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dailytomlinson · 5 years

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Since then, Tomlinson has released three stand-alone singles, ‘Just Hold On ’ with Steve Aoki, ‘Back To You ’ with Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals, and the heartfelt ‘Miss You ’. Two years have passed since then, and now Tomlinson is back with a new style of music, new singles, and his debut solo album 'Walls’ on the way. This week, the single ‘We Made It ’ was released, a song written back in 2017 with personal lyrics and a relaxed Britpop feel to it. This is the third single from his forthcoming album, and for Tomlinson, releasing his solo music is a brand new experience.

“It’s completely different,” he says eagerly as he puts away his coat, fresh back in from a bit of fresh air and a lunch break between interviews. “It’s funny ‘cos I’ve got all this experience from the band, but it’s not the same at all!”

This time around, everything he does from writing to recording, making music videos and touring is different. It’s his own words, set to his own music, and done through his choices. But there was a time he wasn’t sure whether this was something he wanted to do. He wasn’t ready to go out and do stuff on his own, he wasn’t ready for the band to go on a hiatus, and the decision for it all to end threw him off balance. So when he decided to pursue a solo career, after all, he went for the music that was the most popular at the time — dance/pop crossovers. “It felt like the easiest way in,” he admits, explaining that the reason he chose to do features for the first few songs was that it gave him a bit of time to tread some water and figure out where he stood in the industry. “I needed that time to work out who I was and what I wanted,” he says, “but I was also making music that I thought I had to make, as opposed to the music I wanted to make.”

Though he was often involved in writing sessions in the band as well, Tomlinson feels writing and creating music got a little bit more precise once it was just him. When writing for a band, you write music with four or five people in mind, it all has to relate to — and fit — them as well. Now, he can narrow it all down to only himself. Your own taste, your own preferences, and your own narrative. Having dropped the dance pop-feel of his initial singles for an indie-infused pop-rock style, Tomlinson's new music reflects his taste in music growing up. Being from the north of England, all the big northern bands had a profound influence on his life. “Like, the closest city to me is Sheffield, which Arctic Monkeys are from,” he says, “so that sound is massive there.”

His previous single, ‘Kill My Mind ’ was intended to be a bit of a statement of intent musically, setting it and him apart from what had been released before. Still, the decision to change his style wasn’t an easy one. He had a lot of industry people, songwriters and producers who didn’t really know him, trying to drag him into a slightly urban sound that he couldn’t relate to, but which is big in America. At one point he realised he’d had enough of those sessions and made the choice to take the reins himself. “I can either try and follow radio and follow the trends there, or I can just do what I love,” he says of the decision, “in the end I just had a word with myself and worked out what success meant to me. Now I just do what I love.”

Still, it took bravery to stand up for himself to the people who tried to steer him into their preferred direction. “You can make the mistake of relying on the expertise around you when, actually, I believe it’s really important just to trust your gut - because nobody knows you better than yourself.”

But challenges also makes success all the more rewarding, though even amazing experiences are different as a solo artist. A few days before our chat, Tomlinson had played a ten-song headline set in Madrid, Spain, his first-ever. “Other than musicians I played with onstage, it’s hard to explain to anyone what just happened,” he smiles, “as opposed to when you’re in a band and you’re all feeling the same thing. But it definitely makes it more rewarding when I look back on the show and I think about my influence on it. I feel like I’ve been leading up to that gig for as long as I’ve been solo.”

Another thing he’s currently working towards is the release of his debut solo album. He hopes to have it ut early next year and feel like it will be a relief to have it out and be able to tour with it. The album is mostly finished, all the writing is done and only a few more vocals need to be recorded, but after that, what remains is working out the order of the tracks and other details.

Out of the singles put out so far, not many will make it to the album. “The Steve Aoki song [‘Just Hold On ’] is an interesting one ‘cos the melody kinda leans to quite anthemic sounds, so we’re reproducing that to give it a bit more guitar and band-feel,” Tomlinson says, “so that will be on the album in a different version, but other than that, the last three are the only ones that will make it.” And for those eagerly awaiting the debut album, there are more treats on the way. “I’m hoping to release the next single six weeks after ‘We Made It,'” he smiles, “I’ll pretty much try and release music now in the run-up to the album in the new year.”

“I have a bit of a luxury that where I grew we wear our hearts on our sleeve,” he says, “it’s part of our make up, so it has always come naturally to me. But of course, that is a really tender subject, but since I have the luxury of being confident enough to be able to talk about these things, I think it’s also important to put that message out. Especially as a guy as well.”

“There was this girl at a meet & greet who had just lost her dad and she shared some really lovely words with me and that experience gives me goosebumps.” Experiences like that, he says, didn’t really happen in One Direction. They wrote some lovely love songs, but there was a real purpose to ‘Two Of Us ', and how people interpret the message and what it means to them is enormously special to Tomlinson.

“I want to be honest as a lyricist,” he says, “and sometimes talk about things that we maybe don’t always talk about. I think it’s important to get those messages out.”

#press #musik norway #261019 #louis tomlinson #wmi #quote

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hlupdate · 5 years

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“I want to be honest as a lyricist,” he says, “and sometimes talk about things that we maybe don’t always talk about. I think it’s important to get those messages out.”

#louis tomlinson #wmi promo #261019 #tw death

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louistomlinsoncouk · 5 years

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Louis Tomlinson is finding his feet

“You can make the mistake of relying on the expertise around you when it’s important just to trust your gut - because nobody knows you better than yourself.”

A lot has happened since Louis Tomlinson showed up at an audition for British talent show The X Factor in 2010. The resulting boyband One Direction didn’t win the competition but went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, earning the boys a loyal fanbase even after the band decided to go on a hiatus to explore solo-careers. Since then, Tomlinson has released three stand-alone singles, ‘Just Hold On ’ with Steve Aoki, ‘Back To You ’ with Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals, and the heartfelt ‘Miss You ’. Two years have passed since then, and now Tomlinson is back with a new style of music, new singles, and his debut solo album 'Walls’ on the way. This week, the single ‘We Made It ’ was released, a song written back in 2017 with personal lyrics and a relaxed Britpop feel to it. This is the third single from his forthcoming album, and for Tomlinson, releasing his solo music is a brand new experience. “It’s completely different,” he says eagerly as he puts away his coat, fresh back in from a bit of fresh air and a lunch break between interviews. “It’s funny ‘cos I’ve got all this experience from the band, but it’s not the same at all!” This time around, everything he does from writing to recording, making music videos and touring is different. It’s his own words, set to his own music, and done through his choices. But there was a time he wasn’t sure whether this was something he wanted to do. He wasn’t ready to go out and do stuff on his own, he wasn’t ready for the band to go on a hiatus, and the decision for it all to end threw him off balance. So when he decided to pursue a solo career, after all, he went for the music that was the most popular at the time — dance/pop crossovers. “It felt like the easiest way in,” he admits, explaining that the reason he chose to do features for the first few songs was that it gave him a bit of time to tread some water and figure out where he stood in the industry. “I needed that time to work out who I was and what I wanted,” he says, “but I was also making music that I thought I had to make, as opposed to the music I wanted to make.”

Breaking away from the safety of a band and going solo can be as emotionally confusing and tumultuous as breaking out from a long time relationship and being single again. You’re used to your band-persona and who you are as a part of a bigger puzzle, but once away from all that, you have to get to know yourself again and figure out who you are on your own. Though he was often involved in writing sessions in the band as well, Tomlinson feels writing and creating music got a little bit more precise once it was just him. When writing for a band, you write music with four or five people in mind, it all has to relate to — and fit — them as well. Now, he can narrow it all down to only himself. Your own taste, your own preferences, and your own narrative. Having dropped the dance pop-feel of his initial singles for an indie-infused pop-rock style, Tomlinson's new music reflects his taste in music growing up. Being from the north of England, all the big northern bands had a profound influence on his life. “Like, the closest city to me is Sheffield, which Arctic Monkeys are from,” he says, “so that sound is massive there.” His previous single, ‘Kill My Mind ’ was intended to be a bit of a statement of intent musically, setting it and him apart from what had been released before. Still, the decision to change his style wasn’t an easy one. He had a lot of industry people, songwriters and producers who didn’t really know him, trying to drag him into a slightly urban sound that he couldn’t relate to, but which is big in America. At one point he realised he’d had enough of those sessions and made the choice to take the reins himself. “I can either try and follow radio and follow the trends there, or I can just do what I love,” he says of the decision, “in the end I just had a word with myself and worked out what success meant to me. Now I just do what I love.” Still, it took bravery to stand up for himself to the people who tried to steer him into their preferred direction. “You can make the mistake of relying on the expertise around you when, actually, I believe it’s really important just to trust your gut - because nobody knows you better than yourself.” Going solo is challenging in more ways than just creatively and musically. In a band, you don’t know about all the gears that go into the massive machine you are a part of. Being on your own, it’s all a lot more intricate. “When you’re in a band like One Direction,” Tomlinson says, “we didn’t want for anything. We had everything that we needed.” He knew nothing about things like budget conversations and admits that coming face to face with such issues as a solo artist was a brand new concept for him. The learning curve has been steep, but Tomlinson feels like he’s always been learning as he goes along. “I used to think that I had… I used to get involved creatively in One Direction as well, but now when I look at it in hindsight, it’s nowhere near how much I have to be involved in every single detail.” But challenges also makes success all the more rewarding, though even amazing experiences are different as a solo artist. A few days before our chat, Tomlinson had played a ten-song headline set in Madrid, Spain, his first-ever. “Other than musicians I played with onstage, it’s hard to explain to anyone what just happened,” he smiles, “as opposed to when you’re in a band and you’re all feeling the same thing. But it definitely makes it more rewarding when I look back on the show and I think about my influence on it. I feel like I’ve been leading up to that gig for as long as I’ve been solo.” Another thing he’s currently working towards is the release of his debut solo album. He hopes to have it out early next year and feel like it will be a relief to have it out and be able to tour with it. The album is mostly finished, all the writing is done and only a few more vocals need to be recorded, but after that, what remains is working out the order of the tracks and other details. Out of the singles put out so far, not many will make it to the album. “The Steve Aoki song [‘Just Hold On ’] is an interesting one ‘cos the melody kinda leans to quite anthemic sounds, so we’re reproducing that to give it a bit more guitar and band-feel,” Tomlinson says, “so that will be on the album in a different version, but other than that, the last three are the only ones that will make it.” And for those eagerly awaiting the debut album, there are more treats on the way. “I’m hoping to release the next single six weeks after ‘We Made It,'” he smiles, “I’ll pretty much try and release music now in the run-up to the album in the new year.” Leaning back in a comfy chair in the Sony Music offices in central London, Tomlinson is relaxed and cheerful, dressed in comfy all black clothes and chatting intermittently to his label crew. With a direct gaze and a cheeky smile, it’s hard to imagine him ever doubting himself or his own abilities. But when he speaks, there’s a certain vulnerability he’s not afraid of showing. Though experiencing massive success with numerous triumphs, he’s also gone through great losses, heartbreak and grief. And despite his young age and only just starting out as a solo artist, Tomlinson’s songs have unexpected depth and some seriously personal lyrics. The song ‘Two Of Us ’ was written about his late mother Johannah Deakin, who died of Leukemia in December 2016. “I have a bit of a luxury that where I grew we wear our hearts on our sleeve,” he says, “it’s part of our make up, so it has always come naturally to me. But of course, that is a really tender subject, but since I have the luxury of being confident enough to be able to talk about these things, I think it’s also important to put that message out. Especially as a guy as well.” “There was this girl at a meet & greet who had just lost her dad and she shared some really lovely words with me and that experience gives me goosebumps.” Experiences like that, he says, didn’t really happen in One Direction. They wrote some lovely love songs, but there was a real purpose to ‘Two Of Us ', and how people interpret the message and what it means to them is enormously special to Tomlinson. “I want to be honest as a lyricist,” he says, “and sometimes talk about things that we maybe don’t always talk about. I think it’s important to get those messages out.”

#louis tomlinson #we made it promo #wmi: musikknyheter

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dreamings-free · 5 years

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By Alyssa Nilsen Published: 26.10.19

Going solo is challenging in more ways than just creatively and musically. In a band, you don’t know about all the gears that go into the massive machine you are a part of. Being on your own, it’s all a lot more intricate. “When you’re in a band like One Direction,” Tomlinson says, “we didn’t want for anything. We had everything that we needed.” He knew nothing about things like budget conversations and admits that coming face to face with such issues as a solo artist was a brand new concept for him. The learning curve has been steep, but Tomlinson feels like he’s always been learning as he goes along. “I used to think that I had… I used to get involved creatively in One Direction as well, but now when I look at it in hindsight, it’s nowhere near how much I have to be involved in every single detail.” But challenges also makes success all the more rewarding, though even amazing experiences are different as a solo artist. A few days before our chat, Tomlinson had played a ten-song headline set in Madrid, Spain, his first-ever. “Other than musicians I played with onstage, it’s hard to explain to anyone what just happened,” he smiles, “as opposed to when you’re in a band and you’re all feeling the same thing. But it definitely makes it more rewarding when I look back on the show and I think about my influence on it. I feel like I’ve been leading up to that gig for as long as I’ve been solo.” Another thing he’s currently working towards is the release of his debut solo album. He hopes to have it ut early next year and feel like it will be a relief to have it out and be able to tour with it. The album is mostly finished, all the writing is done and only a few more vocals need to be recorded, but after that, what remains is working out the order of the tracks and other details. Out of the singles put out so far, not many will make it to the album. “The Steve Aoki song [‘Just Hold On ’] is an interesting one ‘cos the melody kinda leans to quite anthemic sounds, so we’re reproducing that to give it a bit more guitar and band-feel,” Tomlinson says, “so that will be on the album in a different version, but other than that, the last three are the only ones that will make it.” And for those eagerly awaiting the debut album, there are more treats on the way. “I’m hoping to release the next single six weeks after ‘We Made It,'” he smiles, “I’ll pretty much try and release music now in the run-up to the album in the new year.”

