First off, 1999 was the year you announced taht you had a girlfriend-why did you decide to do that?
In the beginning our careers were so important 'cos we were just starting out but once you get to a certain level you realise taht it's not about making everyone else around you happy. All the successs in the world isn't worth it if you don't have someone to share it with, someone taht will treat you the same no matter what . in the beginning I had girlfriend off and on but it was something that i didn't want to talk about.
Why not?
I never knew what the outcome would be because I was never home and I was trying to deal with the BSB schedule-although I guess there are ups and downs in any relationship.
So what's changed?
NOw I'm at a point in my life where I'm 24 years old and I have to do things outside of Backstreet boys. That's just my career and there is a life outside of the group. As big as it may seem and as lush and interesting as the whole thing is, I'm just a real person.
Was it hard to admit to the fans that you have a girlfriend?
Not really. The more honest you are at the beginning, the more they respect you. Ever since we started out, i've never had anything to hide because taht's just not my personality. if you want to know sth taht I'll tell you, but there are sth taht I'll keep to myself because I don't want the whole world to know. I ahve to have a private life/ i'm not going to tell someone where I'm going on my vocation so taht they can show up there because that's the whole point of having a vocation! But I never really got any backlash from the fans.
Do you ever look to see what ppl are saying about you on the internet.
Oh yech, I'm on the internet a lot actually. I've seen a lotof things saying taht my girlfriend is a witch with a 'b'! It gets lonely and it's good to have someone to share all this with and someone to talk to and bounch things off.
How can the fans support you more?
They should say, 'He's a grown man and he's got to do things that wil make him happy.' If they want to show us real support then the fans will be happy for us because we just human, we have normal lives. i'm not a teenage girl and i never have beena girl so it's kind of hard for me to understand what goes thru their heads.
You've been involved in a lot of charity work this year....
I've started a heart ebdowment programme for kids and it's been raising a lot of money. it's called Brian Littrell's Heaithy Hearts for kids. i recntly met with three ladies who have started a european foundation and it's sth taht we can eventually do worldwide. So far we've raised quite a lot of money for little kids and now we're trying to decide who's going to receive the money to have surgery because we get calls from ppl everyday.
How do you feel about your lastest album now we're at the start of the new Millennium?
Very pleased. i co-write Larger Than Life, the One and The perfect Fan. AJ and I worked on it's gotta be you, as well as Kevin's song, Back to your heart.
The Perfect Fan is all about your mum, You must be really proud of that particular song.....
It was a milestone in my career. We put a lot of work into it and I wanted it to be a song taht evrybody could ralate to. Whether you're a little-bitty boy or girl looking at your mum and thinking, 'Wow, you did a lot for me, mum,' or you're old and your parents have passed away. it was just a big thank you to my mum.
What inspires you?
Feelings that I have. When I was going thru a relationship thing with my ex-girlfriend I wrote the song Where Can we Go From Here? It's a sad love song taht everybody relate to. it's about a confusion in your life when you have to decide what to do or where to go and how you achieve the goal you want to.
Yu'vebecome the musican of the band......
I wouldn't say that. Songwriting is kind of comes easy to me . i've written a lot of songs but not many of them have been finished or produced becasue i don't have much time.
Are they any you'd like to see finished in the year 2000?
I'm probably going to be working with my older brother on some material. it's going to be country music actually, so it'll be interesting to write. i've written some country songs for him already so when we get some time off to relax I'll go into a studio and spend some time with him.
With all the things you've said about your music, your girlfriend and the importance of being ahppy, it sounds like you're the most likely member to leave the band....
No! There will be a time when we'll all want to do our won thinmgs but that doesn't mean we're going to break up. It'll just be some designated time we all decide on, whether we want to follow solo careers, get married and start a family, go back to school, or act in a movie. some of the guys wnat to do that. I know Howie and AJ are working with different people and we're all planning to do that in the future. It doesn't mean every song I write has to go to the Backstreet Boys. i wouldn't mind putting a solo album together but i don't know that I'm really raedy for that!
