#201 - AJ McLean on Will Backstreet Boys Ever Win A Grammy, his new Country Project and Playing Basketball with Ryan Gosling

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Speaker 1: Welcome to two oh one with A J. McClain. I was talking about talking about you, I guess yesterday, because we were in Vegas and you guys were performing, and I was just chilling because I was about to go up and do a little TV hit, going into Hoodie, and I see you come on stage, and I'm like, something wrong with a J Like they're about to go on, like thirty seconds he's coming up and you come up. You're like, what up? And then you run up and like almost right in time, there you go on. I well, I saw you and I was like, oh my god, I gotta go see about you. It's like I would seeing you in like forever, and I hadn't had a chance to congratulate you on the mirror ball and all these different things, so I'm like, yo, I have to go say hi. And knowing most of these radio shows things never run on time, so we knew that we were like at least twenty minutes behind, and that there was a major sound issue. I guess Kama Cabello was having some major sound issues, so we were a little bit worried. So we're like, okay, let's just hold off until we get ours right. And then literally like you're pretty much spot on. As soon as I said, hi, do you? I went went up and it was like and then you and I was like, man, that got cut the clothes, gotta go, Like you must do that so much that he's got no fear just often on. That's pretty much par for the course for me with my entire life as as of late, things have been going fantastic. We're super blessed um. But it's been go, go go since we picked up tour back in May for the DNA World Tour, Like We've just been going, going, going, So I'm just trying to find the time for me now, so you know, and we'll we'll get back to the backstreet stuff later. I'm curious about a lot of the new stuff that you're doing too, And why don't we start there because you're in Nashville now, you're at my house obviously, so why are you here now? I literally just got off a plane. I appreciate that. And it's funny like when you're like, dude, I've I've I've got one day and I'm like, okay, cool, one day. I'll be here for like about eight or nine, and then my management's like, yeah, so it's gonna happen as soon as you land. I'm like, okay, I literally going that's fine, let's go. So Land shot right over here. But I'm actually here in town finishing up my my debut country solo record. So I'll be actually in the studio most of the week. Um, going to a pre taping of the CMA Christmas Special tomorrow. Um, I'm gonna go see Michel Carrie Underwood this week as well, gonna play a bridgetone I am. Yeah, so, uh, just kind of a work, casual work week, you know, like when I'm coming to Nashville. To me, it's it's it's it's more about just leisure and just kind of go at, going at my own pace and just seeing old friends and just being creative and just being inspired me. This the city is so and it's just so inspiring to me. So I'm gonna have fun this week. This is going a nice little breather for me. I wonder being super successful with I looked at up here selling thirty million records or so, to starting over again, to having people again I've seen you in in stadiums and people seeing every word every song to again you're starting over again. I mean, what a weird juxtaposition of I just saw you played a fourteen thousand people and now you're in town cutting an intro record, and you know, going, hey, everybody, I'm doing a country record, Like, let's pay me a little bit of attention. You know. It's it's it's been a really in like interesting process because when this whole thing started, uh I kind of throw it, throw it back to when we shot Crossroads with us in f g O. That's when the kind of whole ball kind of started rolling, which was a bunch of like local publishing people and label people approached me afterwards and they were like, dude, have you ever thought about doing a country record? I'm like, honest to god, no, I never thought anybody would take me seriously. Um, and they're like, well, you've got the chops, you should definitely just give it a try. So I flew out to Branson, Missouri, and uh I cut a couple of demos and it felt right, but it didn't feel right right, and then flew out here to Nashville. Spent about eight months out here on on and off again, met a bunch of beyond talented writers and it just started to click. And the one thing about country music that I've learned is, well, two things. Country fans can read through all the bs. They know if you're trying to be someone that you're not, and they won't accept it. And too, you know, country music tells tells you know stories, which is something that's the polar opposite of what I do as a as a pop star. If you want to say that are pop artist whatever, um, you know, that's field good music. It's all positive music, but it's not really kind of getting in in the depths of your soul. So there's a lot of about me that people don't know or that they think they know the whole story. And you know, I just want to talk about my beautiful family, my beautiful girls, my wife, my life, the upside downs, fun songs, good songs, sad songs. Country music is the perfect outlet for that. And I've made so many friends out here and so many other artists that country music compared to pop music, like, there's so much more competition, I feel in the pop genre. Country you get ten hours to go on the same tour together, and it's just a big party, having fun, just going out and celebrating music and celebrating life. You know, pop it's all about who has the most followers, who has them streams, who has the most downloads, And it's just like, I just want to get away from that for you know a little bit and just see kind of find myself and kind of kind of find my own identity, if you will. You bring up the Florida Georgia Line stuff. How how did that in your world come together? Like how did you hear about it and get brought into it? So Nick used to live here in Franklin about five or six years ago, and uh, during c MAFs he went to see the guys and he said, all of us a video from their show, because he texts all of us in a in a group text saying, oh my god, I'm at Florida Georgian Line and they're doing backstreets back in their show and we're like, noother not It's like no, dude, trust me. And he sends his video and the crowd's going nuts, and I'm like, that's so weird. Like country show they just finished doing like Cruise and all this stuff, and all of a sudden they're going into backstreets back and the crowd singing every single word, and I'm like interesting. So Nick kind of was the one that kind of really started whole relationship. And then they were about to finish up Digging Your Roots and they had this song, God Your Mountain of Me. They had already cut their parts, and Nick came to us and said, the guys are really interested in maybe us doing this as a possible collaboration. So we got with this amazing producer, Joey Moy back at Blackbird Studios at the I forgot the name that. I think it's that the standard or where's that? Where's Blackbird? It's office on set summer in l a Um cut the song and at that time radio wasn't even playing us anymore. Like we hadn't been on top forties since two thousand five with our single incomplete, so we can still sell out of tours. Radio just just wasn't relieved because you know, radio had changed. It had become I Heart and Cumulus and this and that, and it just wasn't the old school way. Um. We are still