Date: Saturday, August 28, 1999
Title: Just a kid: Aaron Carter hasn't let success go to his head
Author: IAN NATHANSON
Source: Ottawa Sun
Source: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsC/carter_aaron.html
Topic: 1999 Article/Interview
Aaron Carter is a kid at heart -- literally and figuratively.
Get him on a subject like his rise to stardom or, say, the fine art of angling and the 11-year-old brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter will talk your ear off.
Especially about angling.
"I went fishing on a dock and caught seven mackerel about the size of my arm," a ecstatic Carter says over the phone. "I was having a contest between me, Chuck, Bill and Jesse, all friends of mine, to see who can catch the most fish. Chuck caught four, Bill caught two and Jesse caught one. So I won (laughs)."
Glad to hear fame and fortune haven't fazed young Carter, whose four-date Canadian mini-tour stops by the Corel Centre's WordPerfect Theatre tomorrow night with Barrie band VIP.
Incidentally, Nick and the rest of the Backstreet Boys play Ottawa Nov. 12. But Aaron wants to make clear he is a separate entity.
"I'm myself," he says sounding quite important. "I'm starting an acting career. And I'm working on my new album right now. It'll probably be out in January and it'll explain more about myself and how I have my own music.
"My new record will tell you in the beginning that I can do different stuff from what my brother's done."
Backstreet Boys
Overall, the lineage doesn't seem to bother Carter, whose face graces as many teen magazines that carry his brother's group with equal zeal.
But he does have Nick and company to thank for getting discovered. His appearance at a Backstreet Boys concert in March '97 caught the attention of a German record executive who wanted to sign him right away.
Carter's self-titled '98 debut was an immediate hit in Canada, selling more than 50,000 copies, going gold just weeks after its release. Sales were helped along by hits like Crazy Little Party Girl, and covers of The Jets' mid-'80s hit Crush on You and the Beach Boys classic Surfin' USA.
Following just as quickly was the spring fever of screaming young girls at show. A concert at a London, Ont., nightclub was so overcrowded with fans that firefighters were called in to clear the venue.
Crazy, yes, but Carter admits he has a wild side.
"I can do all these backflips and stuff," he says. "It's kinda crazy, though. Some people think I'm gonna bust my head open.
"By the way, I just a lost a tooth five minutes ago. I have one more tooth to go before all my teeth are in."
Oh dear, little Aaron is growing up.
