For the past 3 years, O-Town’s been misunderstood. Perceived to be a factory made pop confection, Jacob, Dan, Ashley, Erik, and Trevor are finally ready to prove that they are more then just 5 pretty boys who can shake what their momma gave them. With their sophomore effort 02, O-Town’s taking the driver’s seat, and it’s never sounded so good.
The first single off the album is a rock/pop hybrid titled “These Are The Days,” currently rocking the airwaves and offering an inviting glimpse into the mature new sound O-Town is sporting. Not only was it the last song recorded for the album, but “These Are The Days” was also the group’s unanimous choice as their new album’s introduction.
“Every time we would record a new song, Clive [Davis] would get excited about it and be like “THIS is the single,” recalls Jacob. “But then a new song would come along and he’d be like ‘Nevermind! It’s this song that’s the single!’ So we were on our second to last song, and we felt like we couldn’t find something that all 5 of us could agree on as the new single. Then “These Are The Days” came in, and for a lot of reasons we felt it being a ballad, it being able to stand out on the radio, and it’s message--it not necessarily being about a girl, for us was just a refreshing thing to sing about.”
When it came time to begin the process of making 02, O-Town had one goal in mind: to make the transition from boys to men.
“I think we just wanted to come off more adult,” Dan explained to Kiwibox. “The last album was put together so fast, and the songs didn’t really represent us. We felt like we were thirteen year old boys, ya know? I mean some of the things we were singing about were just not us.”
Although the group is seeking to be seen as more adult, they haven’t suddenly turned rough and tumble. While some critics felt that O-Town’s road to maturity should have been laced with excess and debauchery, O-Town will be quick to explain that they simply aren’t the partying type.
“When we did the interview for Blender magazine, the Blender article was sort of everyone’s approach to us,” explains Trevor. “We tell everyone the last record’s not us, so everyone’s like ‘Well, we’ll help find who you are,’ and Blender was part of that."
“Yeah, Blender was like 'We’ll make you guys go to bars, and go to strip clubs'," adds Jacob with a laugh. “And I mean, we’re all for chillin’ with people, but not in a trashy way. I mean we went home early and got a bad rap from Blender about it, which doesn’t really bother us, but we’re not trying to come out with a statement like ‘We’re adult now and we want an adult audience.’ We love our fans, and we hope they appreciate this album like they did the last, but hope they understand that wasn’t necessarily us.”
If you ever wanted to delve deeper into the real O-Town, simply pop in their new album and take a listen to tracks like “Craving,” “From The Damage,” and “Make Her Say,” which O-Town will tell you reveals the most about them.
“I think two of Ashley’s songs ‘Craving,’ and ‘From The Damage,’ and Erik’s song ‘Make Her Say,’ are just songs that really speak from us and for us,” reveals Dan. “They are songs that we did because we wanted to do. The record company didn’t say ‘Why don’t you write a song like this.’”
“And The song ‘From The Damage’ was written right at the time when ‘Making The Band’ was going off the air, and that song just lyrically stands out,” says Ashley, explaining it further. “Like if you read the lyrics, they are really interesting lyrics…I think they are pretty deep. I think the song could be perceived as a big risk, but it’s who we are."
Risk takers, song writers, and of course, adults, O-Town’s ready to go on the road to being serious musicians. My O-Town, how you’ve grown.