friends with all the big radio programmers and all the different DJs, but again they now have to answer to somebody else, so they wanted to play us, they just couldn't. So getting now fast forward to God Your Mamami goes straight to number one on country radio. So now we're back on radio, but it's country radio. It's like, what is going on in a weird turn of event events? And then we shot the video in Deston, Florida, and it just it just took off, and then cut to us winning a CMT was just like, what is going on right now? So there was talks briefly for us to possibly do our anniversary album as a country record, but we collectively as a group were like, I don't know if our core fans would really think that's the best move for us. Now, who's to say that we don't do that down the road, you know? But and we've actually had songs over the past twenty six years that could easily be on country radio, songs like Drowning, save Us, Place to Hide, Help Us when She Smiles um our new song No Place, which did get played on country radio. So that was kind of the whole catalyst of this entire process. And I reached out to b K and Tyler and I'm like, guys, I'm I think I might give this thing a you know shot, and they were like beyond supportive. They're like, hey, if you need anything, just hit us up. So it's just been this nice kind of open arms experience coming into the world of country, which has been great. So but like you said, it is this weird shift of coming from Hunter and thirty million albums global this global that too, the grassroots again, But I like it is that exciting to do. It's super exciting to me. I want to play a couple of clips from some of the new stuff here. Um, this is what was the first? Was the first one? Backporch Bottle Service. Backporch Pottle Service was the was kind of the initial just just kind of put it out there to get a feel for the you know, atmosphere and just kind of show people this is one direction, one kind of side of where I want to take country for me. Um, just a fun summer jam. You know, we never show a video for it. Was just a nice little lyric video. Will this be on the record, Uh, this will not be on the right Okay, So this one is now gone, this one is This one's gone, see you later then? What then? What was that? Night Visions was the official kind of first single, So this one I can play though, and like this is the this is one of the ones. Yes, this will be on the record. Um, this was my directorial debut. Um. We my partner and I Renee Alisondo. We have a directing team, and uh, we wanted to make a basically like a mini movie. Um. The full length video runs about six and a half minutes. Um, it's got some major twists and turns. And uh, my oldest daughter actually makes a little feature at the end of the video. So he was trying to hog the camera the entire time, telling me that daddy, daddy, I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing. Okay, my my handrew tide. But um, Night Visions was a to me, was a nice bridge coming from pop in the country because there is still a pop element to the song, but there's a country element to the song. So to me was a nice kind of, like I said, bridge between the two worlds to kind of hopefully introduced me into the world of country. Let me hear a little bit of this with without us about us talking about Miss mix Suberstein. Drinking with the Red Bys can be a gap to sleep it out, you baby, I haven't let's do one more. Let's doll. I got two more up here? Which one you wanna do next? Um? We could do maybe Boy and a Man right now. You gotta give a couple of sense about this one. Boy a Man was written by this amazingly talented gentleman by the name of Dave Fenley UM, who was actually the second runner up on last season of The Voice. UM amazing singer, songwriter, beat boxer. UM. When I heard the song, I just lost it to me. It was so personal to me about that journey of kind of going from being a boy becoming a man. And I've had to really do that in my life. I've had to grow up rather fast in this world and and in the industry, and then now being a father, now being responsible for someone else's life. UM twice over with two girls. UM. You know, this song really touched me. And it took a lot of pulling teeth to get my actual wife to be in the video, but she looks amazing in it, and it was it was so much fun to actually shoot the video. It was the first time I had gone back into uh, practical makeup, full on prosthetics to make me about seventy five years old, although I hope I don't look like that when I'm seventy five years old like I do in the video, because it's pretty hagrid to the face that the Russian app that I've done the face that, yeah, I look like the doseks guy. It's pretty well. You can do old or cool old. I do cool old, and I have like it's that like nice silver Beard in the silver here, I looked like the Doski's guy's, so that's not too bad. I was watching a Netflix special where David Letterman's Kanye and David Lettermore together was David Letterman Show, and Letterman goes into Kanye's closet and it's a walk in closet and Kanye's like, try this on. It's a bunch of the easy stuff. By the wise, you got uses. I'm big, so uh let He's like, let him, Like I want to. I don't want to look like an old guy trying to look cool. I want to look like a cool old guy. And there's a difference exactly exactly. Well, it's funny, like I was joking yesterday with my with one of my friends talking about like how much I loved the new design of the brand new corvette, like it's got that Ferrari feel to it. But when I told my wife I thought about possibly getting one, She's like, if you do, I'm leaving you. Like that's the old guy car trying to be cool. And I said it and my buddies like fifty six years old, and we're and we're coming back from this from this meeting yesterday, and sure enough, a corvette pulls up and it's just like sixty year old guy with his glasses on, his tanked up, like, oh my god, it's exactly what I just said. Oh so did you did you tell her you could get it anyway? No, I changed my mind. She definitely convinced me of that. Let's do one more. This is like give you away, the new one, give you away. This is this is a rough one. This is about my daughter's um. This is literally about that moment that I'm going to have to give them away on their on their you know, wedding day, and just you know, like it's it's already happening. My six year old as a crush on an eleven year old boy and her dance class named Isaac. Yes, I'm calling you out, Isaac. Um I haven't met him yet, but I got really bothered the other day because she said she smiled at him and he looked at her, but he didn't smile back. And I was like, okay, no, no, no, no, boy's gonna not smile back to my to my baby girls. So like I like, bote up and my wife's relax their kids. I'm like, I know, but that's my firstborn, that's my baby. And then you know, now I have two girls, and I have to worry about double the amount of boys. And obviously as a father, no, no man's ever gonna be good enough for my for my kids, you know, but as long as they're happy and whatnot, of course I support it. But writing this song was one thing. Performing this was I've performed this song one time at Gillies and Las Vegas when we're when we still had our Las Vegas residency, and I had to I got through the first verse and I told my band to stop. I couldn't get through it. It took me like two or three tries to get through the entire song, and I still didn't get through it. I made it to the last verse, and I was just bawling the whole the