Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Jeff Timmons From 98 Degrees On The Power of Writing Down Goals And Why You Should DREAM BIG

Episode Date: March 4, 2022

Jeff Timmons (@jefftimmons) is a singer, songwriter, producer and one of the founding members of the boy band "98 Degrees". He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at the Wynn Las Vegas and blows us away with the tips and tactics he's used to change his life. He talks about how he formed 98 Degrees, deciding on a whim to move from Ohio to Los Angeles, the importance of dreaming big, why he writes down his goals every day, how he met Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey and Justin Jeffre, what being a dad has meant to him, why 98 Degrees broke up, how they got back together and more! For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blitz! Here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV Chris Van Fleet. So good to have you with us and so good to have Jeff Timmons back with us. The first interview we did a little over a year ago was over Zoom. This one, in person at the beautiful Blue Wire Studios at the Win Las Vegas.

and I gotta be honest. I gotta pinch myself every time we record here. It's unbelievable. You know Jeff as part of the hugely successful music group, the boy band, if you will, 98 degrees. And if there's one thing that I want you to take away from this, number one, he's a great storyteller. But if there's one thing I want you to take away,

it's the idea to be clear on your goals. You've heard me say it a thousand times before, but let's make it a thousand and one. Vague goals, get vague results. Specific goals get specific results. Jeff talks about how he writes down his goals and how every single one of those that he wrote down has come true for 98 degrees.

Yeah. If it's your first time listening to the show, please subscribe or follow wherever you're listening and take a screenshot. Share this with someone who you know would love this. I'm sure someone in your life is a 98 degrees fan and will love it for that reason or just someone in your life like needs that inspiration

to take things to the next level. So share it with them. Take a screenshot and let us know that you're listening. Tag Jeff on social media. It's just his name at Jeff Timmons. You can find me. Also, just my name at Chris Van Vleet. Our fan of the week is Sean Collins.

He says, set goals like he says. It actually works. Keep it up, Chris. Your content does a lot of good for people all over. This will be the year to remember. Well, thank you so much for that. I read one review on every single episode. my way to say thank you.

Thanks for being on this journey. Thank you for trusting me with your time. And I just, if you read, if we read a review out, maybe you go, oh, you know what? It'd be so cool to hear my name on the show. So if you have 27 seconds today, it'd be awesome if you could leave a review. Okay, let's dive into this from the Blue Wire Studios at the Win Las Vegas. Please welcome Jeff Timmons. You look just so youthful.

It's the lighting in here, man. That must be. This is some serious lighting in here. It's good lighting, but I feel like you look younger than me. I don't know about that, but I appreciate the compliments nonetheless. The founder of youth is the gym. Look at this. Yeah, well, look, we've always been, you know, gym rats, the guys in the group.

And, you know, I think it's diet more than anything. You know, people ask me all the time. I'm appreciative that they'll say, even if they're lying, they'll say, oh, you look so young for 58 years old. And then I'm like, well, thanks. And then they ask really what it is. And I think it's more a diet than exercise. It's a combination of both by diet. By the way, he's not 58.

No, getting there, though. No, you're not. I'm going to be 49 this year. Okay, that's a long way off from 58. At this point, it's all about the same. It's elderly, is it not? Oh, my gosh. Stop it.

I'm 10 years behind that. So you were joking about 58. I'm 38. Yeah, wow. And you're actually 48. That's right. I'm 10 years older than you. you, man.

Jeez. And then you were trying to age yourself another 10 years. That's right. Well, it all feels the same at this point. Now, I feel great. And, you know, like I said, I think it's more diet than exercise. But both is definitely. What is your diet?

That's keto. I've been on a version of low-carb for, man, I want to say since like 97, 96. Before it even had a name. I mean, it was Atkins. It was the Atkins diet. And then it evolved into, you know, the keto diet, which is more fat than anything. So when people go, well, what do you do for your diet? I'm like, well, it's a high fat diet.

They're like, oh, your cholesterol is probably, no, I'm like, no, all my, you know, profiles and stuff check out. Well, people don't realize that you get a lot of energy from fats. That's right. People who have never done the diet before. Yeah, you know all about it. So, I mean, it definitely can, and that's one of the reasons I stay on it. Obviously, it's to stay lean and feel good and all that stuff.

But, you know, it grinded this business and the traveling and all that stuff and the total lack asleep, the diet gives me a lot of energy. Are you still in that grind now? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, really, really am. And it's not necessarily mostly touring, but we do still tour a lot. I mean, we were doing a pre-pend pandemic about 60 shows a year.

So we were doing the weekend stuff. So we could be home with our families, do other businesses. But it's that. It's other businesses. I'm a lot. I'm into tech a lot. I'm launching two labels. I mean, it goes on and on.

I'm into TV. I'm doing some documentaries. I mean, it's just trying to keep busy. Yeah. Because I think from the outside looking at, a lot of people go, well, I haven't heard a 98 degrees song in a long time. Right. Those guys must just be doing something else.

Yeah, I mean, except for like the diehard fans that come see us. I mean, we've been doing touring pretty prolific, in a prolific manner for, I would say, almost since 2013 nonstop. And those were tours, proper tours in the beginning. We did, our first comeback tour was with new kids and boys to men, which was a big, big arena tour. And then we did an amphitheater tour. And we did another amphitheater tour.