Leaning back in a comfy chair in the Sony Music offices in central London, Tomlinson is relaxed and cheerful, dressed in comfy all black clothes and chatting intermittently to his label crew. With a direct gaze and a cheeky smile, it’s hard to imagine him ever doubting himself or his own abilities. But when he speaks, there’s a certain vulnerability he’s not afraid of showing. Though experiencing massive success with numerous triumphs, he’s also gone through great losses, heartbreak and grief. And despite his young age and only just starting out as a solo artist, Tomlinson’s songs have unexpected depth and some seriously personal lyrics. The song ‘Two Of Us ’ was written about his late mother Johannah Deakin, who died of Leukemia in December 2016. “I have a bit of a luxury that where I grew we wear our hearts on our sleeve,” he says, “it’s part of our make up, so it has always come naturally to me. But of course, that is a really tender subject, but since I have the luxury of being confident enough to be able to talk about these things, I think it’s also important to put that message out. Especially as a guy as well.” “There was this girl at a meet & greet who had just lost her dad and she shared some really lovely words with me and that experience gives me goosebumps.” Experiences like that, he says, didn’t really happen in One Direction. They wrote some lovely love songs, but there was a real purpose to ‘Two Of Us ', and how people interpret the message and what it means to them is enormously special to Tomlinson. “I want to be honest as a lyricist,” he says, “and sometimes talk about things that we maybe don’t always talk about. I think it’s important to get those messages out.”

( article available in Norwegian here )

#louis #we made it #walls the album #lt tour #article #interview #musikknyheter.no #published:#26.10.19 #solo!louis #wmi press

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ruinedthatfriendship · 5 years

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Heart Attack

A/N: I fully acknowledge that this is kind of dumb but oh well. I promised to post my old fanfics, I did not promise that they would be good.

In which Demi writes a song, Simon has feelings, and it gets very fluffy.

“Demi! Demi!” Marissa was holding her phone up, clearly taking a video as she tried to get her best friend’s attention. “Are you excited to get back to the X Factor?”

Demi rolled her eyes, lying down across her bed with her head propped on one hand. “No,” she returned, turning her face into a pillow to muffle a theatrical screech.

Marissa laughed and ended the video, both of the girls falling silent for several minutes as they focused on their respective phones. They’d decided to spend the day together before Demi caught a flight out to do some pre-taping for the new X Factor season. Auditions wouldn’t start for a few more months, but it was time to get things started.

Demi scrolled through her Twitter absently, noting first the number of random tweets at her about how hot she looked, and then one from Simon Cowell a few weeks ago, a picture of her sticking her tongue out in the dressing rooms captioned, “Brat”. She’d considered replying, but then thought better of it.

“It’s not fair,” she pouted, not really noticing that she’d spoken aloud.

“What’s not?” Marissa asked, sitting up fully to look at her.

Demi rolled her eyes. “I haven’t washed my hair in...like a week. I’m wearing a sweatshirt that I’m pretty sure used to be Mom’s, which she probably stole from Eddie. But I bet I could walk outside right now and get some guy to give me his number.”

Marissa huffed teasingly. “Yeah, Demi, I get it. You’re gorgeous.”

Demi lunged forward and smacked her with a pillow, earning a loud peal of laughter. “Shut up! The point is,” she emphasized with mock annoyance, “that’s all fine if I want some lame guy I don’t care about. But you put me in a room with someone I actually like and I completely turn into…” she trailed off and stuck her tongue out with a gagging noise, using her hand gesture to illustrate her brain turning to mush. “It’s pathetic!”

Marissa looked at her strangely for a few seconds. “Does this have anything to do with Simon Cowell?”

Demi’s reaction might have been comical, if she wasn’t suddenly panicked. She scrambled upright chaotically, sitting up in bed and shoving a pillow out of her way. “What?”

Marissa just shrugged. “I did watch the season, Demi. I would hope you’re aware that you definitely act a little stupid around him sometimes.”

“Jesus Christ!” Demi almost shouted. “That was not--I wasn’t talking about anyone specific! He’s an old man, Marissa! And anyway I’d like to see you do the...stupid auditions cycle and not get stupid after a while.”

Marissa was just watching her with a vaguely amused expression on her face. “Uh huh. Yep, okay, whatever you say, Dems.”

Demi laughed incredulously, hoping the heat she felt in her face wasn’t showing. “What?” she demanded, and shook her head. Nope, nope, nope. “It was a general statement, get your mind out of the gutter!”

Marissa arched a challenging eyebrow. “Sure,” she said disbelievingly, but, mercifully, dropped the subject.

It didn’t matter that her friend was right. It didn’t matter that Simon did make her stupid, that she was forever looking at him and hearing things fall out of her own mouth that she hadn’t given permission. That she’d never much felt a need to dress up for Wilmer unless they went out, but he could make her go through four or five outfits in her dressing room before shows.

It didn’t matter. Nothing could ever happen, not least because he certainly didn’t think much of her. She was a younger sibling, a daughter or niece, a pest bothering him and boosting ratings with her antics. Little brat. And he was so much older than she was. Which Demi didn’t mind whatsoever; age was just a number. But the world would flip, both of their careers could go down in flames, all for the sake of something that would probably never last. Would never start, she reminded herself firmly.

No, when it came to Simon Cowell, her walls would stay firmly up.

Demi quickly forced her brain into professional mode as her phone rang, and she stood up as she answered, walking over to her desk and looking through papers for a list she’d written a few days ago.

“Hello, Demi. Just wanted to check in,” Her producer. She was set to drop a new album soon, and they were just putting the finishing touches on the final songs. “I wanted to confirm that you’re on board with Neon Lights as the first track on the album. I know we’d talked about it, but I don’t know that we got to a consensus?”

Demi sighed, biting her bottom lip as she considered. It was a fine song, there was nothing wrong with setting it to open the album. But something about it didn’t sit right. “I am so sorry,” she sighed into the phone. “I’m gonna be a complete brat right now,” and damn Simon for creeping into her speech patterns, “but I think it needs to go farther down the track list.”

“So what do you want to start with? That’s going to be the first single we release, most likely, so…”

“Ask me tomorrow.” Demi said breathlessly, struck by a sudden inspiration.

“What? Why? If you need some time, that’s fine…”

“I’m going to write it tomorrow,” she replied with conviction that scared even her. “I’m going to write it tomorrow and record it for you when I fly back. Trust me.”

“Demi, I’m not going to say you’re not a brilliant artist, but--”

“Just let me try this! Trust me. If it doesn’t work out, you can put Made In The USA at the top, okay?”

When she got off of the phone, making a face at herself as she hung up, Marissa was staring at her. “Demi, what did you just do?”

“Something stupid,” the singer sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. And maybe it was, but she didn’t like any of her other options. She liked all of the other songs set for the album, but not enough. And she knew she could do this; more than half of them had already been written on her notepad at the judges’ table. Something about the atmosphere was...inspiring. Or someone, her brain whispered helpfully, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Marissa’s.

***

Demi had no intention of breaking the promise she’d made to her team, but it was proving harder than she’d initially thought. Sure, she had plenty of down time on the plane, and in the makeup chair in her dressing room before she was due on the X Factor set, but her brain was stubbornly refusing to get into a song-writing headspace. She’d much rather laugh with Kelly and her makeup artist, scrolling through her phone. She liked Kelly, it was going to be a fun season sitting with her on the panel. But nothing was going to be much fun if she couldn’t figure this out.

It was like a school project, procrastinated on for too long and now with a fearsome deadline looming. She was chewing on the inside of her lip when she finally made it to the set for sound checks, taking her seat next to Simon with a pouting expression. They’d be doing a few promo shots at the judges’ desk, as well as individual backstage interviews, so they had to be lined up and in position.

“What’s wrong, brat?” he asked immediately, noticing her face.

Demi shook her head quickly. “Nothing, I’m just stuck.”

“Stuck?” he queried back, arching an eyebrow in her direction. “What on earth are you talking about?”

She shrugged back, turning away from him as a producer called her name. “Songwriting,” she hissed under her breath as one last explanation before testing out her mic for the video.

She felt Simon lean over, his arm on the back of her chair as usual, and pinch her nose with his other hand. Demi scowled at him, turning the sentence for her sound check into a nasally, “Damn it, Simon!”

She shook her head at him, taking advantage of the lack of cameras and audience watching them to jokingly flip him off. How she’d managed to survive an entire season next to this idiot, she had no idea. And now she was going to do it again.

He was kind of her best friend, sure. And they made fun of one another constantly, always in a contest to one-up the other. But she loved his stupid jokes all the same, his frankly obsessive need to touch her, the warmth of his hugs. The way he always seemed to understand her better than anyone else. She loved him, but there was no way she’d ever tell him that. They flirted, sure, and they’d had their moments, enough that her tape at the finals last year was a compilation of the two of them, but it meant nothing. Walls up, Demi.

She turned her chair slightly, looking at him. Damn it.

He chose that moment to notice her gaze, turning to look at her with an amused expression. “What?” When she didn’t immediately reply, he smirked. “You’re staring, darling.”

Demi smacked his chest, laughing, and made a point of redirecting her attention. Still, she felt a pang. I don’t want to fall for you. I don’t want to fall in love, she thought wildly, and then, too late.

This was just a fast track to a broken heart and she knew it. I don’t need this right now.

But he was right there, whether she wanted him to be or not, and they were about to do this whole thing again for a new season. There would be no escaping, she’d definitely be sitting right up next to him again after the ratings of the past season, and some dramatic part of her wondered if her heart could take it.

Because she was Simon’s best friend, too, she was pretty sure. He had an awful habit of treating her like a sort of ‘guy best friend’, frequently regaling her with stories of his latest womanizing escapades and occasionally poking at her for advice. It made her want to scream, sometimes. I don’t want to tell you how to make that skinny, beautiful blonde fall in love with you. I want it to be me. But it’s never going to be me.

At some point, Simon had stood up and wandered off to chat with the producers, leaving Demi at the desk lost in her thoughts and Paulina on the end, similarly quiet. Demi was tracing her finger absently across her notepad, her thoughts flitting wildly between the pressure she’d put on herself to write a number-one single by tonight, and Simon. He was always in the back of her brain, and sometimes she hated him for it. Hated herself, for not being able to put up an effective wall. Or maybe it was just that nothing worked on him. He could always strip away whatever she tried to use for a front, in every situation.

You make me stupid, she thought, remembering Marissa’s words. I don’t want to fall in love with you. But he killed her every time he took her hand. Gave her some unidentified ‘glow’ her sisters had even commented on, though they hadn’t named him as a cause. Demi knew.

Why am I not good enough? I’m right in front of you…

“Demi!” A pair of familiar hands landed on her shoulders, shaking her, and Demi jumped wildly in her seat, yelping, as Simon burst out laughing behind her.

“Oh my god!”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, not sounding very sorry at all. “But you looked so focused while I was coming back over here...I couldn’t help it.” He subsided into laughter again.

Demi’s heart was still racing from the adrenaline, but she still couldn’t silence the track in the back of her brain, quietly pointing out that she loved seeing him laughing. “Damn it, Simon, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Gave me a heart attack. I’m going to have a heart attack. Heart attack.

“Demi? Demi?”

Demi blinked, shaking herself back into the present. “What?”

Simon smirked at her, turning his chair to face her on the panel. “Look, I know I’m gorgeous, but you were staring again, brat.”

Demi blinked at him, still not really listening. He’d just given her the perfect metaphor. “Uh-huh. Hey, give me that pen!”

Startled by the non sequitur, Simon allowed her to pull the pen he was holding away from him. He watched as she uncapped it hastily and started writing something on her pad, the scrawl messy and frenzied. Putting my defense...he made out before she squealed and covered it with her hand.

“No!”

“What are you doing, brat?”

She shrugged. “Writing.”

Simon made a dive for the pad, only for her to yank it to her chest, squeaking her protests.

“Simon! Stop! It’s not ready yet.”

“What do you mean, not ready?” he demanded, laughing at her.

Her dark eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint. “Wait and see! It’ll be released soon, anyway.”

