. I was a little surprised about 
the pop album category because I didn't realize Sting was nominated in the 
same category. 

Tarzan Dan: Yeah. 

Kevin But hey, you know, we lost to Sting and Santana. Wow. I would lose 
to them anyday. 

Tarzan Dan: Now we're getting into "Larger Than Life" cause you ARE larger 
than life to us. I mean, everybody loves you to bits and everybody thought 
you should win. So, we’re going to play that right no, okay? 

Kevin Alright. 

Tarzan Dan: KISS 92, Tarzan Dan with Kevin from the Backstreet Boys. 
(Larger Than Life plays) 

Tarzan Dan: KISS 92, Tarzan Dan on your radio and Kevin from the 
Backstreet Boys is one the phone. I can't believe you phoned just to 
say hi! 

Kevin:: Hi! 

Tarzan Dan: Hi! What's up? 

Kevin: (laughs) 

Tarzan Dan: So, say hi to all the other guys for me. I appreciate it. 

Kevin: I will. 

Tarzan Dan: I'm looking forward to seeing both your shows while your in 
town. It should be really, really cool. We're actually going to be doing 
the show outside the Toronto show. It should be really, really cool. 
Now, we're going to put you through the instant interview. Are you 
ready? 

Kevin: Okay. Instant interview. 

Tarzan Dan (music begins playing in the background): And away we go. 
Your name. 

Kevin: Kevin. 

Tarzan Dan: Shoe size. 

Kevin: 11 1/2 

Tarzan Dan: Any tattoos? 

Kevin Yes. 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, no. When did you get a tattoo? 

Kevin You didn't know that, then? 

Tarzan Dan: I didn't know about that. When did you… 

Kevin …ah, you're getting off the subject here. 

Tarzan Dan: Damn… 

Kevin Ask the question and move on 

Tarzan Dan: Okay. Favourite food? 

Kevin Uh…ah….my mom's fried chicken. 

Tarzan Dan: Alright. If a Canadian one dollar coin is a loonie, what's a 
two dollar coin? 

Kevin Uh………….a boonie. 

Tarzan Dan (laughs): It’s a twoonie, actually. 

Kevin Oh, a twoonie. Oh, okay. 

Tarzan Dan: Favourite team? 

Kevin From what sport? 

Tarzan Dan: Doesn't matter. 

Kevin Favourite team? University of Kentucky Wildcats. 

Tarzan Dan: Yeah. Toothpaste? 

Kevin Uh…Crest. 

Tarzan Dan: And colour of underwear you're wearing right now. 

Kevin Black. 

Tarzan Dan: Okay. And, uh, who do you lust for. Somebody famous 
that turns your crank. 

Kevin Uh, my fiancee. 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, come one. Well, yeah, she is famous actually. 

Kevin Someone famous that turns my crack? 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, you…(laughing) 

Tarzan Dan: Okay… 

Kevin Let's see…uh…Nicole Kidman's always… 

Tarzan Dan: Hello! (makes funny sound using lips) (laughing) 

Tarzan Dan: Oh, yeah. Can you bite your toe nails? 

Kevin (laughs): No, I don't bite my toenails. 

Tarzan Dan: Okay. And last, but not least: is it an innie or an outie? 
[NOTE: he's referring to Kevin's bellybutton.] 

Kevin Its an innie. (music in background stops) 

Tarzan Dan: Yeah. Kev, thank ou so much for hangin' out. 

Kevin Thanks, bro. 

Tarzan Dan: I so appreciate it. You're the best and you guys are the bomb, 
and you're the first in my heart, and I appreciate it, man. And all of your 
fans love you to bits. You wanna say anything to your fans before you take off? 

Kevin Uh, thank you everybody in Toronto for all their love and we'll see 
them real soon. And I'll see you real soon and we'll go have some grub 
or something, grab some dinner or something. 

Tarzan Dan: Alright, and I think you're going to be paying 'cause you're 
real rich now. 

Kevin Oh, okay. 

Tarzan Dan: (laughs). (S Club 7 begins to play) 

CDNOW: You've sold a lot -- a huge amount -- of records, but you 
still take a certain amount of flack for being "pop'' and a "boy band.'' 
What do you feel the Backstreet Boys still have to prove? 

Kevin Richardson: You know, something I came to realize in the past 
year -- which initially bothered me, but now I've accepted it -- is 
the fact that you just can't please everybody. Everybody is not 
gonna like our music. Everyone is not gonna like us. There are going to be 
some people who absolutely hate us or want to make fun of us. That's fine; 
if you see yourselves in a tabloid, then you've approached a level of 
success that people know who you are, and now they want to make fun of 
you. 
We just want people to know that everything they hear on the album is 
real. It's us. It's our voices singing. It's us coming up with the treatments 
for our videos and the ideas for our tours, the stage show, putting it 
together. We're just 
not guys who are told what to do or where to be. "Everybody is not 
gonna like our music … There are going to be some people who absolutely 
hate us or want to make fun of us." 