And then we did two Christmas tours. And then we're like, look, we're, you know, we have families and, you know, we've done this before. So why don't we figure out a way that we can do both things? Do our, be with our families, do our other businesses, pursue our other interests, and also perform together. So we started doing what we call the weekend warrior things, which allows us to go out on Friday and Saturday, do those dates. Yeah. And then, and then, you know, go home and do our other stuff. You guys are serving up a giant slice of nostalgia.

Yeah. I mean, I think so. And what's really, really interesting. about it is, you know, some of those people are old enough to have kids now and they're introducing their kids to it. And because there's really nothing in this lane out there, kids are, you're finding a lot of new fans, which is really, really interesting. It's really strange that I'm seeing, like, teenagers again that are, like, coming to the concerts. And now guys are comfortable with coming to the concert, right? When we, when we were younger, guys hated us. I mean, they,

yeah, they wouldn't come. They wouldn't come to the conscious. I was a 98 degrees fan. Well, you're comfortable in your skin. A lot of the, A lot of the guys didn't want to, you know, sort of admit that they like the music. And all it is is just, you know, ballads. I mean, everybody loves ballads. But when you have four guys that are doing it and at that time, you're considered teen heartthrobs, guys feel a little insecure and uncomfortable being a part of it. One of my very first high school slow dances was to my everything.

That makes me feel very good and very bad at the same time. Oh, I mean, it's not. Come on. Well, it's just so, we used at high school. So that's, that's, I was 16 at that dance, I think. So that's, that's a while ago. But you know, look. You were making music in your 20s.

That's right. You've been famous for most of your life. Yeah, now, yeah. Isn't that weird? Not weird to me. Maybe it's weird to you. No, I mean, it's just, I, you know, you never really get used to it. And it's ever evolving.

You know, look, we were really, really, really famous where we, you know, any, any place in the world we would go, we would be recognized. and then sort of music changed, and our fan base started growing up, and then there was that 10-year pocket there where it was totally uncool to be a part of a group like mine, and then, you know, the nostalgia whipped back in the shape, came back, and the fans started coming back in droves,

and now it's in vogue again. When you say a group like mine, do you not want to use the term boy band? Well, I mean, you know, yeah, a boy band is, you know, we love it now because we're middle-aged guys. So to be called a boy band, we're fortunate that that happens. But when we first started out, we were a vocal group. We were inspired by Boys of the Men.

So when I started the group, I had heard Boys of the Men, I'm like, there needs to be another group like this. And we started our group like that. It was a vocal group signed to Motown, you know, the whole thing, just like they were. And so we didn't even know what a boy band was. You know, I think the closest thing to a boy band that we might know about in our lifetime would have been new kids.

And certainly we didn't think we were the same as new kids, not to disparage what they are. But we thought we were different, more R&B and all that stuff. But when we went overseas, that's the first thing that, because everywhere you look, there's boy bands. It's a five-part group, a four-part group. Yeah. And so they were like, what kind of boy band are you guys?

And we're like, what? We're like in our 20s, what are you talking about? And so it wasn't until Backstreet and in sync emerged. And then we started, you know, went back to the states. And then all of a sudden we were a boy band. And at first, we hated it because the things that go along with a boy band are, you don't really sing live, you dance, which we couldn't. And then, you know, you have, you were put together by somebody.

We put ourselves together. But years later, we're honored to be a part of that click. I mean, that was a really kind of a golden era in music, the late 90s, early 2000s, Brittany and Jessica Simpson and Christina and Ricky Martin and J-Lo. And for us to be a part of that, that sort of stamped in that era, we're honored. Where was the shift in the mid-2000s where boy bands weren't a thing anymore? I want to say literally like the year 2002, that was it. I mean, literally radio was done.

What was it, though? Well, look, what happened was there started to be too many of them, right? And the pop era was really crazy. It was a lot of pop, a lot of real bubble gum pop. And really, radio loved it. It was one of the best times. I mean, I remember talking to the legendary jock radio DJ, Rick Dees, and he was like, this is the best radio's ever had it.

It was like 98, 99, and CDs were falling off the show. shelves and of course CDs went away and and then you know there started to be you know O-Town came out then which which those guys are amazing and really good friends of mine but then there started be like my town and Youngstown and you know there there were tons that came after that and then the programmers which are guys that are traditionally in their 20s and 30s not necessarily the fan base you know they were sick of it they're like ah you know there's there too many too many things sounding the same and literally it seemed as if overnight they were like we're just saying and no more to this type of music.

And then they just stopped playing people's records. And so, you know, that's why we all sort of disappeared with the exception of, you know, some outliers like Justin Timberlake. But he shifted his sound, though. He did. He shifted more to an R&B Michael Jackson, he kind of thing with his first record. Yeah. But nobody else emerged as a big time solo artist from that era, except for him.