She wasn’t sure if she’d imagined Simon’s eyes lighting up. “New song?” he asked her, relaxing back into his seat. “Okay, brat, I can be patient. For you.”

***

Written in one night and recorded in one take, the song dropped as a single just before they were set to start the first round of auditions. Of course, episodes wouldn’t start airing until later, and Demi imagined there would be some mention of her new album made when they cut together the packages to introduce the judges. For now, though, she was just in her dressing room backstage, getting the finishing touches to her makeup put on. Brand new season, clean slate. New talent, new groupings, and this time she wouldn’t be the first mentor out of the competition.

There was still almost a half hour before they needed to be on the set, so Demi buckled on her shoes and walked out into the hallway, finding first Kelly, and then Paulina in the green room. They made small talk for a little while to kill the time, Demi becoming more and more comfortable with the women. It was going to be fun working with them, she thought. They’d certainly make for an exciting panel.

“Where’s Simon?” Kelly asked suddenly. “He should be here.”

“In his dressing room, I think,” Paulina replied in her accented voice. “I can--”

“I’ll go get him,” Demi offered quickly, not entirely sure why she’d just spoken. Barriers, Demi. Or not.

She didn’t notice the look her two fellow judges shared as she stood and made her way out of the green room, involuntarily smoothing imaginary lint off of her dress. She knocked a few times on his door, getting no response. She could hear something getting knocked over inside, though, and figured she may as well let herself in.

Simon didn’t notice her at first. His back was to her, righting a water bottle on his desk, and he was wearing a pair of headphones.

“Simon!” she called loudly, finally forcing him to turn around. Laughing at him a little, she pointed to his phone. “What were you listening to?” Her eyebrows waggled, suggestively teasing.

“Nothing,” he returned quickly, sliding the headphones off and standing, a bit hastily, Demi thought. “What do you need, brat?”

Demi pouted at him. “Now you have to tell me!”

“No,” Simon returned briskly. “Now--Demi!”

She made a dive toward him for his phone, still laughing, and pouted helplessly when he held it above her head. “But Simon, I’m short.”

“Precisely.” He said dryly. “And nosy. And gobby. And--”

She jumped, grabbing at his arm and stealing the phone before he could react.

“Demi!” he groaned in dismay, his hand dropping to his side as he watched her with his cell phone in her hands.

She turned it on, suddenly not quite sure what to do with the information confronting her. Simon stood in front of her almost awkwardly, crossing his arms over his chest, while she blinked rapidly at his phone in her hands. “Aw, Simon. You were listening to my music?”

He shrugged, holding his hand out for the phone. “That’s your new single, isn’t it? I do have to keep on top of these things.”

“Uh-huh.” Demi nodded, relinquishing the phone back to him. “Well? Worth the wait?”

He looked puzzled for a moment, before his expression cleared. “Oh, was that what you were writing at the promo taping? After…” he trailed off suddenly.

“After what?” Demi prompted, curious again. “After what, Simon?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head abruptly.

“Simon,” Demi countered sternly. “Come on, tell me!”

He narrowed his eyes, studying her, almost calculating. She shifted nervously under his gaze, trying to guess at what he was thinking. He looked like he was debating something, mixed with a glimmer of...hope? Demi wondered suddenly if he’d managed to arrive at the conclusion that she’d written it about him, nerves twisting her stomach. God, she hoped not. The inevitable polite rejection would be horrifyingly awkward.

“After I scared you,” he murmured, looking suddenly uncertain and somehow smaller than the Simon Cowell she was familiar with. “And you said…”

She could hear her own voice echoing in her head, sounding far-off like an old playback tape. Damn it, Simon, you almost gave me a heart attack! Demi raised an eyebrow. She should have known he’d figure her out. Still, she wasn’t going to help him toward the painful conclusion.

“This is stupid,” Simon muttered suddenly, turning away from her with his hands on his hips. “Was someone looking for me? Is that why you came in here?”

Demi blinked. That wasn’t exactly the reaction she’d been expecting. And he sounded hurt, somehow, and it was breaking her heart. And even if she was about to help him break it further, she couldn’t let it go. Not now. “What’s stupid? I don’t know what you mean.”

Simon huffed and rolled his eyes, walking to the door. “Forget about it, brat.”

“No!” she burst out, planting her feet and standing obstinately in the middle of his dressing room. “You can’t just leave. Come on, Simon, tell me what you were going to say!”

“Actually I can, darling,” he returned, amused. “It’s my dressing room.” And with that, the obstinate British judge left her standing alone in the middle of the room.

***

“Do you live alone?” Simon was asking an unfortunately tone deaf contestant. “No one around to tell you to stop?”

“Simon!” Demi hissed in reprimand, but it was half hearted. Not only was he right, but she was preoccupied. She wasn’t going to let him get away with just shutting her out, and if she had to revert to elementary school note passing, so be it.

She slipped a sheet of her notepad under the edge of his hand, meeting his eyes with a shrug while the contestant slinked off in defeat. What were you going to say????

“Never you mind, brat,” he muttered back.

She turned her chair to face him, stubbornly staring at him. “I’m not going to let it go, Simon, you know that. I will make your life hell until you just tell me… oh, seriously, Simon! It’s obviously bothering you, come on, talk to me!”

“Fine,” he said briskly, turning back to her with a completely closed off expression. “Here you go, Demi: what inspired you to write that song? And now will you forget about it?”

Insecurity. All at once, she had a name for the unreadable expression that was always flashing across his face. Doubt, like he didn’t know what she was doing with him any more than she knew why he bothered with her.

And it gave her enough of a fool’s hope to lean over toward him again while they waited for the next contestant to enter the stage. Beside her, Kelly was giving her a strange look, but Demi ignored her. She had her hands braced, one on the desk and one on the back of Simon’s chair, and put her lips next to his ear. “I wrote it for you,” she whispered, feeling her heart racing in her throat as she made her confession.

Her own insecurities were wiped away in an instant, Simon turning to face her so quickly that he almost hit her head. He was wearing one of the brightest smiles she’d ever seen on his face, and she gave up on nervously biting her lips to return the gesture. “Really?” he whispered back to her, completely ignoring the woman on stage answering Paulina’s questions.

Demi gestured pointedly with her head to the stage once, but nodded at him once more before refocusing her attentions, still wearing a brilliant smile. Nothing was properly set yet, but it was a start. And when Simon carefully took her hand under the table, carrying on his critiques smoothly all the while, she knew her split-second decision to rewrite the single had been worth it.

And when she opened her phone later to a text from Marissa, it was a link to a slightly-blurry photo of the two of them, smiling at each other stupidly, making very obvious heart eyes at one another. Girl, what did you do?????????

Damn. She’d completely forgotten how many eyes, and cell phone cameras, would have been on them all day. .

Sitting on the couch in Simon’s dressing room, heels kicked off and waiting for him so they could leave together, she smiled again. Something stupid, she texted back first, as per the old joke. Then, but worth it.

#dimon #demi lovato #simon cowell #fanfiction #really fucking old fanfiction #gotta love my 2013 dumbass self writing dimon

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omdaily10 · 6 years

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PLEASE DON'T LET ME GO

Writers: Olly Murs, Claude Kelly and Steve Robson

Producers: FutureCut, Steve Robson

Album: Olly Murs

Release Date: 29/08/2010

B-Side: 'This One's For The Girls' (Writers: Olly Murs, James Bryan, George Astasio, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave / Producers: The Invisible Men)

Chart Positions: #1 (UK), #2 (Scotland), #5 (Ireland), #31 (Belgium), #35 (Slovakia)

Certifications: Gold (UK, 400k)

And so, from here, we begin our story. Or rather, we begin eight months before that on Sunday, 13th December 2009. 16.2 million watched the final of that year's series of ITV talent show The X Factor, as Olly Murs, a 26 year old call centre worker from Witham, Essex, finished second place in an epic battle for a multi-million pound recording contract and instant superstardom, as affable Geordie with voice of an angel, Joe McElderry, took the grand prize home (except the other crucial element afforded to the winner, namely that year's Christmas number one, with a cookie cutter cover version of Miley Cyrus' hit 'The Climb', was denied of him by a group of angry hardcore rock fans downloading a 15 year old track by Rage Against The Machine. So, if anything, you might say it was a dodged bullet).

X Factor history, and reality TV generally, had taught us up to that point, that beyond the smoke, fanfare and mirrors of the climaxes of these shows, only in very select cases did a long-term career come for the finalists - winners or not. True, Leona Lewis had become the global, worldwide star the show had long been trying to make, and previous series’ finalists JLS and Alexandra Burke had emerged to chart topping singles, mass hysteria and adoration. But most of them usually wound up dropped after the inevitable third or fourth single/difficult second album flopped, to be found thereafter performing on the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry, or doing panto opposite Orville the duck and disgraced comedian Justin Lee Collins.

Most of them didn't go onto be, as Olly set out in his mission statement on that first audition, 'to be famous, to sell records, and be an international superstar'. But even though he’d been in the front rooms of millions of viewers for a whole three months, no one seemed confident that this cheeky but charming Essex lad was going to become one of the biggest British male solo artists of his generation. Simon Cowell, who was Olly’s mentor in the ‘Over 25s’ category on the show, said that they had gone in with a mission to win. Speaking in 2010, Cowell said: ‘When you’ve lost, words don’t mean an awful lot … And then the next day, I had [Epic Records’ boss] Nick Raphael, who’d signed JLS on the phone, saying “I want Olly”. Perfect.’ Speaking that same year, Nick said: ‘When you meet him, you like him, and like how he is around other people, and it’s very hard for us to find artists who you can like easily.’

Olly finally signed the dotted line on his £1m record deal with Epic in February 2010, just before embarking on The X Factor national arena tour that all the contestants of the previous series appeared on. Nick, along with his long time collaborative A&R partner Jo Charrington, who’d overseen the development and launch not only of JLS, but also Jay-Z, Another Level, Blue, Paloma Faith, and then later on, Sam Smith and 5 Seconds Of Summer, envisaged Olly being his own artist, and to appeal to as broad an audience as possible by taking an active role in his own music and artistry, and not just releasing the stock album of covers on Mother’s Day to remind Doris in Leighton Buzzard of who he was before she moved on with the rest of The X Factor’s audience to the next thing.

Olly was quickly dispatched to writing sessions with several teams and established songwriters and producers. Among these were two men who have been a part of over 50% of the songs we’re going to meet along our journey through his career: New York born and bred superhit writer, Claude Kelly, and top pop producer Steve Robson. Between them, they’d written or produced countless chart-topping singles and albums for everyone, from Whitney Houston to Take That.

youtube

Whilst the search for the sound of his first musical offerings to the world got underway, the cool but contemporary likes of Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson had been topping the charts, and a lilting, reggae influenced pop song by an unknown Australian writer, called ‘Feel Free’, was demoed in early sessions. Although unreleased to this day, sources suggested at the time that it was not a million miles away from Johnson’s own ‘Sitting, Waiting, Wishing’ or Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’. Olly immediately knew that this was a sound that reflected his personality – upbeat, fun and laidback – and that this was the direction he wanted to go in.

As an introductory record, ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ might seem like a strange choice with hindsight, certainly compared to later records of Olly’s we’ll meet, being as it is a plea to a former lover not to end things with the hapless, lovelorn soul in the song who’s ‘heart is b-b-beating double time’. Although it does carry a lot of the tropes key to a debut release by a mainstream pop artist. It has an irresistible, catchy chorus with a strong melody. And, at a time when the charts were full of EDM and futuristic, bombastic artists that were worshipped like other worldly creatures, it immediately stood out when it came on the radio.

And then there’s the video. The ‘gate-crashing a party as introduction to a brand-new artist’ trope of pop videos has been utilised for decades – remember the Spice Girls’ video for ‘Wannabe’? At a posh summer garden party at a sprawling country pile, Olly turns up on a Moped adorned in a Harrington jacket, grandad shirt, shades and trilby. If Terry McCann, the title character of 80s TV show Minder had been a popstar, one imagines that Olly in the ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ video would’ve been the end result.

It’s a clever angle for his first video, because it establishes him outside of his telly roots enough as the relatable underdog taking his first steps into the sprawling country piles and excess that represents the pop industry. It was very different to what was out there, some more toffy nosed might say it was uninvited, but over the song’s duration, he gradually charms its guests (read: we the listeners) into acceptance. Which upon its release at the end of summer 2010, is precisely what Olly achieved with this single. Locked in a chart battle for number one with Katy Perry, one of the biggest and most outlandish popstars of all in 2010, and as big as pop music got at that time – and also crucially, the polar opposite of Olly – sales for the single went through the roof, and it landed straight in at number one in the UK.

For a first single, it does what an introduction should do – announce the artist in just over three minutes, but to leave just enough to have the listener wanting more. A lot of the sensibilities in ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ continue to be common features of what makes an Olly Murs record instantly recognisable, as we shall see in the coming weeks. And with ten weeks on the chart, and his first gold record to his name, as well as hitting the charts in four other countries, it was clear that the public wouldn’t be letting go of him anytime soon.

