After a 11 year hiatus, New Kids On The Block banded together once more to create and release their new album, ‘Still Kids.’ They share how their new song, “Better Days,” was created, their thoughts on NSYNC & the Backstreet Boys, what fans can expect on their upcoming, nostalgic Magic Summer tour and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00 It involved room service, a bottle of wine.
00:04 Yeah.
00:05 And then he played hard to get for two days and wouldn't talk to John.
00:08 So John would go, "What happened? He's not texting me."
00:11 He's going to let Jordan sing it instead.
00:13 Hey, we're the new kids on the block.
00:16 This is Billboard News.
00:18 You guys have a new album out, first time in 11 years.
00:23 What is the feeling like? What does today feel like for you guys?
00:26 Well, it is exciting to finally be able to share the album.
00:30 It's been finished and ready to go for a little bit.
00:33 It's exciting and just hearing the fans, you know, diving in right away.
00:37 We're excited. We're proud of the album and excited to play it and have listening parties.
00:50 Right, Jordan?
00:53 You know, it's always fun to put new music out and share with the fans.
00:56 Something you've been working on for a year or whatever, how long it took us.
01:01 Have you guys been scrolling social media feeds?
01:04 Are you the type of guys that scroll to see the reactions, favorite songs, getting the music out?
01:10 Are you guys plugged in or are you just kind of letting go?
01:13 I was just on there, yeah.
01:14 And the fans are already calling out different songs.
01:17 What are they saying, Joe? What are they saying?
01:19 What's the word on the street?
01:21 Well, listen, it's still time. It's too early. Let it build up. Let it simmer.
01:28 You know, we don't want to rush anything.
01:30 Right now, for a single kid's "Your Beautiful Ballad", "Love Like This", we're slowly climbing the charts, the billboard charts.
01:43 The fans are happy, though. That's the one thing. They're very happy.
01:47 That's cool.
01:48 I don't want to brag on the album, but if you're a blockhead or if you know anything about this band, I think we nailed it.
01:56 And I think it's great and we're really proud of it.
02:00 And the fans are reacting the way that we could only dream they would.
02:04 It's a really special journey for them.
02:06 And our fans, they listen. They're not skipping ahead to songs.
02:10 They will listen to every single moment and look for things and listen for things.
02:13 And they're responding the way that we could only hope they would.
02:16 [Music]
02:22 How much of a challenge is it to keep those hits fresh and keep being able to play them in ways that are exciting to you guys?
02:30 And obviously, the fans are always going to love hearing the songs they want to hear and sing along to the songs.
02:35 Hit me.
02:36 There is no way.
02:37 No?
02:38 They're the same records as they were in 1988.
02:44 The only thing is that when we play them, they sound amazing and the fans love it.
02:51 [Music]
02:59 If you're at the gym, if you're out running, if you're just at home and you put your favorite old album on, it sounds amazing.
03:06 For us, it's like it's the reaction that we get from the fans when we play those old records.
03:13 It feels brand new. I don't know. It feels alive.
03:16 We do jazz them up a bit.
03:18 We do throw little things in there or like we'll change the routine a little bit here and there.
03:23 We've been getting the same reaction for, you know, 40 years.
03:26 So once we get that reaction, it just feels fresh and new every single night.
03:33 [Music]
03:37 It's like if you went to see one of your favorite bands, if you went to see Led Zeppelin, you wouldn't want to hear a remix of 'Stay Away to Heaven.'
03:44 You know, you'd want to hear 'Stay Away to Heaven.'
03:47 I do want to hear a remix, your guys' song remix on one of my favorites. I love that song.
03:52 Let's go into it.
03:53 Hell yeah. It's a great one.
03:55 It's going to be a bomb.
03:56 Obviously, it's your first album in a while, but also you guys have been very active and putting out new music.
04:01 Listening to this album, it does sound like you guys are reinvigorated.
04:05 It sounds like there is a certain enthusiasm across every song.
04:10 There's certainly a hunger you can kind of hear and a cohesion.
04:14 Does it feel like that? Does it feel like a special project?
04:18 We're going to give you the inside scoop or anyways my scoop.
04:21 Donny kind of kicked it off and we've had success with singles, one-offs.
04:25 The last song we had was 'Bring Back the Time' and great reaction there.