Yeah. And it's funny how each decade has a very defined sound. Yes. And I feel like the 2000s were more of, more defined by like the nickel back, like, yeah, and lean back rock, went more hip hop and R&B again. And then, you know, it was,

it was the neptunes were, you know, that was the big, they had their big, that was the thing for that era, like the mid to, Hey, yeah, was a huge song when I was in college. Yeah, I mean, that was a, that's,

yeah, I mean, that's outcast. Yeah, but that's, that's style. Yeah, that sort of sound. Yeah, that sort of sound. It was, and they definitely didn't want any more, the Max Martini, boy band type stuff now max martin obviously went on and then right wrote stuff for everybody katy perry and you know everybody you can think of uh but uh you know they they definitely were like

we're done doing this where and we could feel it on the road we went from you know selling all kinds of crazy tickets and being sold out all of a sudden like people aren't here we would go into regions and i'm like i would look at you know back then you have the paper magazine version of billboard you look in there and you're like or or uh r andr which was something that kind of kept track of your spins and I would go, all right, where are we going? We're going to go to Chicago. Well, B96 isn't playing our record. So you can expect like it to be light at the show. You know, so because the music's a commercial for your brand and your touring. So, yeah, it ended up being a very interesting time and all of a sudden we're going, wow, uh, we've got to start thinking

about what else we're going to do really quick. You were in the era where you were performing at malls. And I remember like, you know, people would pack every single level. Well, we performed at malls. But we started out doing cheerleading camps before we got signed. So we, you know, we didn't, we couldn't get signed right away. And we didn't, you know, our demo was done. And I think we were trying to get it, get signed. And what we did was we just were like, we ended up, our manager ended up making friends with the head of NCAA. And I think it's something, the National Cheerleading Association was something different back then.

And he was like, look, can we put these guys on a cheerleading camp tour? So that's how we started. We first went on a cheerleading camp tour. So we rented a Winnebago and drove it ourselves and went from high school camp to, you know, college campuses doing cheerleading camps. And literally it was almost like a, you know, PA system. And it was pretty crazy. But, you know, look, you look back at those times and you miss them because it was the very beginning of things. You believed in yourself.

And you didn't know where things were going to go. And we had so much fun. There was pressure for us that we put on ourselves, but we just had, we were like having such a blast. And then, of course, when you do start to make it and then all of a sudden, all that pressure's on, it becomes less fun. You really, really are, and we're so serious. We're such serious guys about, and it was a very competitive landscape being that we're compared to Backstreet and in sync that we felt like, man, we need to be perfect all the time or we're going to lose our spot. And so that's when it became, you know, a grind never, never getting off the road for several. several years, but that beginning stuff was a lot of fun.

Were any of the songs from your original demo, songs that we ever heard later on? Yeah, I think a couple of them. There was a song on the demo called Come and Get It, which was one that Montel Jordan of, you know, this is how we do it. He had other songs, but that's his most famous. Montel did our demo tape. And so it was a tape. Yeah, it was a demo tape.

And for those at home that don't know what a tape is, it's too, Google it. So, you know, we did a demo, and Montel, we had come and get it on there. We had an a cappella version of I'll be home for Christmas. That ended up making it on our later Christmas album, which did really well. And come and get it, made it on the first record. Look how different it would be if you were coming up now. Oh, my gosh. Totally.

I mean, I don't know if we would have, I think we would have been determined to make it. And there are so many vehicles out there and tools with regards to social media. And that's what I mean, yeah. That you can, we could have been exponentially bigger or it's also ultra, it's also ultra congested with regards to so many choices that maybe the things

that we did might not have stood out today. Yeah, well, you know, with TikTok and YouTube and everybody has a SoundCloud like there's Instagram is all kinds of opportunities

but not unlike your story it's just about who wants to work the hardest. Well, that's right. And that always, you know, that prevails. The hard work prevails. Talent, unfortunately,

is a small fraction of it. It's the work ethic. It's the networking, you know, and it's, I just think that, you know, the networking is so very, very important. And it's just this many years later, I think we're around because we worked hard and we made sure that we treated everybody with respect. And I know that sounds really, really corny, but we made it a pact with each other that we were, no matter what happened, how big or small or whatever, we were always going to try to remain humble and treat everybody with respect. So years later, you know, people that were fans are now running, running. you know, corporations and media companies, they're there for us when we need them. So that was really, really important for us. Well, and you had songs that define, like the story I was telling,

you have songs that define people's moments or big moments in their life. How many brides in the early 2000s dance to I do? I mean, I don't know. And here's the thing. And you never, we knew it was going to be a wedding song, obviously. It's called I do. Yeah. We incorporate wedding into the video, but we had no idea it was going to be that big of a song years later. And I mean, even when we were doing the tours, you know, on a nightly basis, someone will come up and say, hey, when you do, I do, you know, they'll talk to our security and they'll say, when you do, I do, can, I bring my wife, my future wife up on stage and propose to her.

Wow. It happens every night. Does it still happen? And people actually have gotten married at our shows as well. It happens. Oh, it happens every, we have someone do that almost every night. While you guys are singing, they're getting married? Well, that's happened before, but really people, people propose almost every night.

So what happens? We'll stop the show and we'll be like, all right, John, come on up here. And John will come up and he'll go, yeah, Janie, I have something to say. And, you know, right before I do, that people always freak out. The crowd goes crazy. Oh, I love it. So, I mean, it makes it, you know, it makes it all worth it. So what happens if John wants to propose, but also Joe over here has also talked to your security?

We've done it. We've done twice. Yeah, we've had two people up there. And then if it gets more than two, it's too many people. You're like, come to the next concert. We'll be in the city next door. Or wait next year. We'll be back around.

