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Posted on 11.11.06 1:38PM under Music
Steve: We kind of know the story of how you guys got together, as it was vocalized on your single “MotownPhilly”. But, did you guys ever think that eight years later you would have sold 60 million CDs?
Shawn: I don’t think that was a thought in our mind. Our idea was to get a record deal. We would have been happy just to have our family and friends hear us on the radio. To hear ourselves on the local radio stations where we are from was cool with us. Everything else after that was a bonus since we had such low expectations. We were just happy to be doing what we were doing. So everything that we have been doing up to this moment is like a beautiful thing because none of it was expected.
Steve: Let’s go back to the beginning. Before you met Michael Bivins. How did you guys meet?
Wanya: We met in High School at the High School of Creative & Performing Arts in Philadelphia. We were all vocal music majors. We sang in the choir. We had choir three times a day where we saw each other. We would get togeth-er and harmonize in the bathroom. And we would come up with all kinds of sounds together. I guess the music helped us to stay together. We sang all types of music, including classical and gospel.
Steve: Have people you’ve known before changed since you’ve hit it big?
Nate: Some of them have, some haven’t. Some have changed for the better some for the worst. We have some friends that are more supportive of us now then before. And, there are those who don’t understand the demand of the lifestyle that we now lead. They think we are changing or that we are different. It is just that we have a different occu-pation with more demands. We can’t be the same people that we use to be.
Steve: I understand that Michael Bivins was very impor-tant to your early development. What made you decide to go your separate ways?
Nate: Honestly, at the time when we got into the record busi-ness, Michael was managing us. He also had us in a pro-duction deal and signed us to the record label. Obviously, he was wearing a lot of hats at the time. It was a time when we didn’t realize that (he was wearing too many hats) because being new to the industry all we knew was here was a guy who there for us. And at the end of the day, we were just working together. Then as we grew more in the music indus-try, we realized a lot of things were conflicts of interest. For the betterment of the group, we thought to be a little more diverse and put our things in different baskets. And take some of the things out of Michael Bivens hands. As far as the separation is concerned, we parted our ways not in a bad sense but to help us grow as a group. Michael was the guy in the beginning. As we grew and got older we started becoming more creative and diverse. And, we wanted to come up with our own creative ideas as individuals and as a group.
Steve: One of my favorite Boyz 2 Men songs is “End of the Road.” That seemed to be the break though song that helped you crossover. Do you agree?
Shawn: Oh yeah, that’s the one and that is exactly what it did. We were on the tale end of “Cooley High” harmony when Face (Babyface) and L.A. (Reid) approached us with the song. This song gave us more exposure in the market, even international exposure. So “End of the Road” definitely was the thing that took us to the next level.
Steve: Did you notice the difference in your concert fans when that record hit?
Boyz 2 Men: Oh yes definitely. We opened up for Hammer and at first we did about six or seven songs. As the momen-tum of the album built, we had the “End of the Road” record come out and as Shawn said it took us to another plateau. And not just in America but international. When we first did an international promo it was just okay. Once “End of the Road” took off, it had its own feet.
Steve: What were some of your favorite songs from “Boyz to Men”?
Nathan: Because we record so many songs for our albums, we tend to like all of them the same. We may record 35 – 40 songs for an album and only pick 10 to 13 songs. When you narrow it down that way you leave off maybe 12 or 13 songs that you would probably weed out anyway. So we believe since we do it that way we pick the best songs for our albums and we like them all the same.
Steve: You guys have been together as a group for a long time. Generally, when people get really successful the break up thing starts happening. And, everyone wants to do a solo album. What’s been the glue to keep you guys together?
Shawn: We respect each other enough to give each other individual freedom. I think where groups go wrong is they make it so air tight that group members can’t breath. We try to give each other the freedom to do whatever we want to do. One of us may do a solo project and we support each other. We give people the room to do their own thing. We all have individual aspirations. But we know the group is the nucleus of it all. We keep that into perspective.
Nathan: One of my favorite sayings is “There is a difference between a group and a singing group.” Boyz 2 Men is a group. There are a whole lot of singing groups. It’s different when you are a singing group. You go on tour with the guys, you sing on stage, and that’s about it. You don’t call them. You don’t kick it with them. You don’t talk over ideas. You don’t this or that. That is the difference between a group and a singing group. We focus on being a group. A group is more about being family-oriented. It’s about respect. It ‘s about telling someone when he is right or wrong. It’s about helping someone out when they are having bad times and being there for the good times. That is what being a group is about. We’re a group and not a singing group.
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