04:29 That sort of kicked off, maybe let's do some more music.
04:32 Donny started writing and Jordan started recording vocals and building.
04:37 Personally, because I ended up, luckily enough, co-writing about half the album.
04:46 It did take a lot. There was a lot of passion there. I heard a lot of passion.
04:51 But there was a lot of give and take and space to feel what this was going to become when we all got involved.
04:58 There was a bouncing back and forth of songs.
05:02 Then when I made more songs and there were other songs Donny and Lars wrote.
05:07 It's nice that you hear that because I think it was a very real thing.
05:14 How different is the music making process now versus the last album or back in the day?
05:22 Straight up, you could get a decent vocal on an iPhone voice memo.
05:26 You know what's funny though?
05:29 I recorded in a hotel room after the last cruise we did.
05:35 I recorded with Lars who's one of the producers on the record.
05:38 Back in the day, we recorded our whole Christmas album mostly in hotel rooms.
05:44 That's the similar part but we basically all could be at home and record our parts on the record.
05:51 I could text Joe or Donny and they'd give me feedback.
05:56 Do some backgrounds on this song and do this on that song.
05:59 It was really easy and fluid and still felt together as a group.
06:03 Yeah, true.
06:05 We wouldn't usually have to all fly to a city or LA and meet up at the studio at a certain time.
06:14 But now it's like, whenever you're ready, jump on FaceTime and take your computer out and do some vocals.
06:24 I think what sped that along too is we did a song during the pandemic.
06:31 We were forced to have to record that way.
06:36 Since then, it's like, we don't have to meet up at any city.
06:41 Are you crazy?
06:42 Look what we just did.
06:44 I'll see you guys when I see you.
06:45 It's fine.
06:46 I'll see you on FaceTime or Zoom or whatever.
06:48 Even though we're not together, sometimes that can make it sound a little disconnected.
06:53 But I think one of the things you may pick up on the album too is there's a sense of not wanting to let each other down.
07:01 It becomes this energy of, I don't want to compare it to, this is not a pun, but like a band of brothers.
07:07 We are a band of brothers in our own right.
07:10 Much like the real life band of brothers, they never want to let each other down.
07:16 There is that thing.
07:17 It's like, I don't want to not deliver here.
07:20 There's an urgency that sometimes you can hear in voices of wanting to deliver the best in a performance.
07:28 I think that's present in this record.
07:31 Even in the writing, there's a want to not have the stinky vocal on the album or have the clunker of a track that nobody wants to listen to.
07:40 It gives an urgency and it gives an energy that is hard to put your finger on, but it's felt by the listeners.
07:50 We joke about it, but I was lucky enough to write this song with my buddy Sean for John.
07:56 Didn't have a dime and it took a little time but we found our way.
08:02 And these are the better days.
08:05 It was like we were dating.
08:07 I literally did not want to over text, you know what I mean?
08:10 Because I didn't want to pressure him.
08:12 I wanted him to just comfortably get to that point.
08:15 We ended up getting him on a vocal.
08:19 Even though it has its difficulties, it's actually pretty interesting.
08:26 So I'm just picturing you being like, "Just checking it? Just seeing it?"
08:30 I'm doing the tango.
08:33 "Hey buddy, what are you doing?"
08:38 It involved room service, a bottle of wine.
08:43 And then he played hard to get for two days and wouldn't talk to John.
08:47 So John would go, "What happened? He's not texting me. He's going to let Jordan sing it instead."
08:52 How did that song come together? It's one of the highlights of the album.
08:56 How did that happen with Johnny taking the lead?
09:00 Joe texted me and he said he wrote this song.
09:05 It reminded him of me and my husband.
09:10 I wrote it for you. They were the musical.
09:14 He played it for me and I was just like teary eyed.
09:19 Just the fact that he wrote a song thinking of me, it was so sweet.
09:24 I was like, "Do I want to do a lead song?"
09:29 Because then I know Donnie is going to text me like he did yesterday, asking me to perform it live.
09:36 And I totally ghosted you on that one.
09:40 Oh no, there's plenty of time. Don't worry.
09:43 So yeah, it was very sweet.
09:47 I wanted to ask in terms of what it's been like witnessing other boy bands and different iterations of boy bands over the course of your careers.
