Speaker 1: Well, welcome everyone to Amy and TJ. And yes, I'm
Speaker 1: starting the podcast, probably because it's by default. It's not
Speaker 1: because I wanted to. It's because I had an idea,
Speaker 1: and so we're gonna I'm gonna do it again. I
Speaker 1: guess horrible.
Speaker 2: No, we're keeping it. No, no, no, you're right Andy,
Speaker 2: this was gonna be one of the best intros ever
Speaker 2: we do this.
Speaker 3: Ever, I get time, I get all why, I don't know.
Speaker 3: I'm just not I don't want to start.
Speaker 2: Okay, hey pot, Yes TJ. If you didn't know TJ
Speaker 2: is here as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I started to spiral and I needed to stop
Speaker 1: every day.
Speaker 2: She looks at me. I mean seconds before we start,
Speaker 2: you start, you start, you start, you start, you start.
Speaker 2: She doesn't want to start. We used to do this
Speaker 2: on our show on television of gm A three. Yes,
Speaker 2: we're right there sitting on set and they're counting us down.
Speaker 2: Anybody got anything, anybody got in it, and you would
Speaker 2: never speak and I had to start. So we that's
Speaker 2: what we're doing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean if I were by myself, obviously I would
Speaker 1: have to. But somehow I just no, I don't clearly.
Speaker 2: Do not want to be by my Maybe you could
Speaker 2: use some some alone time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you need to say something to me?
Speaker 1: No, No, we have spent a lot of time together,
Speaker 1: especially this week.
Speaker 3: It's been NonStop.
Speaker 1: Were always talking about this week, last week, the week before.
Speaker 3: It's pretty much the same.
Speaker 2: We have fresh bag though, what you're saying. We had
Speaker 2: a great trip to went out to LA for the
Speaker 2: I Heart Radio wards. Right. It was an absolute blast.
Speaker 1: We had a blast, yes, and just got back late.
Speaker 3: Actually yes, like.
Speaker 1: In the wee hours of the morning, so little, little punchy.
Speaker 2: But we didn't go to bed though, didn't go to sleep.
Speaker 3: We really really didn't sleep. What were we watching?
Speaker 2: A lot of stuff was on last night, like not
Speaker 2: horror though we were in a we weren't in a horror.
Speaker 1: Mood, which is unusual. Yeah, it was like one o'clock
Speaker 1: in the morning.
Speaker 4: What was on?
Speaker 2: I put on a new I don't even know. I
Speaker 2: started to move one.
Speaker 1: And I knew it and then I don't think I
Speaker 1: slept at all. But anyway, it was all worth it because.
Speaker 2: We nobody can tell you're punching.
Speaker 3: We packed in a bunch of stuff.
Speaker 1: It was beautiful weather, it was wonderful and we got
Speaker 1: to meet a lot of amazing people, and especially a
Speaker 1: particular person who particularly Yes.
Speaker 2: What about the rest of the people are going to
Speaker 2: feel bad?
Speaker 1: Well, everybody was great, but we actually have to sit
Speaker 1: down and go in depth with one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic bands, or at least one of the members of
Speaker 1: one of the most iconic bands, at least from me
Speaker 1: in the nineties. We're talking about the Backstreet Boys, and
Speaker 1: that was pretty cool because I'd never met AJ McLean before.
Speaker 2: Alexander James.
Speaker 1: Yes, that is who he is, and that is I
Speaker 1: guess his more recent persona, right He says, well, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: but you know what, Okay, but when you call yourself
Speaker 1: something AJ, that's how he's been known. Obviously, his name
Speaker 1: is also alex James, Alexander James, but.
Speaker 3: He goes by AJ. So he said that that's his persona.
Speaker 2: He said, the AJ is his persona, right, but alex
Speaker 2: is who he really is. Okay, So I'm gonna get
Speaker 2: rid of TJ. I'm gonna be Lutillius from now on,
Speaker 2: Utilius Liutillius.
Speaker 3: Do you think that that's a persona for you? TJ?
Speaker 1: Is that your is that your TV persona? And then
Speaker 1: Utilius is who you are?
Speaker 2: It kinda is I've yeah, I've kind of said I've
Speaker 2: no no by my family. I didn't grow up being TJ.
Speaker 2: I was T Junior. It was close to my family name,
Speaker 2: but the TJ was strictly for something that was easily
Speaker 2: easy to do on television.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, But it's funny because I can't. I don't know.
Speaker 1: It would be weird for me to call you Lou
Speaker 1: or Loutillius.
Speaker 2: It would be weird for anybody to call me Luke.
Speaker 2: Nobody calls me lou. How did we get there?
Speaker 1: Well, Lutilius doesn't exactly roll off the top actually does
Speaker 1: all together.
Speaker 2: Now Lutilius it does, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let me know if you want to
Speaker 1: make a name change in terms of what as how
Speaker 1: you're referred.
Speaker 2: The reason I I didn't yeah this is that's a
Speaker 2: true story. And I'm sure you dealt with this as well.
Speaker 2: When you start your career, they want you to have
Speaker 2: something that's that can easily be said on television because
Speaker 2: an anchor from another market or you're doing national news,
Speaker 2: they wouldn't might mess up your name. So my first
Speaker 2: three pieces I ever did in my professional career. The
Speaker 2: first one I signed off as Liutilius Holmes, the second
Speaker 2: one I signed off as Lou Holmes. The third one
Speaker 2: I signed off as TJ Holmes and stuck with TJ.
Speaker 2: A true story. My first three pieces, I was three
Speaker 2: different guys.
Speaker 1: That's funny. I didn't know that, and then TJ stuck.
Speaker 1: But when you get an uber, you're Lou. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: he says here for Lou.
Speaker 2: I think I think there might be as moby as
Speaker 2: reasons why here for Lou. I don't open the door
Speaker 2: and say Heylutillius right huh? Here for Liutillius right who?
Speaker 2: That's probably what I get Los.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: TJ's even easier, though, I have you get ubers a
Speaker 2: lot because it's easy here for Amy.
Speaker 1: Yes, Amy's a little bit easier, although you have a
Speaker 1: hard time saying Amy, like you actually stumble. I hate
Speaker 1: anytime we were on the set and you'd have to
Speaker 1: transition as an anchor, they're like, you know, TJ or whoever.
Speaker 1: He if it said Amy and he had to say
Speaker 1: my name, he would stumble. You never stumble, but you
Speaker 1: would absolutely mess up because you had to say Amy.
Speaker 2: So weird. I'm just so I'm not used to calling
Speaker 2: you that. And yeah, well again, I can't believe we
Speaker 2: get into names here. Now we were talking about AJ.
Speaker 2: But you have to ask this question, Backstreet Boys or
Speaker 2: en Sync.
Speaker 1: I know more Backstreet Boy songs. I mean, I love
Speaker 1: some JT like I love, but I know the Backstreet
Speaker 1: Boys music better and so I think I danced to
Speaker 1: it more. But they're both great.
Speaker 2: Obviously, see that. That's the answer people often do if
Speaker 2: they want to be very diplomatic, right right, you didn't
Speaker 2: really give me an answer.
Speaker 1: Well, so if I had to pick, I'd pick Backstreet Boys.
Speaker 2: Okay. This is one of the debates that continue to
Speaker 2: this day. It's like, Okay, Michael Jordan.
Speaker 1: Or Lebron I don't really I can't wait on those.
Speaker 2: Yankees arrests.
Speaker 3: Definitely Yankees. Oh wah wah, sheets, I don't even know
Speaker 3: what you're saying.
Speaker 2: Okay, all of the people in Pennsylvania get.
Speaker 3: That shut out of Pennsylvania. Wow, we're going there.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: This is a really weird.
Speaker 2: Weird industro. This is why we don't let her start
Speaker 2: the po I.
Speaker 3: Started it and now it's all unrapp up.