So when it's two, how do you do it? Well, we just let them come up and each of them do it at the same time. Or we'll say, hey, these guys would like to say something. And then they'll just get down on a knee and propose at the same time. And then after they say yes and they hug and kiss, does the song start? Yeah, the song starts and sometimes we'll let them stay up on stage and dance. This is really great. I mean, that's one of the best parts of the show.

That should be a ticket package at this point. Yeah, exactly. Like, you know. If you want to propose, it's an extra two grand. Right. And we'll throw in a ring for another. Wow. You've got the front road tickets.

You got the VIP experience. Yeah. Then there's a wedding package. You should seriously do that. Packaged it up with a, with a sponsor like a Hawaii, a trip to Hawaii for the wedding. For the honeymoon? Yeah, yeah. We've got a real business here.

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What do you think was a song that put you guys on the map? Well, look, we had a song called Invisible Man, which was my favorite. It was the first one we ever had. All I am is the Invisible Man. Sing it, Chris. I'll sing all your songs for you. We've always been looking for a fifth member, and you definitely fit the mold. way.

I think Invisible Man came out, but Motown at the time was really trying to convince the public that we were in an urban group. So they didn't put our pictures on anything. They wanted people to think we were an R&B group, and that didn't work. You didn't want, they didn't want you to have music videos? No. At first, and we did a music video, but the only, the only place the music video was serviced and played was something called the box.

Do you know what that is? No. The box. So the box was a video channel that was only on UHF. Again, people have to Google UHF and VHF. All the regular channels before cable were on VHF. But then there were other channels on UHF. It's kind of like AM radio. And there was a video channel called the box. And literally you could call in and give a number of the video that was on a list and they would play it. And that's the only place. And obviously nobody watched that. So we didn't break on the first song.

It was because of you was the song that actually But I remember Invisible Man on much music in Canada. Yeah, that's right. Well, much music, they played it. So we actually broke in Canada before we broke in the U.S. We didn't break here, although the song performed well. We went up to Canada. We talked about the Winnebago.

We wrapped our pictures on a Winnebago. We drove up through Canada. We literally drove up to, we're back. Backstreet boys were performing or where they were selling tickets and girls were waiting in line. Yeah. We'd drive up in our bus. They would freak out and wonder if we were another Backstreet boys. We'd get out.

We'd sing acapella. And what happened was much music heard about it. And they sent their crew down to interview us. And when that happened, we blew up overnight. I mean, we had been struggling for over a year to get, you know, to get notoriety and get recognized and get on the map. but once they did that, we exploded in Canada. And then we went platinum there right away.

And we took the momentum for that, went to Southeast Asia, blew up there. And then all of a sudden, the label was like, hmm, maybe we should like show these guys on TV. Well, put them on the magazine covers and all that stuff. And then that's when we really started getting going. And then what was the next song? Because of you blow us up. And then I think the next one after that might have been the hardest thing. and then I do was the

Don't make me start singing again. Come home and do it. And then the last one was I do on that record and then that's when you know if you have three songs that used to be if you have three songs on an album you're going to go multi-malti-platinum.

There was a formula to it back then. Do you still get residuals now? Well, we never got residuals ever. I'm just kidding. What? Yeah, of course you do. You get residuals when those songs and they're not a lot.

If you're not the songwriter, you get some, points on the song as an artist. And it used to be a lot different back then. And it was really kind of nominal. You would use CDs and albums as a driver for your touring and your merchandise. I mean, you really didn't make, unless you wrote all the songs in which we didn't, although we were songwriters, the label wouldn't let us get any of our songs on there.

Unless you wrote the songs, you just, you made a little bit of money on the CDs, but in albums. And then you'd really make good money on the road. Isn't this why every band has a Christmas album? That's right. Because every 12 months, you know it's going to get played on the radio. Yeah, that's right. A Christmas album's an annuity, right? You know it's never going to go away.

But the other part of it is Christmas music is public domain before a certain year. So that's why if you do your own version of it and your own arrangement of it, then you can claim publishing on it. See, that's where you can actually become a writer and publisher of the song. Oh, that's brilliant. Yeah, so that's another reason. It's a good money maker. So many artists have a Christmas album.

And that's why. And there's our reason. Yeah. No, it's because they want to spread holiday cheer. Yeah, that too. Yeah, that too. Yeah. Do people still get married to I do?

Yeah. I mean, yeah, absolutely. They propose, like I said, every show, there's somebody that does it. Do they get married to it? Yeah, all the time. There was somebody that was putting together hosting real, for me to host a show. And part of it was, it was a wedding thing. And so they wanted to show how many people.

get married. So somehow this person, this producer went on and scoured the internet and, and put together this little minute and a half reel of all of these people that used that as their wedding song. Wow. Yeah. So when you say that you were doing other things to try to get discovered and the Winnebago in Canada was what finally made it happen, what were some of the other things? Well, I mean, when we first started, we used to sing Acapella for food, for money, because we were starving artists. So we literally starving artists. Yeah, literally. So we, so we, uh, We would sing on street corners. We would sing on third street promenade in L.A.

