NEW 102.7's Mike Adam talks with 98 Degrees at the Hard Rock Hotel New York.
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00:00And it's definitely a nod to the show, but it's certainly not a copy in any way, shape, or form of what they've done.
00:05But, you know, it's such a cool vibe.
00:07It's just acknowledging that vibe and taking it one step further with the song.
00:14We are here at the Odyssey Sound Space at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York.
00:17This is your check-in with 98 Degrees.
00:21Congratulations on all the things, guys.
00:23Thank you, man.
00:24Good to be here.
00:25So, full circle, I'm always curious about this.
00:27You have some re-recordings on there.
00:29I know myself, anytime I'm looking back on past work, I want to just, like, rip it apart and completely revamp it and make it better in my mind.
00:38Did you guys have the urge to do that?
00:41We thought, you know, that's traditionally, yeah, that's how we normally do things, too.
00:45But for us, we wanted to kind of give back to the fans what they fell in love with in the beginning.
00:50And that was how those songs sounded.
00:52They sounded like that for a reason.
00:54Now, obviously, throughout the years, our voices have changed.
00:56And, you know, we've performed them so many times with new inflections on them, and we try to change them up.
01:01But I also remember being a fan and going and seeing concerts, and I would hate when the artists would do that.
01:07So, we tried to keep the integrity of the originals.
01:10And it wasn't easy because, you know, times have changed.
01:14Our voices have changed.
01:15Production has changed.
01:16But we feel like we accomplished it on these.
01:18So, I know there's a lot of, like, legal caveats or whatever, but you now retain rights to these songs.
01:25But when you're going back to re-record them, especially with the instrumentals, like, can you even reference the Pro Tools files?
01:33Or are you – so, you're recreating from scratch just –
01:37Because you don't have the plug-ins or anything.
01:39100%.
01:40Have to start them from scratch.
01:41Okay.
01:41And that's the challenge, right?
01:43Vocally, it's a challenge because we don't sound – as Jeff said, we don't sound like we did back in 1997.
01:47But recreating that track and trying to match that track and find those sounds, it's trickier than I think we thought it was going to be going into it.
01:56It was definitely a challenge to make it happen.
01:58But as Jeff said, we're really proud of how it came out and proud of how close we got to those originals.
02:03So, any professional in the industry, like an engineer, will be like, that snare – that's not the same snare.
02:10Yeah.
02:10There's different distortion on that guitar pedal than there was.
02:13Yeah.
02:13I mean, there's – because nobody wrote down, like, what the guitar was actually, you know, set at back in the day.
02:19Yeah.
02:19I mean, certain keyboard sounds aren't even made anymore.
02:22So, you've got to try and find a plug-in that sounds like it.
02:25So, it was kind of a little bit of a honey expedition to try and find some of the sounds.
02:29Yeah.
02:29And then it was also kind of working with the mix engineer, trying to make sure that all the same hits are emphasized the same way that they were in the originals.
02:38And it was definitely a labor of love.
02:42But, like, listening back to how I sounded on Invisible Man, which we recorded in 1997 or 6.
02:476.
02:471996.
02:48I mean, I listen to that now.
02:49And to your point, I'm like, why do I sound like that?
02:52Why did I sing that way?
02:54And so, like, you can't go back and necessarily sound exactly like that again.
02:57Yeah.
02:58So, it's definitely an interpretation, but it's a very close interpretation.
03:02So, there's new and old on this album.
03:06Do you still feel like they mesh together well?
03:09Like, is there a cohesiveness you found throughout this album?
03:12Yeah, I think so.
03:13I mean, we certainly strive for that.
03:14I mean, we always, you know, want to stay within what the 98 Degrees sound is.
03:20And I think we did that.
03:21I think, you know, you also, as an artist, want to stretch yourself, too.
03:24So, with a song like Stranger Things Have Happened, you know, it's a little bit different.
03:29It's a little more tempo.
03:31But we really fell in love with the song as soon as we heard it.
03:34And, you know, we were excited to record it.
03:37And, yeah, we're really proud of it.
03:39So, I'm glad you brought up Stranger Things.
03:41I really love the song.
03:42Did you have to get any type of, like, approvals for that?
03:46Are we getting sued?
03:47No, I mean, we're not going to get sued because it's not a sample.
03:51And it's not a sound that they created.
03:54It's a keyboard, you know, sound.
03:56Even the synth that they used, you know, I like to say, John Carpenter.
04:00You know, that whole show is a throwback to the 80s, you know, horror films.
04:05Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:05So, they actually used some of the same synth.
04:08It's like a Roland synth and a certain synth and a certain arpeggio that's just on a different setting.