Speaker 2: But the point here this month is the actual thirty
Speaker 2: one year anniversary of the Backstreet Boys actually getting together.
Speaker 2: They got together the first time they were founded in
Speaker 2: April of nineteen ninety three and they continue to this day,
Speaker 2: and that is remarkable. And now AJ McLain, yes he
Speaker 2: is out on tour with a member of an Sync, Yes,
Speaker 2: Joey Fatone. They have a whole thing they are doing
Speaker 2: out there together. But it's remarkable that they have been
Speaker 2: able Backstreet Boys to stick around as long as they
Speaker 2: have and have generations of fans. I have an eleven
Speaker 2: year old daughter singing Backstreet Boy songs like how do
Speaker 2: you even know these songs?
Speaker 1: I want it that way? Right?
Speaker 2: Was the music? As soon as I mentioned we were
Speaker 2: interviewing the back people.
Speaker 1: That's very exciting.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, okay, folks, I'm I'm gonna let her you know,
Speaker 2: we're gonna we're gonna wrap this so she can go
Speaker 2: get some rest. But it was we were out in
Speaker 2: the late for the Heart Awards. We did get a
Speaker 2: chance to sit down with Aj, who had a lot
Speaker 2: to say about the new music but also his struggle,
Speaker 2: his background. Where he is now, which he says is
Speaker 2: one of the best places physically and mentally that he
Speaker 2: has ever been in his life. We are joined now
Speaker 2: by mister Alexander James McClay. Come on, AJ, come on,
Speaker 2: how should we introduce you? Now? What should we call you?
Speaker 2: What are we doing?
Speaker 4: Well? Look, so it's just me, So the rest of
Speaker 4: the boys are not here. So Alexander James or alex
Speaker 4: for short, alex uh. Yeah, you know, I uh, I've
Speaker 4: been on this journey of self discovery for quite some
Speaker 4: time now. It started back in the summer of last
Speaker 4: year when we wrapped up the DNA World Tour in
Speaker 4: May of twenty twenty three in Cape Town, South Africa,
Speaker 4: came home for literally three days, hopped in my truck,
Speaker 4: drove to Scottsdale, Arizona, and at it admitted myself into
Speaker 4: a IOP intensive outpatient program for mental health, depression, anxiety, trauma,
Speaker 4: the works to really get to the root of everything
Speaker 4: that I've been through in the past twenty five years.
Speaker 4: My sobriety's on lock of two and a half years sober,
Speaker 4: going strong, congratulation, thank you, that isn't going anywhere. But
Speaker 4: I wanted to get to the root of it and
Speaker 4: really kind of figure out what because you know, people
Speaker 4: that are in recovery realized that the drinking and the
Speaker 4: drugs is all symptomatic. That's not the actual problem. There's
Speaker 4: something bigger and more seed internally that's causing that effect.
Speaker 4: So for me, it was low self esteem. I don't
Speaker 4: know if I.
Speaker 3: Could swear, but you can swear.
Speaker 4: My sponsor calls it piece of shitism, which is what
Speaker 4: I suffered from. And so the biggest thing for me
Speaker 4: that I took out of this amazing ten weeks was
Speaker 4: authenticity and learning that AJ is a persona. It doesn't
Speaker 4: define who I am. It is it is a job.
Speaker 4: I used to kind of make fun of some of
Speaker 4: my boys, you know, when they would say, okay, we're
Speaker 4: going back on the road, time to clock in. I
Speaker 4: never looked at it that way. Now I see what
Speaker 4: they meant. You know, I'm on the first flight back
Speaker 4: home to my family, first flight or before I would linger,
Speaker 4: you know, hang out in whatever city I'm in. But
Speaker 4: my whole perception on what is work and what is
Speaker 4: personal boundaries another word I never really knew much about,
Speaker 4: but authenticity. So knowing that, you know, throughout the last
Speaker 4: almost thirty one years, AJ's kind of dominated, Alex just
Speaker 4: kind of got stifled a little bit so everything with
Speaker 4: my solo music, with my solo album, with everything moving
Speaker 4: forward outside of the band, I want to introduce the
Speaker 4: world to Alexander James.
Speaker 1: Alexander James, I think it's it's first of all, it's
Speaker 1: amazing that you went on that journey because most people
Speaker 1: never get to that point. But I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people, and especially your diehard fans, would be shocked
Speaker 1: to hear that aj McLean has low self esteem.
Speaker 4: I know. I mean, I've been sharing it. I just
Speaker 4: got off the road with my buddy Joey Fatone. We've
Speaker 4: been on the Legendary Night Tour. We just kicked it
Speaker 4: off our first nine shows. We're kicking back off again
Speaker 4: in May for another twenty dates. We keep adding dates
Speaker 4: because the fans want to keep seeing it. It's a
Speaker 4: hell of a show. It's fun and there is three
Speaker 4: different songs from my upcoming solo record that I do
Speaker 4: in the show, one of which is a song called Arizona,
Speaker 4: which was inspired by this trip, and I prefaced the
Speaker 4: song by telling the same exact story. And the response
Speaker 4: I've gotten has been overwhelming. So many people, whether they're
Speaker 4: fans of Backstreet or not, or fans of mine can
Speaker 4: relate immediately. They're like, oh my God, Like I never
Speaker 4: thought there was an outlet for what I'm feeling, but
Speaker 4: now I know that there is. You know, when I
Speaker 4: was out in Arizona, one of the sessions that I had,
Speaker 4: we watched a little short, eight ten minute video. It
Speaker 4: was one of these Ted talks, and it was this
Speaker 4: woman who I'm now obsessed with, And whenever she comes
Speaker 4: back on the road, I need to see her and
Speaker 4: meet her. I feel like she's my mom from a
Speaker 4: different life. Brene Brown.
Speaker 3: Oh, I love Brown.
Speaker 4: Obsessed I am too.
Speaker 3: I've read so many of her books.
Speaker 4: She's phenomenal.
Speaker 3: She talks about shame yep.
Speaker 4: And she has a mantra that I got tattooed on
Speaker 4: my arm called braving, which stands for boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault, integrity,
Speaker 4: non judgment, and gratitude. So I try to live my
Speaker 4: life by that each and every day as best I can,
Speaker 4: progress not perfection.
Speaker 2: Would you have been willing do you think it would
Speaker 2: have been? It would have taken you longer to figure
Speaker 2: out the self esteem part? What do they call it?
Speaker 2: The piece of shit? If you hadn't gone through already
Speaker 2: the sobriety journey. Were those two things connected and.
Speaker 4: They are one hundred percent connected because you know a
Speaker 4: lot of the things that I some of my actions
Speaker 4: when I was not sober. You know, I have no regrets.
Speaker 4: Let's just start by saying that everything happened exactly, how
Speaker 4: was it was. It was all meant to be. And
Speaker 4: I have learned a little bit more each time that
Speaker 4: I've fallen off the wagon or that I've gone backwards.
Speaker 4: But but having this length of sobriety under my belt,
Speaker 4: I think really helped me take in what I needed
Speaker 4: to actually take in. Where before, you know, when I
Speaker 4: put together two years here, three years there, I was
Speaker 4: what we call it dry drunk. I was just white
Speaker 4: knuckling it. I wasn't going to meetings. I wasn't taking
Speaker 4: it as seriously as I am today. And I owe
Speaker 4: it all to my youngest daughter. She is the reason
Speaker 4: why this time was different. I flew back from doing
Speaker 4: a radio show in Miami two and a half years ago.
Speaker 4: On September twenty fifth, I flew back home. I went
Speaker 4: hard the night before, real hard. Smelled like a bar.
Speaker 4: When I got home, I didn't feel like I did,
Speaker 4: But you know, I tried to drink a bunch of coffee,
Speaker 4: kind of you know, dead in the odor. But again,
Speaker 4: it's it's kind of like smokers. I hate to say it,
Speaker 4: but I smoke. It's the only advice I have left.
