Q&A: Nick Carter
ByMay 11, 2003 10:00 PM
The Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter released his solo debut a week before labelmate and rival boy-band hearthrob Justin Timberlake. While Timberlake’s album, “Justified,” has become a smash, Carter’s “Now or Never” has struggled for notice.
The Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter released his solo debut a week before labelmate and rival boy-band hearthrob Justin Timberlake. While Timberlake’s album, “Justified,” has become a smash, Carter’s “Now or Never” has struggled for notice.
The two CDs are strikingly different: Timberlake focused on R&B and pop, a sound that ‘NSync’s fans were quick to grasp. Carter’s album, meanwhile, explored his rock side with a new band--and a lot less dancing.
Sticking with the behind-the-scenes formula that he used with the Backstreet Boys, Carter hired a team of producers and writers for “Now or Never"--Max Martin (Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion), as well as The Matrix (Avril Lavigne), Steve Mac, Matthew Gerrard and Teddy Riley.
The first single from “Now or Never,” the very un-Backstreet Boys-like “Help Me,” was written by Gerrard and Michele Vice-Maslin. Meanwhile, Carter channels Def Leppard and Bon Jovi on songs like “Girls in the U.S.A.”
Carter was on the road to support the album earlier this year, and said that his solo debut has been an educational experience.
“I’ve been able to open up my doors and learn new things and experience new horizons,” he said. “Vocally, I’ve been able to become better. I have to carry a whole entire show now, one-and-a-half hours.”
Carter recently took the time to talk to SoundSpike about his solo album and briefly hinted at the potential for a new Backstreet Boys album.
SoundSpike: What was your mindset when you were writing the songs for “Now or Never”? Did you find it difficult to write them by yourself?
I pretty much stayed true to who I am. I wrote a little bit on the road, a little in the studio. [Song writing is] not too hard. It’s one of those things where I just gotta be in the mood and really just feel it. But there were some things that I needed to get off my chest and really experience. It’s kind of like therapy.
Do you find it difficult to share your personal experiences with the public?
“I Stand for You” is a very personal song. I was just in this mode. I had a feeling where I just really wanted to let everything out. I’m not necessarily mad at certain things. I don’t want to get too deep.
“Girls in the U.S.A.” has a real ‘80s feel to it.
The thing about it was I wanted to write a song like Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” I can go through genres--’70s, ‘80s, ‘60s, ‘50s. I love music. I’m a music connoisseur. People ask me, “How do you know all these songs? Singing different songs with different eras?” I’m like, “I just grew up listening to music.” I just felt like I wanted to put different types of music [on the album]. Certain people like to stick to their genres [and say], “Let’s just do pop, R&B or rock.” It’s a very segmented world of music. That’s not the era that I’m from. I loved all sorts of music. I feel like gelling those music genres together and trying to create something new. That’s what America’s all about. That’s the melting pot.
Who are some of your influences?
First of all, I’ve always been very influenced by rock ballads and those big, early-’90s rock songs and the ‘70s big choruses that are just so memorable. Like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer"--those things that everyone sings along to and they felt good singing it. Those songs aren’t so complex. I think music is too complex these days. One thing I learned with the Backstreet Boys is to keep it very simplistic. Good hooks are very good. Sometimes, I hear those songs and, yeah, they’re very creative, but they forget about the reason the whole pop era did so well. The Britneys, the Backstreet Boys, they did it. Simple hooks and very simplistic songs are easy for the audience to sing along to. That’s where the comparisons to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard come from.
You made a guest appearance on “American Dreams” as the lead singer of the fictional group Jay and the Americans, and another TV appearance on “8 Simple Rules to Date My Teenage Daughter.” What else do you have planned?
I definitely want to get into more acting. I’m really a singer, but I started off acting, too. I love to be able to experience new things and challenge myself. Then there’s a new Backstreet Boys’ album maybe, very possibly. I?m 90 percent sure.