OTHER THOUGHTS

‘This One’s For The Girls’, the song’s B-side, is a fan favourite, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a good time party track celebrating his love of ‘the girls all around the world’, with a sound more than a little indebted to that of early Jackson 5. Jon Shave, who’d previously worked with top pop producer Brian Higgins at Xenomania, and two former members of 00s indie band Orson had a big hand in the production of the song.

#olly murs #olly murs daily #om daily #10th anniversary #reviews #please don't let me go #2010 #this one's for the girls #claude kelly #steve robson

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bakagamieru · 7 years

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At the end of 2015, One Direction fans around the world were feeling sad and uncertain. It was the beginning of One Direction’s hiatus, and while the guys claimed it would only be an 18-month break, Directioners had a sinking feeling that there wasn’t actually a plan for the guys to come back together in the foreseeable future.

Shortly after that, Zayn Malik (who left the group on March 25, 2015) delivered the first of many One Direction solo projects with the sultry and (scandalous) “Pillowtalk” on Jan. 26, 2016. Although he was already not part of the group, it was the first time fans heard a 1Der do his own thing — and it was just the beginning.

A year and a half later, all five One Direction guys (Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne) have released solo material, with Horan becoming the third to release a full-length album, Flicker, this Friday (Oct. 20) -- also the same day that Payne released his second official single, “Bedroom Floor.”

When they were a unit, the quintet was able to go in, well, one direction musically. But since they've been given the individual freedom to try whatever genre they wanted, it's been evident that they actually all had very different aspirations for the kind of music they wanted to make — or at least where their voices best fit, whether it's R&B or classic rock.

The first indication of where the guys wanted to take their careers genre-wise occurred before 1D was even a thing, when they each auditioned for The X Factor UK in 2010. As Billboard previously pointed out, their audition songs were comparable to the music they're making on their own -- and without the voices or even just opinions of four other members, each guy has really been able to hone in on their specific sounds and skills.

Inherently, all five still carry a pop influence in their music, but have each found a unique lane. Here’s how all five members have ultimately found their own direction.

Zayn Malik — R&B

Although Malik’s early departure from the group hinted that his music would also be a departure from the pop-rock hits One Direction became known for, the booming bass and NSFW lyrics (like "In the bed all day, bed all day, bed all day/ Fucking and fighting" of his debut single "Pillowtalk" made it very clear that his PG-related days were over. And while Malik’s voice worked flawlessly for the belt-out moments of a 1D classic, doing things his own way resulted on his debut album Mind of Mine in an edge we hadn’t ever seen from him before, especially on the scornful “BeFoUr” and the haunting “iT’s YoU."

Since Mind of Mine, Malik has collaborated with Taylor Swift, PartyNextDoor and Sia, each of whom has allowed him to flex his falsetto, as well as try out different sounds, like the tropical vibe on the PND team-up “Still Got Time.” His most recent release “Dusk Til Dawn” (with Sia) has a building melody and booming chorus that makes for perhaps Malik’s most dynamic release yet, also further showing that pop-influenced R&B is where his voice was meant to be from the start.

Niall Horan — Singer/songwriter

Horan was the most soft-spoken member of One Direction, with his solos providing a sweet, soothing balance to Malik and Styles’ power moments. He honed in on the pleasantness of his voice with his solo debut single, “This Town,” an entirely acoustic track that highlighted just how pure his vocals can be -- and with his new album, Flicker, he ran with that simplicity.

Putting soft guitar behind a voice like Horan’s is exactly the way to help him shine, especially when it involves heartfelt lyrics like "I forget you're not here when I close my eyes/ Do you still think of me sometimes?” Horan has stuck with 1D producer Julian Bunetta for his solo material, which has really helped him highlight the best parts of his voice. But while there are other slow melodies like “This Town” on Flicker (the title track, as well as album-enders “Fire Away” and “You and Me”), there’s also plenty of riskier digressions like the sexy “Slow Hands” — which earned Horan his first No. 1 on the Pop Songs chart — and the country-tinged Maren Morris collaboration “Seeing Blind."

Upbeat tracks like “Since We’re Alone” make it pretty safe to argue that Horan has stayed closest to the wholesome One Direction vibe, especially the material on the group's latter two albums. But rather than trying to achieve every special moment 1D had, Horan has stuck with a tone he can really drive home, creating special moments of his own.

Louis Tomlinson — EDM-pop

Less than two months after Horan surprise-dropped “This Town,” Tomlinson revealed a Steve Aoki collaboration, “Just Hold On” — a song that was almost even more unexpected, simply because EDM was a genre One Direction had never even waded into in their five years. Like Horan, Tomlinson has a bit of a softer tone to his voice, but also has the capability to belt when he wants. His voice pretty seamlessly intertwined with an electronic topline melody on “Just Hold On," and passionate screams in the chorus also allowed him to show off a little.

Tomlinson carried the electronic influence with him on his second single, “Back To You,” enlisting Digital Farm Animals to produce and frequent dance collaborator Bebe Rexha to split vocals. The production is a little more stripped back than Aoki’s thumping track, with the bouncy beat helping to bring more attention to Tomlinson’s voice. He finally got the full spotlight on his most recent release, “Just Like You,” which meets his previous two singles in the middle, showcasing his vocal smoothness over an electro-pop bass line (or drop) — and that that’s where he feels most comfortable musically, at least for now.

Harry Styles — Classic rock

Any Mick Jagger comparisons Styles may have faced during the One Direction era have basically come to fruition, since he debuted with the poignant power ballad “Sign of the Times” back in April. The rock ballad spawned plenty of other classic comparisons, with the climb of the chorus mirroring David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” and Styles’ wailing finale bringing Foreigner’s "I Want to Know What Love Is” to mind. As mentioned, Styles and Malik were the two primary power-moment 1D guys -- and Styles hasn't lost that prowess in his own music, but now it's set to heavier guitar that he matches with vocals more risqué than he attempted in the 1D days.

Harry's self-titled album brings both his vocals and vintage instrumentation to the forefront, yet it feels less kitschy and more raw than any such One Direction track. The classic rock sound makes it possible for him to be more fearless in his delivery, which is displayed in feistier tracks like the thrashing "Kiwi", and more intimate feels like those in acoustic opener "Meet Me in the Hallway." Styles was always a standout vocalist in One Direction, but the rough-around-the-edges sound of his solo material almost feels like he has been reborn into another era -- one he was always supposed to be part of.

And to top off the vocals, Styles sports some seriously rock star suits while performing. Talk about owning the rock vibes.

Liam Payne — Hip-pop

Unlike Tomlinson’s trio of EDM-influenced pop hits, Payne’s three releases are all rather different, so it's hard to tell exactly which direction Payne is going to take musically. But if he wants to use the metrics of his debut single “Strip That Down” to gauge where he should go from his first release, the hip-hop/pop crossover feel isn’t necessarily a bad lane. The Quavo-featuring track recently took over Horan's "Slow Hands" for the top spot on the Pop Songs chart, proving that going in a racier direction both lyrically and musically was definitely not a bad thing for Liam.

"You know, I used to be in 1D (now I'm out, free)/ People want me for one thing (that's not me)/ I'm not changing, the way, that I (used to be),” Payne sings in “Strip That Down” — and actually, the 24-year-old’s subsequent releases hold true to that sentiment. While “Strip That Down” was a bold move into a more hip-hop sound, Payne dabbled in dance on the Zedd team-up “Get Low” and most recent single “Bedroom Floor” highlights his falsetto through a combination of pop, EDM and hip-hop. Payne has the most eclectic solo repertoire so far, and with his malleable vocals, he’s been able to experiment with where his sound best fits. As for where he’ll end up overall, we’ll wait and see, but clearly he’s doing things right for now.

If there’s one thing that the One Direction solo endeavors have done for all five guys, it’s reminding the world that they’re each individually talented in their own right, and there’s a reason they were all part of one of the most successful boy bands of all time. Sure, a group full of young, adorable British men is a big sell in its itself, but it’s ultimately the guys' voices that won people over -- and now, they’re each getting a chance to do what they want with their talents, with their individual styles remaining distinct enough that they really can each have their own direction.

#one direction #solo direction #media #billboard

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normanisource · 7 years

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Ally Brooke Hernandez, 24, has a two-tone thing happening, with a black leather hat and skirt paired with a fuzzy pink sweater and pumps. Normani Kordei, 21, has accented herself with huge chrome hoop earrings and silver-dipped nails. Lauren Jauregui, 21, wears a lacy boho-chic blouse and carries her puppy, a rescue mutt named Leo. Then there’s Dinah Jane Hansen, 20, who peels off a trippy floral jacket to reveal a bright yellow tee that reads, in big block letters, “I’M A RAY OF FUCKING SUNSHINE.”

Fifth Harmony used to tour malls like this: shopped from town to town, crammed between kiosks for tchotchkes and lit by department store signs. That was in 2013, less than a year after its lineup was now-famously chosen by Simon Cowell and Antonio “L.A.” Reid flipping through the headshots of X Factor contestants on the verge of washing out. The teens twice tried to christen themselves, but the first name (LYLAS, for “Love You Like a Sister”) was already in use, and the judges hated the second (1432, pager code for “I love you, too”), so Cowell asked viewers to submit ideas online. Rebranded Fifth Harmony, they took third place and stepped off the show into a joint deal with Reid’s Epic Records and Cowell’s Syco Music.

But those are all tales of an earlier era, before 2016, the group’s biggest year yet -- and the one that ended in shambles when, exhausted and unfulfilled, 5H lost Camila Cabello to a solo career. Last year’s 7/27 debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, propelled by “Work From Home,” the first top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit from a girl group in nearly a decade. But the acrimonious December split made even bigger news, with 5H accusing Cabello of quitting through her reps, and Cabello denying the accusations. It was... awkward.

“Try experiencing it,” retorts Jauregui when I volunteer as much. The rest of the group, as it so often does, rushes in to complete her thought. “I was literally going to say that,” Kordei quickly adds. “I get to sleep at night knowing we did everything in our power as friends, bandmates and human beings” to make it work. Then Hernandez: “You can’t change people.” And finally, Hansen: “Let’s just say we’re in a better place now -- there are no secrets in this circle.”

Jauregui admits she nearly threw up from anxiety before the downsized 5H’s first performance, at the People’s Choice Awards in January. But today, the members are quick to (literally) high-five each other as they talk about their ongoing 7/27 Tour, the first in which they’ve built in real downtime, and a third album, due later this year on Epic. “Honestly, in this very moment, we could not be happier,” says Hernandez with more assertiveness than the Pollyanna-ish cheer that’s her trademark. Their first new single as a foursome, “Down” -- a neon-edged dancehall bubbler featuring a warmly romantic verse from Gucci Mane (“Got me showing off my [engagement] ring like I’m Jordan”) -- reached No. 42 on the Hot 100. Meanwhile, Cabello’s “Crying in the Club,” which entered the charts two weeks earlier, peaked at No. 47. Both are still active on the Mainstream Top 40 list.

“Crying in the Club” is a wide-screen, Sia-style ballad and “Down” is an airy dance track, but the two have more in common than just a chart trajectory: They’re both grown-up songs for longtime professional “girls” now expected to be seductive women. The 5H video, which racked up 21.6 million views in two weeks, even seems to offer some sly commentary on this, with the group pulling up to a seedy motel and writhing on beds in separate rooms. But the women have come up with their own narrative for the lyrics, which came to them from “Work From Home” co-creators Ammo and DallasK, and include “You the type that I could bake for/’Cause baby, you know how to take that cake” -- as well as the chorus, “Long as you’re holding me down/I’m going to keep loving you down.”

“We dedicate it to each other,” says Hansen. “We’ve been together five years, so that message is powerful to us. We’ve been there for each other through ups and downs.” Hernandez hits her with an “Amen.”

The single is only a slice of what’s to come, because for the first time, 5H is co-writing its songs -- over half, in fact, of those destined for the new album. Since January, it has been holding songwriting camps between tour stops, mostly at Windmark Recording, just two miles from here. The group typically breaks into pairs, then takes turns with that day’s writers and producers like 5H alums Monsters & Strangerz and pop and R&B producers Harmony Samuels (Ariana Grande) and Sebastian Kole (Alessia Cara).

“It’s not like they came in at the end and started riffing,” says Leah Haywood of Dreamlab, which has two songs on the album. “We sat and wrote verses together, because they’re empowered women who want to be pushing the agenda.” Justin Bieber’s go-to hook man Poo Bear, who worked with Skrillex on a 5H session, adds, “I was pretty blown away. They were hungry and excited and seemed like they had a serious new point to prove.”

Those collaborators create “safe spaces,” says Jauregui, where they can try ideas without fear of judgment. But the world outside isn’t so cushy. Plenty of popular girl groups have lost members and carried on, but none have found more success. En Vogue withered commercially without Dawn Robinson. Destiny’s Child hit peak sales just before LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson were ousted. And the one Spice Girls album that followed the departure of Geri Halliwell was an abject flop.