09:59 Obviously you guys toured and recorded with Backstreet Boys, but you think about the different variations of what a boy band has meant.
10:08 Recently, in the last couple of years, you've had a band like BTS become international stars as a boy band and score huge hits in the US.
10:15 What has it just been like living through these different iterations of what a boy band means and can do and can look like and can sound like?
10:22 What has it been like for you guys?
10:24 You look up to who you look up to.
10:26 And then if you're lucky enough to make it, you're not looking back to who's looking up to you.
10:31 But it is kind of cool that New Edition were like, legit, our heroes.
10:36 Before we were even in a group, and then we get into a group, and then we just continue to look up to them.
10:42 And they've been so gracious over the years and such examples for us.
10:47 And it's kind of cool that those two groups are from Boston, in the same frickin' neighborhood.
10:53 That's awesome.
10:55 Every band has its story, you know.
10:57 And sure, there are similarities, you know what I mean?
11:01 Of hanging in there and trying to be in a band and dealing with different personalities and different journeys.
11:07 You can identify with that. I think there's some identifying with that.
11:11 But it's all mostly behind the scenes stuff, you know.
11:14 And then there's also just a regular disconnect that you don't feel like it's exactly the same thing.
11:21 We also avoid, I think sometimes, taking the bait.
11:25 And not because, at least in the earlier days, certainly of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC,
11:31 it was like, you know, I'm off trying to have an acting career, and we weren't even together anymore.
11:37 And people would be like, "What do you think about them? What do you say about this?"
11:40 It's like, I'm trying to get this acting job. I'm not worried about what them guys are doing.
11:45 And I'd say that with respect to them.
11:47 I think we also went through so much as kids that we probably are mindful that there is a journey.
11:56 To the outside world, it's like, "Oh, well, they did that, so now they're doing that."
12:02 No, there was a process that everybody's gone through and a struggle that everyone has as a collective and individuals.
12:10 Like, I don't know what those individuals who make up that band have been through in their life.
12:15 Did they lose a parent at a young age? Did they suffer from something? Are they suffering from something now?
12:21 I have no clue. So to just say, "Oh, yeah, they're a boy band. I know what that's all about," or whatever, I have no clue.
12:30 And I also know we were judged a lot as kids. And we came through it.
12:38 And sometimes we proved stuff to the world, and sometimes we were actually proving stuff to ourselves.
12:45 Because we had our own questions. Do we really deserve all this success? Are we really this good? What the hell?
12:51 But when people try to take it from you, then it's like, "Hey, we are that good. Back up, man."
12:57 There's this whole thing that you experience.
13:00 But I do think we just collectively, I've never heard this band walking around talking about other bands similar or inspired by us or by people that came before us.
13:14 Whether it's the Jacksons, the New Edition, or whomever that came before us.
13:18 I just think we went through a lot.
13:22 And I think we have a respect for people who are successful and trying to make it.
13:28 Because it's not easy. No matter what anyone says, there's no overnight successes.
13:32 Maybe if you do a social media thing and it goes viral in a day, okay, you're an overnight success.
13:38 But in this industry, there aren't very many of those. It's a very difficult thing to do.
13:43 So kudos to all who have made it.
13:46 That actually leads to my next question, which is you guys are back in a very different iteration of the music industry now than even just a few years ago.
13:57 When you think about your last album, streaming was just getting started.
14:02 TikTok wasn't a thing. There weren't trends.
14:06 Donnie, you were talking about blowing up songs and five-second clips overnight.
14:11 Have you guys felt that at all in terms of starting to promote this album, get the songs out there?
14:16 Or is it kind of the same thing in a slightly different form?
14:21 I think what it looks like. Our pal Jared Paul, our manager, mentioned that.
14:29 And it makes sense. But I think people appreciate an album, like a full album.
14:34 They recognize the work that's been put into it.
14:39 And it's not just a single. Singles are fun, too. And we've done that.
14:43 But there's a sense of like, oh, this is a serious piece of work.
14:47 And like, yeah, we're going to give you some time and check it out.
14:51 And that's pretty cool. I think things change.
14:56 And I think every generation is like, this is crazy. What's going on?
15:00 It's not the same. Like, oh, no.
15:03 You know, riding that wave.
