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[AOL Presents] Dream With Special Guest Sean "Puffy" Combs [Interview] - 01/22/01

Credit: America Online

AOLiveMC15: Welcome to AOL Live! Dream is with us tonight, but before we get to them, we're pleased to have joining us for a few minutes Sean "Puffy" Combs! Welcome, Puffy!

Sean Puffy Combs: What's up, yall? This is Puff Dad, CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment. We're here to have a very interesting chat about Dream, the newest pop/soul sensation to hit the airwaves. Their album is in stores tomorrow, "It Was All a Dream." I want everybody out there to go get that! The album will be in stores tomorrow, January 23rd. Holly, Ashley, Melissa and Diana, four of the most talented young ladies I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I'm just happy they're on my team, and that's what I'm here to talk about -- the makings of a superstar group. Hola.

AOLiveMC15: Puffy, thanks for stopping by. We have a couple of quick questions for you:

Question: What made you decide to sign Dream? What sets them apart from the other pop groups, in your opinion?

Sean Puffy Combs: I had an audition -- they had an audition with me at the Beverly Hills Hotel in LA, and as soon as I saw their faces, their energy kind of drew me to be interested in what they sounded like and what they performed like. After I saw them perform and sing live for me, I was blown away and immediately tried to sign them. It wasn't the regular teen pop type of situation -- these girls had a lot of soul and flavor and had very distinct, charismatic personalities.

AOLiveMC15: Another question for you, Puffy:

Question: Did you work on the Dream album? What other stuff are you working on right now?

Dream: What sets them apart from other groups is the fact that they all can sing, they all can dance, and they don't have the regular type of pop factory sound. What definitely sets them apart from other groups is their overwhelming personalities, and of course their age. I was one of the last producers to come in and work on the Dream album. Myself and my partner, Mario Winans, we did a couple of joints -- they're hot, along with the rest of the album, which is definitely hot. Right now I have come out of retirement from producing. Dream was the first group I worked on after a year and a half break. Then I just did five songs with Jennifer Lopez, all which will be on the album, a fifth one which will be available in Japan. I'm also producing Faith and about to show my 2001 Sean John Collection live on E! February 10th at 7:30. Both Dream's and Jennifer Lopez's will be out tomorrow. Buy Dream's first, and then Jennifer's.

AOLiveMC15: Sean "Puffy" Combs, thanks for giving us a little bit of your time tonight. We're joined now by Ashley, Melissa, Holly, Diana... welcome to AOL Live, Dream!

Sean "Puffy" Combs: Now, the newest group in the Bad Boy family -- Holly, Melissa, Ashley, Diana -- Dream! Be nice, they my babies.

AOLiveMC15: Here's our first question for Dream tonight:

Question: How did you think of the name Dream?

Holly: Actually, our manager came up with the name. He thought it fit perfectly, because it's our dream to be doing this, and it's his dream. The one thing we try to promote is that people should pursue their dreams to the fullest.

AOLiveMC15: From AOL Kids Only:

Question: How does it feel to be a star? -- From Samantha

Holly: We don't really think of ourselves as stars, but I guess what we try to think is that what makes you a star is someone who is themselves to the fullest. But mostly it's just a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. But we have the passion to do it, so it just kind of feels like a fire. It makes you want to do it every day, even when things get tough.

Question: What was your fave song to record on the album? -- Alyssa

Holly: My favorite song that we recorded on the album was "How Long." That was a lot of fun because it's a beautiful song, and I really got into it when we were recording it. I also liked recording some of the last few songs we did, because we got to get in there and do some of the production. We got to get our hands in it, you know?

Question: Are you planning to tour yet?

Dream: We just got off tour with *NSYNC a couple months ago. Right now, we are planning for the 98 Degrees tour in February and March, and that is going to be so much fun. We can't wait to get back on the bus.

AOLiveMC15: What was the tour with *NSYNC like?

Holly: It was so much fun, and it was also a great experience. We watched the guys and we studied every move that they made onstage and offstage. We learned from their humility and hard work and dedication, and tried to put everything into our work. I think in the long run it is going to make us better artists.

Question: What kind of sound should we expect to hear on your new album?

Dream: That's kind of funny, because I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they hear the album. It's not like "He Loves You Not." It's got a lot of rhythmic songs and a lot of R&B feeling on it. We're really hoping that everybody likes it.

Question: Hey, Dream! Are you worried about being compared to other pop acts like Britney Spears and the Spice Girls?

Diana: I don't think so much we're worried -- you can't make it a competition. You have to look at it as everyone doing the same things for the same reason. We just all have the same passion for it. If anything, we are honored, because they are a good group and Britney is an awesome dancer, and they work their butts off!