whole place was bawling. It's a very emotional record. Have you thought about and listen, the last thing you need is advice for me, right. Have you thought about taking whichever song you feel most passionate about one of the night visions of boy man and give you away and having a few folks not say who the artist is and play it and see what the responses without Because I've done this with a few artists and said and then you tell you as this, tell them if you like it or not. Then Occasionally it's a Chesney song. Sometimes it's a it's it's an artist that you wouldn't think we'll be seeing country music. Sometimes it's not even a country song. I'll play you know, and on my show, I'll play hip hop, I'll do you know. I come from growing up country, but working in pop and hip hop and just kind of doing alternative and sports and moving around. Um. I just think if people heard these and didn't know what it was coming from, because people in our format and country, we go, well, if you haven't always been us, then you can't be us. That's what I've heard. And it's funny because we we did with our song incomplete, we actually did that. We set the song out to radio on pop pop, and I didn't say it was us. When we first heard the record, we were even like suspect and even cutting it like this sounds like an Aerosmith record or you know, bon Jovi record. Why in the world would you put the backsheet boys on this like rock ballad? And it was our last biggest hit on radio and turned out to be the right, you know choice. But it was interesting to see people's faces when they found out that it was a backsty boys. They were like wait what I was like, you know, yeah, and then they can like the song without any attachment to anything but like the song, and and and for and for the purest thing that I should yes, because what I would feel isn't this is not just a you thing? Um? There have been again, other artists, even John Mayer and who didn't who wasn't trying to be a country artist? And I would play John Mayer stuff and I would be like, all, R, I'm not gonna say who this is. And if you knew, you knew because he has a distinct voice exactly. But I just wanted them to go, is this song acceptable to what I'm listening? To. And I just wonder if a few folks did this and didn't say that it was a J. McClain because some people are gonna like it anyway, because that's you. Some people aren't gonna like it anyway and never hear it because it's a backstreet boy and he's he's not country. And I know a lot of these guys. You know that there are running radio stations and a lot of companies. Man, I just think that you'd have a real shot with some of these people that are really hard convinced if you just went all right, play it and don't say who it is. I'm down, and see you down and just see what happens. Yeah, I mean, look again, I want to make music for music lovers. And again, to me, there are so many songs that I've heard growing up that I still to this day. I either forget or I can't remember who sang it, but the song affected me. The song made a difference in my life for whatever reason. So again, to pick you back on what you're saying, it should be about the song first. It should be about the music first. And then if you find out who it is and you're like, oh really, either you're in shock or you're like, oh well no, never mind, but at least you're taking a different approach. I like it. I would do it in a heartbeat. M it's a really good idea. You said you saw somebody fall down the escalator coming over here. Yes, literally, like six or like a six or seven person pile up at the airport. Literally, while I was getting my rental car, this woman was working at the kiosk next to Hurts rental car and just started yelling, hit the stop button, hit the stop button, hit the stop button, and I'm like, what is going on? And I looked behind me and it looked like a cartoon, like you just you you can't write or make this stuff up, like nine ors, you know, people just all piled on top of each other. And I'm just like, that doesn't look good. And I did that like that flinch, like should I go help? And then there wasn't. There was plenty of people there, but I was like, oh my god, like can somebody's got to be messed up from that moment, Like somebody's got to be hurt. There's too much happening for nobody to do. I mean, and here's the thing I was gonna take the elevator right above there, and it said out of service. But there are other elevators that take you down to the same floor. So no to self. If you have too many bags, find an elevator. It's just common sense. Find an elevator. Don't try to take twelve bags down a little narrow escalator. It doesn't work. What is it like for you just the airport for example, you're a pretty distinct looking guy. You got tattoos from your fingertips. I mean, can you go places without somebody going hey, j No, It depends. I mean, obviously there's I don't know. I'm trying to think of his places where I've been, where I get out Scott Free. Um. Just took my first real like tropical family vacation in between our European leg of our tour and the US leg that we just finished. My wife's been asked me to take the family down to Hawaii for years, so we we had a window of like fourteen days, so we took a week and went went down to the Big Island and we were staying in this remote part where I'm like, there's nobody around this, like one food store, there's like one golf course, there's whatever. First day on the public beach done, and I'm like, well, okay, we're gonna go back to the hotel. We're gonna go back to the airbnb. We're gonna go to the back to the little private beach where there's nobody there. But I wanted to go to the public beach because there's more activities for my kids. But yeah, like literally within ten minutes of being in the sand, I'm taking selfies and taking pictures and I'm like, and my my wife's she obviously gets it. My kids not so much. Like my oldest now she wants to be in the pictures. My youngest is like, what you do with my daddy? Like she gets mad. I'm like, it's okay, maybe I'm just taking a quick picture. I'm gonna come play with you. But like, yeah, it's it's still this weird shock. I think to both my girls, and they both got the bug though. Man, they both sing, they both danced, they both wanted It's crazy. I mean, I'll support them if they want to be neurosurgeons. I don't care um as long as they're happy and healthy. But they definitely have the itch to be on stage. Like, when was it for you that it got to be where you couldn't walk outside? At what age was it for you? Um? Probably like was like when we shut down Time Square UM four A TRL. Yeah, when we shut down Times Square. That was the craziest day because it was the first time any artists that were shut Downtime Square. We left. We we did a live performance from the rooftop of the Viscom building and then literally after we left, TRL walked right next door and saw the premiere of episode one Star Wars and sat next to George Lucas. It was the most surreal day in my life because I'm a huge Star Wars fan and to like have this moment happened all in the same day was just insane. But I was still living in Florida, so I had the same mall that I would go to back when we used to call the the you know States, no fan land. Because we blew up in Europe first Europe and the rest of the world, and we come back to the States. It was like crickets um. And then all of a sudden, I'm at my my typical mall that I would go to every single weekend, and now things have changed and it kind of hit me