INTERVIEW - Boyz II Men

FROM NOVEMBER 2009

So, you’ve got your new album Love out now – What was the inspiration behind recording it?

Well, basically our record label presented us with a deal to do two albums of covers. We had already done the Motown hits album, but this time we wanted to do something a little different and encompass love songs from a variety of genres of music. A lot of people know us from singing R&B, but growing up we’ve been inspired by so many types of artist and so many genres and we wanted to capture that as much as we could. So these songs are ones we used to listen to when we were growing up as well as tracks by artists that we like, and we just wanted to put it all into one big collection. There were a lot of songs to choose from but we narrowed it down to these and we felt it best represented not only the theme of love itself, but it gave people who are familiar with our music and sound something else to broaden their horizons.

And when you’re not recording, what kind of stuff do you like to get up to in your spare time?

We don’t tend to get much spare time nowadays. That said, we all like to have our down-time when we go on holiday, we like to chill out. Me personally, I like to scuba dive. I’ve been doing that for the past 12/13 years so I love to do that. And when I’m home I like to hang out in my photography studio that I opened about 4 and a half years ago, so that’s kind of like my new creative hobby. So we’ve got a lot of different things we like doing.

You’ve been together as a band for over 20 years. Do you feel the music industry has changed much over that time?

Oh, definitely. It’s changed in a big way. Obviously the internet had a lot to do with that change and it took a while for the industry to adjust. The industry also has a way of ‘fixing’ itself though and right now I think it’s at a point where it’s learning how to integrate into the new regime of internet music listeners and artists. Loads of artists are using the internet to their advantage now and a lot of people get record deals that way. I think it’s kinda cool! It still allows artists to express themselves without necessarily going to a major label and equally it gives the public something new to listen to. They can check out these artists’ MySpace or Facebook pages for example and instantly hear their music. So I think it’s a good thing in that sense.

Speaking of the internet, there’s been a lot of talk on there about a version of Back for Good you did with Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle. What was it like working with her?

We thought it was a great opportunity and that it’d work really well. It’d be good for her and us as her and her group’s fanbase is enormous in the UK at the moment. Our fanbase is big in America, so we thought it’d be a great kind of trade-off, helping each-other out. Unfortunately the business side of things didn’t quite work out and the track isn’t on the final version of the album. The song’s really good though!

In your time in the music industry do you have one specific career highlight? One moment you look back on where you really felt like you’d made it.

Well we’ve had so many great moments it’s hard to choose! We’ve done so many amazing things, worked with so many people. Performing at the Olympics in 1996, working with Michael Jackson... Mariah Carey. It’s a lot of highlights! It’s been a cool ride and the ride continues, we hope that there’s more in store for us in the future – we’re just enjoying it as it comes. I guess in a way the highlight of our career so far has been our career. Being able to still be around and to have people enjoying our music, it’s great.

With your new album being a collection of love songs it’d make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. Describe your perfect Valentine’s Day.

I would say the best ideas for treating your special someone are those spontaneous ones that they wouldn’t expect. I always like to stay four or five steps ahead of my partner about what they would like or what they want to do. If you’re in tune with the person you’re with, surprises always work.

You’ve won multiple Grammy Awards over the years. What’s it like receiving that recognition of your music and do you still get excited about attending award ceremonies?

We definitely do still get excited! I guess because we haven’t been in the public eye to a certain extent for such a long time, especially in that capacity, just being around our peers and seeing people we remember and them remembering us too is always an exciting factor. In terms of winning another Grammy or anything like that, we don’t know what the future holds, but just in case we never do, we’ve already got four!

On your album you’ve also got a collaboration with Michael Buble, how did that come about?

Michael’s a cool dude and he’s become a great acquaintance of ours. We did a song on his album called Comin’ Home Baby and it was just one of those songs that displays every aspect of ability we have inside of us - The vibe was really fun. Michael’s one of the coolest dude’s you’ll ever meet so when we came to do this album we wanted someone on there that could really rock the house and all it took was a phone call to get him on one of the tracks.

What other singers and bands are you liking at the moment? People you might want to collaborate with in the future?

A favourite of ours is Prince, we’d love to work with him, he’s incredible. There’s a few other artists we’d like to work with that we haven’t done anything with for a while, maybe another Mariah duet, or something with Beyonce or Whitney Houston. Really anyone who’s talented, able and ready to be creative, we’re down with it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a major artist, just someone who can hold their place in the songs we do.

When you’re on stage singing live what kind of emotions go through your mind seeing all those people cheering for you?

We feed off that energy the audience gives us. What they give us, we give back. We’re going to do our job regardless simply because we love to do it. But for the most part, if the crowd gives us love, we’re going to give 125,000 percent love back.

Randy Jackson produced this album for you. What kind of guy is he - Easy going? Intense? What’s it like working with him?

Randy’s a lot of fun, we’ve known him for a long time and he’s been someone we’ve always respected. Because of his American Idol fame being so prominent right now a lot of people forget he’s actually a musician – he used to be in the band Journey – so he has a lot of musical understanding. So going into a studio to record with him, he totally knows his stuff, he knows the right elements to bring in so we capture the right sound.

So, speaking of American Idol – and obviously the X Factor too – do you think these kinds of shows are good, giving people big breaks in the music industry the way they do?

Yes! It’s good for artists that might not have been able to afford to record a demo tape or been able to get the attention of a record company executive. So it’s a good platform for young singers to get their career started. These people that are on these shows have to fit to a tight schedule and what they have to do week by week to stay in the competition, it’s a gruelling process and definitely something that helps the artists – grooming them and getting them ready for performing and a career. So once they do win or continue on with singing in any respect they have a lot of information and experience at their fingertips.

As a band you’re hugely popular worldwide. What do you think is the key to having international success?

Well, one of the main things is making sure you go to all these places and promote yourselves enough so that the people there remember you. I think people remember your personal abilities and talent from seeing you right in front of their faces – they thrive off that and we feel that is the key to our success in different countries. So it’s definitely that, added to the fact we also have incredible songs written by incredible producers that become these classic hits people know us for.

And if you could have any job aside from singing, what would it be?

Being an executive sitting in an office, doing absolutely nothing! Wear a suit every day, go to work and the money comes in – Perfect, right?