Speaker 4: But we don't smell the smoke on us, but everyone
Speaker 4: else does. It's like, oh God, were you so sme?
Speaker 4: Like an ashtray? Do I really? But I went to
Speaker 4: give her a hug and she backed away from me,
Speaker 4: and I was like, what's wrong? And she's like, you
Speaker 4: don't smell like my daddy. That was like rip my
Speaker 4: heart out, stab it set it on fire.
Speaker 2: How old was she? Right?
Speaker 4: And she's seven now, so she was like four.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and she's she's super smart, sharp as at.
Speaker 1: And aren't they so honest when they're young? Right?
Speaker 3: They say exactly what they're thinking.
Speaker 4: More ways that I like, you know, like you kils,
Speaker 4: kids are mean, kids are mean, like you know, like
Speaker 4: I've I've had to deal with these, you know, these
Speaker 4: these difficult conversations with both my girls about bulliese you know,
Speaker 4: because you know, kids are kids are mean and being
Speaker 4: a girl dad, you know, having to deal with boys
Speaker 4: being boys. You know, I wasn't that kind of a boy.
Speaker 4: But I know that there are boys out there that
Speaker 4: are just mean generally because they like you, right tell me.
Speaker 4: But there's a couple of boys that are particularly mean
Speaker 4: to my youngest. But as much as I want to
Speaker 4: bring you their little necks, I know it's because they
Speaker 4: like her, because she's so likable. Both my girls are
Speaker 4: and they're people people, you know, so but but yeah, man,
Speaker 4: my kids can can really kick you when you're down
Speaker 4: sometimes and just be so brutally honest you're like, oh
Speaker 4: my god, that hurts.
Speaker 3: They keep you grounded, that's so.
Speaker 4: Oh they do, they really do. They are very, very humbling,
Speaker 4: and they exercise humility always.
Speaker 2: How does she feel about that story, knowing that I
Speaker 2: assume you shared it, that that was a turning point
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 4: I mean, both my girls are old enough now, I
Speaker 4: think to really understand. Like I was on FaceTime maybe
Speaker 4: two weeks ago, and uh, I was drinking a what's
Speaker 4: the I can't you think of the brand? It's one
Speaker 4: of my favorite ginger ales. But it's in a green bottle,
Speaker 4: looks like a beer bottle, and but it clearly says
Speaker 4: ginger Ale. But it was turned around and I grabbed
Speaker 4: it while I was on FaceTime and they both were
Speaker 4: like that better not be alcohol dad. I'm like, oh
Speaker 4: my god, no, look no ginger el gender eil. I said,
Speaker 4: let me just be honest with you girls. Number one
Speaker 4: Daddy wouldn't be facetiming you if I was drinking, and
Speaker 4: number two Daddy wouldn't be facetiming you if I was drinking.
Speaker 4: So uh, you know. But they are very very protective
Speaker 4: of me, which I love. They're like my little security.
Speaker 4: When we go out and have our little daddy daughter dates.
Speaker 4: If somebody asked for like a picture or whatever, they
Speaker 4: get really territorial or they want to be in the photo,
Speaker 4: then it's okay for Daddy to stop and take pictures.
Speaker 4: As long as we get to be in the picture too,
Speaker 4: it's okay.
Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, how hard is it?
Speaker 1: You know, this has been a journey you've been on
Speaker 1: and you I think it's really important to you point
Speaker 1: out that your alcoholism or your relationship with it was
Speaker 1: just a symptom of a larger problem. But when you're
Speaker 1: out on tour and you're in that environment, how hard
Speaker 1: is it? I mean, do you not find it hard
Speaker 1: at all? Now that You've got the tools in place.
Speaker 4: No. I mean, look, well, yes, I do have the
Speaker 4: tools in place. I have you know, X amount of
Speaker 4: people on speed dial, my sponsor, my best friend, my publicist.
Speaker 4: I have people that look out for me, that are
Speaker 4: that love me, that have been in my circle for
Speaker 4: a very long time. And but you know, again, if
Speaker 4: I'm in a weird mindset, or I'm out with friends,
Speaker 4: or I'm out at dinner and people are drinking, if
Speaker 4: I get uncomfortable, I just excuse myself and leave. You know,
Speaker 4: why put myself through that added pressure. I don't need to.
Speaker 4: You know, no is a complete sentence. You know, didn't
Speaker 4: really understand that either until this last little stint in Scottsdale.
Speaker 4: You know, I learned a lot. I also learned how
Speaker 4: hot Scottsdale really can get. Didn't keep me off the
Speaker 4: golf course though I played in one hundred and twenty degrees. Wow.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's dedication. Oh yeah, what prompted the Scottsdale visit?
Speaker 4: You know? I so I knew that the tour was over,
Speaker 4: and and I've got a weekly therapist that I was
Speaker 4: you know, talking to, and and he was like, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm just gonna put this out there. There's this amazing
Speaker 4: place if you really want to dive deeper into this,
Speaker 4: this and this. You know, there's so the facilities called
Speaker 4: the Meadows. They're all over the US. There is one
Speaker 4: in Malibu, but it's a seven day program. And I'm like, well,
Speaker 4: that ain't gonna do shit. I seven days. If I
Speaker 4: could have figured all this out that I know today
Speaker 4: in seven days, I would have done it seven years ago.
Speaker 4: He's like, but this one is is eight weeks, and
Speaker 4: I was like, well, I really want to do this
Speaker 4: right so and then I extended it for two more weeks,
Speaker 4: not intentionally, I didn't realize. So in the middle of it,
Speaker 4: they send you away about about an hour north to
Speaker 4: I can't remember the name of the city, but when
Speaker 4: I tell you, it was in the middle of nowhere,
Speaker 4: middle of nowhere. It's an extension of the same program,
Speaker 4: but they call it Trauma Week. So what you're dealing
Speaker 4: with is from birth to seventeen. Now if you come
Speaker 4: back for trauma track two, which I do want to
Speaker 4: go back, is from seventeen to present day. So like
Speaker 4: really talking to my inner child, dealing with my abandonment
Speaker 4: issues when my dad left you know all of that stuff,
Speaker 4: and it was just me and two other guys with
Speaker 4: this one therapist, and it was pretty It was pretty intense,
Speaker 4: you know. It was five days of tears of joy,
Speaker 4: tiers of pain, but like just lots of writing. A
Speaker 4: very similar scenario happened that I did when I first
Speaker 4: went to rehab back in two thousand and one. They
Speaker 4: have this thing called the bataka, which essentially is a
Speaker 4: piece of PVC pipe with a foam pad on the
Speaker 4: end of it looks like a giant lollipop. And you're
Speaker 4: sitting in front of an empty chair and you're talking
Speaker 4: to some one, whether it's my mom or my dad
Speaker 4: or my grandparents that have passed, and you're just expressing
Speaker 4: without them retaliating how you feel. And then if you
Speaker 4: need to get out anger or fear sadness, you beat
Speaker 4: the shit out of the chair with this pataca. And
Speaker 4: I broke it this time. I didn't realize how much
Speaker 4: anger was still there, and a lot of it was
Speaker 4: also anger inward but also outward, and man, I beat
Speaker 4: the crap out of that poor chair.
Speaker 2: Who are you talking to? At the time, I was talking.
Speaker 4: To my dad myself, and kind of the the business
Speaker 4: you know, I generalized it and uh, I just called
Speaker 4: it work. But yeah, I mean I went off and
Speaker 4: I like was like sorry, sorry, sorry, and the therapist
Speaker 4: was like, no, no, no, this is what you need
Speaker 4: to do. And it also inspired the other two gentlemen
Speaker 4: that were in the group that were kind of at
Speaker 4: first they didn't really want to like buy into it.
Speaker 4: They were like, ah, this is this is this is dumb.