like, whoa, maybe maybe I can't go out anymore. But I'm the opposite of some of my bandmates. I don't mind the attention. I'll stop and take the pictures. I'll stop and take you know. The only the only time I don't want to really be bothered is when I'm eating. Plus, nobody wants to watch anyone eat. It's not that flattering, you know what I mean. So, but I'll I will always stop even if I'm in a bad mood, doesn't matter. For that one moment, you're changing someone's life, You're making somebody happy, You're bringing someone joy. You know. I don't look at what I do as a job. I look at it as a privilege. I get to bring joy and happiness for two hours a night, whether it's solo, whether it's with the group. Let those people forget about their job, their boss, whatever it is, and just come out and just enjoy good music. That's what brings me happiness. So it's a it's an honest to God privilege, and I couldn't be more grateful. How do you meet your wife? She was a bartender waitress at Saddle Ranch on Sunset boulevard. Um, how long he has been together? Ten years? Ten years together? Um? And uh when one day on a Sunday morning, um, which is you know they have the food, there's amazing. And I have written the bull. If you're if you've ever been to Saddle Ranch, I have actually written the ball. I had the record until a couple of years ago. I held on for twenty eight seconds, uh before they threw me off. But she was working my you know table, and I she just she just caught my eye, and uh, we started talking. I asked her out. She said she was single and cool. She claims she didn't know who I was, which I think is a bunch of bs um. And then and when she found out who I was, she panicked. Our first day was supposed to be dinner in a movie. I just had three long nights in the studios. So I was like, what about just I make dinner at the house and we'll watch something at my house. And she's probably thinking, oh your house. I know you genuinely did not think that. So she made up some weird story and then it just never ended up happening. Two years went by, I ended up dating someone else. Thank god. It fell apart, went back in. She had quit for that two years, went back in, saw her again, asked her out again, left to go on tour, like immediately after I asked her out, but she waited. In March twenty two thousand nine was our very first date and we've been together ever since and have two beautiful kids. She's my rock. She's amazing. She she deserves every award in the world to put up with my antics and has put up with me for the last ten years. So hats off to her. So no secret stash of back Backstreet Boy posters that you found. She was an in sync fan. She liked well. She she she liked they're dancing better and liked our singing better. But there's a photo of her at our Black and Blue tour. She was seventeen years old. She drove her friends out to Vegas from Santa Clarita in California, up in the nosebleeds, and I always asked her, I'm like, so, looking down at those guys, did you ever think one day you're gonna that you might possibly marry one? She's like, absolutely not. She she had a crush on and you'll see where I'm going with this. She had a crush on Jonathan Night from Come from New Kids, had a crush on Lance Bass from Women Sink, and then married me. So I'm like, no, babe, no, no, no, no no no. I do support my LGBT community, but I like women. So but you know, they're still trying to pinpoint one of us in the group. They're saying, you know, every boy band has to have I'm like, no, not always you guys. Whenever you guys were, were you ever officially like hiatus? Like, did you guys ever just go? We're done? I mean, I don't know if we're coming back. Like after we finished the Black and Blue tour, um before we made it Never Gone record, that was the gap that I think the media, fans, a lot of people thought we quote unquote broke up. We've never broken up in twenty six years. But we took a well needed break and we took about a year and a half off of doing nothing, and then about a year and a half to make the Never Gone record, So it became a three year break that again out of sight, out of mind, and then shortly after Never Gone is when Kevin decided he wanted to go take a true hiatus for almost seven years. Um, but we four kept on going, so there's never really been a proper like break break. I mean, which what was leading me to ask this, Like whenever you guys are are chilling, you all go to your own homes. You have families, like who who's Who's like your boy? Like who do you still stay closer? I mean, I'm I'm the one that I feel is closest to everybody for different reasons. I mean, Kevin and I are the only ones that live in California. I've gotten to his house every Easter for the last five years. Um, the Easter bunny shows up, wink wink um, and it's just awesome. Uh. Brian and I have definitely I feel gotten closer over the last few years. Um. Uh. Just I think with with all that he's been dealing with with his vocals and with his voice in that whole situation, I feel like, um, there's been this interesting comparison between me and the world of sobriety and trying to you know, stay sober and like recovery, putting in the work to stay sober, and the same thing for him, putting in the work to get his voice back. There's just been this really interesting camaraderie between him and I lately a lot. And we're both huge, huge golfers, so we golf almost every day on the road that we have a day off. How we have known for thirty years, Um, I've known him the longest. We used to always go to all the same auditions when there was any audition back in Orlando for someone who's Latin, or the two Latin guys, so we'd always show up like in our full like minuteau outfits. Um. And then Nick and I are the youngest, so Nick and I have always we've always had our own little special you know, bond Um. But I I can tell you this for a fact. I know I'm the only one that calls everybody when we're on downtime just say hi. Nobody calls me, isn't There's nothing wrong with that, But nobody calls me. I call them and like, Hey, what's up, Rock, how you doing? Hey, keV I want to go see a movie or whenever, Like I've had to be the one to like instigate like double date night with Kevin and his wife. Were like, you know, if if Nixon town, you know, come over and like we'll watch football, but nobody really ever calls me. I don't know what to deal with, Like, I mean, this, this particular tour, I feel has been the closest we've ever been. I don't know what it is, but I think now just again, we're all married, we're all family men. There's a different level of respect and appreciation for for for each other, and now we've kind of taken the bull by the horns and we can really kind of plan our life and have that and healthy balance now, like we're not just needle to the grindstone, go go go, Like we need to have a balance. And now that we're all dad's priorities change, you know. So if I can be home with my daughter to go see her dance recital, and there's an opportunity to do a a TV show or something like that, if it's not that important, I'm gonna say no, That's where I want to be is with my is, with my kids. So, you know, it's nice to have that balance now where before it was just point and we just went, you know, but things have definitely changed, I feel for the better. And that's why the overall just energy is just much more positive. What was it like at home as a kid. For you, I kind of walking me through what a j's life was like. You know when you started, like memories of four or five years