Question: When did you guys begin singing?

Diana: We [sang] our whole life. Dream has been together for two years, but I came in the group last year, so it has been together for one year. But we have been together for one year. We have been singing all of our life, with school shows and such.

AOLiveMC15: Another question from AOL Kids Only:

Question: Do you ever get free time with your family? -- From Chrisi

Melissa: Not really. Sometimes. It depends if we're off, if we have free time with our family. Not if we're working, though.

Question: What do you do in your free time?

Melissa: We do the normal things, like hang out with our friends, listen to music and talk on the phone. Talking on the phone is a big thing for us, though.

Question: I love you guys! I was wondering if you guys play or played any instruments. LOL! -- Ali

Melissa: Holly does play the guitar and Diana doesn't really play the piano, but she likes to make up songs -- it's hard to explain. Me and Ashley don't play any instruments at all.

AOLiveMC15: Another from AOL Kids Only:

Question: How do you find the strength and courage to do your job so well? Have you ever heard of the "Hats for Cancer" program? Do you ever do volunteer work? -- From Alex (a girl)

Melissa: Just to be told that we do it so well is a big compliment. We get our strength from our families and God. I have never heard of that specific foundation, but yes, we do charity work and stuff like that.

OnlineHost: Don't forget, Dream's debut album, "It Was All a Dream," is out in stores tomorrow! You can watch "He Loves U Not" and win an autographed Dream poster at http://www.click2music.com/dream/aol.

Question: What do you love most about performing?

Ashley: I think the best part of performing would be seeing how the fans react and being able to give my all, and being able to be on stage and just seeing how everybody reacts to us.

Question: What's it like to work with Puff Daddy?

Ashley: He's really cool. We have done a few songs with him and stuff. He's mostly been able to relate with us because he's an artist himself, so that's basically how I felt about working with him.

Question: What other pop artists do you like to listen to?

Ashley: I guess I like Pink, if you consider her pop. I also like *NSYNC. I'm not really in the pop era. I stick to gospel and some alternative.

Question: Dream rules! What advice would you give to a hopeful girl band just starting out?

Ashley: If you believe in yourself and live your dream, then you can do anything you want. If you're not focused and don't have the drive to do it, then you won't really make it.

Question: Hi, guys! How did you guys get in touch with Puff Daddy in the first place? Thanks for your time.

Ashley: No problem! We got hooked up with Puff Daddy by our manager. He introduced us, because he knew the president of Bad Boy, and he set up a meeting with Puff Daddy at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Question: I was wondering how old you all were, because I met you and you seemed like 17 to 19, but I heard you were like 15 to 17. When I met you, I hardly knew who you were, but now yall are so famous, and my cousin is upset he didn't get your autograph when he had the chance!

Diana: Aww. I am 15 years old. I'm sorry that you didn't get the autograph. If you want the autograph, you can get it by writing Bad Boy. Holly is 15, Ashley is 15 and Melissa is 16.

Question: How can fans reach you? Do you have a Web site?

Diana: We do have a Web site. It is http://www.thedreamsite.com. You can also write Bad Boy online, or if you want to write letters -- we get all of our fan mail.

AOLiveMC15: What do you guys think of the Internet and talking to your fans in this way?

Diana: We love it! We don't get to meet people who enjoy our music every single day, so it is definitely an honor and very appreciated. All of our support -- we just thank you guys. Without you guys we are nothing, not even a Dream anymore -- so it means a lot!

Question: Hey, Dream, I just wanted to ask you, who is your biggest influence in pop music?

Diana: As a group, one of our biggest musical influences would probably be Whitney Houston. She can sing, and you can tell that she works hard when she sings. We have loved her all of our lives.

Question: Are you guys nervous about the CD debuting tomorrow? What's it feel like?

Diana: Oh, definitely! It's a good nervous. We are very, very, very excited. Today I was bawling in the car. It didn't hit me until today that we had finished our album! It's a big thing for us. We're very much appreciative that it's happening. We hope that everyone goes out and gets a copy, because that is who we did it for -- we did it for you guys.

Question: Do you all feel any pressure to maintain the whole girl band sex appeal?

Diana: Actually that's one thing the girls and I don't care much about. We're going to sing and dance, and we're going to give it our all. Although, we are young girls, and we're not going to go out and start popping our pelvises or anything -- we're just going to do what we're going to do, and that's having fun.

Question: How often did you have to practice? And was it hard?

Diana: Yeah. We have to practice -- we've been in rehearsal all day today. Yesterday we had rehearsal all day as well. It's a lot of hard work, and we try to give it our all. It means a lot to us, because we want to get better and we want to work hard. We know that the outcome can be so great, and we want to make it great!

Question: Do you think you will ever go on your own tour?