Speaker 4: I'm going to talk to an empty chair, and I'm like,
Speaker 4: go in with open mind, open heart, no expectations, and
Speaker 4: just let yourself go. And they both did incredible and
Speaker 4: we've all stayed friends. I talked to them at least
Speaker 4: once or twice a week, and we all check in
Speaker 4: on each other.
Speaker 2: Two things you said jumped out at me one of them,
Speaker 2: And maybe you could direct this to people who don't
Speaker 2: really understand sometimes addiction and how it's it's a daily
Speaker 2: process the rest of your life, almost with work. You said,
Speaker 2: sometimes if I'm out with friends or something and I
Speaker 2: get uncomfortable in the environment, I just leave. I want
Speaker 2: you to expound on that. But the other thing you
Speaker 2: said earlier when we first started, he said, the sobriety thing.
Speaker 2: Now I got it all Lock, like you sound is
Speaker 2: so confident that you're not even worried about me. So
Speaker 2: just those two things.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, look, every day is a new day.
Speaker 4: I woke up today sober, great. I don't know what's
Speaker 4: going to happen two hours from now, but I know
Speaker 4: that if I have any weird thoughts or have any
Speaker 4: I don't really have the desire for like craving anymore.
Speaker 4: But it doesn't mean that I won't have a thought
Speaker 4: pop in my head. And if that thought pops in,
Speaker 4: I can usually make it pop out. But if it lingers,
Speaker 4: I call my sponsor, I call some of my friends
Speaker 4: that are in the program. I'm like, hey, man, you
Speaker 4: know I'm kind of feeling a little squirrely, and we'll
Speaker 4: have a five minute conversation and then I'm good. I
Speaker 4: also take five minutes talk to my higher power. Or
Speaker 4: I meditate. You know, you can meditate with your eyes
Speaker 4: open walking down the street. I do it in the
Speaker 4: shower every morning. But yeah, when I say that it's
Speaker 4: on lock, it's that in my mind. I keep telling
Speaker 4: myself that because it's that important to me, and that
Speaker 4: it needs to be the number one thing in my life,
Speaker 4: before family, before anything, is my sobriety, because without that,
Speaker 4: everything else goes away, career, family, all of it, you know.
Speaker 4: So and sadly, I've lost now twelve friends to fetanaohl
Speaker 4: in the past two and a half years. So another
Speaker 4: thing that keeps twelve friends, another thing that keeps me
Speaker 4: on the up and up, because you know, since I
Speaker 4: got sober this last time, all of my bad people
Speaker 4: will call them are out of my phone. So I
Speaker 4: know me well enough. If I go out, I have
Speaker 4: one drink, It'll lead to two or three, and I'll
Speaker 4: talk to some random person at the bar of the club,
Speaker 4: Hey do you have this, this, and this and next thing?
Speaker 4: You know, I leave my kids fatherless, not worth it,
Speaker 4: just not so. You know, I'm kind of a homebody anyways.
Speaker 4: I don't really do the club scene or go out.
Speaker 4: You know. I'm starting to finally go out more now
Speaker 4: with friends to like a nice dinner and like just
Speaker 4: get out of the house and just do stuff, meet
Speaker 4: new people. You know. I'm trying to not be a
Speaker 4: recluse because that's also not healthy. But I do love
Speaker 4: being at home. I do love you know. I'm either
Speaker 4: on the golf course or I'm with my you know,
Speaker 4: kids and so you know, or I'm on stage somewhere,
Speaker 4: so you know, life is definitely moving. But I now,
Speaker 4: like I said earlier, having boundaries in my life now
Speaker 4: is a huge, huge asset because if I'm not cool
Speaker 4: with something, I will tell you. Or before I would
Speaker 4: just kind of go with the flow. But it's like, nah,
Speaker 4: I'm really not okay with that. Whatever it is, it
Speaker 4: doesn't matter if it's work related, you know, personal family,
Speaker 4: whatever it is. You know, very cool.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that that's going to be inspiring
Speaker 1: to a lot of people who struggle with boundaries.
Speaker 3: And all of I mean, just feeling pulled.
Speaker 1: In one direction because you don't feel confident in where
Speaker 1: you want to be. You described it a little bit,
Speaker 1: but how would you describe your life right now?
Speaker 4: My life right now? You know, today I can look
Speaker 4: at myself in the mirror and I like who I see.
Speaker 4: It's getting better and better every day. I think what's
Speaker 4: been really cool to see is I've been working out
Speaker 4: my solo record now for over two years because we
Speaker 4: were still on tour, so I couldn't just finish it
Speaker 4: in like three months, and lyrically, it's the best record
Speaker 4: I've ever done. You can tell where my headspace is.
Speaker 4: You can tell like I'm not all over the place
Speaker 4: like I've I've got a direction and I'm staying in
Speaker 4: that path. I'm keeping in my own lane. I'm trying
Speaker 4: not to be affected by outside anything, and I'm just
Speaker 4: enjoying life. I really am taking everything in. You know,
Speaker 4: I've said in like meet and greets. I've said even
Speaker 4: on this tour right now with Joey, when we do
Speaker 4: these little sound check parties where we'll you know, talk
Speaker 4: to the audience, We'll talk to the fans for a
Speaker 4: little bit. And you know, one of the girls asked
Speaker 4: me recently, you know, what's your favorite place to go
Speaker 4: on the road. I'm like, well, I can't pinpoint one place.
Speaker 4: There's tons, I said, But this last two and a
Speaker 4: half years, I've gone back to a lot of places
Speaker 4: I've been twenty thirty times, but never sober. So now
Speaker 4: it's a whole new place for me. So going out
Speaker 4: and like getting out of my room, not staying in
Speaker 4: my room all day all night on my days off
Speaker 4: recovering from be going on a bender. You know, I'm
Speaker 4: getting out and I'm like trying the local cuisine. I'm
Speaker 4: on a different golf course every other day, or you know,
Speaker 4: checking out. I do love the shop, checking out the shopping.
Speaker 4: You know. My publicists and I were in Abu Dhabi
Speaker 4: last October with the NBA and went to this gigantic
Speaker 4: mall and I I've never in my whole life had
Speaker 4: a like a personal shopper person with you that helps.
Speaker 4: I'm like, this is the weirdest thing. But it was
Speaker 4: very cool, nicest guy in the world. But it was
Speaker 4: just a really cool experience. There's a lot of perks
Speaker 4: to do what I do. This is one of those perks.
Speaker 4: And it was an incredible experience. I had never been
Speaker 4: into an air maze in my entire life, went for
Speaker 4: this one. And she was a little kid in a
Speaker 4: candy store and I'm just sitting in this little room
Speaker 4: that they bring you a tea, and I'm like, what
Speaker 4: is happening right now? Like I was like, can't we
Speaker 4: just go look at the like I'm used to walking
Speaker 4: into a store and looking at the clothes, trying it on. No, no, no, no,
Speaker 4: this is a different experience. But yeah, man, just life.
Speaker 4: Life's too short. It really is. And I you know,
Speaker 4: another thing I learned in Arizona that I got also
Speaker 4: tattooed on me, at least the abbreviation on my knuckles,
Speaker 4: which hurt like hell. By the way, is if it
Speaker 4: doesn't fit, don't wear it. My whole life, I've taken
Speaker 4: on everyone else's shit because I am very codependent. I'm
Speaker 4: a people pleaser or and I'm working through that as well.
Speaker 4: And you know, I want to make you like me,
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna do whatever I have to to make
Speaker 4: you like me, even if it kills me. Now, if
Speaker 4: you don't like me, that's your fucking loss, period. But
Speaker 4: taking the weight of other people's problems off of my
Speaker 4: shoulders and focusing on what's most important my family, my health, myself,
Speaker 4: that's it, and then everything else will fall into place,
Speaker 4: you know. So again, if it doesn't fit, don't wear it.