old? What was that like? I mean I started. I was always performing as far back as I can recall. Um, I did musical theater from when I was six to twelve. UM did about seventy five different plays without side of the performance like as a human Like what I mean, what makes the scenario would be at your house? It's weird, Like I'm I'm an only child. Um. My mom had twin girls after I was born. They both did not survive. UM, which my mom always says I was more than enough to handle anyways, which I get it now. UM, I was just kind of I was a real goofy kid like UM, when the when the Nintendo Power Glove came out, I cut the cord off of it and wore it to school because I wanted kids to think I was cool. Um did not work out in my favor. I didn't wear a backpack at school. I carried a briefcase. UM. I took my mom's glasses and popped the lenses out and wore the frames because I wanted to look smart. Um. I was friends more so with girls than with guys. Um. I wasn't big into sports. I was the kind of outgoing, like always on performer type personality that that's just who I was. Um, But I always took care of my family. It was my you know, a single mom, living with my mom and my grandparents and me in a three bedroom apartment, and um, you know, just going to school, just trying to be a normal kid, still doing the acting thing, you know whatever, going to dance class. My goal in my dream as a child was to be a backup dancer from Michael or Janet Jackson. That's all I wanted to be when I was growing up. Um, I love dance, and now I get to do all of it. I get to act, I get to dance, I get to sing, and it's all with within the same world. But I was just a goofy, dorky kid. I'm still a dork and and I will forever be a big kid because you know, I actually started when I was fourteen. So I got pulled out of high school, I got tutored, I graduated, but I never I never went to homecoming. I never had a problem until my FORTI my wife gave me my problem is the most amazing I'm even getting emotional thinking about it. It was the most amazing thing, most amazing night in my life. I mean literally, spot On DJ played every song from from the Class of ninety six. They had the little cheesy photo boothe with all the props. Of course, my wife and I were prom king and queen all my boys. And if you weren't, what an upset If that would yeah, that would have been like in Monica from Three Houses of Down, O'd be so mad, been like if she would have picked her best friend and like her boyfriend, like really really? But yeah, I mean, looking back on it, I've I've kind of gotten past, Like I feel like I feeling that moment of like missing out. But again, I had to grow up really fast. So again I'm always gonna be a big kid. Now I get to live vicuriously through my kids, which is awesome. You know. Like I'm a huge sneaker head. I'm a huge gadget guy. At one point I had every nerve gun you could ever think of. And I was in my thirties, Like I had a nerve war at my house at back in my old house with me and tea pain. It was a weird night, but like again, I just that brings me happiness, just to keep that youthfulness, you know, living in this three bedroom apartment with my parents, and it was interesting. The apartment complex that we lived in, Britney Spears lived in Ryan Gosling. A lot of the Mousketeers lived there. So I played basketball with Ryan almost every afternoon unless he was taping. Um, and I'll never forget I actually kissed Brittany on the basketball court. This is before she became the Britney Spears. It was, Yeah, it was an interesting life growing up. Whenever you guys pop as a band and you're so famous that you can't move, do you actually feel it as it's growing? Like are you working so hard that you're not actually uh understanding what's going on around you? Or or do you do you really know all the time. My wife just asked me the other day, Um, we're watching this this CBS morning show that we had just filmed, and just how this entire tour now has been sold out. It's our biggest arena tour in eighteen years. And She's like, is it freaking you out that this is happening again, like getting this second chance, getting this renaissance, this resurgence to happen again on the level of I said, you know, all, if it's still hasn't hit me twenty six years I've been doing this and it's still hasn't hit me, I don't know when that well. I feel like for me, it's gonna finally hit me when we finally win a Grammy. That's what I feel it's gonna because to me, that is like the creme de la creme of our of our world is to win a you know, Grammy. We've been nominated nine times, which is amazing in itself, but to finally win, I feel will solidify that kind of respect and credibility that some of us feel like how much longer? Because I had my whole speech plan and and I'll say it again because and I'll just I'll put myself out there. I wanted to speak last, and I wanted to dedicate our Grammy to Leo DiCaprio and then say nothing else. And I'm sure the press would have been like, what are you talking about? I look at us like the Leo Dicaprios of the music world. It took him how many years to finally get an Oscar? They should have been winning multiple times departed. I mean, Gilbert Grape so many movies he should have won for and he it took him getting mauled by a fake bear to win a freaking Oscar? So you know, what is it gonna take for us to finally finally get there? What is it gonna take that? That's the real question. I'm wondering if it's going to be us together for thirty years, I mean twenty six years. It's unheard of for groups like us, and I still don't know what is it gonna take. Is it gonna be this amazing collaboration moment? Is it gonna be um? You know? Is it? Is it gonna be like that lifetime achievement thing? Like what is it gonna What's it going to be? That's an interesting question. I'm not thinking, like my wheels are spending a little bit. And there are the there are the positive things that could be a really interesting collaboration from someone that you wouldn't expect the critics love because you know, the Grammys are it's such a critic thing it is. It's it's more internal, says a post like the A M A's is like fan based Billboard awards. All that stuff is more about the music and the fans. But the Grammys is like the Oscars. It's that it's that more corporate side of things. So let's talk to us. Who would you guys, Who could you guys do do a project with? Like right now, like her her could be cool, who was loved both by the critics because she wins at the Grammys. Um, Janelle Money, I would love to do something with her. We gotta think it just can't be somebody super cool. But also because Jenelle Money is also there. But I don't want to get off just doing cool things. Um that the Grammy voter. I'm a Grammy voter. And then you look and there's so many Also, there's so many categories. You don't even look at all the categories. Like I would like us to do something outside of our comfort zone, Like if we were to do something with like the Marcus King Band, or like St. Paul and the Broken Bones or something that's so avant garde that you'd be like, what did I just listen to? Like, you know, Saint Paul is like that big band and a Marcus King is just ridiculous, like in the jazz, like in as or like I'm obsessed with. I mean, I'm probably like the like last man to get on board with Tuxedo, but like even that kind of that old Roger and Zap type type vibe as well. I mean, who knows. I mean, maybe it's something so far left field that everyone goes, wait a minute now, Like you said, there's