My very first group, before 98 degrees, we went up to San Francisco and would sing for hours on fishermen. Fisherman's Wharf, dropped the hat. We would enter talent contests. We did everything. Everything you could possibly do at that time because there was no social media. I know that's so hard to believe that that didn't even exist. There were no cell phones and any of that stuff. And no, you really not even, not even really much with regards to email stuff.

And we, we would just sing in front of anybody and everybody that would listen. Yeah, if someone was sharing your music back in the day, they were physically taking your CD and passing it off to someone. Or taking a two-deck tape recorder and dubbing the tape and passing it to somebody. Or recording it off the radio. And that's what I did in the beginning. I did that a ton. I would wait for the top six at six, the top seven at seven. and I would hit, you know, the play and record at the same time.

That's what I did. I was in, you know, in where I'm from in Ohio, you have basements. In California, they don't have basements. I don't think they have basements here in Vegas and Nevada. Yeah. But we had a basement and in the basement I would listen to the radio all night. And that's when I heard Boys and Men for the first time. And I was like, what is that?

I don't know what that is, but I need to hear that again. And so that's when you couldn't just, you know, again, just Google it up, look it up on YouTube, go on iTunes. You literally had to wait until the, radio played it again. And I wanted to hear it so bad. You know, you call the radio station all night requested. And I waited all night for them to play it again. And it finally came on and click, press the tape recorder, listen to it and studied it, listen to it over and over and over again. It's just so weird how things have changed. You know, I see my youngest daughter just like,

music, music smorgasbord, whatever they want to hear, whenever they want to hear it. It's at their disposal. And I was like, it didn't used to be like this. They have no concept. Of course. I mean, we act like social media has always been around. Yeah. But Facebook's 15-ish years old. Yeah. Instagram's 10-ish years old. Yeah.

Well, I guess for some people, that's their entire life. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, I mean, they've grown up with it. So that's all they know. What year or what month was, did I do drop? Oh, gosh. I can't even remember. I think it was like the summer, I believe.

You probably know better than I do. It's been so long. The reason I'm asking is because I remember recording off the radio and that was the number one song in the top seven at seven and the DJ was coming off the song going it's the song of the summer. I do. I love it. And I was oh, because I would always replay the song off the tape and I would always hear his voice saying that. Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, they probably released it. If it was the summertime, they probably released it, I don't know, probably end of spring because it takes, it used to take like two or three months for it to get

going. I mean, you couldn't just go, all right, I put it on and it's got a billion streams in one day. It's like, all right, you got to build it up. You got to go visit all the radio stations every time you have a single come out. You got to do all the radio shows. And then your song would build up and then, you know, hopefully be a hit. If people don't recognize you from your face when they see you out, do they immediately recognize the tattoo? You don't know, not a, yeah, sometimes. Because it's on full display here. Look at that. Well, yeah. I mean, it's these guns. Geez. Wow, boom. I, I, uh, oh my gosh. You know, there was a time when I did.

What are you hiding them for? Come on. When I was embarrassed of the tattoo, because when the music sort of went away and it wasn't cool for to be in a quote-unquote boy band, and I became a music producer and started, you know, was becoming a family man and the group wasn't doing anything for those 10 years. I mean, people would, they would nail me for the tattoo. Really?

So I was embarrassed of it for a long time, believe it or not. You were just wearing long sleeves? So I would wear long-sleeves shirts. Wow. And then, you know, I, you know, I was married before and then I got divorced and I met my current wife. And she said, what do you do it? Why are you doing? What are you doing? I mean, that's, you're in one of the biggest groups of all time. Why are you so embarrassed by that? You should be proud of it. And I thought to myself, I'm like, yeah, I should be proud of it. I mean, it's so strange. Why would you care what the public thinks about something that you created in your basement in your house and ended up touring the world and selling millions of records, you know. So I just, I guess there's a certain, as crazy as it is, there's a certain humility. that comes along with it. You know, it's strange being in this business because you're the brand.

You have to go out there and you have to be on display. And in order to really react the fans, you have to look good. And I didn't get the tattoo to, for the brand. I got the tattoo because it was my group like any rock group would do. And I had no idea. I was hoping we would blow up. But I never thought about it as it's, it's sort of an advertisement for the group. And so, you know, it had sort of a, it has sort of a cheesy component to it, but I don't

care anymore. Do all four members have the tattoo? No, I was the one, well, Nick and I got ours at the same time, and he had his and his son, and I think he filled, he filled his in at some point, you know, covered his up too. How dare he? He permanently covered his up. What about the other guys? No, the other guys didn't know. Justin doesn't get tattoos, and Drew didn't want to get the 98 degrees logo on his arm, so. Did you ever think about getting it covered up or removed? Yeah, I mean, I thought, well, yeah, back, back when we were done, and maybe about the first or second, and you're in when, you know, I'd walk in a guitar center and the guys were like, oh my God, look at the 98 degrees guy.

I'm thinking, yeah, and you're still working a guitar center, right? I mean, you know what I mean? Not that there's anything with a guitar center worker. Yeah, I'm a multi-platinum selling out of artists. But it's just like, you know, you kind of go, all right, you know, at least I tried. You know, at least I went out there and did it. So, but you didn't just try. You succeeded, like, beyond your wildest imagination.