Speaker 1: Would you say, because you when you mentioned you lost
Speaker 1: twelve friends to fentanyl where you were headed, you said
Speaker 1: life is short? Did you think this was a life
Speaker 1: or death situation for you? What would have happened had
Speaker 1: you not made that commitment, had your daughter not called
Speaker 1: you out?
Speaker 4: I mean, who knows? I it's a hit or miss, honestly,
Speaker 4: because you know, when I did that final relapse. Blow
Speaker 4: was part of it. And you know, fentanyl hadn't really
Speaker 4: been dominating as much as it is now, but it
Speaker 4: was still out there. But you know, I dodged a bullet.
Speaker 4: I mean, honest to God, I dodged a lot of
Speaker 4: bullets when I was out in the world active in
Speaker 4: my disease. You know, I countless times getting behind a wheel,
Speaker 4: all different things that angel on my shoulder. Man, I
Speaker 4: don't know how, but I was able to make it
Speaker 4: from point A to point B in one in one piece.
Speaker 4: So you know, again there is there's a reason I'm
Speaker 4: still here, and I'm gonna run with whatever that reason is.
Speaker 4: And like I said, I'm loving life today. You know,
Speaker 4: I think this might be the busiest I've ever been
Speaker 4: in my whole career. And it's great though, because it's
Speaker 4: all healthy distractions from if I'm having a weird day
Speaker 4: or whatever. Like being here with you guys doing something
Speaker 4: like this. I enjoy this. It's fun. I love sharing
Speaker 4: my experience, strength and hope and hopes that it helps
Speaker 4: one other person. I did my job talking about my music,
Speaker 4: talking about just family, all of it. I mean, I
Speaker 4: you know, I mean, I'm I'm in a way different
Speaker 4: place than I was two and a half years ago.
Speaker 4: This would be a different conversation.
Speaker 2: You said you mentioned you dodged a bullet. I think
Speaker 2: it is how you said you came out of it
Speaker 2: without a meeting of faith like some of the friends
Speaker 2: you had. But looking at you, you look good, you
Speaker 2: look healthy, You're out there performing. Do you have any
Speaker 2: ongoing or long term health impacts of all those hard
Speaker 2: years or did you come out of that on scathe?
Speaker 4: I actually came out of that unscathed as well. You know,
Speaker 4: I've been on a real big health kick ever since
Speaker 4: I did Dancing with the Stars. Of course, a lot
Speaker 4: of that was stress, you know, trying to keep up
Speaker 4: with that show was a lot, but I was but
Speaker 4: it was an incredible experience and so I started on
Speaker 4: my kind of health journey. Then Since then, I've lost
Speaker 4: about thirty five pounds. But sobriety also helps I eat very,
Speaker 4: very healthy now that I've I've never ate this healthy
Speaker 4: in my life. When I did did End One, I
Speaker 4: must say drag Race. When I did RuPaul's drag Race,
Speaker 4: Secret Secret Celebrity drag Race, this like for me, it
Speaker 4: was a weird, little external life changing thing that happened. Raven,
Speaker 4: which is Mama Rou's main lead makeup artist, has been
Speaker 4: for years, sat down with me. I was outside my
Speaker 4: trailer and said, how bad do you want to win
Speaker 4: this thing? I said, I really want to win this
Speaker 4: really bad. Because we're all playing for different charities. I
Speaker 4: was playing for an amazing charity called trans Lifeline because
Speaker 4: I'm a huge advocate for the LGBTQ plus community, have
Speaker 4: been for years. So I was like, yeah, I really
Speaker 4: I really want to win this. You know, I didn't
Speaker 4: win Dancing with the Stars. I want to win this.
Speaker 4: He's like, well, can I make a few suggests? And
Speaker 4: I was like yeah, sure. He goes, what do you
Speaker 4: How do you feel about taping? And I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: is that He's like, no, no, no, honey, that's tucking.
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, okay, sorry, I don't know what taping is.
Speaker 4: You have to cut me in. He goes, well, we'll
Speaker 4: tape your eyebrows up under the wig cap and then
Speaker 4: we'll tape your neck back to give you a really
Speaker 4: strong jaw line. And I was like, the hell with it, Yes,
Speaker 4: I want to win now. Genetically, in my family, we
Speaker 4: all have like extra skin on our necks right. So
Speaker 4: for years I was insecure about it because even when
Speaker 4: I would go back and forth with my weight, I
Speaker 4: always had a big beard because I was very insecure
Speaker 4: about it. So when I saw what I look like
Speaker 4: with a jaw line, I got emotional and I found
Speaker 4: an amazing doctor and I went and I had light
Speaker 4: bow and I had facetight done on that area, and
Speaker 4: I like, after all the healing was done. That mixed
Speaker 4: with having my freaking six pack back, which I haven't
Speaker 4: seen in a long time, I felt like I was
Speaker 4: thirty years old. Wow, And it just I mean, I
Speaker 4: just kept going. I'm like, I feel great. I'm in
Speaker 4: the gym six days a week, you know, and trying
Speaker 4: to eat as healthy as I can. You know, traveling
Speaker 4: is hard, you know, but the fast food is definitely out. Yeah,
Speaker 4: that's you know. I'm pretty much kind of give myself
Speaker 4: one exemption, which is when I come home from being
Speaker 4: on the road from however long it could be a week,
Speaker 4: a day, or two months. My celebratory i'm back home.
Speaker 4: I always go to McDonald's always.
Speaker 3: What's your order?
Speaker 4: It used to be a double quarter pounder with cheese,
Speaker 4: but I can't my stomach can't handle it any more.
Speaker 4: So I do a number seven, which is the two
Speaker 4: little cheeseburgers, and I do a media French fries and
Speaker 4: a diet coke, and I'm good.
Speaker 1: It's good to give yourself a little bit of a break.
Speaker 1: And I love the diet coke. I do the same
Speaker 1: thing when I do. I don't go very often, but
Speaker 1: if I do, it's always with the diet coke, which
Speaker 1: makes me laugh.
Speaker 4: There's there's this weird myth that's been going on that
Speaker 4: like the diet coke and sprite at McDonald's is like
Speaker 4: the best of the two anywhere. I'm like, what makes
Speaker 4: it so much different than buying a can at the
Speaker 4: grocery store.
Speaker 1: Apparently there's My daughters would totally agree with you, but
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is. They want the fountain
Speaker 1: drink at McDonald's and they say it doesn't even compare
Speaker 1: it to if you go to a gas station and
Speaker 1: you know, get a whatever a bottle of it is
Speaker 1: a completely secret.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you're Spencer, you're healthy, you're fit, you got your
Speaker 1: six pack, you're looking good, you're single.
Speaker 3: Are you ready to mingle?
Speaker 4: Not ready to mingle?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 4: I look, I I'm definitely staying focused on me. I'm
Speaker 4: staying focused on my career. I'm staying focused on my
Speaker 4: daughters and just just being a dad and just just
Speaker 4: being happy. You know. I there's so much great things
Speaker 4: happening in my life that have taken such a like
Speaker 4: a lead forefront that that's all I really care about
Speaker 4: right now. So yeah, I mean, you know, I don't
Speaker 4: know what the you, but right now that's all I
Speaker 4: care about is new music. You know, Backstreet gearing up
Speaker 4: for something massive next year that I can't say anything about,
Speaker 4: but it's going to be huge.
Speaker 2: Will you please get him on.
Speaker 3: Something huge?
Speaker 4: That's all I can say.
Speaker 3: New music.
Speaker 4: I mean, we're we definitely want to go back in
Speaker 4: the studio at some point. We're taking twenty twenty four
Speaker 4: off ish. We have Backstreets back at the Beach coming
Speaker 4: up in the next week and a half. We'll be
Speaker 4: down in Cancun with about four thousand fans and our
Speaker 4: buddy Jason Derula is coming out to do a couple
Speaker 4: of songs. Uh. We're also going to be headlining Lovers
Speaker 4: and Friends in Vegas on May fourth, I believe it is,
Speaker 4: and then we have a festival in Germany.