Diana: That's one of our goals, actually. We would love to do one of our own tours. I don't see that happening anytime soon, though. We are going on the 98 Degrees tour, though.

Question: What's the next single gonna be?

Diana: The next single is called "This Is Me," and we hope that you guys all like it. It has some of the flavor of "He Loves Me Not." We're really excited about the song, because it is different -- we hope it is going to give a different feel.

Question: Do you guys ever have disagreements in the group? If so, how do you settle them?

Diana: We don't really have blowouts or anything, but we have little sisterly things. So it's like if Melissa borrows my brush and doesn't ask me, I get upset -- so I'm just like, "Melissa, ask me." Just stuff like that. We have never had big blowouts or anything like that, which is a good thing. We just -- we all understand each other.

Question: What was it like when y'all first heard your song on the radio? Musta been awesome!

Diana: We all were sitting together by the radio. We were listening for it. They still hadn't played it at 11:00 at night. We were talking about what the video would be like. Then we heard the DJ go, "Here's Dream..." and we all jumped up and we were freaking out and crying! No pun intended, but it really seemed like it was a dream. I think that it is even greater than that. No matter where we're at, we still get that same feeling over and over and over again. We are so appreciative of that, and we never want that feeling to go away.

Question: Hi! My name is Carly, from Arizona, and I was wondering what the significance is of the song "He Loves You Not."

Diana: Basically what it is about is that you're with this guy and he likes you for you being you, and there's this other girl who wants to take your man -- she's doing stupid things. The reason the guy likes you is because you're not doing that. You think he's going to like you for who you are, nothing more. That song has a lot of confidence to it, but not the snotty confidence, but the confidence within yourself just for you to know who you are and to be comfortable with that.

Question: Do you regret what you are doing at all? I mean, like missing out on your teenage years? How does it compare to normal teenage life?

Diana: I don't regret anything that has happened in my life, even the times things got so hard, when we would cry so hard. I could never regret any of that, because it has only made us such stronger people. We are so smart in our minds, we know things that adults know. It's such an advantage. We do miss school and things like that, but we could never give this up. I mean, we still have fun and pull pranks on each other, pull pranks on people around us. We like to have fun! We don't like to go into a meeting saying, "This is going to be hard work." We want to do this. We love to have fun, and we still get up early like some kids do to go to school. We still do things like that.

Question: Where did you all get your love for music?

Diana: I got my love of music probably from, I don't know, just listening, being around music. My dad used to be a singer. He would sing sometimes at our family parties and stuff like that, just listening to him and being around that. I love music, and I love moving to music. I love all of it. I knew when times got hard, that was something that I could turn to. I was looking to something I could relate to and know that someone understands me. I find that a lot of teenagers are turning to music, and I hope this album will do that for them. I hope they will say, "This girl is feeling like me," because there are so many people out there who are feeling the same thing that you are.

Question: How does it feel to be a role model for lots of young girls?

Diana: It's definitely a huge responsibility. That's why the girls and I, we're honored. We know to be careful, but at the same time what we want to get out there is -- have fun! We're not going to go out there and be naked on stage or be very vulgar. That's something we don't want to do, because we know we are going to have a younger audience. And that's fine with us. Just know you're not going to expect anything really "out there" from us. This is such fun -- and realness. We are very real, and we don't want to be anything that we're not.

AOLiveMC15: We have time for one final question for Dream tonight:

Question: Being so young in the business, it might be tough to answer this, but... do you guys want to be doing this for a long, long time, or are there other things that you'd like to do at some point?

Diana: I think, for all of us, we all are doing what we love. We all love being in Dream and being with each other. We've created the love that can never be taken away, whether we are or aren't in Dream. There are definitely things all of us would like to try. Melissa wants to keep singing, Ashley wants to write, Holly produce -- right now we're just being with each other and having fun. As you can tell, we love to have fun!

AOLiveMC15: Dream, thanks for joining us tonight in AOL Live! Any closing comments?

Diana: We want to thank everybody that has supported us. We hope we're giving you something to look to, because we know that's something you need. We hope we can be close to you guys, and just be real with yourself -- and confident with yourself.

Melissa: Everyone has been wonderful. It's been really great to talk to you. We hope to get to see you on tour or someplace else. We hope you enjoy our music and what we're doing. We love you!

Holly: I just want to say good-bye and thank you for supporting us. We hope you love the album. It's been great!

Ashley: I just want to say thank you to everybody. I'm having a blast, and I'm so happy to share it with you guys!

AOLiveMC15: Ashley, Melissa, Holly, Diana -- and Sean "Puffy" Combs -- thanks again for stopping by and chatting with us tonight! And thanks to our audience for all their great questions. Good night!

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