Right. Well, I mean, it's hard for, you know, look, and so I was, I had thought about doing it. And then I was like, I walked out of there and was like, man, this isn't cool anymore. And then that's when I, when my wife sort of hit me over the head and said, hey, this is something you should be really proud of. You know, I think the statistics are 1 in 55 million people sell that many records as many as we did. So the odds are long. And whether it's lucky or whether it's hard work or you're blessed or it's a combination of all those things, you know, I should be proud of it, and I am this many years later.

What were you going to cover it up with? I don't know. You can kind of turn it into a Mickey Mouse if you look at it. If you get rid of just the stem of the nine, it turns into a Mickey Mouse. But, no, I don't know. I had thought about it for a little while, and I didn't do it. I'm glad I didn't either. Oh, thanks, man.

Like, as the honorary fifth member of the band now. Yeah, well, now you have to get the tattoo. See how you like it. Oh, you know. I don't have any tattoos. Oh, you don't. Yeah. Oh, cool.

All right. I don't know. I'm not opposed to them. Yeah. You just haven't had something that you really, really care about to put on your body

for the rest of eternity. Yeah, I haven't had something that's made me millions and millions of dollars like you that I've wanted to, you know, put on my body

for the rest of my life. That's funny. I don't know. I could put the Insight logo on my arm, perhaps. There you go. That's a great looking logo. It's a great logo,

but it's not a great tattoo, I don't think. I think so. It kind of looks like the old New York Giants logo. I don't know. You're too young to probably remember that too,

but it's got the same. similar colors and the same font. A little bit. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. What advice do you have for people who are coming up in the industry now because it has shifted so much?

Well, I think it's the same. I mean, the tools are different. You have more tools at your disposal, but it's always the same. I think it's work hard, you know, work harder than everybody else, right? Self-belief is a big thing because self-confidence, self-belief, because, look, nobody's going to believe whether they say they are or not. And that could be friends, your family members, people, your management, nobody's going to believe in you as much as yourself, period. And in fact, a lot of people that are closest to you will root against you because you're stepping out on a limb that they would have loved to have tried, but maybe not have taken the risk to do it.

So there are people that are maybe secretly envious. And so I think that self-belief is very important because people go, oh, are you really going to try that? Or if you're out for a while or when's it going to happen? They're going to put like subtle subconscious reminders that you haven't made it yet. But if you stick with it, it's only a matter of time. And I think humility is the other one. Stay humble. Stay humble, work hard, self-belief.

And then I think that, you know, surround yourself with good people. And that is the hardest thing to do because it's an industry filled with vultures. But you can find good people. When you start to discard bad people, then the good ones start to flock to you suddenly. And then you surround yourself with. a good team and that's really, really important. What about getting your music played? Because when you guys were coming up,

it was about getting on radio stations. I don't know if that really matters as much anymore. Well, a lot of people say it doesn't, but it ends up being like the icing on the cake at the end of the day. I think that obviously you want to drive people. What's great about today is you don't have to be a massive superstar to make money from your music.

You can have a small fan base. And if you curate your music to cultivate that fan base, you can have a cottage industry for yourself and do music something you love forever if you do it the right way and market it the right way. So I would encourage you to understand your fans that you do have when you finally get them and cater to them. And I know obviously there people are like, I'm an artist. I need to evolve and I respect that. But if you want to make a business out of your music, you got to really care what the fans want and cater to the fans. And then, you know, obviously the streaming stuff is a mystery to everybody. The algorithms change. What works? What doesn't with Spotify and Pandora.

and Amazon and whatnot. But I think that the most important thing is to put, you know, good content on all the social platforms, curate it often, don't do it too much, and, you know, find out with that sweet spot where fans are engaged and keep them engaged and interested. And then getting back to the things you talked about in the beginning, what will set you apart is doing the grassroots stuff,

find out a way to do a mall tour, a house a blues tour, or something real and inexpensive that's not going to cost you a lot, or you can get a sponsor if you have enough fans to just go out and break even, but really get people to see you in person and be accessible in person and do things in person that'll set you apart from the masses that end up being stuck in some sort of algorithm that's up next on a playlist, set you apart. I have a theory.

I have a theory that TikTok is like the new radio, because songs can go viral on TikTok in the same way that songs would get played on the radio. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. The TikTok's phenomenon, they're actually now dictating the hits. And I'm developing two new labels. One's a dance label called ARIA Records in tandem with In Grooves, Universal. And then the other one's called Cafe Records, which is going to be a really strong independent label.

There's an emerging artist named Vara Gianna right now who's going to come out, I think, her first single drops from March 18th, maybe. And she's incredible. And one of the things that when I was talking and kind of searching for label partners, for distribution partners on the label side of the side of things, they were like, you got to get the TikTok numbers going and get things going viral with TikTok because really that's kind of dictating to a lot of labels what the next song is. And then those songs, when you want you get on radio, radio still, I love radio still and TV still. Because, you know, those still make you official. That's why, you know, look, folks are trying to go on the talk shows still, right?

Because that solidifies their start-um. To be in power rotation on top 40 radio, that's solid. there's only 10 or 15 artists that are in that rotation. Instead of a million or millions that are online, then that sort of reinforces what's cool, like it dictates what the cool is. It's that idea that perception is reality. And that's the whole thing.