Speaker 3: That's a year off.
Speaker 4: Well, normally we're on tour like seven or eight months
Speaker 4: out of the year, So yes, this is you know,
Speaker 4: doing these little spot dates is fun. It also keeps us,
Speaker 4: keeps our chops up good, keeps our vocals good, keeps
Speaker 4: everybody healthy. I think if we were off off, I
Speaker 4: don't think the five of us could actually ever really
Speaker 4: be just off off. We love what we do too much.
Speaker 4: Another reason why I'm doing this tour with Joey right now,
Speaker 4: because it is strictly for the fans. We're doing it.
Speaker 4: You know, you got in Sync and back Street together
Speaker 4: on stage. I know it's not all ten of us,
Speaker 4: but it's still getting those fans all together under one
Speaker 4: roof and Joey and I singing. I'm singing my favorite
Speaker 4: in sing songs I've never sang ever live, and he
Speaker 4: gets to sing his favorite Battery songs. We do cover songs,
Speaker 4: I do my originals, We tell stories. It's two hours
Speaker 4: of just organized chaos and so much fun. So you know,
Speaker 4: it's a little taste of what it would be if
Speaker 4: the ten of us ever toured together, which I don't
Speaker 4: think is ever gonna happen. But you know, we never know,
Speaker 4: you know, I mean, you know, like in the mortal
Speaker 4: words of Justin Bieber, never say never. But again, you know,
Speaker 4: like I learned my lesson years ago when I was
Speaker 4: doing a red carpet somewhere and I just said it
Speaker 4: exactly like this. I said, how cool would it be?
Speaker 4: How cool would it be if Backstreet and Spice Girls
Speaker 4: did a tour? That's all I said. And then it
Speaker 4: ran from there because then they went and I think
Speaker 4: somebody asked mel B and she said, oh, that would
Speaker 4: be great. We would totally do it. And then it
Speaker 4: became a thing where oh, this is happening. I'm like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, sorry, no, it's not happening. This is
Speaker 4: this is strictly a rumor. I shouldn't have said anything.
Speaker 4: It was just I was just talking out loud. So
Speaker 4: you know, again, I've learned my lesson. I I don't
Speaker 4: want to be the Mark Ruffalo of the Marvel universe.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, no Mark, he get Mark and Tom
Speaker 4: Holland both get so much crap, just spill it out.
Speaker 4: And poor Kevin Figey's got to like put the clamp
Speaker 4: on him. But you know, but dude, I would be
Speaker 4: the worst to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Speaker 3: You can't.
Speaker 4: No, there's no way. I'd be too excited to tell
Speaker 4: the world like this is coming, you know. But yeah,
Speaker 4: so Joey was telling me that, you know, Lance and
Speaker 4: I are very similar like that that like we both
Speaker 4: have a hard time keeping our mouth shut. But like
Speaker 4: I said, just me saying that there's something big coming
Speaker 4: is enough to get people's interest.
Speaker 3: And uh, when's that announcement coming that I don't know yet.
Speaker 4: We're actually having a phone call about it on Thursday,
Speaker 4: so we'll find out when when we're going to be
Speaker 4: talking more about it.
Speaker 2: But it's it's not new music, not get back in
Speaker 2: the studio of new music.
Speaker 4: No, I mean, well I I I don't know if
Speaker 4: it's going to be new music or not. I don't know.
Speaker 2: You didn't say no, okay, but we were use you
Speaker 2: guys have been touring, so you would make a big
Speaker 2: announcement of touring that is there a movie.
Speaker 4: We're joining Actually boys are joining the MCU. There it is,
Speaker 4: damn it.
Speaker 2: We can't wait to get exclusive you.
Speaker 4: Well, we actually have a comic book back in the
Speaker 4: day that was actually done by stan Lee Nick. It
Speaker 4: was Nick's idea. It was called the Batstory Project. We
Speaker 4: had the comic book. We sold it during the Black
Speaker 4: and Blue tour, and I've talked to Nick Becau. Him
Speaker 4: and I are both major nerves when it comes to
Speaker 4: like comic books, funkos, all of that, And I'm like, dude,
Speaker 4: we should actually like make this into like the Backstreet
Speaker 4: cinematic universe, Like why not? I think it'd be fun,
Speaker 4: But I think some of us have gotten a little
Speaker 4: we've kind of aged out as to doing action movies.
Speaker 1: Well it's funny because you say aged out. You all
Speaker 1: have been together and like touring and making amazing music.
Speaker 3: You're for how long now?
Speaker 4: It'll be thirty one years this month?
Speaker 1: So many like that is almost unheard of. What do
Speaker 1: you all have that most people don't that most bands
Speaker 1: don't How have you been able to stay again?
Speaker 4: Transfusions? No?
Speaker 1: Is that what it is?
Speaker 4: Yes? No? Yes, I have the blood of a twenty
Speaker 4: year old. No, I mean, look, we it's a testament
Speaker 4: number one to the music. First, we've been blessed with
Speaker 4: hit after hit after hit. Thank you Max Martin, thank
Speaker 4: you Dennis Pop, thank you to the share On team
Speaker 4: in Sweden that first. Second, the best fans in the world,
Speaker 4: and we are a global brand. We have fans all
Speaker 4: over the world that drive us, that have become an
Speaker 4: extension of us, that make us want to do what
Speaker 4: we do. And yeah, we've had some low points where
Speaker 4: we've wanted to quit, where we've won, where we've been
Speaker 4: burnt out, but you know, just like anything, the only
Speaker 4: way around us through, and we've gone through enough and
Speaker 4: gotten over those humps. And really the kind of upswing
Speaker 4: started with this is the end from that, going into
Speaker 4: the Vegas Residency, and then right after that putting out
Speaker 4: our ten studio album, getting a Grammy nomination, our ninth
Speaker 4: Grammy nomination, and it's just been the steady climb. We
Speaker 4: finished up a two hundred and seventeen show, forty four
Speaker 4: country through and a half million person tour. Took us
Speaker 4: four years, but that's because the world shut down. But
Speaker 4: and here we are coming up on thirty one years.
Speaker 3: It's incredible.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're anywhere where there is a DJ,
Speaker 1: whether it's a wedding or a party, and a Backstreet
Speaker 1: Boys song comes on, everybody rushes the dance floor. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's got to be an amazing feeling to know that it.
Speaker 3: Is that's going to live on it.
Speaker 4: It's it's really cool. Like even when I'm walking through
Speaker 4: like the mall with my kids and I hear one
Speaker 4: of our songs, it still hits like it's still like,
Speaker 4: oh that's cool, you know what I mean, Like it's
Speaker 4: I still pinch myself to this day, not as hard
Speaker 4: as I used to. But it's just mind boggling to
Speaker 4: me because again, you know, I'll always go back because
Speaker 4: and compare it to the Beatles, not us to the Beatles,
Speaker 4: but the Beatles were only together for seven years. They
Speaker 4: had way more albums than we did because they're doing
Speaker 4: two or three albums a year, but seven years. And
Speaker 4: look at the impact the Beatles have had on pop culture,
Speaker 4: on music. And here we are ten albums, thirty one
Speaker 4: years and still going. It's insane. It it doesn't really
Speaker 4: make sense, to be honest with you, it doesn't. But
Speaker 4: we're gonna keep riding the wave, man, and just enjoying it.
Speaker 4: And also now we have like complete control, so we
Speaker 4: dictate how the tour schedule's gonna go. We're not doing
Speaker 4: five shows in a row, you know, if we were lipsticking, sure,
Speaker 4: but we sing live, our voices can't do that. We
Speaker 4: want to be able to like enjoy the cities we're in,
Speaker 4: So maybe we'll have a day off in between a
Speaker 4: couple shows in a brand new city. Let's all. This
Speaker 4: particular tour was the most we've spent time together as
Speaker 4: a group on days off in probably fifteen years. Four
Speaker 4: out of five of us are on the golf course.