15:06 Sorry to interrupt. That's literally my dad. Like, every couple of years.
15:10 What? TikTok? Huh?
15:13 Totally. Totally. And I'm that guy in a lot of ways, too, with my kids.
15:18 But it's nice to make an album, have people interested in kind of an old school way.
15:25 That it is a bigger piece of work. And we benefit from social media.
15:30 You know, we've got the TikTok dance for kids that we did.
15:34 And everything else we do to stay connected on social media.
15:38 I'm grateful for our history. You know, because we built it over time.
15:45 And now, I don't know, to come out, it seems like a different lane.
15:49 Like, we literally came to New York and pounded the pavement.
15:52 You know, and knocked on doors and sang in offices to get our break.
15:57 And now it's very different. It's very different.
16:00 But I think that generation, this generation, doesn't feel like--
16:05 It feels real to them. That's what they're doing.
16:07 And in ten years, it'll be totally different then.
16:09 We also pounded the pavement today.
16:12 The only difference between 35 years ago and now is people letting us in the doors
16:16 when we show up in these offices.
16:18 Back then, they were like, "Get out of here."
16:21 You guys are touring this summer, which is exciting.
16:25 What can fans expect?
16:28 - Danny. - They can expect Danny. It's true.
16:31 - Yes, they can. - Well, they can expect some of the new music, obviously.
16:36 We want to sprinkle some of that in there, but all the hits.
16:39 And, you know, we're going back. It's the Magic Summer Tour, and we did that in 1990.
16:43 And I've said in other interviews, this was my least favorite tour back then
16:48 because we were so far-- It was a stadium tour, so we were so far from the audience.
16:52 It felt disconnected.
16:55 We're bringing it back, and the magic's going to be in the music
16:58 and the new album and all the hits.
17:01 But I think people are going to feel the nostalgia,
17:04 and we're going to bring some of the new stuff, too.
17:07 And it'll just be a great night with Jazzy Jeff and Paula Abdul.
17:11 I mean, a lot of hits there, so it'll be good.
17:14 I love the Jazzy collab on the album, too. That's a lot of fun.
17:19 He's great. He's brilliant, you know.
17:22 He's a very, very talented guy.
17:25 I mean, he's been regarded as the greatest DJ in the world on more than one occasion.
17:32 He's a pretty talented guy. That's going to be really fun to mash up with him.
17:35 And doing that song was fun. I mean, I sent him the track.
17:38 He's like-- [imitates drumming]
17:40 Sent it right back, like, "Done."
17:42 I was like, "Can you change this?" He said, "Done."
17:45 And he's very enthused about the tour, as we are,
17:48 so it's going to be great to chop it up with him.
17:51 And as somebody mentioned earlier, we used to tour around with Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince in the late '80s.
17:57 You know, we used to hang out with Jeff and Will and Charlie Mack and JL,
18:03 who's their manager and Will's manager to this day.
18:06 I mean, great guys, and I can't wait to see them this summer.
18:09 You can clown on them for being Sixers fans as well.
18:12 There's a brotherhood, you know.
18:15 We talked before this interview, for those watching, if this isn't edited out,
18:19 about the Sixers and Celtics and Jason's love of the Sixers.
18:23 But there's a respect. There's a respect between Boston and Philly.
18:28 This is-- We're going off of music right now for a second,
18:32 but in 1982, when the '76ers beat the Celtics to go to the NBA Finals in Game 7,
18:41 the Boston fans started chanting "Beat L.A."
18:45 It was where the chant started. It wasn't for Boston to go beat L.A.
18:48 It was Boston fans encouraging Philly to go beat L.A.
18:52 because we were the stepbrothers, Boston and Philly, in the shadow of New York and L.A.
19:00 So that's what it is.
19:02 So we have a mutual respect. The Celtics fans, we don't like the Sixers, but we respect the Sixers.
19:10 Because you beat the Sixers.
19:12 Nobody in Boston would be mad about seeing them beat in the Sixers one day.
19:18 Nobody would. As long as they didn't beat us to do it.
19:21 Exactly.
19:22 New Kids, you guys are awesome. Thank you so much for chatting.
19:25 Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
19:26 This was awesome. And congrats on the new album.
19:28 (upbeat music)
19:30 (whooshing)