So do you just shake off the criticism? 

Critics are critics, and you can't let things like that bother you. 
It's frustrating, but what can you do? We think the album has beautiful 
melodies and beautiful songs on it. We're not trying to be, like, the Joni 
Mitchell of our time. We're not trying to be the Jimi Hendrix of our time. 
We're just trying to make good music and make people happy, and forget 
about their problems. We're not trying to send a message. We're happy 
with what we're putting out. 

What kind of pressure did you feel in making Millennium? 

Well, we set ourselves up pretty good for a sophomore slump by selling 10 
million in the U.S. on a debut album. But, actually, we'd already made it 
through the sophomore slump because [this] is our third album everywhere 
else in the world, and our second album only in the U.S. But we put the 
pressure on ourselves, really, just to make better music. We're not 
really looking at the sales. If you make good music and keep trying to 
outdo your last album as far as quality of music, the sales will come. Sales 
weren't the goal; we wanted to make better music and music that we felt our 
fans would like. 

It seemed like the five of you were more involved with Millennium than your 
first album. 

Definitely. I mean, Brian wrote a song on the last album called "That's 
What She Said,'' but we all want to get involved and write more. At the 
same time, we realize that it's a growing process; we don't want to just 
jump into it and say, "OK, we're going to write this whole album ourselves.'' 
The producers we've been working with, we've learned a lot from them the past 
three, four, five years we've been recording. We felt we had some songs 
that were definitely of the caliber to be included on our album. But as a 
group, with our record label, we worked together and picked the songs out. 
Howie wrote a couple of songs. A.J. wrote some. And from the songs we'd 
all written, the songs Brian wrote and the song I wrote were of the caliber 
needed to be on the album. 

You wrote a song on Millennium, "Back to Your Heart.'' What's it about? 

It comes from a real personal perspective. It's about a guy who thinks the 
grass is greener on the other side but finds out that it's not. That's 
basically what it's about, a guy who finally realizes what he has. It 
can be about a lot of things -- the business, a relationship, a 
love life. You need to find a balance. 

So from your vantage point now, what are the best aspects of your success? 

I'll give you a perfect example. We did a satellite radio broadcast all 
over the United States. Before we did that, we had a little girl come in 
from the Make a Wish Foundation. She said she was going to come in dressed 
as a little princess because she thought we were her princes. She was adorable, 
and she has a terminal disease. It breaks your heart; I lost my father to 
cancer. So it's stuff like that, moments like that that make you thankful 
you can make somebody happy and forget about their problems and put a 
smile on somebody's face. I enjoy creating in the studio, too. I enjoyed 
writing and getting to work with Shania [Twain], Elton. The art is the 
great thing about it. The bad thing is the business, but that comes with 
it. You can't have one without the other. 

What's your view of all the groups that followed in your wake – 'NSync, 98 
Degrees, LFO? Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery? 

I think it's kind of flattering. At the same time, it really lets the public 
know just how record companies think. As soon as one label gets something 
successful, others want something that's just like that. That's pointing 
finger at the record companies; seeing the success of what we've done; now 
they want to capitalize on that. They're finding groups, creating groups 
that are just like us -- which is frustrating but, at the same time, it's 
flattering. As long as everybody's making good music, it's all good. 

Do you feel that there's a rivalry with any of those groups? 

There's been a lot of stuff in the press between us and 'NSync, saying 
that we're rivals, and we're fighting and competing, but a lot of that 
is media hype. We don't have anything against those guys personally at 
all. We think they're good guys. We think they're good singers. It was just 
that our management kept the fact from us that they were involved with 'NSync, 
too. They surprised us with it, dropped it on us. We thought it was a 
conflict, having two of the same thing. But as far as our feelings towards 
the other groups, personally, we have nothing against them. They're trying 
to pursue their dreams like we're trying to pursue ours. We're just concerned 
about what we're doing, not everybody else. 

What's Backstreet going to sound like on the next album, and in years 
to come? 

We feel like we've grown [on the new record]. It's deeper lyrically, but 
it's not over our young fans' heads. We're just trying to keep with the times 
in order to stay in the pop music scene. "Pop'' is just short for "popular," 
so we're just trying to keep evolving with the times, just like Madonna did, 
just like Janet and Michael [Jackson], so we'll have a long career.