Backstreet Boys Chat With ‘Rolling Stone,’ Take Creative Control On New Record

Bianca Gracie | May 15, 2013 9:56 am

Backstreet Boys sat down for a Q&A with Rolling Stone to detail their just-announced 20th anniversary tour, which they revealed will be a trip down memory lane, as they’ve been practicing old choreography from their biggest hits. The Boys also discussed their motive to appeal to “closet fans” with their new record, In a World Like This, and forthcoming documentary.

Head below for highlights from the interview, including BSB’s thoughts on their songs’ new subjects and which new track reminds them of U2.

Howie, on the album’s writing process: “This album Kevin came back in and said, ‘Twenty years have gone by, our lives have changed and not only our lives, but the lives of the fans have changed. And we have a lot more to talk about: we’ve grown up, our fans have grown up. Now four of us have kids, four of us are married, Nick [Carter’s] engaged, we have a lot more to talk about now.’ And that’s what we did on this record: when it came to writing, we touched on subjects and really not putting any boundaries or limits on where we go with our music.”

AJ, on his favorite song off the new LP: “‘Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of’ is one of those just epic records; it reminds me of a U2 record or an Aerosmith record. It’s kind of up there, in my opinion, with the hugeness that was ‘Incomplete.’ That was a big rock ballad and this song is pretty much right in that same role.”

AJ, on performing classic hits for the tour: “We’re bringing back old choreography, stuff that people haven’t seen in probably 15 years, from the hat routine to the original ‘As Long As You Love Me’ mike routine, stuff like that that is gonna take fans down memory lane and really bring them back to the Never Gone tour, the Backstreet’s Back tour, the first album.”

AJ, on the tour’s visuals: “The whole premise of the show is we wanted to write out a script and make this like a mini-film or like a Broadway show. It’s very theatrical; it’s unlike any tour we’ve ever done before and we’re taking it back to the grassroots of just being about us and our music. And I think the fans are gonna freaking love it.”

Howie, on their new documentary, Home:  “We’re stepping out of the box not being on our label anymore; we’re doing it on our own. We have a lot more creative decisions and business that we’re doing on this go round. So we really wanted to show our fans and we actually opened up and things I didn’t think we would even touch upon, we did.”

Backstreet Boys’ new album will be released on July 30. The band will be celebrating their 20th anniversary with their world tour, beginning August 2. Read the full Q&A over at Rolling Stone.