Speaker 4: Kevin not the biggest golfer. He likes to go camping
Speaker 4: or glamping, as we'll say. But like, we really spent
Speaker 4: every day to gain and had a freaking blast. And
Speaker 4: that's what it's about. If you're not having fun, then
Speaker 4: throwing the towel, it's just not worth it. But we're
Speaker 4: really having a blast.
Speaker 2: How fun is it now?
Speaker 4: Though?
Speaker 2: I have an eleven year old singing your songs right,
Speaker 2: singing your songs that I was listening to when I
Speaker 2: was We're about the same age. So what is that
Speaker 2: like now for a whole new generation of folks, really
Speaker 2: young folks who have all these other artists out there
Speaker 2: streaming and everything, who still can say I like the back.
Speaker 4: I mean it's I kind of I'm learning what's happening
Speaker 4: in music now through my daughter's eyes, because they are
Speaker 4: the next generation. They are the ones that will dictate
Speaker 4: what's cool, what's not, what works, what doesn't like. They've
Speaker 4: introduced me to so many new artists. Ava Max is
Speaker 4: my number one that they've introduced me to. We've done
Speaker 4: a show with her. Sweetest girl in the world. Was
Speaker 4: so nice to my kids, you know, obviously, Taylor same.
Speaker 4: You know, I've become a swiftie, you know. And look
Speaker 4: you if you're not go away, go back to bed,
Speaker 4: go to sleep. What's really funny is on this tour
Speaker 4: right now, the legendary Night tour with Joey and I,
Speaker 4: fans are now, you know, calling me Alex, which is
Speaker 4: super sweet. But they're bringing me bracelets now, just like
Speaker 4: the whole Arass tour with all the bracelets, all the
Speaker 4: exchange of bracelets that happened. And I'm like, and we
Speaker 4: did an interview, Joey and I, and we both were like,
Speaker 4: thank you, Taylor, thank you. This is because of you.
Speaker 4: But you know, this is the next generation. So I
Speaker 4: will kind of lean on my kids and be like, so,
Speaker 4: what's the new hot stuff? Because I don't really listen
Speaker 4: that much to the radio. I listen to what's on
Speaker 4: my phone. But like I'm starting to listen to radio
Speaker 4: again and it really is interesting what's out there. There's
Speaker 4: so many new artists that are so talented, the Jelly
Speaker 4: Rolls and all these artists out there, the Morgan Wallins
Speaker 4: that have been around for a minute. But like I
Speaker 4: feel like I've been living under a rock for a second,
Speaker 4: you know. But there's so much talent out there.
Speaker 1: There is, and you are in the forefront of it all.
Speaker 1: You've got a couple you just had electric right really.
Speaker 4: Yep, And we're talking about the next single right now
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 3: So a lot of singles. Is there an album coming?
Speaker 4: There is an album coming. So I've been promising fans
Speaker 4: of this album for a while. Sorry, in talks with
Speaker 4: some major labels right now, so I'm kind of putting
Speaker 4: things on hold as far as my whole plan was
Speaker 4: to have two EPs and then a full LP, which
Speaker 4: still may happen. But no matter what happens, whether it's
Speaker 4: independent or it's through a major, the whole album is
Speaker 4: going to be out this year, no matter what.
Speaker 3: This year.
Speaker 4: I'm making that a point because I owe it to myself,
Speaker 4: to the fans. I've worked too hard on it and
Speaker 4: I listened to it almost every day and I'm like, God,
Speaker 4: I want the world to hear this. So and like
Speaker 4: I said, there's a very special record that I've been
Speaker 4: doing on this tour with Joey called Arizona, which is
Speaker 4: really getting a lot of attention. And I really hope
Speaker 4: when that song is a single, which it will be,
Speaker 4: the video has to be perfect. It has to be
Speaker 4: as powerful as the song, and I really want to
Speaker 4: attach it to something in the mental health space. It's
Speaker 4: such an inspirational song and I just want to help
Speaker 4: people in any way I can.
Speaker 2: We'll let you get on the last couple of things. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we've been going about forty minutes, so we'll let you
Speaker 2: get out. But a few other things we want to
Speaker 2: hit on it for. We do want to say congratulations,
Speaker 2: because I guess it's a blessing and a curse. You
Speaker 2: planned on being off the road this tour, were supposed
Speaker 2: to wrap up, but you had to add dates and
Speaker 2: you're going to be working more and on the road
Speaker 2: more because of demand. Congratulations there, thank you.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's you know. Joe and I did a show
Speaker 4: in Tampa back in November. It was just a one
Speaker 4: off that caught wind. We did a show at Formula
Speaker 4: one two totally different crowds. By the way, what was
Speaker 4: a corporate gig. They got crazy at the corporate gig
Speaker 4: because I take my shirt after in the show and
Speaker 4: there's like ten dudes in the crowd, probably like fifty
Speaker 4: plus shirts off. They were going. They were all having
Speaker 4: they were up time in their lives. And then we
Speaker 4: got offered to do nine shows. And what's interesting, it
Speaker 4: brought me back to when we had the Vegas Residency
Speaker 4: because that residency started with nine shows, that's all they
Speaker 4: wanted to do our fifth show in they added thirty more,
Speaker 4: and before you know it, nine shows became eighty one shows,
Speaker 4: fastest selling residency in Vegas history. So not saying that
Speaker 4: that's what's happening with this, but it's it's starting to
Speaker 4: turn into that. Where it was nine shows, now it's
Speaker 4: going to be thirty shows by the time we're done
Speaker 4: in June, and we're adding more dates in August. So
Speaker 4: we're gonna keep doing it actuation as long as the
Speaker 4: fans want to see Joey and I be a couple
Speaker 4: of fools up there singing our butts off, having fun.
Speaker 4: Telling stories. We're gonna keep doing it. It's fun.
Speaker 2: Did you all need need is not the right word,
Speaker 2: but everybody loves to have that debate in Seeing versus
Speaker 2: Bactory boys, you gotta pick one. But in some way
Speaker 2: they wanted to make you all. I know, you all
Speaker 2: get along. That's not yea, you oll didn't have any
Speaker 2: personal beat, but that rivalry how much did it help
Speaker 2: the genre at the time and propel both groups to
Speaker 2: have a kind of a competitor out there pushing each other,
Speaker 2: maybe musically but also in the charts.
Speaker 4: Look, you know we were under the same label, same management,
Speaker 4: same producers, five and five. Essentially we had already been
Speaker 4: going pretty hard when in Sync started, So essentially, whatever
Speaker 4: we said no to, they said yes to, or vice versa.
Speaker 4: Which the kind of turning point for them was this
Speaker 4: Disney special that we turned down because we were just burnt.
Speaker 4: We were just off the road and we were like,
Speaker 4: you know what, we just want to take a break,
Speaker 4: We need a break, and in Saint took our slot,
Speaker 4: and that's what kind of helped kickstart their whole career.
Speaker 2: You all are responsible for their success, is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 4: No, No, we're not responsible. But us saying no, we helped
Speaker 4: open the door for them to say yes, and they
Speaker 4: wouldn't even say that. But you know, they them and
Speaker 4: us both Again, there was no social media back then,
Speaker 4: so is just the teeny Bop magazines or the regular
Speaker 4: print magazines and the Inquirer. You know, they would they
Speaker 4: were the ones pitting us against each other when there
Speaker 4: was never any rivalry. If if there was any competition,
Speaker 4: it was internal. It was us and them trying to
Speaker 4: be the best we could be for our own group.
