For the Fans
With Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of making it’s one night return to US theatres next month, the boys are hoping the documentary will bring some old Backstreet buffs out of hiding.
The film – along with special behind-the-scenes footage and an acoustic performance recorded in London – will screen at selected theatres on May 13 and BSB believe even non-fans will enjoy their story.
“I think the overall goal was if you’ve never, ever heard of the Backstreet Boys and you watch this film, it would be interesting and compelling – you wouldn’t get up and walk out after five minutes,” says Kevin.
“We have a group of amazing fans all over the world that keep track of us and follow us and they’re hardcore and have been with us from day one.
“Then there’s a group of fans that are a little more passive – they’ll check in on us every few years or come out and see this last tour.
“Then there are people, who never were fans...”
Continues Nick: “We made the film for ourselves, but this is also a way for us to reconnect with those fans, who might have moved on, or the people who are passive ones.
“We believe in our music, love our music and feel it’s good music – we’re great performers. But life takes it course, things happen and [fans move on]. We talk about it all the time – we’ll go through a drive-through at In-N-Out and someone at the window will be like, ‘Hey, aren’t you … not Justin… Nick Carter right? Backstreet Boys! What are you guys doing now?’
“That’s a story we hear time and time again and the film world is big outlet and a great way to connect with people again.”
While they hope to reignite the Backstreet passion in fans of past, AJ adds that it’s that loyal group of hardcore followers, who the guys love to see on the road again and again – and who they credit for their enduring success.
“One of the coolest things is to see fans we’ve known since day one still with us – growing up with us, watching us getting married and starting families and starting their own families now,” he says.
“No matter what, there always seems to be a common relation between us and our fans. That’s what makes them the best fans in the world, in my opinion. We relate to them on pretty much every level – with the exception of maybe a career level.
“We love being as close to our fans as possible – hence we do the Backstreet Boys cruise which as close as you can ever get to us without coming over to my house for dinner!
“It’s just an awesome ride that we’ve been on over 20 years with our fans all over the world – to still keep dong this knowing that we don’t have a lot of support from radio is a huge testament to our fans and you see a lot of that in the documentary.”
* Click HERE for more info and to purchase tickets for the May 13th screening of Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of.
By Leena Tailor / @LeenaNZ