Celebrity Spotlight: BBMak
Source: alloy.com

OUT OF THEIR HEARTS, INTO YOUR HEAD

BBMak is back! The hot British trio who melted our hearts two years ago with their hit "Back Here" are ready to woo us again with a new single, a rockin' second album, and their down-to-earth personalities. Mark Barry, Christian Burns, and Ste McNally recently sat down with us to chat about what the heck they've been up to for the past couple years. Read on!

By Jin Moon

Can you tell me about the sound of the new CD Into Your Head?
Ste: I think that it's definitely a natural progression from the last album Sooner or Later. It sounds a little tougher than the last album, because, you know, we made the last album three years ago. We've all grown up a bit more. Our musical influences have changed. The album came out two years ago in America, so our fans are two years older as well. They might be looking for music that's a little bit tougher.

I heard the album is more guitar driven this time around.
Ste: We've always been guitar-driven. We're just changing guitars a bit. There are a lot of harmonies and really catchy hooks surrounded by really great drums and guitars. We really like it.

So what are most of the songs about?
Mark: Ninety-nine percent of the songs are about relationships, about love. But we've written some songs about the way we feel about the people in our lives. I think a lot has happened recently since September 11. It makes us think a lot about what we're writing. This album is more on the positive side than the last. The last album was more like, you know, "She's gone, and I'm upset."

How do you think your music has evolved over the years? You once said you were a cross between Goo Goo Dolls and 98 Degrees. Do you think that's still true?
Ste: Well, I think we are more toward the Goo Goo Dolls now. But we're not like anyone. We're not like 98 Degrees. We're not like the Goo Goo Dolls. We're in the middle. We're the pop band that does guitar-driven pop songs.
Christian: Are 98 Degrees still together?
Ste: I think so... The sound of our album will be very easy to recreate on stage. It's not one of those albums that's so over-produced that to play live is virtually impossible because you've got so much stuff on the record.
Christian: [When we performed on stage for the last album], we found we had more energy than the album. And then when we recorded this album, we carried that energy from the live show onto the next album.

So have you guys performed any of your new stuff live?
Ste: We did a show in Liverpool [Engand] after we had done a few songs on the new album. We got the chance to play the old songs that everyone knew along with the new songs. Although the fans didn't know the new ones, they were still getting into the music. After the applause, we would repeat it a couple more times, and they knew the choruses. It was a cool experience to test our songs out on fans.

What's the biggest culture shock you've experienced in America?
Christian: Food portions.

Food portions are bigger in America?
Ste: It's a lot bigger.
Mark: Your medium is massive.
Ste: Our mediums are like your smalls.
Christian: A large milkshake at McDonald's in America is like...
Ste: A bucket in England. Massive.
Ste: At McDonald's in England, you don't get extra-large portions. You get regular and large. There's no small portions, and there's no super-sized.

So you really have to watch what you order!
Christian: Hey, ask me why I don't like orange juice with pulp!

OK, Christian, why don't you like orange juice with pulp?
Ste: I'll tell you while he's eating. He was on holiday with his friend, and he was hanging around the pool one day -- a hot, sunny day. And him and his friends all ordered some fresh orange juice. So they're sittin' there, enjoying the sunshine, drinkin' the orange juice. And Christian gets to the bottom of his glass, knocks it back and then looks at the bottom of the glass -- there were maggots.
Christian: Real, live maggots!
Ste: So the oranges must have been rotten, and they blended them or juiced them. Him and his friends were all eating and swallowed maggots.

Nasty! Let's move on to something less gross. Who's more fun to tour with -- Britney or *NSYNC?
Ste: They're both really nice people but, of course...
Mark: Doing the tour *NSYNC was the best because we got the full band on stage. Whereas on the Britney Spears tour, we didn't.
Christian: They're cool guys.
Ste: Who's cooler? You know, with Britney, that was like playing in front of 20 to 25 thousand people. Then our single went up the charts, and we ended up touring with *NSYNC in front of crowds of 70,000!
Mark: There's a big difference.

Was that nerve-racking?
Ste: The adrenaline was amazing. You know, going on stage and seeing 70,000 people screaming when the guy announces BBMak. It's just amazing.

What's the best place you've traveled to and why?
Christian: We went to Vietnam. That was amazing.

Oh, that's where you filmed your DVD BBMak: Live in Vietnam. What was that like?
Ste: It was completely different than any other place we'd been. We've toured in Asia a lot, but Vietnam wasn't like any other place in Asia. It wasn't like Japan. It wasn't like Thailand. It's like its own little world. Some of it was beautiful, but it was shocking to see the poverty there. People going without food...

Why did you choose to shoot the DVD in Vietnam?
Christian: 'Cause we had a choice. It was one of those places that are exotic...
Ste: But somewhere you'd never go to.
Christian: You wouldn't go there. It's not your average sort of vacation place. We got to see a bit of the world that we've never been before.
Ste: We could have gone to somewhere we've already been. But we love going to new places and seeing new things.

Do you guys ever really disagree or pick fights with each other?
Christian: No, it's not worth it.
Ste: We've been together six years now. It's been a long, hard way. We're doing what we love doing. We'll tour and then make an album. We have to make decisions along the way. Unless we were all happy together, then I don't think we would have made it this far.

That's really impressive. There are bands that argue a lot.
Christian: They end up breaking up 'cause they're unhappy.
Ste: We spend basically all our time together. When we get vacation time, we all go our different ways, but we're pretty much together 24 hours a day.
Mark: We appreciate everything we do to this day. There's no point in jeopardizing what you do. It's like, what's the point?
Ste: We've got to see each other every day, so there's no point in letting things get to ya.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done?
Christian: Well, lots of fans fly from all over the world. They knit jumpers [sweaters] for us. Ste: You know, you get the fans that travel so far. For people to do that just to see you perform is an unbelievable feeling. They're so passionate about your music that you've got to love that. In Asia, as soon as you get off the plane, you've got fans that follow you around in buses all day. They hide in big coats. They follow you all day wherever you go. It's cool. They're really, really well mannered. And the fans in America just love the music. They're just crazy. You arrive at a show in America and go onstage and people just love the music. That's what it's all about.

OK, tell the truth. Who gets the most fan mail?
[laughter]
Christian: We're all different personalities. And we're all different roles in the band. Some people connect with Ste more, or some people are able to relate to Mark. It's probably about even.
Ste: We don't look at it that anyway. We just do what we do -- just jam on stage, perform and write songs.
Christian: We do look at our fan mail though.
Ste: When you go on the Web site and see all the messages everyone's left -- we can't think that it's not fair that Christian got more fan mail than me. It's not about that. It's about people enjoying your music and buying the album and coming to the shows and having a good time. If they're coming to see Christian play his guitar or Mark sing or me, it's cool, as long as they are having a good time. That's what it's all about.

Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?
Mark: In 10 years I'll probably be on a big yacht going down the canal in Amsterdam. Who knows? We never plan that far ahead. We live today. I mean, we think about tomorrow, but we don't think 10 years on.
Ste: I think we all be doing something in music. It's what we do best. It's what we love. And if we can still do it in 10 years time, it will be a blessing.