Exclusive: O-Town talks about new album
By KAREN BLISS -- For AllPop
The follow-up to O-Town's debut album will be "more us", says O- Town's Ashley Angel.
Even though it's not yet finished, "O2" is due Aug. 27, and the Florida-five-piece -- comprised of Angel, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, Erik Estrada, and Dan Miller, and created on the reality- TV show "Making The Band" -- is on tour in the U.S., trying to schedule time to finish it.
Here, journalist Karen Bliss gets the lowdown from Ashley on the new album.
Q: Will the cameras ever follow you again?
A: "I don't know. I won't say we'll never do 'Making The Band' or
some catch-up episodes, but it was a huge opportunity for us,
obviously, and at a certain point we knew it would go away. I think
on the second album it's a great time for all of us to really put all
of ourselves into what we're doing with our music, because the TV
show did take a lot of focus, which was creating and songwriting and
things that we should put all of ourselves into. It got to be sort of
a conflict of interest at times because we didn't get into it to be
TV stars, although that's how our unique situation came about."
Q: There was a shift from being a put-together group on TV to
becoming a proper group. As you dealt more with your label and
learned the ins and outs of the music business, and toured, at what
point did you start thinking about the next album?
A: "It's been tough because we came into some very stereotyped
scenarios to begin with -- the whole set-up of us, and what we were
about ready to do, and everybody's watching us and comparing up top
all the pop acts that are out there. It wasn't like we were able to
come together and organically write music together and that's what
happened on the second album. We got to spend time together as a
group. We've gotten to grow and mature as artists and we've traveled
together all over the world now, and we're not the stereotype. We're
not what people usually think we are. We're artists and a group who
is very involved in every decision that gets made."
Q: Did you renegotiate your contract with J Records after selling 1.5
million records?
A: "Yeah, there's been renegotiations of contracts. There's also been
changing in management, and we've just learned so much that we didn't
know in the beginning. Actual Management is managing us currently. We
didn't sign a management agreement with Lou Pearlman even though that
was offered to us. And what we're coming out with on the second album
I think stretches the creative ears."
Q: In what way?
A: "I guess the sound that we came with on the first album isn't
necessarily the sound we came out with on the second album. There's
growth there. The point I was trying to get at is, that is how we
wanted to come out in the beginning. We just didn't have time. Here
we were on television, and there were all these other circumstances
around that that were very set up. It was a huge opportunity for us,
but it wasn't necessarily us. We sang songs on the first album that
weren't necessarily us, and now on the second album any song that
isn't us, isn't going to be on there. "
Q: You've obviously had more time to make "O2".
A: "The time frame on the first album was ridiculous. It was a few
weeks."
Q: Because it was being filmed?
A: "We were the first reality-TV show, and it wasn't really set up
like they are now. It wasn't like we had a record deal built in and a
single built in. We didn't have all that. It was a more a documentary
on five guys, and I don't think they thought we'd even make it so we
didn't even have a record deal. So we'd been on TV and we'd been
done 'Making The Band' for like four months and we still didn't have
a record deal at that point. The TV show was still airing and we had
been done shooting for like three months and it was right as the last
episodes were getting ready to air. And we hooked up with Clive
Davis, and the first album came together in a few weeks because we
were a household name and we had nothing out."
Q: And the songs were presented to you.
A: "Yeah. We got to pick songs. We got to be involved with the
process, but it was, like, so fast. It turned out to be a great album
for our first effort, and we had songs like 'We Fit Together'
and 'All or Nothing'. We had good songs. That was because of Clive
Davis. We did get to be involved in the picking of the songs and we
did pick some great songs, but it wasn't like we had a couple of
months to really submit our own material and be really creatively
involved."
Q: You're doing interviews for the new album, but it's not finished
yet.
A: "It's coming out in August, but we don't have all the material
yet. We're still writing songs for this album. So we're writing as
much as possible, up until the last minute. Right now, we're
collaborating. Dallas Austin, who is a huge songwriter -- he' s done
TLC and Boyz II Men and recently worked with P!nk -- we're going to
be collaborating with him. Also, Linda Perry, who has done all the
new Christina Aguilera and P!nk stuff, she's a producer that we're
going to be working with as well."
Q: You also recorded a song written and produced by rap star Nelly.
Did he write it for O-Town?
A: "The Nelly track, I believe originally was a track for him. I
believe so."
Q: How did you end up working with him?
A: "Well (J Records head) Clive Davis has a lot of relationships with
people who throughout the years he's been able to come into contact
with. He's Clive Davis. His name alone is legendary in the music
business. Nelly sent this track to Clive because he knew that we were
looking for music, and Clive had had a conversation with him. So when
we got the track, Nelly had sent it to us and we listened to it and
we liked it. It was one of the first meetings we had scheduled to
listen to new material for the second album."
Q: What did you like about it?
A: "It has some pop elements to it, but it's very urban-sounding and
the track is a little dark, which we liked."
Q: Was he rapping on the demo?
A: "No, that's what's funny. It's originally written for a solo
performer, and we went in and Nelly let us work with him on building
the harmonies and building the melodies. We came with our background
of our vocal production and how we sing songs together as a group. On
the second album, it's easier for us in the studio."
Q: What studio?
A: "I don't remember the name of the studio, but it was where Nelly
records in St. Louis, Missouri."
Q: He did that version of "Girlfriend" with 'N Sync. Is he trying to get more into the pop world? A: "No, I don't think so. I think that Nelly is creating good music. The song that we recorded with him, we recorded before the 'N Sync/Nelly collaboration hit and before we really knew about it. It's not like we would have stopped collaborating with him if we knew that track had gone down. That's a great track, and I just think that Nelly is an artist who creates great music, so he attracts other artists and other groups who would like to work with him. I don't think he's going to exclude himself from any one genre. That would be stupid."
Q: Do you think by having Nelly endorse O-Town by contributing that
track that with the new album, you might be offered different tours,
not just the multi pop act bills?
A: "The entire second album, I don't think we're hoping that song
does that, but I think we're working that the entire album will do
that. Our O-Town fans that we got from the first album will be there,
and now it's about getting new fans. So, of course, any track or any
sound that we can bring that will create that attraction for new
listeners, that Nelly track is going to help. The name-drop that
Nelly the rapper worked with us is a great thing and it was a great
collaboration. We're hoping the entire album does that, and so far it
will."
Q: How many more songs will you be laying down?
A: "About five. I believe we have seven finished. We recorded in St.
Louis, Southern California, and Florida."
Q: Have any of you been involved with writing for projects other than
O-Town?
A: "Right now, I have to say that the songs that we're writing are O-
Town-intended, but that doesn't mean that we would never place a song
with another group or another artist out there if the chance came
along. So don't count that out at all, but right we're trying to put
our album together, so that's the main focus."
Q: So those are songs where one, two, or all of you are writing on?
A: "Those are songs that have come from within us."
Q: How many of those will be on the album?
A: "As of right now, I co-wrote a song with Steve Kipner called 'From
The Damage' who we worked on the first album with, and I wrote a song
with Rich Cronin from LFO. That song's called 'Suddenly'."
Q: Are you the main songwriter in O-Town?
A: "No, not necessarily. I've been really blessed in getting a couple
of songs on, but we've all been writing a lot. We've written almost
30 songs as a group, but right now the songs that we're choosing, the
idea is to get an album full of songs that can all be potential
singles. We're not looking to write album tracks, great tracks that
you could never hear on the radio. We're not really looking for songs
like that. It's just about sitting down and picking out what songs
are fitting in the vein of the entire album. We're trying to make a
record of different sounds, and it's a process that takes a while."