there's positives and there's negatives. The positive would be we finally get the Grammy. But the negative to me would be, like, but we had to do it with someone else, what is it gonna take for us to do it on our own? Okay? You know what I mean? Um, well, uh, let's see, someone could die. You don't want that to happen, you know, no, you don't want that to happen. Somebody already went to rehab. We've we've we've already played that one out. That one's done. Or they make or or I'm just rolling through scenarios. They make a movie about you, like a real serious like someone we talked about it. Someone hops in like a major director and they make a movie and there's some story because as you know, the vie opis have a thread that maybe you haven't followed always exactly, or they embell as certain scenarios, like you know, I think that's I think we just figured it out. But he mean, rahpsody to me was phenomenal, phenomenal. So if you did do a biopic about us, um, because there is a lot that we've never shared or that the press of media don't know about. I mean, yes, everyone knows about the lou prom and stuff. Everyone knows about this and that and the other, and but there's so much more. Like after we did our documentary, we did get a lot out. But if you put it in a film aspect who knows like and we have, you need a couple of big actors. You can't be in it. No, we would be the producers. We'd be in the room, we like, we'd be basically, we just we just figured out how you're gonna win your game. And then you do the soundtrack, done the and and we record all of our music. There is the redemption at the end, you're back selling at tours. There is it's done. Just go out and two thous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twenty five years after the first record, right that's that's the it's almost that time. Do you think you'll get hit from your twenty years years now? Okay? Do you feel like you you should have been reached out to buy me? Now? There's there's been I've heard rumblings about that. I've heard rumblings about the MTV Vanguard. I've heard rumblings about all kinds of things. But again, until we see it, who knows. But I mean, how do they not? Like let's let's aside from if you think, um pop music is your jam, if you think boy bands or your jam or not. You know, people have all these feelings about it. Um, you can't deny. And I know this is gonna be where you're frustrated with just the data exactly Like I mean, if you just look at it on paper, it's all factual, like nothing's embellished. This is actually our career, this is what we've achieved, this is what we've done, and this is what we've set out to do, and this is our and this is where we where we want to go. Um. You know, I've I've often I don't want to say joked about, but I've I often thought to myself, Man, how bad would it be if one of us goes and does a solo thing and that's the one that gets the Grammy before the group does, or that's the one that gets the whatever before the group does. But at the same time, it's all because of the group. There would be no platform for any of us to stand solo if it wasn't for the body of Absolutely I feel that, you know, this is the epicenter that's been set for us too. And we've always said we we will let each of us go spread their wings and you know, go do what you want to do. We know there's power in numbers, but you never know, one of us may have that moment that just shines, you know. Brian, Brian did have it in the Christian world. He won multiple Dove Awards, which is the equivalent to a Grammy in the Christian market. So it can be, but not that nice little Grammy. That's an interesting question. I think people would because again everything is driven by data and money. Right man, you guys make the right movie, people are gonna go see it, obviously. What else is really interesting to me is like Neil Port now used to work at Jive Records, and we were with Sive Records, so whenever I see Neil and like, Neil, what's up, buddy? You know are we Is it gonna be our thirty? Is it gonna be? Is it gonna be our twenty? Like what's it gonna be? And he just always smiles with that, with that nice silver beard and those glasses. But I'm like, again, I think we're on this something here. I think if you did do like a raw biopic and make it just raw and emotional, what people are expecting the same way with the movie. As you're talking about the music, like you know, you go, you can do original music as well as go in and re record, which we've we've actually re recorded a bunch of our music already. UM for legal reasons. We we we have a a secret project up our sleeve. UM. I hopefully hopefully we'll be out next year. UM. When we made the DNA LUM. We also another album, but I can't say what's on it. But I can say that a polka album in Spanish that I'm telling us in us in weird al duet would be fantastic. That's the weird I'll ever do any Backstreet stuff. Yes, he did. Uh. I bought it on eBay. As opposed to I wanted that way. Um. He put Backstreets Back in one of his Polka Um songs um, which was amazing, and I believe it came after like a White Snake song and it was it was like a weird transition, but he did Backstreets Back. Um. I think he did a third one. I feel like, but yeah, he's like back in the day, like if either Weird Alt parody they did any kind of parody with you or or or Babs and butt Head had you on the show, like then you were like super super cool, so and we'd that was an amazing guy at least. I mean, that guy's got a lot of Grammy's. I'm just saying that he's got a lot of Grammy. We got just a few more minutes here. I'm not that funny though, So let me ask you a few So here's what I wrote down, some notes and stuff. I've always wondered the financial part of being in a group, asking A lot of my friends are in bands, and so you know, they have a company and the company gets paid and they split it. And also something with artists country artists is that people just assume once they're on the radio they start to get rich immediately, like it's it's bad at something. It just doesn't happen. That's just not true. Where did the fame and then where did the fame of the money actually meet? Because I'm assuming you would be famous for a while before you actually got I think, honestly, like it'll always go back to the Millennium album. I feel like ninety nine is when things really kind of came to a head. Um, you know, because we're doing our show is in the round, so we're doing domes, we're doing stadiums, were doing all these things, multiple arena nights. UM guarantees were the highest they've ever been. But again, that's a different time where like a person could sell one point three or one point five million albums the first week week week. Now, if you sell a quarter of a quarter of a million albums first week, you're gonna go to number one. It doesn't. It's it's completely different now, you know. Like I was reading about Taylor and you know she did like there was like two to forty and then Tool came out with Theirs and it was like two sixty six, and I'm just thinking, like, wait, too forty for Taylor. But again, that's the new standard. I mean, it's completely different now, even though she's still gonna go out and sell out stadiums and she's beyond talented. Um, I bought both albums. I'm a huge fan of Tool and I'm a huge Taylor fan because of my kids. That Tool record was nuts, right, wasn't so good? It's so good? I mean I minute songs on it too, Like every other track was thirteen minutes plus. It's you know, going back to their first records