One Direction provides a hopeful example -- Made in the A.M. handily outsold its predecessor even without Zayn Malik. But the industry is perhaps kinder to boy bands. As much as its music (and videos) might be maturing, 5H is dedicating itself to an idea almost radical in its innocence: that four pop stars are better off as a single group -- albeit with a name that, at this point, feels a bit silly. “The fans,” quips Hernandez, “are our fifth member.”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose 15-year-old daughter Simone is “pretty tight” with Hansen, says 5H is “aspirational to so many young girls around the world.” He adds, “Once the drama [of Cabello’s exit] settles, instead of looking at it as a devastating loss, I look at it as an amazing opportunity for growth.”

We’re now inside, aprons on, at The Gourmandise School of Sweets & Savories. The women chat about how much they love SZA’s Ctrl as they pioneer new ways to Snapchat themselves, chopping scallions for quesadillas, charring tandoori-style chicken wings and deep-frying homemade potato chips. Overseen by a chef named Jamie, they share kitchen duties with an almost psychic ease -- except for the cookies. The plan is for everyone to pitch in on a batch of the classic chocolate-chip variety, and that’s how it starts. But then Jauregui asks for white chocolate, Hansen requests pretzels, and Hernandez wants her Texas pecans (she’s from San Antonio). Soon one mixing bowl becomes four, and Kordei is in the pantry foraging hazelnuts, Rice Krispies and almond extract.

It’s a cute metaphor for how 5H’s members are cultivating their independence not only from their corporate minders but from one another. It’s also woefully inadequate in addressing Jauregui’s personal journey during the last few months, starting with a declaration she defiantly slid into an open letter to Trump voters, which she wrote for Billboard in November: “I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman, and I am so proud of it ... I am proud to feel the whole spectrum of my feelings, and I will gladly take the label of ‘bitch’ and ‘problematic’ for speaking my mind.”

In March, Jauregui shared photos from a November “coming-out” shoot, as photographer Nicole Cartolano characterized it to MTV, with her then-girlfriend Lucy Vives (daughter of Colombian singer Carlos Vives). Her sexual identity has since cropped up in her music. Jauregui briefly made an appearance on the Hot 100 as a guest on Halsey’s “Strangers,” which, as a duet about an it’s-complicated same-sex romance, has inspired more than a few think pieces.

Jauregui’s openness speaks not only to the accepting nature of 5H but also to the potential for a mainstream girl group in an era where many minorities feel under attack. 5H is still a place for purity rings. Hernandez is wearing a “TRUE LOVE WAITS” band. She and Kordei identify as Christian, while Hansen is Mormon. But all insist Jauregui’s expression is “supported.” And Jauregui, who believes in “the universe and a god source, like an energy,” seems content with this. But asked if she would be comfortable singing about a relationship with a woman in a 5H song, she says she doesn’t know, “because it has to do with me personally. It doesn’t speak for everyone in the group, which is its own entity as an artist. That’s the whole reason for doing your own thing.”

Kordei has recently added a new chapter to her story, too. She competed on Dancing With the Stars this past spring, returning to a childhood passion. “I grew up dancing competitively and being in pageants, and my grandma made all my costumes and dresses. I remember watching the show on the couch with her, and she’d pause the TV to create sketches based off what she saw,” she says. Kordei and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, finished third, which is all the more impressive when you consider that for the first three weeks she flew to the Los Angeles tapings direct from 5H’s Asia tour, popping melatonin on the plane and chugging coffee (a new habit) before doing the cha-cha.

Hernandez recently dropped a summery song with DJ duo Lost Kings and A$AP Ferg. She also clocked a writing session with Christian country-folk singer Cindy Morgan and touts the acting career she plans to launch this year. Hansen has an unreleased RedOne cut featuring Fetty Wap and French Montana, and she loves tennis and jokes about becoming a volleyball star. “I’m at a place where I’m continuing to identify myself,” she says. In other words: find her part in what could become a multidisciplinary 5H empire.

“Last year, we all learned a lesson about mental health and making sure you step away from something. It just makes this stronger,” says Jauregui. “Fifth Harmony is the home base,” offers Kordei, “where we always come back.” “Yasss,” says Hernandez.

Of course, when your break from work is more work, there isn’t much room for, like, life. They all describe their days as a “blur,” and Hansen says she doesn’t know “what vacation means.” For those who keep asking: No, Kordei still hasn’t had a chance to go on that date with DWTS’ Bonner Bolton. And in a quiet moment in the kitchen, Hernandez confesses that there’s nothing she wants more than to get married. But the women don’t even have homes apart from their families -- the houses would sit empty.

It was only 14 months ago, in the middle of my interview with the group for its first Billboard cover, that the same four sitting here broke down in tears detailing the extent of their fatigue and stress. “Jesus Christ, dark times,” recalls Jauregui, and they didn’t let up. The same day Cabello’s exit was announced, there was a leak of what seemed to be a recording of Jauregui telling Hernandez the band was treated like “literal slaves.” “I don’t know where that [audio] came from,” says Jauregui, “but that’s what the game does to you sometimes: runs you dry.” But it was a bit more than that.

“We were little girls coming off of a TV show and had a team of people trying to sculpt us into something we weren’t,” says Hansen. “They took advantage, like, ‘Get in there and record this, you thing,’ ” says Jauregui.

“If you’re told you can’t do something when there’s a creative desire to do it, that’s depressing,” says Geri Horner -- nee Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice -- who just released her first single in 12 years. “Spice Girls always wrote our own stuff, but I can relate to that.”

The long road to liberation began with 5H hiring outspoken music lawyer Dina LaPolt at the end of 2015. “I sat the girls in a hotel conference room and for five hours educated them on trademarks, copyrights and rights of publicity,” says LaPolt, who soon helped secure them new management with the preeminent firm Maverick (Madonna, U2, Miley Cyrus). “Then I educated them about every agreement they signed, which [were] the worst I’ve ever seen in the music business.”

LaPolt successfully transferred the Fifth Harmony trademark from Cowell to the group, meaning the women now own the name, along with the right to control how it is used and to profit from any deals. (The agreement -- signed in April 2016, months ahead of Cabello’s exit -- doesn’t name Cabello in the “Fifth Harmony Partnership.” “I don’t represent Camila,” is all LaPolt will say.) She then renegotiated 5H’s contract with Epic, which she characterized as “a very adversarial” process.

LaPolt and 5H stress that the group’s relationship with Epic is now good. The women count among their “saviors” the label’s senior vp A&R Chris Anokute, who came onboard near the end of making 7/27. (Reid left Epic in May amid sexual-harassment allegations.) “We raised our voices,” says Hansen, “and to have someone in our corner like Chris, who believes in us, is the most important element to make the wheels go.”

Which allows 5H to meet the challenges of being Women of Pop in the late 20-teens. Rihanna, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez and Lorde have all shown how much artistry, agency and album-building matter. Basically, the band needs to pursue the authenticity Cabello secured by going it alone. The challenge is not only doing that in a group, but also while relying on familiar themes, like girl power, diversity, body positivity and inclusion.

Jauregui is the first to admit she was scared about 5H’s future without Cabello. “We’d put blood, sweat and tears -- and birthdays and funerals we missed -- into this thing,” she says. “It’s our livelihoods and our families.’ This is the train, and now you’re like, ‘Is the conductor going to come through with the coals, or are we left here to die?’ ”

Hernandez says there were “many therapy sessions.” Hansen, at least, quit worrying when they released their first press photo as a quartet and everyone, including Ellen DeGeneres, started editing themselves into the frame, “trying to recruit themselves into the squad.” Which raises the question: Have they considered bringing in a new member? They answer in unison: “Heeeell naaaw!”

#normani kordei #normani hamilton #fifth harmony #5h #all #billboard article #dinah jane #lauren jauregui #ally brooke #2017

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louisfeatharry · 7 years

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‘No Payne No Gain’ - Full Rollacoaster Magazine Transcript

Last year, LIAM PAYNE had a conversation with Justin Bieber. He doesn’t usually do this sort of thing. There’s a shop Liam frequents in Los Angeles. Whenever he sees one of Will Smith’s kids or a Kardashian, he feels too self-conscious to introduce himself. “There’s still that little boy inside of me,” he says. With Bieber, it was different.

Like each of the select bands who go through their boy-to-man rites of passage in full public glare, Liam at 23 is a disarming mix of confidence, knowledge and conviviality wrapped up in a frightened canary let out of its cage. Sometimes he’s the boy at the bus stop. Sometimes he drops in reflexive anecdotes about his dealings with Donald Trump. No one understands Bieber’s experiences with quite the same clarity or from quite the same timeframe as Liam and his four One Direction buddies.

“Obviously [Bieber]’s struggled a lot through the way the world looked upon him,” Liam says. “I don’t feel sorry for him,” he continues, “he’s a great guy, inside there’s a really good heart. I said, look, the difference between me and you is that I had four different boys going through the same thing to look to. He didn’t have that.” Quite out of character, Liam Payne reached out a hand to his peer. “I said to him, listen, take my number and any time you want to have a chat, let me know because I’m here and I understand exactly what you’re going through and I understand your world.”

It was a lovely thing to do. “He needs somebody like that and in that position,” he qualifies, placing himself deferentially into the third person. It’s sweet for other reasons, too. In Bieber there is something of the idiosyncratic otherworldliness of a Michael Jackson figure. Liam Payne, a pretty, straight talking lad from Wolverhampton appears at first not to be that thing at all. “There is that in all of us,” he avers, meaning not only Bieber but his fellow One Direction alumnus Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. “We all have this chaotic side to us. You know, they say that anger breeds passion. I think that’s the same with a lot of us, that we let things get chaotic very quickly. We’re used to chaos.”

Liam is sitting in a quiet antechamber above the photo studio where today’s cover story has been shot. He says he likes interviews and honours the assurance in a quietly riveting half hour before he’s whisked magically away. It’s Friday evening. Liam has been working out with millennial precision to make sure he’s at top physical condition should he be required to lose his shirt during the shoot. He’s whippet slight in the flesh, definition counts.

Six years ago, One Direction came third on the national TV talent show, the X Factor. 1D was an assembly-line operation pieced together at the audition stages. Boys that barely knew one another, slotted seamlessly together in the kind of multi-demographic hit their boss Simon Cowell is so adept at plugging into the national grid each year. That year, Liam and his band-mates Niall and Louis looked like they’d been schooled at a premium boyband academy. Each sported variants of Bieber’s early slideover haircut. It was easy to imagine any of them taking a stool in Westlife or learning to breakdance for Take That, had they been born in another time and place. Within the trio there was a safe place in which teenage girls and boys could measure their sexuality, whilst tapping their toes. That wheel still turned. Flanked at either edge of the three were genuinely new angles for the British boyband model; Harry Styles, Cheshire’s own reality-age Mick Jagger and Zayn Malik, a practising Muslim from Bradford and nonpareil physical work of art to whom supermodels have since flocked. The five together hit enough familiarity and newness to open up a global fame haul not touched since the heady days of Duran Duran, Culture Club and Wham! back in the 80s. During the summer of their astronomical American takeover there was a plausible touch of Beatle-mania. They felt like an England football team winning the World Cup. Their records have sold in North Korea.

Liam and the boys were the first band to taste that fame level in the age of social media, making their story simultaneously that of the boys next door and the untouchable messiahs. There was something refreshingly undone about them. Their best songs, ‘What Makes Your Beautiful’, ‘Little Things’, ‘Steal My Girl’, even the precociously titled ‘Best Song Ever’ are undeniable additions to the Great British pop cannon. Liam says the 1D song he’d buy above all others is ‘Once In A Lifetime’, the little known track from their 2014 album, Four. “That’s my favourite song. Very Coldplay-esque. I wanted it to be a single but they just wouldn’t have it. It was very relaxed the way we chose our records and made things. It was really simple.” Someone else did it.

When 1D lost their X Factor trophy to semi-hot handyman Matt Cardle and were beaten to the silver medal podium by classy Scouse songbird Rebecca Ferguson, Liam was 16. He had auditioned for the show previously, at 14, as a kind of minipops Michael Bublé, Wolverhampton’s hitherto unseen swing angle. On his induction to the X Factor factory, he was instructed by producers to go home and rethink his shtick as the last 24 were whittled down on TV. He says it attuned him to the hard knocks of rejection. Such was the omnipotence of the show back then Liam’s audition storyline was enough to grant him a local working men’s club career where he honed his skill and paid his dues.

“I did pubs and clubs,” he says. “When I was a kid, I literally played old people’s homes.” His one taste of what was to come arrived when Wolverhampton Wanderers FC invited Liam to sing before kick-off at a Manchester United fixture to 34,000 fans in the terraces. In honour of his local team’s squad colours he san Sam Sparro’s ‘Black and Gold’. “It’s funny that that’s where we ended up, playing stadiums,” he says with a pleasing air of pride and bemusement. “It was funny being stood in the middle again and thinking back on that 16 year old boy stood in the middle of a football pitch. My dad said to me, this is going to be the toughest gig you’re ever going to play. Football fans do not want to hear little boys singing. They’re not interested. You heard jeering from the crowd. But I got applause at the end. And my dad said, that is the best thing you could’ve got out of today.”

