Source: TOTP mag issue 07 Dec 00
Q: Which holidays do you look forward to the most?
Nick: Thanksgiving. My best Thanksgivings have been when our whole family was together. We've had 40+ people together at the house!
Brian: Yeah, I love thanksgiving, It's a great time to get a day or two off from the road and give thanks for all you have. I love to see my family most of all.
AJ: I agree with Brian- thanksgiving is mostly about family. I just love to be able to see everyone and hang and I try not to think the music business. i try to think about God and my family. For me, though, xmas is the greatest - I wish that every day could be xmas. I love the feeling when you get up in the morning. The change of pace from the rest of the year is lovely.
Kevin: Xmas is a day of joy - probably my favourite day of the year. I love giving gifts and showing my appreciation for people I haven't had time to hang out with all year.
Q:How about creature comforts, all that yummy home-cooked food? Nick: I really love turkey - the more it's piled high with traditional stuffing, the better I like it! I love gravy too.
Kevin: I love to eat a good old-fashioned Kentucky thanksgiving dinner because no one makes gravy like someone from the South. I think the fact we get our turkey straight from a farm makes a difference. It's always really tender .
Brian: I love to get home and pig out. I usually try to go out and buy something to contribute to the dessert table like a nice cake or a couple of pounds of great chocolate.
Howie: Yeah, I'll never forget some of the great food my mom has made over the years. Some years the turkey was better than others! (Looks sheepish) She's going to kill me for saying that- but the other stuff was always great! I love yams with marshmallows on top too.
Q: So you guys leave your mums to do all the hard work?
Kevin: (felling guilty, we think!) I love to buy a great big gift for my mom because she is the most understanding woman on earth. I take advantage of the money I've made doing this and try to do a little special something for my family and friends.
AJ: I can always see my mom cos she travels with us, but on thanksgiving she becomes a regular mom an not a road mom! She actually cooks with the help of some relatives. I admire her energy. She has seen to it that I keep my feet on the ground.
Q: Is it good to escape the pressures of the public eye?
Kevin: I'm happy every day of every year but God knows our days off have become fewer and less available. I just like to be Kevin Richardson and not Kevin Backstreet for a day, and see cousins, aunts, uncles an friends I might not have seen for a year.
Nick: Yeah, and catch up with old buds from the neighbourhood.
Howie: I just love getting to be low-key and calling a few friends.
Q: Tell us about your fondest holiday memories.
Brian: I remember visiting kids in the hospital in Florida one xmas time and taking them gifts. We do this kind of thing all the time, but on xmas day you feel the spirit of giving all the more. Some of the kids we visit are terminally ill and that brings a tear to my eye every time. It's important to use your celebrity status to help out others. It's giving back to the community.
Q: Any funny childhood tales to tell us about?
AJ: My best New Year was probably when I was 6. I got to have a bunch of kids over for a sleepover and my mom made up these little goodie bags. I remember they had Hershey bars in them. Some kids mixed and matched their candies and got sick. It was actually more like Halloween.One kid even wet their sleeping bag!
Q: Winter holidays are a great time to snuggle up with someone special too Howie: My best new year was spent with a special someone and a quiet candlelight dinner at a hotel. Of course my mother kept beeping me and when I called her she asked me when I was coming by to celebrate the ball falling (part of traditional New Year celebrations on US TV.) That's a mom for ya!
Brian: I spent a great New Year contemplating getting engaged, which I did soon after. Leighanne and I heavily discussed it that night and it was really sweet. I felt like an adult for the first time.
Q: If you have to be away for the hols, do you still have fun?
Nick: YEAH! We've had a couple of wild New Years out on the road. We're usually performing live on New Year's Eve so we just take a break in the show and drop some balloons from above. Last year it was out of control - we were high on energy and anticipating the new millennium.
Kevin: My best New Year was spent touring Europe. They have a different attitude to New Year there. I remember hanging out with some Parisians and going to see the Eiffel Tower before I had to get in the bus and go to a show!
Q: But you still think about home?
Kevin:Of course. A lot of the time I feel like I'm far from home and wish I could be in my own bed, in some peace and quiet. And I'd like a home-cooked meal every now and then, although we do eat in some really nice restaurants on the road.
Q: Any tips on surviving the holdays alone?
Brian: I love to hug! It sort of de-stresses you. Human contact is the one thing that makes a day great. It really makes you feel close to someone when you're out wandering the road like a vagabond.
Q: Don't you feel a bit girlie? (LMAO!)
AJ: Hugs are part of everyday life for me. I'll hug all sorts of people - I don't worry about it looking unmanly or whatever. I love to hug my gf the most, though, and then my mom, because she's really cool for someone her age.
Q: When do you need hugs most?
Nick: I fell flat on my face in between songs late last year and I think the first couple of rows on the left side of the arena saw me because a few girls waved. I went over to our wardrobe girl and asked for a hug - and asked if my stagewear looked too wrinkled to go back on. But there was no time to press what I was wearing anyway!
Brian: When I've really screwed up - like when my voice sounds hellacious in the studio or on stage - I want a hug to know I've been forgiven!
Howie: You shouldn't hug just anyone - some people show false affection. My hugs are meant!
Q: Ok guys, according to your, holidays rule but isn't there a downside?
Nicks: (laughs) I like to spend time with all of Aaron's pets except that damn bird makes a lot of noise. He might end up as our 'turkey' at thanksgiving some day!