It's a marketing, you know, all this stuff's a marketing tool for your music, right? Yeah, like if a YouTuber can get millions of views on their own video and maybe only 500,000 views by going on Jimmy Kimmel, there's something big about going on Jimmy Kimmel, about going on Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon.

Right. And you want to be able to say, hey, look. I went on Fallon. Yeah. Because look, they only have a limited guest list and they only put stars on there. Or if you get on the award shows, I mean, all that stuff still, it still means it, that's what's cool. I mean, you can have millions and still make tons of money off of your spins and your views on streams online,

which is great. But people are going to go, oh, yeah, it's a nichey kind of thing still. Yeah, yeah. So it's the crossover. I think it's the best of both worlds that I think, really are going to cultivate the next crop of stars. Journaling is a really big thing for you, right? Yeah.

Yeah, no, I've been doing that for a long, long time. When we talked about this last time, I think that a lot of people, that was a big nugget that a lot of people took out of that. Yeah, I mean, and people kind of have lost track of that. I mean, you know, look, there are a lot of self-help books, which people go, oh, that's the woo, you know, that's the cosmic stuff, the secret stuff. But there is something about manifesting things that you want in your life by writing them down because what it does is it trains your subconscious to somehow attract them to you by

you changing your behavior in certain ways. You're conditioning yourself. Maybe it's not the universe bringing it to you, but maybe it's you conditioning yourself and making it, making yourself more available for opportunities to come your way or to recognize them. So me, I journaled early on when I was in another group and from Ohio and those guys, they all quit and I was in L.A. and I didn't want to quit. And so I got an odd job and was working security. And I just started writing down my goals. And I read a Tony Robbins book and it was pretty self-execate.

Awaken the power with him. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Awakening the giant. Actually, both of them. It was personal power and awakening of the giant. I was trying to make them one title.

I think he's made several versions. So that just might be one now where he's combined them. I was listening to the audio book of that. Yeah. It's incredible. But it's, you know, you go, oh, this is kind of common sense. really what it does is it sort of trains yourself to remind yourself what your goals are. And he said, you know, write all these lofty goals and a time frame on what you're going to do them.

And, you know, and don't hold back, right. Don't be afraid to let yourself dream about what you want to have. And what you do is you create this visual to go along with it in your mind's eye. And, you know, I wrote down these crazy goals. And I was in a security office, you know, and it wasn't, it didn't look too bright. My group we quit. I didn't have a group. I didn't have a manager. I'm a record. I didn't have anything except dreams. And then, you know,

what were you writing down specifically? Oh, well, look, but my first one, honestly, I remember sitting in this office. I was working in security at Phil Collins' house. His estate was being built. Wow. He wasn't there. And I was working in security and had 12-hour shifts. I worked eight at night until eight in the morning. Very long shifts, boring. And every hour I had to go patrol this enormous estate and then go sit back in there and just listen to Kiss FM in L.A. And, you know, my first one, I was like reading it and I'm like, okay, let me see. All right, number one, get a group. That was the first one.

Then it was get management. And then it was, you know, get a record deal. And then it was have a record on the radio. Then it was have a top 40 hit and have a top 10 hit, have a number one hit. And then, you know, it bounces all over from those goals and dreams and then to physical stuff that you want to do with your body. and then, you know, other things like your house and jet skis and, you know, everything that you could dream about you put in this thing. And then, you know, be nominated for a Grammy, you know, go on tour, sell a million records.

So five, sell 10. And then, you know, it was, you know, go around the world. And I'm going, man, it's just, it's crazy. Then as I'm writing it down, I'm seeing it all happen, right? In my mind and there's just something about it. And look, every single. one of those things came true. There wasn't one on that list that did not come through, but within two years. This makes me feel like we're in some sort of a simulation. Yeah, it's weird, right? Because if the,

idea is that if you can put these things out into the world, that you start to attract them into your life, that does sound like woo-woo stuff. It does. But everybody who's accomplished anything great will tell you that's exactly how it's happened for them. There's a lot of people that do that, that say that. And then there's a lot of people that have done transcendental meditation, which is another thing I'd like to see, not to get too new agey or whatever, but a lot of these ultra successful guys like Jerry Seinfeld and Howard Stern practice trans. I meditate, but I don't know what the specifics are about TM, but I've noticed that a lot of extraordinarily successful people practice that as well. I think that there's always these common themes with successful people. Yes, I agree.

And meditation's always one of them, but transcendentals. Yeah, that's the one I've been hearing a lot lately with reading about with successful people. I just haven't had time to go, you know, go to a class and get my word and, you know, whatever that is. I guess the generic one's Ome or whatever. And then some guru gives you your own word and they do it. I mean, again, it sounds like a woo thing. But, you know, look, if it works, when I try it doesn't hurt anybody. It's supposed to be good for your mind and your body.