Liam says he can’t remember much of his time in the X Factor house second time around bar the tears. He was recently delighted to see fellow housemate Paije Richardson, the contestant Louis Walsh immortalised as looking ‘like a little Lenny Henry’ on account of nothing but his colour, in a Harry Potter film (”the one where it’s Dumbledore’s army. He’s actually in the army, which is amazing. I’m absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter. Fucking love Harry Potter”). He nods as I mention some of the other names he shared his first home away from Wolverhampton with. Katie Waissel, Diva Fever, Wagner. “There were a lot of different strange characters and lovely people through that show. It was very rushed and strange.”

On account of a childhood kidney condition, he had not even been drunk by the time he left home, Dick Whittington style, to live in a shared London house with a bunch of strangers maniacally chasing their fame dream in real time. “The famous line my dad said was, don’t come home until Christmas, meaning don’t get thrown off it before the final. And after I said goodbye to him that day, I never really went home again.”

When 1D lost, Liam turned to his dad with a “we made it this far” face. His fellow band-mates, he says, were in pieces. He remembers first Harry, then Louis, Niall and Zayn bursting into tears. “A cameraman came over and said ‘can I get you boys for an interview?’ and I looked at all the boys crying, in their mum’s arms and I was like, ‘look, I’ll do the interview’ because I was the only one who was alright and so I went off to the side and did the after-camera interview for us. I just left them because I wanted them to have their moment and the cameras didn’t need to see them like that. There was a real atmosphere. This followed throughout our career a lot of the time.”

In Cowell’s dressing room later than same evening, 1D were told that they would be signed to his label, Syco regardless of their position on the show. “Simon took us up to his dressing room to tell us he was going to sign us and Harry literally burst into tears he was so happy.” Emotions run high in the boyband land. “He told us, I’m going to sign you. That was the moment. That’s where it all began.” The wheels of the juggernaut had begun to turn. “It was like a bomb went off,” he notes.

There was a pearl of wisdom shared by Cowell that stuck with Liam from that high-stakes evening. “The first thing he said to us after signing us from X Factor was ‘look, there are no angels here’. Which is so true.” What does Liam think Cowell meant by that? “That we’re all people. We’re all people here.” He doesn’t think it was invocation of mistrust in the music industry, the smoke and mirrors of real life fame? “No, no, no. It was a moment in a conversation. He said ‘look, there are no angels here and I know that you’re all going to make mistakes’. That’s what he was saying. Just get on with what the show is, do your bit, do your business, go to work and be real. That’s what that comment meant. Don’t stress about it, it’ll all turn out alright in the end.”

In that moment, it sounds like Liam Payne made a pact with himself, to go for it regardless, at the top tier, to claim his moment. “Everyone strives to be the person that they want to be,” he says. “I try too much sometimes, I think. I overstep the mark a little bit sometimes. That’s why I’m such a perfectionist. But sometimes I think you have to believe that there are no angels.” The first One Direction single, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ was released in 2011, on September 11th.

The second half of 2016 was an eventful time for Liam Payne, presaged by his signing a solo record deal with Sinatra’s old imprint Capitol Records on July 21st.

While in 1D, he says all five boys dabbled on their own material. Because boybands never break up anymore, 1D are officially on sabbatical. Whether that translates as a bit of genial respite or full scale hatred for one another is a matter that’s been carefully blended into their tale with just enough leaks of a hint to either. Zayn, who had already fled 1D’s nest a year earlier, missing their victory lap worldwide stadium tour released his solo album Mind of Mine last spring, reinventing himself as the Frank Ocean for Unilad readers. Niall played to his Irish card with a forgettable busker-ish ballad for the Christmas market very much carved from the mould of Ed Sheeran and the seasonal John Lewis adverts. From the snippet of it we heard, Liam’s song sounded like his ascent to manhood, touting him as a moody, roustabout lover-man in something of Drake’s lineage, complete with street lyrical touches (while writing, a picture appears on Liam’s Instagram feed of him with the Canadian don, though it’s not specified whether he’s working or partying with his Hero).

Whenever Liam talks about the 1D boys he has the exact same dad-ish air of concern, care, amazement and slight separation from the operation that Daddy Barlow has with Take That. Oh, that’s the other thing. Liam had kicked off the year with a new belle, The X Factor’s Queen of Our Hearts, Cheryl Tweedy.

Liam brings up Cheryl, of course he does. The two live in Surrey, out of the city. When I make a joke about him being Lord of the Manor, he says his sister bought him a plaque to denote his Lordship for his last birthday, a joke that doubled when it turned out Cheryl had been bought a similar gift by Simon Cowell during her tenure on X Factor. “So we’re Lord and Lady, which is hilarious.” To British suburbia, this is of course precisely what they represent, a self-selected aristocracy in which we’ve all played a part in the honours system.

He says things with Cheryl are working out well, becoming temporarily misty-eyed. “This is the thing. In a non-cliché way, it’s weird waking up every day and literally living out your dream. You wake up in the most beautiful places. Obviously I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the whole world and she’s absolutely amazing. She’s been my dream girl since I was younger. She’s so ace.” They are used to companionship. They have Liam’s dog, Watson, a Great Dane. “If I’m ever having a problem or I ever get a bit angsty about something that’s happening in life then I take the dog out for a walk and there’s just unconditional love from him. Anyway, I don’t want to go too much into that. I’m not like a weird dog person.”

“She is a wonderful, wonderful person and it’s amazing to have someone who can relate to so much of things, someone who’s taken greater steps than me. Her solo career was amazing. She’s been in the industry for fourteen years now. She fully supports me. We’re super happy. I appreciate you didn’t ask about it. It’s a very personal, precious time for us. I’m still learning. I’m only 23.”

Because he is the youngest of three, Liam inherited the bed that his big sister’s had slept in at home in Wolverhampton. He tried to pain a wall blue to put his own stamp on the room, still shaded by bunny rabbit curtains into his teenage years, and ran out of paint before finishing. “It was a total tip,” he says of the last bedroom he lived in before fame. “That bed was so old. The last time I went back and sat on it I couldn’t believe it was the bed I used to sleep on. I often think about how I used to sit on the windowsill and just look at the stars and wonder what this was all for. And I often used to think, there must be more to life than this.”

I ask if his parents kept the room the same as when he left. “Well,” he says interrupting the nostalgia with a little sharp reality, “I bought my parents a house so I haven’t actually been back to that room in a long time. I’d like to.” The experiences of 1D made five men very rich, very young. Liam knows exactly his financial worth. “I do,” he says, letting out a nervous laugh. I ask if I would blush if I saw his bank account. “Honestly, it is a very scary thought,” he says. “It is not something that we were given. It’s something we worked our asses off for. The way we went to work every day and the way we travelled the world and the way we conducted our business, with great management at the time and greater minds, it turned out great for everybody. But it was a long five years.”

On the last night of the last 1D tour, management presented the remaining members with a plaque festooned with little badges for every single gig they’d played since their first. “It was a sombre night,” says Payne who has started becoming more emotionally transparent in front of people this last year. “To see every show we’ve ever done on a plaque?” he says raising eyes to the sky, “Again, everybody was in tears. And I’m quite good at holding it together but I have got a lot worse of late. Adverts and things make me cry, I think I’m getting more emotional as time goes by, especially with everything that’s happening in my life at this moment, it’s a very emotional time and time to reflect on a lot of things and the person that I am to be. Do you know what I mean? If that makes sense?” It makes perfect sense.

Beneath the extraordinary life he has lived so far, outweighing every one of his personal, societal and geographic expectations, there is a deeply admirable humility and candour to Liam Payne. On the subject of his forthcoming record: “I’ll tell you the truth. The dream was to be able to get signed and release an album. That is every musician who’s on Youtube’s dream today. I’ve got the opportunity to work with a really great label, Capitol. The people I work with are absolutely amazing and to get a record deal and be able to release the album that I want to release is the most amazing thing ever.” He has no idea how it will fare. “Even if this went tits up, sideways, it’d still be step one that I got here.”

Liam Payne never voted in a general election. “I’ve never been able to vote,” he explains, “because we’ve always been in different countries and I’ve never really understood it. I still feel like a 16 year old boy when it comes down to things like that and I wouldn’t know which way to go.” He steered clear of the EU referendum (”I kind of knew that we were going to Brexit. It was just a gambler’s feeling”) and doesn’t know how his parents voted in it.

Do you want to know his Donald Trump tale? Of course you do. “Oh, here’s a story,” he says, rubbing his hands. “Trump actually kicked us out of his hotel once.” It gets better. “You wouldn’t believe it. It was about [meeting] his daughter. He phoned up our manager and we were asleep. He said ‘well, wake them up’ and I was like ‘no’ and then he wouldn’t let us use the underground garage. Obviously in New York we can’t really go outside. New York is ruthless for us. So he was like, ‘OK, then I don’t want you in my hotel’. So we had to leave.”

He’s seen a lot of life, has Liam. That he retains himself amid it is spectacular credit to those around him and the man himself. “Now he’s President,” he says, perhaps for a moment reflecting on the opportunities life affords the most unusual candidates. “I just hope he doesn’t kick me out the country.” He’s laughing now. “I hope he lets me stay.”

— Rollacoaster Magazine, text by Paul Flynn

#mine #thedailypayne #liamupdates #transcribed this myself #it took forever #oh my god #lovingliam #excuse any typos #this is directly transcribed from the interview itself #so if there are typos they may be from the original text

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dailytomlinson · 5 years

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Louis Tomlinson may be one-fifth of one of the biggest boybands in the world, but there's so much more to know about the singer than the fact he was in One Direction. Now that he's getting on with his solo music career - AND just dropped his amazing new single 'Two Of Us', Louis is a major household name across the world.

Louis William Tomlinson was born on Christmas Eve in 1991, making him 27-years-old at the time of writing. Louis is the oldest member of One Direction, being 13 months older than second eldest Zayn Malik.

Louis Tomlinson's star sign is Capricorn. Apparently, typical Capricorns live by the motto, ‘Slow, steady and win the race.’ Where is Louis Tomlinson from? Louis was brought up in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Other famous people who hail from the town include Jeremy Clarkson, Kevin Keegan and Brian Blessed! Louis Tomlinson on The X Factor Louis first auditioned for The X Factor in 2009 but didn't get through the producer's audition, but that made him more determined to return in 2010 as a solo artist at the age of 19. He then met his future bandmate Harry Styles in the toilets at The X Factor auditions in Manchester.Although he made it through to bootcamp after singing a version of Plain White T’s ‘Hey There Delilah’ and getting a clean sweep of yeses from the judges, he wasn't able to progress as a solo artist.However, judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested that he go through in a group with some other rejected solo boys, and he was put together with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Harry Styles. They went through to Judges' Houses, singing an acoustic version of 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia with Simon Cowell himself commenting that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends and kind of fearless as well."They were Simon's last act standing on the series, but finished in third place behind Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson.When One Direction formed, Louis’s big ambition was to go "straight to the top." Proof that dreams come true! He also once said that if he could give anyone a tip when auditioning for The X Factor it would be "just be yourself and really try and get your personality through in your song choice and interview." Although Louis has returned to The X Factor as a performer, he took part in the show in 2018 as part of a brand new line-up alongside Robbie Williams - coincidentally, someone who Louis once called his 'man crush'.He also once said that Robbie is his biggest role model, telling KISS, "I’ve got a massive musical icon and that’s Robbie Williams. We actually got to sing with him on The X Factor and it was absolutely amazing." Louis Tomlinson in One Direction After coming third on The X Factor, the boys were signed to Simon Cowell's label Syco in a reported £2 million contract and immediately started working on their debut album. They took part in The X Factor Live Tour in 2011, and released their debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' in September that year, which debuted at Number 1.The debut album 'Up All Night' was released in November 2011, and Louis’s favourite track on ‘Up All Night’ is the Ed Sheeran-penned track ‘Moments’. The track appears on the deluxe version of the record.They released second album 'Take Me Home' exactly one year later. Their documentary and concert film One Direction: This Is Us was released in August 2013 and grossed $68.5 million worldwide.Third album 'Midnight Memories' was released in November 2013, and fourth album 'Four' came out in November 2014. Just prior to the release of their fifth album 'Made in the A.M.' in November 2015, the band announced in August that they would be taking a hiatus, following the departure of Zayn Malik in March.

What was Louis Tomlinson like in One Direction?

According to his bandmates, Louis has the smelliest feet in One Direction! Niall once said, "Louis wears plimsolls with no socks so his feet get very sweaty and the sweat is captured. If we are on a bus or something and he takes them off we all pretty much start gagging." Despite having smelly feet, Louis is a big fan of shoes! His favourite types are chinos and Toms and he's a size 10.

Louis also revealed in an interview with us that Niall is the one person in the world he would swap bodies with, "I’ll go close to home Niall Horan, he doesn’t worry about anything in the world, Irish accent I’m not too bad I spend a lot of time with Niall."

