OFF THE WALL WITH OTOWN - we asked the unpredictable otowners some unpredictable questions and get..we, you know the rest!

Q: whats a typical day like for otown?

JACOB: well it depends if we're reheasing or on tour. if we're on tour, though, which had pretty much been the last two years, we wake up and leave the hotel around three to go to the venue. we either go and eat right away or to soundcheck. we do a meet and greet, do some interviews with a radio station, magazine or whoever is there, lock down for an hour before the show and then its show time. then we usually just get on the bus and drive to the next city.

Q: dan, you're always on your cellphone. how many calls do you get a day?

DAN: wow! i'm probably on the phone for..shoot, close to three or four hours a day.

Q: doesn't all that jawing screw up your singing voice?

DAN: no. it hasnt affected me yet. i make lots of phone calls at the end of the night before i go to bed, so i usually catch lots of my friends as their winding down. i make random calls during the day to whoever i need to do business with...which isnt that many people! [laughs] i'm a *bidnessman*!

Q: one of you - if you could pick a soundtrack to your life, what would you pick?

ERIK: im going to say *evolution* by boyz II men.

Q: dan, we hear you like to fuss with songs every time you sing them live. true? DAN: yeh! i'm the biggest person to always wanna make changes to make the songs just a little bit different. its hard because lots of times we don't have time, but im always pushing and i'm like, "lets put this here and lets play a different..." i just always to switch it up and always do something different every time somebody comes to see us. i really struggle with that because sometimes its not feasible. i push every time almost to the point of being annoying.

Q: whats was it like tour with brit-brit?

TREVOR: she's real nice. we met her like the second day. that was the first time i ever met her. it was also an adreniline rush! it was 45 minutes of pure adrenaline. her stage was so cool and we had to go on it. we got dragged on these harnesses from under the stage and it was just awesome. we made our set shorter. we took out the solo section. i know that was a big favorite for everyone. it was out favorite, too, but we couldn't keep that in and still have enough otown music. it was raw. we didnt have anyone bringing anything onstage for us. we'd turn around amd set up our own mike stands. it was all about the music.

ERIK MICHAEL: on that tour, there weren't any typical days because it was a smaller crew. i know a lot of us even helped unload in and load out with the crew just because it was only two buses. it was ut band - which is five members - and us and then maybe five members of the crew. it was really a team effort - which was cool - from morning until night.

Q: you got good reviews, but some critics can't get over the anti-otown thang. how does that feel?

ERK: come see out live show. there's no...you cant fake talent onstafe and manufacture sound.

Q: what's something that is said about you that isn't even true?

JACOB: that i'm a very..i don't know! i don't know what they think about me. you tell me, you tell me, you're the one who writes the magazine! [laughs]

Q: what's it like to date trevor penick?

TREVOR: i think it sucks dating me. to be honest! [laughs] you can have a phone conversation with me every day for two minutes, sometimes two hours, but you'll barely ever get to see me - i'll be on the road all the time.

Q: what should girls know about guys?

ERIK: guys like sports.

Q: but we already know that!

ERIK: ugh! [laughs] oh, man, there's so much i would imagine. everyone is different..i don't know.

Q: will you guys ever record in spanish?

JACOB: you know what? my grandfather was really good friends with mother teresa and we used to go down to mexico and do charities with her all the time. im trying to get the guys together to go down there and bring the video cameras for our television show and try to capture that. because of that, it kind of spawned that maybe we should try to record a spanish version of one of our songs down there, so that could happen.

Q: okay, here are some deadly *what if* questions!

ASHLEY: this could be fun!

Q: "i don't forgive a friend who..."

ERIK: i usually always forgive my *friends* [laughs]

ASHLEY: ...pantsed me!

DAN: i'd never forgive a friend who..i'd never forgive a friend who..i'd never forgive a friend who..cheated with my girlfriend.

TREVOR: [at the same time as dan] ...hooked up with my girlfriend.

Q: "Life would be meaningless without..."

ERIK: ...love, laughter, and music.

ASHLRY: artistic expression

TREVOR: family

Q: in our feb 02 issue, trevor got spicy with this one. now you guys try it: "my mom *still* doesn't know i..."

ERIK: ...rub my ears before i go to bed.

ASHLEY: ...snuck out one night, very late at night. but she knows now because she's reading this.

DAN: beleive it or not, my mom know a *lot* about me.

Q: "i'll never be able to throw away..."

DAN: ...pictures of ex-relationships. i can't look at a picture of me and an ex-girlfriend and throw 'em away just because we're not together anymore. i can't do that. i'd feel bad.

ERIK: ...my passion for what i do.

Q: "i'd really love a walk-on part on/in..."

TREVOR: ...any movie that denzel or will is in.

ERIK: ...*the simpsons*! because i'd want to be apart of the greatest television show ever.

ASHLEY: ..one of the sequels to *matrix* because that was one of the coolest movies ever.

DAN: ...an nba basketball tema, just to switch it up.

Q: i'm always being told off for..."

DAN: ...being pushy.

ASHLEY:...spacing out.

TREVOR: [quietly]..raising my voice.

ERIK:...having another conversation while i'm talking to someone.

Q: "i must give up..."

DAN:...bitting my nails. but i *really* must give up eating too much doughnuts!!

ASHLEY:..eating ice cream sandwiches.

ERIK: ...talking to others while im talking on the phone with people.

TREVOR: [long pause] i can't...dan'll kill me if i say that!

DAN: say it!

TREVOR: ...gambling! but i can't give up gambling..so junk food. [dan & trevor later told us how trevor gambled away dan's money one time!]

Q: "i can't live without..."

ASHLEY:...my journal.

TREVOR: ...aaliyah. i just started cryin' when i heard about her. more in general, my whole cd collection.

Q: speaking of favorite things, once and for all, do you guys have an all-time fave gift from a fan?

JACOB: [laughs] i couldn't pick one - there's a lot of fans who have given me michael jackson collectable things. i used to collect vinyls, pictures, different things. now just yesterday somebody gave me michael jackson playing cards from the *thriller* days. its unopened with the gum inside - things like that or girls giving me a michael jackson doll. it's just funny because they know how much, growing up i looked up to michael. they know that about me and different things so they go out of their way to buy these things for me. its hilarious stuff i have been collecting now. we appreciate our fans, but we don't expect gifts. them being a fan *is* the gift.