when I was growing up, Like I I became a fan of them run around the same time that I really started listening to a lot of like Slipknot and just I kind of went in this weird direction musically as a fan. Um. And then they just kind of stopped and I was like, all right, man. And when I heard they were making a new record, I got stupid excited. I was like, this is gonna be interesting. And same with like Radiohead, like I mean massive Radiohead fan. Um. I don't know if if if if if you've seen I don't know the name of the song, but um, they have a new video about Radiohead that's just it's it's a thirteen minute video It's unbelievable. It's all choreographed. It is the most It's one of the most beautiful videos I think I've ever seen ever since Weapon a Choice, which was one of my all time top three videos. Spike Jones. I mean, Christopher walking dancing is one of the most iconic things you'll ever see in your life. So yeah, but I mean, it's weird how the numbers have changed so much now compared to what it was twenty years ago. You know, a million albums sold first week, first day. You know, I think eminem didn't like three days. It just doesn't that that will never happen again. Ever, that's a whole different time that will never ever come back to ever. You know, you bring up Radiohead and I like Tomm York. I like radio Head. You know, it's growing up when we did, and you're in that scene. Radio had kind of created a lane for other people to jump in and out of, but they they definitely had their own lane. And he they don't play creep, right, they just they don't play creep. You know that you can't go to radio if you cannot do one song. If you could creep one song, what would you do? It would be cup playing games. I just feel like, you know, if you don't do I want it that way, fans are gonna probably stampede the stage. Um. You know, Like I was fortunate enough to go see Prince one night before he passed away years ago, and he did four encorees just to mess with people because by the end of the of the first set he didn't do a Purple Rain and people were mad as hell, and he came out for the first encore and justed Purple Rain and then left. I didn't do when Doves Cry came out and like just kept keeping people into it. And I was like, Okay, thank god, because you know, if you come to a batch play concert and you don't see these and songs. But what we've found a way to do it so it it appieces our fans and it also gets out of our head after so many times doing it is you do Medley's or you do remixes of the songs. Um, but my creep would be quit playing games. I mean, that's that's when we've done since the very first Red album back in Yeah. I just there's no amount of remix for that song to be cool to me anymore. I just just I'm over it. How's your body with the dancing? I've had knee surgery on both my knees. Um, probably gonna have to have it done again. Um. You know, surprisingly we're all in pretty decent shape for all being forty. Plus Nick's not forty yet, but he's gonna be sooner than later. Um. You know, we we definitely pop a lot more. I'll be prof and after the show. And um, I actually partnered up recently with a pharmaceutical company, UM called Vivera, and we're we're putting out two different products. One is for pain management, all CBD based and the and the one that's for pain management I've literally give to all my boys now. It's a topical cream. And I tell you what, man, I kicked that stuff on after every show now and I'm a million I feel like a million bucks. Um. But you know, we we do the ice bath stuff, all that stuff. You know. Then then the nice thing about this this new show is it's paced so well that we have a nice big gap in the middle where we're not dancing at all, and we can just kind of get that energy built back up to just take it home for the whole last act like Vegas that was just go go go dance, dance, dance, dance that that definitely hurt me a lot more than this particular show right now. So, do you guys have what they call a B MIC B dance with something else? We can talk to everyone in their ears while the show is happening. We um, well, well, or do you have a button? Like? How are you guys communicating? We like we we started really messing with each other on this on on this last leg, especially how he God bless Howie. We love the death. I love that dude. But he gets nervous still to this day, he gets nervous, especially in cities where like if like l A and New York he gets nervous, or if he's got family coming out or any of his like you know, celebrity friends. Whatever he gets, he gets nervous. I'm like, dude, we've been doing this for twenties six years, you still get nervous. He's like yeah. So we each talk individually during the course of the show, and he's the first one, the second one to talk, and then he does a little bit of a solo song from our album. That way we can get more new songs in the show, and three different times he called the song on the wrong name, and so now we're purposely telling him the wrong name in his ears while we're quick changing, We're like, it's chances the song is called shat till we're like, how he chances chances, and we just keep we keep messing with each other. Kevin doesn't have any patience for it. If Nick messes with Kevin, he'll put Nick on blast on stage and be like, Oh, Nick's talking a bunch of crap in my ears right now. Sorry, I gotta all these out because I can't pay attention to me talking to you guys. So we definitely like to mess with each other quite a lot. Do you guys think to click track or do you just have it all down at this point, it's all The only one that we have a click with is the acapella just so we don't lose time. Um, you know, even though we got our in ears in that particular song, we're out over the audience about up in the air, So it's a lot of slap back if we don't. Um. Aside from that, we have a click on a couple of different things. If if it's a bare bones intro where it's just you're coming in on that first on that first line, you got to know where it's starts. Aside from that, No, usually there's a good like second intro musically that just gets you into a song. But we have a couple of songs that have clicks for sure. Alright, speed round. What was the last concert yet to buy tickets for? Uh? Taylor Swift? The last movie you saw in theater it Chapter two, which they loved it. What was something that did live up to the hype? Um? That did live up to that? It live up to the hype? Huh? I have to say, easies. Yeah, they're I did not want to like them and they are very comfortable. I did not want to like him. And my wife is like why, I'm like, don't ask what is your most humbling? Wow, it's totally wrong about that person. Moment totally wrong. Who are you wrong about? And you're like, oh man, they're actually are pretty cool or they're not pretty cool or wow? Um Tom Brady. Um, I'm married into a Steelers family, so I have to stick to that or I'll be disowned. But um, when I got to meet Tom, I because I just did not like the Patriots because they just they won't let anybody else win. It's like for crying out loud gives us a chance. And then like knowing more about him and knowing that he takes a pay cut and that the rest of the team gets more money and his wife makes more money than him, but he's all about charity and this, and he's just this, like he's such a good guy, Like you can't not like him. And then when I met him, I'm like, damn, you really are this nice. You got that pretty smile too. You're killing me, bro, that'd be there. He's such a he's such a great