04:14So, you can't really copyright settings that are in a keyboard.
04:18Right.
04:18So, it's not exactly like the theme song at all.
04:20But we do have an insider at Netflix.
04:22So, we did a...
04:23Don't play me.
04:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:26That's right.
04:27If we do get it, it's Nick.
04:28We did get some assurances that we were in the clear on that.
04:31And it's definitely a nod to the show.
04:33But it's certainly not a copy in any way, shape, or form of what they've done.
04:36But, you know, it's such a cool vibe.
04:38Yeah.
04:38It's just acknowledging that vibe and taking it one step further with the song.
04:42Cool.
04:42You guys have been famous for so long now.
04:46How has your relationship with fame changed over the years?
04:50What does it mean to you now versus then?
04:52How do you react to it now?
04:55I think, at least me personally, the relationship isn't with fame necessarily.
05:00It's with the fans.
05:02You know, fame, I'm not a big fan of fame.
05:04But I am very appreciative of the fans that have given us all these wonderful moments and all these wonderful experiences that we've been able to accomplish.
05:13You know, so I think it's kind of a love-hate relationship with, you know, at least for me personally, with fame and notoriety and things like that.
05:22But I think we understand that there's pros and cons to every situation.
05:27Sure.
05:27And you just try and maximize the pros and minimize the cons.
05:31It's such a not normal thing.
05:33Like, have you found your normal within it, you feel like, though?
05:37Yeah, I think that we were blessed to come up in a time when there wasn't nearly as much access to acts as there is now.
05:45I don't envy the Justin Beavers of the world and the One Directions of the world and guys who came up in this social media landscape.
05:52Because when we came up, we didn't have any of that.
05:54I think it would have changed our experience dramatically.
05:57So I think we're all grateful for the fact that we came up in a different time.
06:01It's certainly changed the way that everyone approaches this business.
06:04I think in the end, whatever fame we've gained through the years, as long as it's based on what we do and what we love, which is the music,
06:12then that's something that we're very proud of.
06:15But for us, it is all about the music and it's about those fans that you referenced.
06:19And that's the reason we're still able to do this 20-some years later.
06:22It's because those fans remain with us and supportive.
06:25And it's a cliche, but it's an absolutely true cliche that we can't do any of this without the fans and their support and their love for what we do.
06:33So it's really all about them.
06:35When you guys were first getting started and everything was basically taking a backseat to your career,
06:41can you remember, is there one milestone, a personal milestone that still haunts you to this day?
06:47Something you missed family-wise because of your career?
06:51I think we definitely all had to make sacrifices and miss moments we would have liked to have been there for because we were so dedicated.
06:59I mean, you owe it to your bandmates to be all in just because they are all in.
07:05And so it's sort of like you have to just make sacrifices and miss things that you wish you could have gone to.
07:11We've all missed weddings.
07:12We've all missed birthdays and things like that.
07:14But at the same time, it's a trade-off.
07:16We get to live our dream.
07:18And I don't think there was one moment, per se, as to maybe we could have had more fun.
07:23You know, we were so dead set on, you know, we're all type A guys, hardworking blue-collar guys.
07:29We were just grinding.
07:30And I think, you know, we didn't take it for granted, but I think we could have stepped back and like taken ourselves a little less seriously
07:36and enjoyed the moment a little bit more, kind of like we're doing now.
07:39Thank God we have another chance to do this and it keeps going.
07:42But I think back then we were just really, you know, anxious and excited to experience success
07:47and then stay there at the same time that maybe we could have relaxed a little bit more
07:51and taken in the moment and enjoyed it a little bit more, you know.
07:54Sure.
07:54When you guys were first coming out, you aligned yourself so much with the R&B side of the industry.
08:00Obviously, you signed with Motown.
08:01You toured with Janet.
08:02You worked with, you know, Stevie Wonder.
08:05I mean, Mariah, everyone.
08:07Initially, were you worried, though, that you would be embraced by the genre more internally in the industry,
08:16not so much the fans, you know?
08:18Well, I mean, when we first signed to Motown and Andre was there and we put our record together,
08:23they sent out our first single, Invisible Man, but didn't include a picture with it.
08:27So it was them trying to basically pull one over on R&B radio, be like,
08:32Oh, listen to this great song.
08:34Listen to how great this song is.
08:35And then, surprise, they're white, you know.
08:38So it was kind of like those little things.
08:40Ultimately, it all started to blend together and, you know, the boy band thing started,
08:47you know, ramping up.
08:48And then I think Motown was like, hold on a second.
08:50There's more money to be made over here.
08:52So then they started putting our picture on everything.
08:55Yeah.