Louis was given a telling off by police when filming the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ video Los Angeles in July 2011 for his erratic driving. Afterwards, he explained, "I got pulled over by the US police. They thought I was all over the place. The officer goes, 'Listen, man, I can shut this thing down if you carry on driving like this. You're driving like a maniac.' And I was like, 'Man, put the gun down. I don't want no trouble.'"

He also says that he and his 1D bandmates are like brothers. Admitting that they occasionally bickered in the band, Louis told Digital Spy, "Because we're around each other so often it's like arguing with your siblings. You fall out with them, go away and have a bit of a paddy, then come back and get over it."

Louis once said that he likes snuggling up in bed with one of the One Directioners... HARRY! He said, "A few weeks ago I made a cup of tea, then went and got in bed with Harry and we watched a show called something like The Top 50 Boybands Of All Time." Nice!

Louis has approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds of solos on ‘Up All Night’ – the second least behind Niall Horan. Louis says he’ll "never get used to" the adoration he receives from fans. He once said, "At the end of the day we’re doing something that we really love and to be appreciated for that is really nice."

Louis hates rumours, especially when they involve Harry and himself. In a Tumblr interview he explained, "Me and Harry are best friends, people look into our every move. It is actually affecting the way me and Harry are in public, We want to joke around but there seems to be a different rumour every time we do anything."

Louis told us the one thing he misses about being in One Direction, "Probably touring, that’s why I’m excited to perform today and excited to get out and spent time touring the world as that’s probably the best thing about being an artist."

Louis Tomlinson's new music

After his successful solo performance on The X Factor in 2018, Louis delighted his fans in March when he dropped his amazing new single 'Two Of Us'.

The song, which is adored by fans, is a tribute to Louis' late mum Johannah Deakin. Johannah left behind seven children, including Louis, at the end of 2016, when she lost her battle with an aggressive form of leukaemia at the age of just 42.

Louis' track 'Two Of Us' features the lyrics, 'I know you'll be looking down/Swear I'm gonna make you proud/I'll be living one life for the two of us.'

The heartwarming music video saw Louis team up with 83-year-old Richard Green to complete a bucket list of adventures that he'd been trying to complete after losing his wife Pat in December 2016 - the same month Louis tragically lost his mother, Johannah Deakin.

Thanks to the success of the video, Louis has helped to raise a whopping £10,000 for the Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice with the music video, which encourages fans to donate to the Sheffield-base charity in a call to action on his music video, which also promotes the Alzheimer's Society and Cancer Research UK.

He told us about the video, "He is, honestly, one the most amazing men I’ve ever met. Probably the most amazing man. I was so in awe of him, you know. Eighty-four, and to have that outlook on life. He was an amazing guy. Really funny as well.

"Just his outlook in general was what I took from that whole experience. You know, he recently had lost his wife but his outlook was so positive and a lot of people are entitled to dwell and be sad about those kind of things. But he was the exact opposite. He was so upbeat, so fun, and up for anything."

Louis Tomlinson's family

Louis' parents are Johannah Deakin and Troy Austin. In 2011, his mum Johannah and stepdad Mark split up and he took on his stepfather Mark Tomlinson’s surname. Speaking about his mum, Louis said, "It must be so much harder for her because I’m living this fantastic life and being so busy every day whereas she’s still in the old life I was in but without me... It must be really difficult for her not to get upset."

Johannah sadly passed away in 2016, and Louis paid tribute to his mum on the anniversaryof her passing.

Louis was incredibly close with his mum, and she once told Sugarscape that Louis is a giver and not a taker. In fact, there’s nothing he enjoys more than giving his friends and family presents, "He’s not a materialistic person himself, but he likes to give people things. He spoils me and the girls and he's happiest doing that."

He also has five younger half-sisters - one on his father's side (Georgia), and four on his mother's side (Charlotte, Félicité, and twins Daisy and Phoebe). Sadly, it was announced in March 2019 that Louis' sister Félicité tragically passed away after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest, at the age of just 18.

Just days after the release of his brand new single 'Two Of Us' in memory of his late mum, Louis' 18-year-old sister Félicité Tomlinson tragically died after she suffered a cardiac arrest.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed, "Police were called by London Ambulance Service at 12.52pm on Wednesday, March 13 to a residential address in SW5 following reports of a female in cardiac arrest. At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. Enquiries continue."

What did Louis Tomlinson do before The X Factor?

Louis had a number of part-time jobs before The X Factor, including working at a local cinema and as a hospitality waiter at Doncaster Rovers Football Club. When he was younger, Louis wanted to work on a farm.

He also once revealed that if he wasn’t a multi-million selling pop megastar, he reckons he’d be training to be a drama teacher.

Where did Louis Tomlinson go to school?

When he first auditioned for The X Factor, Louis was a sixth form student at Hall Cross School in Doncaster. Louis also attended The Hayfield School in Doncaster, but dropped out when he failed his first year of A-levels.

Has Louis Tomlinson ever acted?

When he was just 11-years-old, Louis had a role as an extra on ITV drama Fat Friends. His newborn sisters Daisy and Phoebe starred as babies on the show. Spurred on by his appearance on Fat Friends, Louis attended acting school in his spare time and eventually had small parts in 2006 ITV drama If I Had You! and Waterloo Road.

As a student, Louis played the lead role of Danny Zuko in a high school production of Grease. He says playing the part gave him the confidence to audition for The X Factor.

Does Louis Tomlinson have hearing problems?

Louis suffers from a ringing noise in his right ear. Although yet to be officially diagnosed it’s thought it could be tinnitus which can lead to deafness if untreated. He once said, "I am going slightly deaf in my right ear. It’s tinnitus, something like that," before joking that it was because of screaming fans.

Is Louis Tomlinson good at cooking?

Louis admits he’s a really bad cook. Speaking to us in May 2019, Louis admitted that whilst he's very romantic, he's not great in the kitchen! "I am a horrific cook, a very, very bad cook. I give it a go, you know what I mean, I’ll try.

Despite his lack of skills, he appeared alongside Harry in a cooking segment on This Morning in September 2011.

Can Louis Tomlinson play any musical instruments?

When he was 14, Louis played lead guitar in a band called The Rogue with his schoolmates.

Louis is also pretty decent on the piano and he loves to play ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers. Louis is a big fan of Las Vegas rockers The Killers. After seeing them perform at V Festival, he tweeted, 'Watching Mr Brightside live last night was unbelievable. LOVED The Killers!!'

Unfortunately, Louis was fined £80 for speeding on the way to V Festival in 2012. It’s reported that he was going 48mph in a 40mph zone, which means that he may also have had three points on his licence. Ouch!

What are Louis Tomlinson's favourite TV shows?

His favourite TV shows are Misfits and One Tree Hill. In a recent interview with us, Louis revealed that he also loves Westworld and Black Mirror.

Louis Tomlinson's other favourite things

Louis once said that he is a big fan of girls who eat carrots.

The two traits Louis looks for in a girl are confidence and a good sense of humour.

If Louis had a superpower, he would want to be able to fly.

Louis’s favourite band is The Fray, and his favourite song of all time is ‘Look After You’ by The Fray.

Louis’s favourite colour is dark red.

He once said that if he could visit any planet it would be... Narnia. Erm, it’s a fictional place Louis!!

Apparently, Louis said that if a movie was made about his life, he’d like Leonardo DiCaprio to play him.

Just like Zayn and Harry, Louis supports Manchester United Football Club.

One of Louis's favourite mottos is, "Live life for the moment because everything else is uncertain."

Louis loves Marmite and has big dollops of it on his toast.

Louis’s celebrity crush is Natalie Portman.

Louis is an avid fan of surfing. In fact, he loves the beach so much he says he’d like to get married on one.

Louis once said his favourite country is France.

Other Louis Tomlinson facts

A man who works in the music industry once tried to have a snog with Louis! "It was a press guy.... he just started going in for a kiss!" said Louis.

Louis once owned a Porsche Boxster and sold it on eBay in 2012 for £30,000.

Louis would love to copy Michael Jackson and have a pet monkey. He said, "I'd like to adopt a chimpanzee and build an eternal friendship, that would be amazing."

Louis admits that he’s a messy person. In fact, he hasn’t met anyone who’s messier than him!

Louis’s pet hate is when people chew their food too loudly.

In August 2012, Tulisa prank called Louis during a live webchat. When Louis answered she spoke to him in a Donald Duck voice in front of thousands of viewers. The N-Dubz star tweeted afterwards, 'soz babe we had 2 get ya! Thanks 4 being a laugh n entertaining us!'

Louis is prone to sleepwalking and once tried to get into Niall’s bed!

Louis is a big fan of silly string! He’s sprayed it on stage at gigs, press conferences and even at a security guard who refused to let him speak to fans.

Louis loves to party! He once told TOTP magazine, "To be honest, I’m sure the majority of 20-year-olds go out and party. I’m not going to feel oppressed."

It takes over 30 minutes for Louis to get his hair ready in the morning.

Apparently, Louis has revealed that his least favourite food is baked beans.

Louis once said that, if he was Simon Cowell for the day, he says he’d go on a date with Susan Boyle.

#planet radio #kiss fm uk #press #080519 #louis tomlinson #unwanted question but nothing about love life

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loveislandgirl17-blog · 7 years

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Niall Horan Imagine So Much More (bsm)

Niall (16): You and your twin despise each other and Y/T/N always was Niall’s favorite. Even though she was a complete trouble maker, but when she pulls out her little pout face and fake cry you know your going to get blamed for something. “Hey Y/N stop being so fucking useless and just go somewhere nobody wants you here and nobody loves you!” Y/T/N said “Can you just leave me alone?!” You spat back. “Aw come one you little bitch go clean my room and while your at do my homework you nerd.” She laughed in my face walked closer to me and said with a smirk “He doesn’t love you, you know your just a waste of space.” That broke you but you simply said “I don’t need him to love me because I hate the both of you.” You stated so mad you didn’t care anymore so you went to your room, locked the door, grabbed your phone and climb out of the flat threw the fire-escape. You started to run and cry at the same time at first you didn’t know where to go until you went to your best friends house. You knocked on her door “Y/N what are you doing here and why are you crying?!” She said “Y/BF/N I’m running away can I stay the night I promise tomorrow I’ll be gone and with my parents. Please?” “Of course you can stay but if they look for you will have to go out for the rest of the night.” You gave out an innocent smile “They won’t look for me but we can go out.” She frowned at my remark. You and your best friend went to the movies for a bit until you saw Niall and your twin “great they don’t even know I’m gone and they go out some siblings I have” you whispered to your best friend “ come on let’s go somewhere else" she pulled you away from them before they could see you guys and took you to a hair salon. “Y/BF/N what are we doing here?” “We are getting your hair done let’s reinvent Y/N.” we both smiled I decided to get have my dark brown locks into a strawberry blonde and i looked like a different person I loved it! Y/BF/N decided to turn her platinum blonde hair into a dirty blonde. You paid and left to go to the mall to get a new wardrobe thank god you and you best friend both have jobs to pay for this you thought to yourself. After you guys went shopping you decided to get froyo. You saw Niall and your twin so you and Y/BF/N put on sunglasses, but Niall accidentally bumped into you knocking your sunglasses to the floor. “I’m sooo sorry miss I didn’t mean to here let me get those for you.” He said awkwardly no it’s fine you said reaching for you glasses until he saw your face. “Y/N?” Dammit you thought “What are you doing here I thought you went to the library?” He asked confused “What made you think that?” I asked even more confused. “I’ll just go and talk to Y/T/N” your best friend excused her self and left. “That’s what the note on your door said” “I didn’t leave a note” he formed an O with his mouth “What the hell did you do with you hair!” He asked little bit shocked and mad.“I dyed it obviously. Do I need your permission to do anything with MY hair?!” You emphasized the ‘my.’ “ No but I would like to know what my sister looked like so I don’t talk to a total stranger!” He yelled I’ve about had it right now “Oh so now I’m your sister cause I did something you don’t like?!” You screamed back I think I got to him “Wh-what d-do you m-mean now?” He stuttered “I mean I thought you only needed Y/T/N and I was just a waste of space because you couldn’t take her to America with out me so it would be fair to the both of us you and Y/T/N can have all the space because I’m moving back to a home where people notice me and not just Y/T/N! Congratulations Niall I’m out of your stupid life for good this must make you and Y/T/N both happy!” I yelled pulling Y/BF/N to the car and told her to drop me off at Niall’s flat and drive away so they won’t known I’m here. I packed my clothes and stuff I need and took the bus to the airport bought a ticket and waited for my flight. I heard someone call my name as I was about to board the plane it was Niall my face turned scarlet and I left to Ireland.I arrived home with happy faces and hugs I haven’t had a lot of that since I moved in with Niall. It felt good to be somewhere where I’m loved. It’s been a week since I saw Niall and Y/T/N no text no calls wow they must really love me I thought sarcastically. I went out to a music studio my friend’s dad owned and messed around with a few songs like Gives You He’ll, Stone Cold, and much more. I was so lost in singing I didn’t know a producer walked in “Wow kid that was great how old are you?” “16” you smiled “wow with a voice like that you should audition for the X Factor? I’m sure you’ll win kid!” “Really!” “What’s your name kid?” “Y/N Horan” “Wait are you replanted to Niall Horan from One Direction!?” “Yea he’s my brother” you said ~The X Factor Audition~ “Hi what’s your name.” Simon asked “(Y/N)Horan” you said a little nervous you in the X Factor “Oh let’s see what you got (Y/N)” he said “Im going to sing Want You Back by Cher Lloyd” I said you started to sing but than “Wait it seems like you practiced that to much uhh do you have another song you would like to sing?” “Yes” “What is it’s?” “Take a Bow By Rihanna” you sang the song on key you sounded amazing “Wow Miss Horan I’m glad to say that you have 4 yes’s” I jumped for joy at my results and looked at the audience and saw Niall I quickly walked back stage. I was with the other contestants and then I see Niall runnig towards me I’m so mad at him but I’ve missed him so much I didn’t know what to do until I saw that Y/T/N wasn’t with him so out of habit I ran to him and hug him.“I’m sorry” I said crying into his hoddie “You didn’t do anything wrong I was the bad guy and I promise to be a better brother” He said hugging me “Where’s Y/T/N?” “She’s in the audience with the lads” I pulled away “Wait the lads are here?Niall are you stupid there going to get attacked" We both laughed. The next 3 years later I sold out 2 tours going on my 3rd and have 3 albums out and me and my brother are closed the ever.

