By STEPHANIE McGRATH -- AllPop
TORONTO -- Although fans hide in room-service trolleys to meet them and tattoo 98 Degrees on their arms, Drew Lachey, Justin Jeffre, Jeff Timmons and Nick Lachey say they're just four normal guys who are completely proud of their latest musical effort ("Revelation", out Sept. 26.)
For 98 Degrees fans, soft, slow harmonies and romantic lyrics are the corner-stone of the group's music ( think "I Do Cherish You"). But when the group's new single "Give Me Just One Reason (Una Noche)" hit airwaves this summer, the boys were determined to show a new side of their talent.
"It is more up tempo," says Drew of the first single and the rest of "Revelation". "But I think [what's changed] is just the entire quality of the project and the amount of control we had on it. We were really happy with the amount of control we had on "98 Degrees And Rising". We wrote on half the songs and we had a lot of input. On this one, though, we wrote the majority of the songs, we didn't record anything we didn't want to record, we picked everything, the producers, the artwork. It was really kind of like our project to mould, and I think that definitely comes across in the music and the passion of the vocals."
A sneak listen proves Drew's point. There are, of course, ballads including one Nick wrote for his pop-star girlfriend Jessica Simpson, titled "My Everything". But there are also five up-tempo numbers, and new effects and rhythms to contend with.
"One of the main focuses of this album was to come up with a bunch of hot, up-tempos that we could release as singles and people could play in clubs," says Justin. "I think the single ('Give Me Just One Reason') was the perfect one to say to the world 'we're not a typical group and this is just one of the many flavours of 98 Degrees and we can do up-tempos.'"
The boys had a hand in writing 11 of the 13 new tracks, a fact each group member is obviously proud of. But having the option to write and control their own music hasn't always been available to 98 Degrees.
Back in 1997, the foursome was a disheartened pop group whose members occasionally wondered if they'd ever find success.
The year started off well for the boys, with Motown records releasing their self-titled album and their well-received debut single, "Invisible Man", but their success was short-lived.
"The roughest point for us was when after 'Invisible Man' was out for the first time (1997), it hit big. We didn't have much press, but on our radio momentum alone it went to number 12 on Billboard," says Jeff. "But we didn't have a follow-up single on the album because of transition at the label. The president was let go, and they didn't know what to do with us. There was a long lull when we were just still promoting "Invisible Man" and it was falling off of the charts and it was like a year later and we were doing the NBA stay in school program and it was on TV and we were still singing "Invisible Man"."
"I don't think we ever necessarily talked about quitting, but I think in everyone's mind it was like, 'Wow'," says Nick. "Our song came out when the Backstreet Boys' song did, and we were like ... there! And all of the sudden it was all taken away. We were high and then we were really low. I don't think we ever talked about it, but I think in the back of everyone's mind we were thinking, 'This might not work out'."
"Some fans got 98 Degrees tattoos, back when we first came out!" says Justin laughing. "We could have been one-hit wonders!"
Today, 1997 is a distant memory. "98 Degrees And Rising" has gone five-times platinum (5 million copies), which could spell a great deal of pressure for the pop group in an era that has seen pop acts such as *Nsync, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys sell millions of records within the first week of release.
But, when asked if they're beginning to feel pressure to match up to their fellow pop-mates, Drew, Justin, Nick and Jeff just shrug.
"A while ago a million was unheard of, it was unattainable, then all of a sudden, Backstreet Boys got that and then, 'Oh, that's the big thing now'," says Drew. "Honestly, it doesn't mean anything. We sold like 15,000 on "98 Degrees And Rising" our first week out and it ended up going like five times platinum. I think there's positives to both sides. Positive, you sell a lot of records ... all right great! Positive, you don't sell a lot of records -- it kind of means you're kind of separating yourself from the whole ..."
"But if you look at the scanned units," says Jeff, breaking in. "*Nsync sold 2.5 million their first week, but they're still scanned just over 4 million now. I mean, they had that huge surge, they're still selling a grip-load of records ,but they're not selling a million a week. That's the big thing. All the fans ran out the first week and got it and then it started to taper off. I'd rather see it be a growth in sales. Of course you want to sell a million records the first week, that's awesome, but it would be better to see a steady growth of sales or a consistency."
As the boys eagerly promote "Revelation" and tour North America to support their new effort, details of their personal lives are beginning to seep into the hands of fans who are dying to have more personal information.
The group members have chosen to approach this phenomenon in different ways. By now, every pop fan knows that Jessica Simpson and Nick are together. Every detail from the birthday present he bought her this year to their sex lives have became front-page pop news for magazines like YM. But Nick says he'd rather be honest than private.
"It would be great to think that you could have a relationship and no one would know about it," says Nick. "It's difficult in the sense that everyone is kind of in your business, but at the same time you don't have to deny it all the time. We just didn't want to lie about it."
Nick's brother and bandmate Drew has chosen a different path. In past interviews, he's mentioned a long-time girlfriend but declined to name her or reveal intimate details of their relationship.
Meanwhile, Justin is said to be the only single member of 98 Degrees.
But it's Jeff's private life that may be a surprise to some fans.
The singer is the proud father of a 19-month-old girl named Alyssa. Jeff hadn't spoken of his daughter much before the promotion for "Revelation" began, but he quickly explains that he wasn't hiding anything.
"I didn't really make it quiet," he says. "I didn't tell everybody in the press, but I went everywhere with her. I didn't put on a hat and glasses. I was with her all the time, as much as I could be. Before we came out this time I thought I should go out in public and talk about it before someone says, 'Look what I found out - big secret!' It's not a secret. I don't want my daughter to grow up thinking she was a secret. I'm more proud of her than I could ever be about anything else."
And that may be what sets 98 Degrees apart from other pop acts. Sure, they talk about their "mature" sound and "thick harmonies", but simple, down-to-earth things like having a stable relationship and spending time being a father are in sharp contrast to acts whose flashy clothes and overwhelming live shows sometimes seem ... larger than life.
Sitting in the unpretentious Holiday Inn on King Street in Toronto, the group members willingly answer as many questions as they can and pose for numerous pictures. They're polite and accommodating and even apologetic if they have trouble finding the perfect answer to a question.
"We're pretty humble guys , we're just regular guys," insists Jeff. "We get to do this for a living and we're excited about it and we take it as a blessing, we don't take it for granted. That's something I want everybody to be aware of out there."
Brand new 98 photos!