I've talked to enough people on this show where it's like all of the most successful people do some form of journal. some form of meditation, some form of fitness, and some form, which we bring it right back around to the start of this conversation, some form of watching their diet too. And then a bunch of other things as well. But yeah, I think success leaves clues. That's a Tony Robbins quote there for you. That's right. Success does leave clues. I mean, it's exactly right. And other people do vision boards as well. They're visual people. They like to sit there and put their dream house and stuff and on a board and look at it. And I know that, you know, look, a lot of people go, that doesn't work. Well, give it a shot. Maybe it will. Yeah. If it, if it doesn't work, well,

throw it away. You're in the same spot as you were before. That's a great point. If it does work, now you've got a dream house. That's right. If it doesn't work, exactly where you are now. And it was interesting, you know, I was at, I probably told you this last time, but I was at a show in San Diego. And, you know, there's a knock at the door in our dressing room. And it's Tony Robbins. He wants his son wants to meet us. And he's like, he comes back and I'm like, oh my God, Tony Robbins. Jared? Yeah, Jared. And I was like, man, I'm like, you're the reason I'm here. My group's like, oh my God, here he goes. And I'm like, no, really, everything you said. And then he ended up

putting me in one of his commercials. So it's just weird how that happens. I mean, all that stuff. I mean, I love Boys to Men. I sat in my basement recording him. And then, you know, here we are on tour with them. You know, 10 years later, 15 years later, it was like a dream. And I think that that's what's so amazing about your story and your life and just everything you guys have done with 98 degrees. Thanks, man. You willed this all into existence. Well, you know, you have to, you have to like will it into existence because, like I said, no one's going to believe in it as much as you. And if you really, really want it, you have to really put all of your energy and effort into it. It doesn't mean you can't have balance, but you really have to see it happening. You really

have to visualize it happening. I imagine you also practice gratitude, too. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think that, well, absolutely. I mean, even when things are rough, that's when it's the toughest, time to practice gratitude. And the most important. And it's frustrating to try to go, all right, what am I happy for today? Like I remember, you know, my group quit. And here I am going, oh my gosh, we were just about to get a record deal. And I got to start all over. What can I be happy about? Well, I was like, I'm happy. I'm in LA. I'm not in Ohio anymore, you know, I'm not a cold weather. I'm, you know, I'm with my brother. It gives us an opportunity. I was living with my brother at the time. It gives us an opportunity to become close.

I mean, I've found ways to be, you have to change the physiology of your body to be, to feel good, to be feel good, mentally feel good because people can read, they can feel your energy. They can feel your nervousness. They can feel your apprehension. And, and, you know, your angst. So you got to find a way each day to, to make yourself feel good. And it's impossible to be grateful and angry at the same time. That's right. Imposting. And it's really easy to be angry. I mean, that's one of the easiest things to do is find a way, something to be upset about, some way to complain. And I can't stand when people complain. It makes me crazy. And I complain too. I mean, I'm not perfect. I complain about complainers. Yeah, yeah. Ironically. But that's so funny. Like how you said it's really easy to be angry, really easy to complain. It's also really easy to be grateful. It's equally as easy. And so I think that, you know, if you have that choice, Why not choose the other one? Yeah. Well, I end every conversation talking about gratitude. So what are three things in your life, Jeff, that you're grateful for right now? Well, I'm happy that I'm still around this many years later doing interviews with you. I mean, honestly, that feels great to be, and to be talking about good things.

I mean, because there's so much out there right now that's negative. I mean, you can go on Twitter and it's just a nightmare and some of these other social media outlets. So I'm happy that I can come on and really talk about things that hopefully will inspire others. You know, I'm not the most inspirational guy in the world. but it is an interesting story and should be something that, you know, you can look at and go, oh, I can do it. If you can do it, I can do it too. That's one thing. I'm always grateful for my family. They're all healthy. COVID, you know, nobody really suffered from that. And I'm happy to be doing things I love for a living. And that hasn't changed for 25 years for me. So I feel super blessed

and grateful that, you know, I'm, I, my job is not even like a real job. It's work, but it's not a job. You know, so I'm lucky I get to go talk about myself. and workout and not have a schedule really that I have to go to a boss and report to that as a grind like that. But those are just three. I got a whole list, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. When's the next 98 degrees show in either L.A. or Las Vegas? Well, we just did one two weeks ago in Palm Springs, which was awesome and sold out at Marongo, casino Morango. And Vegas, we don't have anything slated. We just got an offer for a little bit of a residency, but I don't think we're going to end up doing it. I know that, you know, Nick's now

moved to Hawaii because his wife, Vanessa, got a, got a big role in NCAIS, Hawaii, so you should check that out. So he comes back and forth, but I think that really the next thing for us is going to end being mid-July when we can all make our schedules meet because we're all doing so many different things. And I don't know when L.A. is next, and I don't know when Vegas is next. Well, I will be there. Thanks, man. Well, I'd love for you to see the show. Oh, my God. And we'll bring you up, and you can sing I do with the hardest thing or Invisible Man or whatever your favorite. That's all it is. Probably I do, but I'll leave that to the professionals.

Thanks for having me, man. There we go. I just love talking to Jeff. If you couldn't tell from that, he is genuinely one of the nicest human beings on the entire planet. So big thank you to him for joining us in the Blue Wire Studios. Big thank you to you for being in there with us as well. And I'm sure you know a 98 degrees fan or a boy band fan, share this episode with them, or just with someone who could use the inspiration.

And tag us on social media. Jeff is at Jeff Timmons. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and you can check out our first episode together. It's in the archives. It's episode number 186. And I'll leave you with a classic quote from Walt Disney. I love this.

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Be great. Be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more. Insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do.

With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Ticket ban. Jove, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast.

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