#niall horan

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apadaily · 5 years

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New Post has been published on Ashley Parker Angel Daily • APADaily.net

New Post has been published on http://apadaily.net/2020/03/ashley-parker-angel-recalls-making-a-band-in-real-time/

Ashley Parker Angel Recalls Making a Band in Real-Time

Diehard pop fans want nothing more than to feel close to their favorite artists. Twenty years ago this month, ABC and MTV fulfilled that dream with the creation of Making the Band. The reality show is probably best known for its second iteration when Diddy modernized the program with R&B groups like Danity Kane, but in 2000, it was all about boy bands. Lou Pearlman, a manager and con man fresh off successfully creating Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and LFO, decided the next step in the lucrative teen pop business was to give fans what they always wanted: day one access, so that they, too, could feel like they participated in the creation of their beloved groups. And it began with O-Town.

After hand-selecting members in a countrywide search, Pearlman assembled O-Town with Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Dan Miller, who replaced Ikaika Kahoano. The success of the show’s debut season inspired the network to continue the series, documenting the entirety of the band’s existence, including their discovery of Pearlman’s financial crimes and rumors of his alleged sexual abuse. O-Town broke up after only three years (a short run, even for the most flash-in-the-pan boy bands) but left the world with two memorable singles—“Liquid Dreams,” and the ballad “All or Nothing”—and a shockingly prophetic show that would influence future reality TV programming.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Making the Band’s premiere, I called up O-Town’s frontman Ashley Parker Angel to talk about the show. Our conversation below is condensed and edited for clarity.

JEZEBEL: On Making the Band, O-Town became television stars before you were music stars, and becoming a music star was the entire point. That feels like a really modern way to pursue a pop career. I guess in 2020, it’s social media instead of TV.

ASHLEY PARKER ANGEL: Me and my acting manager, when the audition came through, we thought [Making the Band] was a scripted TV show. We thought it was going to be scripted the same way the Monkees was a scripted show about a band, and then the Monkees obviously used that TV show to launch a legitimate recording career. Having talked to Lou Pearlman once I actually made the band, I’d come to find out that the Monkees were his inspiration. He wanted to make the next iteration of that, and who better to do that than the guy who just created the two biggest superstar boy bands of the day? *NSYNC and Backstreet were just dominating.

At the time, we didn’t have tons of reality TV. The ones that did exist were like Real World or Road Rules. It wasn’t the most popular format. O-Town was essentially two worlds crossing: the world of reality TV shows and the world of boy bands. Those two worlds emerged into Making the Band as an experiment. Nobody knew if it would work. They would even refer to us as lab rats throughout the whole process. The first season was a full 22 episodes, and by the time 20 episodes had aired and it was a hit TV show, we still did not have a record deal.

Because of the success of the TV show, we were able to get the interest of Clive Davis. Cameras flew with us to New York. We signed the deal the week before the finale was going to air. They very quickly edited in the footage of us signing. If you look at what’s happened now with American Idol and The Voice, I think Making the Band really proved that that format could not only be a successful television series, but it can actually launch a legitimate recording group that could have legitimate hit songs on the radio.

And then other people caught wind. Simon Cowell ended up being in one of the early meetings we had with Clive Davis. Very quickly after that, he goes and does Pop Idol. We’d always heard on the record label side that Simon Cowell had been really inspired by what happened with Making the Band and O-Town—so he started Pop Idol, that becomes a huge success, and then, of course, Pop Idolbecomes American Idol.

Pop music has a storied history with reality TV—like everything you were saying about American Idol and The Voice, but also One Direction 10 years later. They were made on The X-Factor UK, and they lost. The experiment with boy bands and reality TV has continued.

Right. And it doesn’t always work. Just because you have a TV show doesn’t mean it’s going to translate to actual radio play. ABC tried to launch a show based on Making the Band called Boy Band. Nick Carter was a judge on it. Timbaland was a judge on it. There was a big primetime push. And then nothing. Those guys are not around. I don’t think they were able to mount a successful single.

I actually really liked that show, but I also love boy bands.

I did, too. As I watched it, I was like, “Oh, they’re doing Making the Band but with a new spin, those superstar judges, which is going to add that American Idolelement.” But it just didn’t pop.

I was listening to a podcast recently with Paris Hilton and she was talking about The Simple Life, which debuted in 2003. She argued that unlike reality television today, reality TV of the early 2000s wasn’t as manufactured or fabricated. Do you agree with that?

I tend to agree with her comment. Yes, there are things being manipulated behind the curtain when you’re in that world. Yes, good reality TV producers see where the conflict is happening, and they massage your life from behind the scenes to make sure those conflicts occur, but those conflicts are real. They’re capturing real life. Obviously, you can do a lot in editing, but primarily [Making the Band] was a very real situation we were all going through.

We had cameras living with us in the house we were living in as O-Town. We had hidden microphones in the house. In Making the Band, if you had a conversation in the middle of the night, these huge production lights would pop on and some guy, another guy with a boom microphone, and a cameraman would rush in. It didn’t matter what time it was. They would film everything. You couldn’t leave the house without telling them because they wanted a camera crew on you. As it went on, however, even by the third season of Making the Band, there was a lot more soft scripting going on. A lot more of producers saying, “Hey, we need you to have a conversation on camera about this.” They’re really kind of directing it more.

How did O-Town try to differentiate itself from the other boy bands at the time?

Making the Band came about at a time where you had a pretty dense field of pop bands. You had LFO, BBMAK—outside of Backstreet and *NSYNC, you had so many offshoots of bands in that style—of course, 98 Degrees. Without the show, there was a lot of noise in an already crowded room. I think the TV show set us apart because now it’s a window into this life that you would never get from just listening to an album. You’re now living in this world. You get the chance to be a fly on the wall and watch that process in a TV show. It set us apart in a way that would’ve been very difficult had we not had the show. I’m not saying we weren’t talented guys, but we had the benefit of being a part of something manufactured, which allowed there to be a higher degree of talent pulled from all these different cities.

I agree. But also, I think of the pop songs of the era—“Liquid Dreams,” come on, you were the boy band unafraid to get sexual. That separates you.

[Laughs] Thank you! I will add to that, too, we were set to do a fourth season of Making the Band. The TV show was always a hit, even though music changed and started to go more R&B and alternative rock again. The second album didn’t sell what the first album did, but the show was still getting really awesome ratings. So we moved into production for Season 4. At that point, a lot of guys in the band were not as excited to keep living on camera. We had a lot of internal debates about whether or not we should be a TV band or if we should move away from that and try to convince people of the longevity of our career. I, personally, always felt the two were connected. Then things started to change. When we got dropped by our record label, MTV also dropped the show. In the end, [the band] did mutually decide to call it quits for a while and all go our own ways with the idea that maybe we would come back in the future.

For the first two albums, we had this unbelievable hitmaker, Clive Davis, and we had ABC and MTV supporting our careers. Once we kind of lost those things, I could see the writing on the wall.

Not only does that sound like a clean break, but you also have a documentary of the entirety of O-Town in Making the Band. That’s unique to your group—even considering later seasons of Diddy’s revamped Making the Band. I think the only thing that’s comparable might be K-pop boy bands whose social media streaming is archived.

You’re so right; it’s so rare. It’s this little window into your life for three or four years. Who has that? And what a crazy time to have captured: a life-changing moment, and here it is in these well-produced, well-edited snapshots of your life.

At the time, were you cautious about working with Lou Pearlman? The show premiered a year or two after both Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC cut ties with him, so litigation must’ve been going on while you were filming.

There was a really specific 20/20 special that aired that was all about *NSYNC and Backstreet’s legal troubles with Lou. Up until that point, Lou was the most charming businessman you’d ever meet. He was obviously making the careers of young pop stars. He was a fun character to be around. Once it started hitting the mainstream media, and you’re hearing all these legal terms and trouble, that definitely started to throw some salt on the situation. And Lou started getting really pushy about us signing contracts. I’ll never forget the first lawyer we hired to look at our initial contract with Lou and said, verbatim, “In my 30 years of entertainment law, this is the worst contract I’ve ever seen.” That added fuel to the fires of what was already happening with Backstreet and *NSYNC.

Some of that actually ends up spilling out onto Making the Band; some of the storyline gets shared. Things start getting sort of intense because he wants certain things we are not signing. So he cuts off our money supply. There were weird scenarios like that that started to occur. But once Clive Davis came into the picture and we had two managers, we side-stepped a lot of trouble with Lou, whereas Backstreet and *NSYNC were right in it with him. We had a lot of other people around us, caretakers to say, “Hey, by the way, there are some other rumors about Lou. Don’t be alone with him.” Those kinds of things.

I remember at one point we were with Lou in his office, and literally, he said, “Guys, I would love to keep this meeting going, but the FBI are here, so we’re going to have to wrap this meeting up now. Because the FBI are here.” And, no joke, the FBI came in and they investigated the offices while we were there.

What? Where’s that footage?

I know! It’s all come out now. Lou was sharing with me, in private, some of his con man-style tricks. Like, he had pictures of himself in his offices where it looked like there were these 747 airplanes in the back, supposedly he had this airplane company, and he goes, “Look at this picture of me with this airplane on the tarmac. Do you see anything weird about that photo?” And I go, “No, it’s you with your 747 airplane.” And he goes, “That’s a model airplane, hanging from fishing string, held from the right perspective so it looks like a full 747 airplane.” He was using little miniature models, and using little tricks of the eye, to make it look like these little miniature airplanes were real airplanes. He would use pictures like that to convince investors that he had all these companies and airplanes. As an 18-year-old kid, I’m thinking, Wow, this guy’s really smart, but also, Wow, this is so illegal, but he’s bragging to me about it.

I’m surprised he revealed his tricks to you.

It was total Catch Me If You Can, that movie. You’re kind of impressed because it’s this evil genius type of thing, but it’s still lying and fraudulent. Now it’s all coming out after years of being investigated by the FBI. That was when things really started to go South for Lou.

Some of your issues with Lou are documented on Making the Band, but he was also an executive producer and creative consultant. Did he have to approve the storyline? The show doesn’t paint him in the best light, but now it’s well-documented that he was guilty of so much more than what was presented on the show.

I wasn’t there, so this is speculation, but I imagine Lou regretted involving himself on camera and not having complete control of it. Lou didn’t think he did anything wrong. Lou’s giving hope to these young, talented kids that would never have a shot. He’s Mr. Money Bags. He’s coming up with millions of dollars behind the scenes—for rehearsals, styling sessions, and putting demos together to actually get you to the place where you can sign a deal—so he never looked at himself as having done anything wrong. The guy could sell anything to you. He was a master salesman. If you sat in a room with him, he’d have you convinced that he was Mother Theresa. He was very good and very shrewd at business. He was just taking advantage in so many different ways. And yet, he was the Berry Gordy of the Motown era, but it was all in O-Town, this whole new pop phase of music that he ushered in with *NSYNC, Backstreet, Britney, Aaron Carter, O-Town, and LFO. His fingerprint was on all of that, and that was a huge movement in music. It’s too bad that he was as crooked as he was.

How do you view the legacy of Making the Band, 20 years later?

There are always going to be gatekeepers, but I think the barriers of entry started coming down with shows like Making the Band. Now you have an opportunity, on a national level, to hear about an audition and show up for it. Making the Band was a shot for someone who would’ve never had a shot. Shows like American Idol and The Voice have continued to take that concept even further.

Making The Band really was the first of its kind. We proved the platform could work because we actually transformed it into a legitimate music career. For young, hopeful, talented people out there, I’m glad that Making the Band could pave the way, and I’m glad there are even more formats like this for young, talented, hopeful people who’d like a shot at success.

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