Teen People March 2001

DREAM BOYS

Hanging out with O-Town is like starring in your own episode of "The Real World." Cameramen aim their lenses inches from your face and microphones hand overhead. No conversation goes unrecorded. It can be pretty freaky-just ask the two fans trying to chat with O-Town's Trevor Penick at a New York City theater (the band's in town this December evening to promote its first single, "Liquid Dreams"). As the cameras close in and the girls grow increaseingly tongue-tied, Trevor calms their nerves. "They're not there," he says, with a dismissive wave towards the nosy crew. "Just pretend they're not there." It figures that and his bandmates are comfortable with the constant shooting; after all, it was around-the-clock surveillance that put O-Town on the music map. After the ABC series "Making the Band" premiered last March, millions were hooked on the true story of five boys chosen to sing in a pop group and have their lives taped. Now, with a self-titled debut CD, it's time for O-Town to find out what happens when people stop seeing them as a novelty and start judging its music for real.

"We've been given a dual job: to [be] the next pop sensation and at the same time be TV stars," explains New York City-born Erik-Michael Estrada, in his hotel room. "But we didn't get into this to be on a show. We came here to be [in] a music group, and that's what we plan to show people.

Just over a year ago, O-Town was merely an idea thought up by former Backstreet and 'Nsync mentor Lou Pearlman. More than 1,800 hopefuls vied for a place in pop's Next Big Thing, and for five who emerged on top-Trevor, 21, Erik-Michael, 21, Ashley Parker Angel, 19, Dan Miller, 20, and Jacob Underwood, 20 - making the band meant being thrust into the spotlight at warp speed. "People knew who we were before we were really good," says Ashley, "and they were expecting a lot from us at an early stage - [like] performing in front of record executives when we'd been together two weeks."

Clive Davis noticed their potential after hearing them sing last summer and signed O-Town to his new label, J Records. "I was impressed with their harmonies, their ease and charisma," says Davis, who has been the guiding force behind such musical luminaries as Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana. "They've got an edge that gives them their own identity."

UPHILL CLIMB

But even with Davis behind them, O-Town will have to work overtime to prove themselves. "My first inclination is that [the TV show] would probably hurt them and make them cheesier than a regular band," says J.R. Ammons, music director of Star 94 FM, a top-40 radio station in Atlanta. "It's going to to tougher for these guys." Trevor, a California native, says O-Town is doubly scrutinized because of "Making the Band:" "We don't get respected by other artists because of how we got the record [deal]."

The fear of being dissed almost kept the group from attending last September's MTV Video Music Awards. "What if we're walking up the red carpet and no one wants to take our picture?" says former Ohioan Dan, recalling how they felt. "What if the other artists laugh at us?" They guys went - and were asked to sign countless autographs.

"Fans can relate to us on a more personal leve than they can any other artist," says Trevor, citing one benefit of having your own TV show. "[With other groups], all they can do is look at a magazine and read, 'So-and-so's favorite color is this.' With us, you see our personalities." The end result can't be denied: In December, "Liquid Dreams" debuted at No. 1 on "Billboard's" Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart.

THE REAL DEAL

So how real is "Making the Band?" "As real as you can get when you're having a camera follow you 24/7," says Erik-Michael. Jacob admits that when the show first started, it took a while for the guys to feel comfortable being themselves. "It wasn't like we were holding back because we were afraid," says the San Diego native. "Most of it was we weren't saying [things] because we didn't know each other. I wasn't going to offend somebody I just met three months ago and who I'm possibly going to be in a band with."

The members of O-Town are quick to point out that fans didn't always get the whole story about them from "Making the Band." "I came across as very quiet on the show," says Trevor. "They never showed my outgoing, loud side." And while entire episodes were crafted around Erik-Michael's sometimes sullen attitude, he insists he's not Mr.Negativity. "I'm usually in a good mood," he says. "Everyone has an attitude sometimes."

Jacob, meanwhile, admits his resemblance to a certain 'Nsync heartthrob was contrived: "They wanted me to be the Justin," he says. "They'd be like, 'Why don't you shave, get some highlights?' So I shaved and cut my hair. Once I made [the band], I was looking back and realized how much I'd changed." At the moment, Jacob's sporting dreadlocks and black nail polish.

Also new this season: The group's own handheld camera that'll give the fans more access to the members' lives. Says Ashley, who's from Redding, Calif.: "Everybody wants to know what it's like being a rock star. 'Making the Band' will show how crazy it can get."

The guys got a dose of that craziness the night of Teen People's "What's Next" party at NYC's Apollo Theater. There, O-Town came face-to-face with LMNT, the boy band featuring Ikaika Kahoano, 22, who sent O-Town's world into chaos when he abruptly quit the band for personal reasons last winter. LMNT also contains Mike Miller, 21, and Bryan Chan, 26, along with fourth member Matt Morrison, 22. Jacob admits the reunion was bittersweet. "It was strange. As much as I wish them well, it's like, Ikaika would have been in the interview with us. It's weird."

Erik-Michael admits to having mixed feeling about Ikaika as well. "[Leaving] was like saying, 'I don't like you guys.' It was like a backstab," he says. And yet, "We've been talking about having LMNT be a part of the tour, open [for us]. If we have the ability to help a group out, especially guys we're friends with, it's an honor."

These days O-Town is focusing on making history with its first album. "Clive went out of his way to bring us out of the Max Martin pop sound, which none of us are really into," says Jacob. "We have R&B songs for Dan and Erik's styles, a rock song for me, and some ballads for Ashley."

So far so good. Yet Erik-Michael says they know the acceptance they crave cannot be earned overnight. "We're freshmen," he notes. "When we're sophomores, we'll get a little bit more respect. By the time we're seniors and there's a fourth album coming out, we're going to be highly respected."