Before The X Factor or Idol, there was Making The Band. A US TV smash not that dissimilar from the UK's Popstars, it lifted the veil on the rise and rise of boyband heart-throbs O-Town; whose singles ‘Liquid Dreams’ and ‘All Or Nothing’ remain prominent fixtures on many a throwback playlist to this day.
Now, twelve years after the release of their second album, they’re back. Erik-Michael Estrada, Dan Miller, Trevor Penick and Jacob Underwood may have bid a fond farewell to former member Ashley Parker Angel, but they’ve honed their songwriting skills, whet their fans’ appetites and now their big new album Lines & Circles is finally out in the open.
To celebrate, we had a chat with Jacob to find out how it’s all been going.
Congratulations on the comeback. How does it feel after all this time to have new music out there?
"It’s exciting and anxious but I think also it’s really emotional, honestly. A lot of these songs, we wrote. I remember sitting in my car coming up with the line ‘Playing With Fire’ and humming this melody, and coming home working it out, recording it… and now you see people singing it back. It is emotional."
"It’s exciting and anxious but I think also it’s really emotional, honestly. A lot of these songs, we wrote. I remember sitting in my car coming up with the line ‘Playing With Fire’ and humming this melody, and coming home working it out, recording it… and now you see people singing it back. It is emotional."
What’s the reaction generally been like to the new music? Has it been as good as you were hoping for?
"Better! We are extremely indie right now, we are as indie as it gets, and when we saw the album was No10 on the iTunes pop charts, we were freaking out. It really feels so satisfying to have done all that work and then people like it."
"Better! We are extremely indie right now, we are as indie as it gets, and when we saw the album was No10 on the iTunes pop charts, we were freaking out. It really feels so satisfying to have done all that work and then people like it."
O-Town are back (Photo: WENN)
How different has the whole process been compared to when you first started out?
"Well back then we had a big machine, the big Clive Davies machine. All the departments, all the marketing… everything that goes into not only the development of the album but the push of the album. Now, Dan’s designed the album cover and every piece of material that’s out, like the T-shirts, Dan did. I manage the band now, so every business deal that we’ve done, I’ve written the contracts and made these deals… So when we finally see the charts and when we see people in the audience, it’s shown us that we did this. It’s more humbling than anything."
"Well back then we had a big machine, the big Clive Davies machine. All the departments, all the marketing… everything that goes into not only the development of the album but the push of the album. Now, Dan’s designed the album cover and every piece of material that’s out, like the T-shirts, Dan did. I manage the band now, so every business deal that we’ve done, I’ve written the contracts and made these deals… So when we finally see the charts and when we see people in the audience, it’s shown us that we did this. It’s more humbling than anything."
Obviously you’re a member down this time around. Is everybody still on good terms?
"Oh yeah, with Ashley? Yeah, he decided to step away from music. We had the discussion as a group, ‘should we not do this because we're not all five?’. But we did it as a four because there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever wanna do this again, and we’ve been kind of teasing the fans for like three years, and it was kind of now or never. We hit the studio and never looked back. It’s been a really good experience. Not because Ashley’s not here, but because us four were able to get together and work so easily after so many years."
"Oh yeah, with Ashley? Yeah, he decided to step away from music. We had the discussion as a group, ‘should we not do this because we're not all five?’. But we did it as a four because there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever wanna do this again, and we’ve been kind of teasing the fans for like three years, and it was kind of now or never. We hit the studio and never looked back. It’s been a really good experience. Not because Ashley’s not here, but because us four were able to get together and work so easily after so many years."
You shot to fame on Making The Band back in the day. The talent show landscape is much different now; do you think you could ever have gone for a show like The X Factor?
"I get told all the time to go on those kinds of shows but I’m not real big on auditioning. O-Town was the first audition I ever went on and that was an accident! I don’t think I could stand in the line. I don’t know. But it’s fun watching kids from, like, the midwest who didn’t grow up in LA and didn’t have parents that worked in entertainmen. They never had that ‘in’. If they can go on these shows… I think that’s awesome."
"I get told all the time to go on those kinds of shows but I’m not real big on auditioning. O-Town was the first audition I ever went on and that was an accident! I don’t think I could stand in the line. I don’t know. But it’s fun watching kids from, like, the midwest who didn’t grow up in LA and didn’t have parents that worked in entertainmen. They never had that ‘in’. If they can go on these shows… I think that’s awesome."
Who are you listening to at the moment, in terms of other artists?
"I’m a big Ed Sheeran fan. I really love everything he’s putting out. Him and obviously Pharrell are putting out some amazing music. They’re awesome. I’m a big Jack White fan as well."
"I’m a big Ed Sheeran fan. I really love everything he’s putting out. Him and obviously Pharrell are putting out some amazing music. They’re awesome. I’m a big Jack White fan as well."
And looking back on your own O-Town repertoire, do you have a favourite song?
"Good memories of ‘All or Nothing’. I don’t think we could do this now if we didn’t have that as our Number One song. You can come back if you have a Number One. If we didn’t have that song, I don’t think we could do this again. My favourite song now is our next single, ‘Chasin' After You’, I think it’s one of the best songs we’ve ever done. It’s just fun!"
"Good memories of ‘All or Nothing’. I don’t think we could do this now if we didn’t have that as our Number One song. You can come back if you have a Number One. If we didn’t have that song, I don’t think we could do this again. My favourite song now is our next single, ‘Chasin' After You’, I think it’s one of the best songs we’ve ever done. It’s just fun!"
O-Town's new album Lines & Circles is available now.
Source: EntertainmentWise
I just love Jacob in interviews :D Is it just me or can you hear his voice too?
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