guy. Alright. Final one, what piece of advice from an artist has stayed with you the longest your career? Someone said, hey, listen here, Um, I have the perfect answer for that. We opened up for the remaining members of the Temptations at a festival back in Orlando years ago, five or six, and after we finished, the founding member chaked our hands and said we did a great job. And he said, just want you boys to remember something. This is show business. It's called that for a reason because while you're on stage doing your show, your business could be walking out the back door behind your back, So just always remember that. And I guess that was a prelude to what ended up happening to us through our career with lou and everything else. But it's show business. Always keep an eye on your back. Well, good luck recording the record. Thank you man? Which song? Let's let's hash this out here. Which are these three songs? Because I'll do it. Don't tell him, but we had this talk all those that this will be in everybody I'll know unless they don't know. But so, which of these songs would you like me to play? I'm gonna let you pick and don't tell you what. We're doing this outwardly right, and I'm gonna be like, because again we're on a hundred and fifty radio stations, my show is we have enough people listening that I can. I feel like the sample size will reflect back if they like the song without knowing exactly who it is. Which of the songs Night Visions, Boy and a Man or Give You Away? Would you like me to conduct that experiment with you? Pick? Wow? Ah, I would say, Man, Okay, that's the deal. We're gonna that's what we're gonna do. So probably next week or so I'm gonna let this breathe a little bit and then I'm gonna play way a Man and I'm just gonna set it up and go. I don't even tell it's not out of what I've done before. So everyone's like, like, what is happening. I'm like, hey, we got another one. I'm gonna tell you who it is. You just tell me if you like the song, hit me up and uh, let's see what happens. I'm gonna get your number and then you're gonna text me and tell me what the end result is. I want to know, Well, the end result is. It takes a while, right, It's not that nobody even calls radio station. That's not anything. But I'm just curious to see over time, like what you can feel after about a couple of days, you can really want to so mine remember that we're gonna do Boing a Man. We're gonna play it, We're not gonna say anything about it. And I think that would be a good experiment. And I like that. And while I'm here, as I cut these songs and I get these things nicely fine tune, this week, I'll start sending you some more stuff and you tell me what you think I don't want. No, I don't want to do that. Okay, you want to be surprised in my general rule, and this is how I can keep friends in this world. I don't listen to anything new ever, if it's not out with my listeners here, yes, I won't listen to it. Okay, every good as much as much as you know, yeah, because then you can get jaded about it, or you can get or biased, and then it's a slippery everybody wants because you don't wanna. I love you. Oh no, I get it's get here it is. There's the line and if I, if I stay consistent, then you know, consistencies currency. I'm jealous. Minds literally coming tomorrow the new iPhone. Do you like it? Have you really messed with it yet? I don't know that I've messed with it enough. Mike has one too, and he thinks the camera's freaking cameras that will see like that's their biggest selling point. Like I this is the longest I've actually had an iPhone, to the point where I actually ran my contract out, so I'm getting money back by getting the preodor done. But what's crazy to me is I was beta testing the new Ilas thirteen on my eleven. The worst idea I've ever done in my life. Too much for it's it's it is throwing my phone so much out of whack. So no to anyone, don't bate a test the new iOS before you get the new phone. The stickers are cool, like the emojis. You can send emojis of your own head need. Yeah, but again, I'm sure there's so much about it that we Yeah, but I mean, I've been trying to get all the research done before I get mine, so I know what I'm doing. But it's it's probably so much more. But it looks it actually looks cool. And I was worried about how we would look with this with the multiple lends. Yeah, yeah, that is pretty freaking sweet. And I'm blind and I had to get Yeah. Well, it's like once you go big, you can't go downsize, like you don't know someone. That's not the case with the ladies. But yeah, like no one nobody buys in Clay and then goes and gets a smart cart like it's yeah, it's the other way. Well, listen, my friend, we're gonna Because I had a friend hit me up who works for ABC. I don't know even know what do you do? We know how this all got together here because that a friend works BRABC. It's an executive. I do shows for ABC. Right, Like, Hey, I'm friends with a j um and I'm like, dude, I've met twice. It's been awesome to me. It was before we saw each other in Vegas. Was like love to have them buy we do you know this long form show that it's a ton of podcast downloads We played on the radio too. I would love to have him come by and just kind of talk a little bit my first time and he was at the rheyman, that's what I was. And then I guess also Darius, Yeah, yeah, you're Darius. And then I went up and I did I went it that way and then, uh, did you ever see the photo of me in your parking space? Yeah? I was like yes, yes, so uh and it was like what about AJ. I was like, dude, I'm in town one day. I would love to see him. And I really appreciate you taking the time. Now it's it's it's been great. Well, Okay, we're gonna leave it at this. We'll see how it goes. You're in town cutting a record. Let me know if you need a good uber driver. Okay, bringing man, I love it. Uh, we're done, Mike. You good. Anything you want anything with you? We're good, all right. There is episode two of one AJ McClain give me a time. I don't need a date. But you're trying to get this body of work out by win, Like, what's the goal by Top of the Year? Um album title is long Road. Um, and uh, you know I was trying to do it this year, but just I just want to take my time and do this right. So Top of the Year January is momber looking at having the album out. Do you play guitar? I am learning right now. Um, my player that travels with you, I do. My m D has been helped me and whatnot. I play drums, um, but in a little bit of piano. Um, I play harmonica, but I don't. I've always wanted to learn how to play guitar, even before this whole thing started, Like it's just been my passion. My daughter is taking lessons and she's got better chops than I do. She's six and she can play better than I can right now. So but yeah, I definitely, I definitely want to learn on CMA Country Christmas, which you're gonna be out this week? Are you? Are you part of the show? I am literally, I'm just I was invited by you know, CMA just to come and just enjoy the show. So I'm just sitting come out and have some fun and just enjoy some good Christmas music. And it'd be good for you to be around. Like listen, you just around people. As you know, it's all relationships, like you know, I like that guy. Let me let me give a little opening and see if people then it's like how good as is it actually exactly you know what it is. And I'm I'm a social butterfly and I just love people. So they're fun right from the airport over Here, Episode two one A J. McClean, good to see you, buy you two Brother,