Following in the footsteps of family bands such as The Osmonds, the Jackson Five and The Corrs is a new band called The Moffatts. The Canadian teenage quartet made up of Scott, 15, and his 14-year-old triplet brothers Bob, Clint and Dave, have taken the international scene by storm with hit singles such as "I'll Be There For You" and "Miss You Like Crazy". Yet, you may be surprised to know that the boys have already got some country music albums under their belts!
"Yes, we had three country albums, "says Clint. "We did two country rock albums and one country pop album."
And they insist that what they're doing now is not that much of a drastic change. "It's not that different," says Scott. "We were in the midst of doing country rock music, so this change was just natural."
Perhaps this is why their new album's called "Chapter 1: A New Beginning". They were already quite well known in America as young country stars, but this album has brought them international fame- especially in Germany!
And to think that it all started with a shopping center's "Make Your Own Record" giveaway. Without their knowledge, the Moffatts' music was being played throughout the entire shopping center and soon, hundreds of people were entering the tiny studio in the shopping center to celebrate with them!
After this incident, the boys kept persuading their father to let them do charity events, parties and the like. They did their first stage performance in 1990 and before they knew it, they were doing a 14-state tour of America and even a joint tour with The Osmonds. In fact, they were nominated for five awards by the British Columbia Country Music Association even before they released a single!
Still, the boys remained humble. "We never think of ourselves as being famous," says Bob, the only left-hander in the group. "We never think of it as fame, we think of it as a job. We just go on stage and sing our songs. It's only in other's eyes that we're famous and we don't see ourselves as stars. Stars only come out at night."
Some deep words, indeed, from someone that young. But then again, the four teenagers have gone through enough touring experiences to see them through their music careers. They seem to be taking all the rough and tough times in their stride and handling the pressures of fame very well.
"For every good thing, there is a bad thing," reveals Bob, the drummer of the group. "We get to tour al over the world, entertain people and meet the fans. But then there's the waking up at 5 am and staying up till 2 am. We dislike some things, but the good things take over the bad things."
The boys also say they've made it through both the good and bad times with a little help from their friends- most of whom are pretty famous themselves. "The best advice we ever got was from country singer Michael Martin Murphy," says Bob. "He said that if you love the crowd, they'll love you back. Also, just watching Garth Brooks- he's a good role model."
"Yeah, he's great," continues Clint, who plays the bass guitar. "Even if he's busy, he'll take 10 minutes of his time just to talk to you."
While not many of us can boast about having such famous friends, what some of us can relate to is the influence that some artistes have had on us. And one of the biggest influences on The Moffatts have been none other than the Fab Four from Liverpool- the Beatles.
"The Beatles were great," says Bob. "They reinvented themselves with every album, both in songwriting and singing. Everything they did was new. I think a lot of the younger audiences should be listening to the Beatles. They were phenomenal."
Among the list of other faves are Nirvana, Silverchair, Boyz II Men, Deep Purple, and Bush. But one band that doesn't escape our thoughts when it comes to The Moffatts is Hanson. The comparisons between the two bands have been many, and the boys have something to say about it.
"When they came out to play in 1996, they were old enough to play instruments, but when we came out, we were not old enough," explains Scott, who plays the guitar.
"But we would love to get together with Hanson and jam some day," continues Bob, showing that there's no animosity between the two bands.
And judging from the response so far, I don't think the fans would mind the comparisons between the two bands. In fact, being a young band seems to work in their favour, as they reveal: "Three or four years ago, even two years ago, teenagers would only have older people to listen to," says Bob. "Now that younger bands are coming in, young people can listen to them and it's opening more doors for younger bands. It's cool." Though their fans may be young, they're made up of a good mix of guys and girls.
"Being a guy group, we have lots of girl fans, obviously," says Clint. "But being a rock group, we have some guy fans too. Our fans are pretty much rock fans."
"And if they're not, then they'll become rock fans after seeing our show," continues Scott.
Notice the careful selection of words: "guy group" and not "boyband". The boys are insistent that they are not a boyband, mainly because they play instruments. As Dave says quietly, "It's important to play your own instruments."
The guys maintain they never had an ambition to become anything like a boyband. As Scott put it, "We never wanted to go up on stage and dance."
Proving that they are indeed not a boyband, the boys reveal that they each have a say in all the decisions concerning the band.
"We all put in our ideas," reveals Clint, the oldest of the triplets. "In the rehearsal room, it's four ideas. Dave's not the sort to say 'I want my idea', he just gets the keyboard part sorted out. We all want our ideas to be used."
They also write most of their songs- a far cry from most of the current boybands. While you can't doubt the talent among the four brothers, what you may wonder about is their seemingly vast knowledge about love that's preached in their songs. But they are quick to defend this query: "Everyone knows at least about love," says Bob, who, next to Clint, is the most talkative of the four. "We write from our knowledge and then expand on it."
As if all their current success isn't enough, they plan to take their success a whole lot further by making full use of their talents. "For the next album, we're going to write and produce the whole album," reveals Scott. "It's going to be entirely The Moffatts."
When asked if we'll ever see The Moffatts do a dance routine on stage, Scott's answer was a very firm "no". But it's unlikely their fans will mind as long as they keep on making their brand of music - "rock style", as they put it - no less.