Speaker 4: Because if you watch TRL, it was number one, number
Speaker 4: two slot every week. It was back and forth, back
Speaker 4: and forth, back and forth. So again, you know, we were
Speaker 4: all just having the time of our lives, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean. But now you know, you know, seeing
Speaker 4: them together. I was at Justin's show at the Wiltern
Speaker 4: and I was dead center when they reunited. The decipel
Speaker 4: of screams was unbearable. But I get it, you know,
Speaker 4: I get it, and it was great to see them
Speaker 4: back up there together. The song is incredible, and I
Speaker 4: got to preview the song the week before. Joey and
Speaker 4: I were in New York doing promo for the tour,
Speaker 4: and we just did GMA and he played me Paradise
Speaker 4: and I was like, oh, it's like one of those
Speaker 4: songs where you go, damn, I wish that was our song.
Speaker 4: But yeah, it's like they never left, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean. And the fans are loving it, and I
Speaker 4: really hope that they do something. I really really do.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you too, when you think about
Speaker 1: when you all were at your height and you were
Speaker 1: hitting number one on the billboard, could you have imagined
Speaker 1: thirty years later you'd still be doing this?
Speaker 4: Not at all. I mean, look, we hoped, we wanted longevity.
Speaker 4: You know, We've said we would like to be the
Speaker 4: Rolling Stones of pop or the Eagles of pop, because
Speaker 4: at some point the dancing is going to stop. We
Speaker 4: just physically won't be able to do it anymore.
Speaker 3: You still got the moves, so I was.
Speaker 1: I was watching the video and I was even saying
Speaker 1: to TJ, It's like, damn, he can still dance.
Speaker 4: We still dance eighty five percent of the show, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean, we got some fifty plus in the group,
Speaker 4: which is not old these days.
Speaker 3: I'm fifty plus. I get it.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's all how we treat our bodies. But
Speaker 4: but no, I mean, we're gonna keep doing this until
Speaker 4: either we don't enjoy it or until we physically can't anymore,
Speaker 4: because I mean, look, the stones are out or they're
Speaker 4: about to go back out again. I mean, like the fans,
Speaker 4: as long as the fans are there will be there period.
Speaker 4: If you build it, they will come. It's that old saying.
Speaker 2: And to your point, you have to argue, you guys
Speaker 2: have done what you wanted to do. You as are
Speaker 2: a rolling stones of pop.
Speaker 1: You.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's still.
Speaker 4: Stuff left that we haven't. You know, we still would
Speaker 4: like a Grammy. That would be nice, but does it
Speaker 4: define our career. No, we're still going thirty one years later,
Speaker 4: that's without any Grammys.
Speaker 2: But nine nominations, but nine nominations, which one did you
Speaker 2: really deserve to win? And you with that piss?
Speaker 4: I think I think all of us would agree, Me
Speaker 4: and the boys. It was in ninety nine Album of
Speaker 4: the Year, Best Pop Duo Group and uh and I
Speaker 4: believe it was a Song of the Year, which was
Speaker 4: I want it that way it was? It was the
Speaker 4: Millennium and we lost to Sting and which is an icon.
Speaker 4: You can't say no?
Speaker 5: And Carlos Santana okay when he came back, you know
Speaker 5: again again to competitions two Legends, but it was a
Speaker 5: little frustrating because Carlos came back and it was just
Speaker 5: all duets with all current artists, so like Rob Thomas
Speaker 5: and all of them.
Speaker 4: It was a great album. I remember that, you know,
Speaker 4: Smooth was such a smash, but it was kind of like, oh, man,
Speaker 4: like we had the biggest album yeah, ever, and it's like, okay, okay, okay,
Speaker 4: if you know, if if we're gonna lose, to lose
Speaker 4: to two giant legends, it's okay. And when we did
Speaker 4: this show years ago on VH one called Men Strike Back,
Speaker 4: it was the it was the version of Divas and
Speaker 4: it was only one season, but they gave it up
Speaker 4: for the for like the men of you know music,
Speaker 4: we got to perform with Sting and Sting sang my
Speaker 4: verse on I Want It that Way, and I was like, yeah, cool, fine,
Speaker 4: my guess I'm not gonna say no this thing. But yeah,
Speaker 4: that one kind of that wasn't a clean burn. That
Speaker 4: one itched when it dried, you know, so I was, yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, you know what it seems like when that has
Speaker 1: happened in your career, you all have just worked harder
Speaker 1: and smarter and better, and so there's still plenty of
Speaker 1: time to get that Grammy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you know, so it's funny and look,
Speaker 4: and I'm gonna put myself out there right now. I'm
Speaker 4: gonna say this, and I'll still do it when we
Speaker 4: win the Grammy. But okay, so I told the boys
Speaker 4: this last nominee, which was for Don't Go Breaking My
Speaker 4: Heart off of the DNA album. I said, if we win,
Speaker 4: you know, there's five of us, so we each get
Speaker 4: to say a little something. You know, someone will think
Speaker 4: the fans. I won't take the label. I said, I
Speaker 4: want to go last. And the boys are like, no,
Speaker 4: hell no, because we don't trust you. You're gonna do
Speaker 4: something or say something. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no no,
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna do anything bad. I just want to
Speaker 4: you know. I'm obviously gonna thank my family. I'm gonna
Speaker 4: thank my thank you for and then I'm just gonna
Speaker 4: dedicate the Grammy to Leo DiCaprio and then we'll walk
Speaker 4: off and then you go straight to the pressure room
Speaker 4: and the pressure will be like, okay, what huh. My
Speaker 4: theory is we are the Leo Dicaprios of the music business.
Speaker 4: It took no because he should have went for what's
Speaker 4: eating Gilbert Great, it's a party. He wins for getting
Speaker 4: mauled by a virtual bear, and I and I believe
Speaker 4: he's also vegan or vegetarian and he was eating raw
Speaker 4: meat in the so like, we're the Leo Dicaprios of
Speaker 4: the music business in my in my personal opinion, so
Speaker 4: I wanted to dedicate it to him if we actually won.
Speaker 2: Are they gonna let you do that? Are they still
Speaker 2: say you can't.
Speaker 4: Kind to happen, whether whether they tell me I can
Speaker 4: or not. I'm just gonna be like, this is fe
Speaker 4: Leo and this run off stage.
Speaker 2: You said you can accept losing the sting in Carlos Santana.
Speaker 2: Who'd you lose to you?
Speaker 4: Like this?
Speaker 2: Are we lost to this?
Speaker 4: Dude? I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, I wouldn't expect to answer that, but kidding, honestly, I.
Speaker 4: Can't really think of anyone on the top of my head,
Speaker 4: nor would I say it, you know, but again, look,
Speaker 4: just to be recognized as much as we have is
Speaker 4: a testament to the music and really to Max, I mean,
Speaker 4: Max is just in my opinion, one of the greatest
Speaker 4: writer producers of all time, all time. I mean, yes,
Speaker 4: you've got the Quincy Jones of the world, that David
Speaker 4: Foster's of the world, and they are fantastic. But my generation,
Speaker 4: our generation, and the plethora of artists that he's worked with,
Speaker 4: from bon Jovi to The Weekend to Us to Celine Dion,
Speaker 4: you name it, Moroon five. I mean, it's just unbelievable
Speaker 4: how that man's brain works. I don't get, but you know, yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean he is really the sixth member, honestly.
Speaker 1: Well, we feel very honored to have been able to
Speaker 1: talk to you, Alex, and it's been so cool to
Speaker 1: hear just where you've been, what you've been through, and
Speaker 1: where you are now. And it is an inspiration to
Speaker 1: so many people who are on that journey as well.
Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing it, and thank you for
Speaker 1: just making our lives better through your music, through your action,
Speaker 1: through your decisions to put yourself first. That's a testament
Speaker 1: to a lot of folks who don't do that, and
Speaker 1: it's important because you can't be there for your family
Speaker 1: if you aren't there for yourself.
Speaker 4: And there is such a thing as healthy selfish so
Speaker 4: just know that and that yes, putting yourself first is
Speaker 4: not a bad thing.
Speaker 3: Imptation of police and TASS