Nick Carter on ’90s Nostalgia and Recording a New Backstreet Boys Album: Interview
Nick Carter is most well known as one-fifth of the Backstreet Boys, but he's making headlines on his own again lately, from his extended run on Dancing With The Stars to his third solo album, All American, which was released in November.
This month, Carter released the second music video off of that album for "19 in 99," a catchy pop song that looks back at his life during the Backstreet Boys’ glory days. Carter, now 36, is currently getting ready to go on a one-month nationwide tour, kicking off in California next week.
As his third solo tour shapes up, Carter shares some tour details with us, talks about how his album and the "19 in 99" video came to life — and he reveals that BSB is back at it yet again in the studio.
What a fun video! Many nods to the '90s. How did you come up with them? What was your selection process for the video?
The music video pretty much follows the story of the song seamlessly, so it wasn’t that hard because we created all these nostalgic favorite things that people remember and used to love during the late '90s. I was 19 years old in a boy band that was peaking in 1999 — it was fun reminiscing.
The best, for many fans, is your nod to "I Want It That Way" when AJ peeks through your window. Who came up with that idea?
That was actually the director’s and my idea. We wanted to note one of things that was big at the time, so “I Want It That Way” was the perfect moment. Since this is a pop rock song, I was a little worried that people might not necessarily recognize the reference with AJ, but I'm glad everyone loves what we were trying to do.
Should we expect cameos from other Backstreet Boys in your future solo videos? The fans obviously love AJ's appearance in this one.
Possibly. I’m just trying to get through the solo stuff and the next couple of singles, but we are recording another Backstreet Boy album. The guys will always support one another and want to do things together. The most current thing I did was with my movie, Dead 7. Howie and AJ are in the movie with me! That comes out in April, so there’s gonna be a lot of cameos happening all over.
What do you miss most about the 1999 days?
I think I have missed a little bit of the anonymity because there wasn't Twitter or social media, and people had to go to a concert or TRL in order to see their favorite artists. They had to be more interactive and I think that's a little missed right now.
What songs should we expect? Anything from Now or Never or Nick and Knight? Any solo on a Backstreet Boys song like you have done in the past?
Yeah, I’m doing a lot of Backstreet Boys songs, and a couple of the Nick & Knight songs. Most of my singles and fan favorites from my solo albums are going to be done. It’s gonna be a really eclectic and fun show that people are going to enjoy all the way through.
What about the performance itself? Will there be an acoustic part?
Yeah, there will be an acoustic performance. That will be a good time to bring back the years of being in a boy band.
You once said that you liked I'm Taking Off much better than Now or Never. Where would you rank your new album All American?
I set out to create an album that was full of different stories, some of them are true, some are not, some of them are made up. I wanted to create an album that was almost like a musical, where there’s a lot of humor. Overall, I wanted to have stories, and be lighthearted and not take myself so serious. I really am happy with the way the album came out. I really felt like the last couple of records didn’t have singles — real bonafide hit singles. I think this album has that.
Why choose the name All American but not make the song one of your (first) singles? What does that particular song mean to you? Why make it the title of your album?
I really love the song "All American." It’s funny because I thought that song could totally be a single as well. It’s probably one of my favorite songs of the album, which is why I called it that. I think it's current and has a great sense a humor. The perfect song to represent the feel of the album.
When the album first came out, both you and Avril Lavigne promoted your duet on social media quite a bit, especially on Twitter and Instagram. Should fans maybe expect a video for it?
If they speak loud enough, I definitely want to do one. She actually really wanted to do it as well, but we want enough people that want it - if they want it, we will do it and I think it will be awesome.
Nick Carter is heading out on tour beginning at the end of February.
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