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May 27, 2010 This doesn't mean much, but here it is: In 1993, I filed one of the first newspaper stories ever on a group that no one had ever heard of. The Backstreet Boys were rehearsing at a steamy blimp hangar in an industrial section of Kissimmee. They were doing a cappella serenades for anyone who would listen, including me, at Italian restaurants and business offices. They were playing middle schools. More than 16 years later, I am talking on the phone to Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. He's now age 30, which seems pretty old to be in a boy band. Like some other child stars, his transition into adulthood yielded embarrassing tabloid headlines: There was a rocky relationship with Paris Hilton that included allegations of physical abuse and a sex tape. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to drunk-driving charges. Those days are behind him and he's again on the road with the Backstreet Boys, though it's obvious the glory days are in the past. With the departure of Kevin Richardson, there are now only four Backstreet Boys: Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough and Brian Littrell. The band's Orlando homecoming on Tuesday is at Hard Rock Live, not an arena. On the phone, I can't help thinking that I now might be doing one of the last interviews with a Backstreet Boy. Ah, closure. I ease my way into a question about whether it's a bummer to be playing smaller halls. "We're still an arena band," Carter says. "In the states, not a lot of people are interested in a boy-band from the '90s, but if we go over to Australia or Europe, or to Asia or Canada, we're still playing 20,000-seaters in all those areas. We have a show that is made for those venues." He's equally glass-half-full about the band's most recent album, This Is Us: "I think it's the best album we've done in a very long time and I'm very proud of that. If we can build on this, we have a lot of good things to look forward to." When Carter started with the group, at age 12, did he envision being a Backstreet Boy at 30? "I was really young, so it was hard to look at it and know what was coming," he says. "I just wanted to have fun and create music and dance and sing. That's all I wanted to do. I really didn't look too far ahead and I still don't; I live in the moment, still, and it's great right now." Carter is most happy to have his erratic party days in the past tense. "I am fortunate every single day," he says. "Don't get me wrong, there are things that come up that I have to always stay on top of. It's about being aware of the things that have brought you down and knowing what they look like." If no one warned him of the pitfalls of success, it's because it's not that easy, he says. "The manual is the mistakes of the people before you. Humans do things. They just learn from their mistakes and move on. We didn't get it right completely and some of the same stuff happens now." So what does Carter think when he looks at the Miley Cyruses and Demi Lovatos of the world? A new era of Disney-powered teen pop? Listening to Carter, you'd almost think the Lou Pearlman-bred Backstreet Boys were indie! "It's good music," he says, "but as far as the success that they are having, it's relevant to the times. We weren't associated with Disney; we weren't associated with the protective bubble. We had to fight for ourselves and that's what makes our stories different."
It's only Hard Rock Live, but it's a sell-out, so maybe this isn't the last Backstreet Boy interview, after all.
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