08:55I mean, pop music was so different, you know, back when we were first trying to get in the
08:59music business.
09:00It was like gangster rap and it was, you know, grunge music.
09:03Very much grunge.
09:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:04And other than Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, I mean, it was a pretty dark time in music.
09:09And then suddenly when we came out, that's right, when the beginning of pop music coming
09:13back was happening.
09:14It was the summer of the Spice Girls and Hanson.
09:16And all of a sudden, pop music became the thing again.
09:19But yeah, I think, I mean, I think the initial vision that Motown had for us was to be like
09:24the white Jodeci, which is not something we ever, I think, felt fully comfortable with.
09:27I mean, as you can tell, we are sort of, you know, we have that grit, came straight out
09:33of the church, but, you know, we had to tailor it back.
09:36But it all worked out the way it was meant to, you know what I mean?
09:38Like it all kind of finds its way back to equilibrium and you find your sweet spot and
09:42you run with that.
09:43So, yeah, I mean, I think all those experiences we went through, the effort to be a super urban
09:48group, you know, I think all that, those are valuable moments in our lives and careers
09:52that kind of helped to shape us into who we are, you know, ultimately as a group.
09:55Jodeci was actually in our very first recording session.
09:58Like they were there in the studio and in the green room.
10:01That's intimidating as shit.
10:02It was intimidating.
10:03Yeah, they charged their whole meal to our recoup account.
10:06We're still recouping their lobster and steak.
10:08Yeah, we're still paying off their Louis the 13th bottle they were drinking as we were recording.
10:12Oh my gosh.
10:13You know, what I feel like, I don't know if you guys thought about this, but I look at
10:17this as like a stamp of approval, you know, Eminem never even took a shot at you guys.
10:24So maybe I'm thinking about this too much, but I feel like that he was like, you know
10:28what?
10:29These guys are students of R&B?
10:31No, he did.
10:31He called us 98 disease on the record.
10:34Yeah.
10:34Okay.
10:35No, we feel like it's an honor.
10:36We've got validated.
10:37We're good with that.
10:38You know, you make fun of NSYNC.
10:39You make fun of Backstreet Boys.
10:40You make fun of 92.
10:41Like when Blink, you know, spoofed us in the video, it was like, those are, to me, those
10:45are all signs of like validating signs.
10:47Like, okay, we think enough of what you guys are doing in your career that we're going to
10:50spoof it in our, you know, in our video.
10:52And so those moments are all, you know, those are, those are highlight moments for us.
10:55But no matter what industry string was pulled, I can't imagine, you know, a baby face or whoever
11:01would gravitate towards you guys and work with you guys unless they fully believed in the
11:06talent, you know?
11:07Yeah, I think, I think we were fortunate that we, we did find people that believed in us
11:11and supported us and helped bring out the best in us.
11:14And some of our producers really kind of were able to identify kind of what our sound was
11:20and make kind of the things that made us, us, the harmonies and, you know, our love for
11:25acapella and things like that.
11:26And was able to kind of implement those into a pop, you know, casing and make it, you know,
11:33palatable for what radio was at the time.
11:35And, and, you know, we got some great songs along the way too.
11:38So that doesn't hurt.
11:39Awesome.
11:39And I feel like this new album, you know, before we wrap has something for everyone, even
11:44if a child has never heard of 98 Degrees, you know, some of the songs on there definitely
11:51cater to them.
11:52And of course, your, your child's never heard of 98 Degrees, shame on their parents.
11:55Shame on, I say that all the time.
11:57The parents are failing you.
11:59We are, that's a disappointing situation.
12:02There is a bit of a handoff happening though.
12:03We see it in concerts where, where moms will come with their eight, nine, 10 year old
12:07daughters and the daughters know every word, every song.
12:09And you can tell that there's a baton kind of being passed, which is very cool.
12:12Like to, to be able to, to be able to sing and perform for that next generation of, of
12:16fans is a, it's an awesome thing we get to see.
12:18Or initially the mom's dragging along the kid, like, come on, you're coming.
12:21And by the end, they're like, I love them.
12:23It's been interesting to see that the fans, the younger fans are excited about it.
12:27And we're seeing it more with like millennials and Gen Zs as well.
12:30I think that they're trying, you know, Spotify and all the streamers are cool, but people
12:34are trying to get more involved with music.
12:36Hence as we put out some physical CDs and albums because younger generations are exploring
12:40their parents' music and want to have that physical CD and album experience.
12:45Like we got to enjoy when we were younger.
12:47So totally awesome.
12:48Thank you guys so much.
12:49I'm so happy for you guys.
12:50Thanks for having us, man.
12:51Great job.