Friends From The Beginning
Once the eight O-Town guys were picked, they all got super-close. But from day one, Trevor Penick and Jacob Underwood were friends. They met at the auditions and hung out together throught the nail-biting narrowing down process. Once they were chosen as two of the 25 semifinalists, they visited each other's homes in California before the finals.
"We went golfing together," said Jacob. "We both live near golf courses, which is kind of ironic. So I went to stay with him for a weekend and we went golfing at his place and then he came down to stay with me." Trevor added: "Then when we both got picked from 25 to eight and my friends threw us a going away party... We've been together the whole way through."
First Impressions
Now they know everything about each other from living together 24-7, but what were the guys' first impressions of each other? For Erik-Michael Estrada, it was overwhelming. "Everyone was so talented. My first impression was, 'Wow, these guys are amazing" How would they pic me over these guys?' But he was chosen, and he continues to be dazzled. "My impression keeps on growing and growing, I have a new impression everyday. But for the most part, it's that these guys are incredibly talented."
Erik may have been very impressed with all the guys, but he scared at least one of them at the beginning. Trevor said, "Erik was the cockiest man alive," but now he's quick admit that he had Erik pegged all wrong. "I got to the 25 and Jacob wasn't there yet, so I was kind of by myself. I didn't really know anyone. So I introduce myself to Erik and he's sitting there with three of the five guys from Orlando. They're all singing and he just had this look in his eyes. I was like, 'What's up man? I'm Trevor.' He's like,'I'm Erik,' and he started singing again. I thought,'Okay, all right, that's good, that's real good. Who is this guy?' On the second day, I didn't talk to him too much. The third day, the day of our actual audition, I talked to him a lot. We talked the whole time, saying, 'Man I'm nervous, I'm this, I'm that.' I was, like, 'Oh, he's totally not what I thought he was at all.'"
Ashley Parker Angel offered his first impression of Trevor: "Some choreographers from LFO taught us this dance. And Trevor, out of all of us, stood out, because he is the best dancer in the world. Seriously, I was like, 'What? Did this guy grow up on the cast of Kids Incorporated?' He was incredible. He's so amazing. I was, like, this guy has more rhythm in his pinky than I have in my whole body. He just blew me away with the dancing, so my first impression of Trevor was the he could dance for days."
All the guys agreed that Ashley's totally cool: "He's the sweetest guy out of all of us," says Erik. "He's the nicest. He gives you a cavity every time he talks." And who's the sweetest around the ladies? Well, that would be Paul Martin of course.
Like Family
Talking to the guys, you got a sense of how much they care about each other and admire each other - especially as singers. They were always singing. "These guys are like all my best friends I've ever had back home, but we all share music. I can sing the main melody of Star Spangled Banner and immediately, I'll have a seven-part harmony behind me," revealed Ashley. "And the thing I love most in my life is music, so to have seven other people that are, like, my best friends and have that music is such a blessing to me... and to be able to live with these guys." Trevor summed it up: "I've got seven new brothers."
Out of all the guys, Bryan Chan seemed to take on the role of big bro. After all, he's the oldest at 25. He always tried to keep the guys in line, but he sometimes coudn't resist goofing around as well. Self-professed crazy guy, Mike Miller, admitted, "I talk a lot."
Like brothers, the boys weren't immune to gentle teasing and arguing. Ashley shared his first impression of Ikaika Kahoano and explained how they were waiting for him to go to a restaurant. "All 24 of us are on the bus, but there's one person missing - Ikaika. And everybody's like, 'Where's Ikaika? Is he up in his room?' He kept screwing up our bus and we all waited for, like, 25 minutes. It's so funny, because each morning out the door, like, sometimes it's me - " "Mostly it's you!" piped in Trevor - "Most of the time it's Ikaika," Ashley threw back. "No, it's not, no, it's not!" Trevor insisted. Finally, Ashley admitted, "Most of the time, it's both of us. But it's funny, because my first impression of Ikaika was where he was late and it's still kind of that way." Trevor added, "We work on it though." Ashley said,"I'm late, too, though. I'm not making a judgment." You could see that there was plenty of back and forth, but that the guys totally respect each other.
Feel The Love
That's the amin feeling you get from the members of O-town. They truly love each other - it's not act. Even though they were put together by Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and LFO wiz Lou Pearlman, Erik prefers to say they were "bought together." He added, "I don't understand how Lou so well matched us, but I've never been so in touch with seven guys in my life." And after hanging out with the guys for a short while, we really saw that connection. That's why Making The Band is so engrossing - it's totally real.
