Not Skinny But Not Fat - BACKSTREET'S BACK! W/ AJ MCLEAN

Episode Date: July 26, 2022

A childhood dream came true! I sat down with Backstreet Boy AJ McLean (who btw shared my heart and space on my wall with Brian Littrell). We talk about how the boy band came to be, his drug addiction, meeting his wife, has he had a celeb hookup, beef with other boy bands, who his celeb crush is and so much more! Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. I've been going mental. I'm losing my mind. Hi, I'm Eileen Kelly, and I'm the host of Going Mental. After struggling with these incredible highs of a booming career and then the unbelievable lows of losing my mental health, I voluntarily admitted myself to a psychiatric hospital. I ended up staying over five months,

learning not only how to better manage my symptoms, but also just get my life back on track. So I'm here to say that no matter where you are, you're not alone. On my show, Going Mental, I'm going to be talking to guests about their own mental health journeys, as well as talking to professionals. New episodes every Thursday, and you can find Going Mental in Dear Media, anywhere you listen to podcasts. Going mental all of the time. This is Amanda Hirsch from the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. You might know me from Not Skinny But on Instagram, where I spend my.

my time talking about reality TV, celebrities, everything happening, and pop culture. I also talk to some of our favorite celebs and reality TV stars. We talk about what's going on. Tune in every Tuesday and just feel like you're talking to shit with your best friends in your living room. Where do you live now? I've been in California for 22 years. Really? I'm in about an hour north of L.A.

Okay. So you're like California but not living in the like... Yeah, I mean, I was in the hustle and bustle up until I got married. And then once we had our first, we finally moved to Calabasas. And then from there, where we are now, which we've been in our home now for almost seven years. To Calabasas. Yeah. So now we're in suburbia.

Suburbia. Oh, yeah. I love it. You love it? I never thought, because I grew up in the city and... In the city of Florida now? Florida, but like in like the hustle and bustling. And my entire family is from here.

My mom is from Hackensack. My grandfather grew up in Spanish Harlem. My grandmother grew up in Brooklyn. And my dad is actually from Cambridge, Massachusetts. So if anyone doesn't know me and they ask me where I'm from and they assume I'm from New York, I just say, yes. Yeah. Because I'm not a big fan of Florida. Okay. I mean, but who is? Nobody really. It gets such a bad, do you feel like it deserves the bad rep that I guess? I think, look, growing up there, obviously,

I didn't know anything else. It was just, it was Disney and like the beach and that was it. But over the past probably four to six years, I feel like it's kind of come, like kind of up on its head. Right. You've just kind of seen the, like the worst side. The worst side. You know, but growing up, my mom always said, this is where all the good New Yorkers go to die. And I'm like, I have a lot of friends that are from New York that are not going there now. They're all going to Nashville.

Yeah, there are new hotspots, Mom. Yeah, there is brand new, brand new hotspots, yeah. If you guys couldn't recognize by the raspy voice that you've known since you were probably five or six or eight, it's A.J. fucking McLean. Hi. Isn't that cray-cray? Like, I need to bring it back for myself.

for a moment. Like, I'm trying to do the, you're 44. 44. Looking better than ever. Trying. Thank you. I'm 34. The baby. But when you started, you were 14. That's insane. It is. Because a lot of people don't realize that, so it's already been 30 years for me. Because I was the first picked by Lou Perlman back in the day in 1990, like the middle to end of 92. So I helped actually form the band as far as even the audition process. How did he find you at 14? So there was a thing in Orlando called the Blue Sheet, which was basically like the classifieds for anyone that was in the entertainment field. So there was, you know,

pages of auditions for Disney to be one of the face characters or back then it was Nickelodeon studios and Universal. So one of the last pages on the top of the page, it said local entrepreneur looking to put together a five-piece harmony group a la boys to men meets new kids on the block. And I had just gotten fired from a job from a Nickelodeon TV show that it got picked up on ABC and lasted three episodes and got canned. So you knew you wanted to be like in the industry. I mean, well, I've been in this business since I was three.

How did that happen? I started out modeling and then theater. Theater is what really kind of drove me. I started doing theater when I was six. Did it come from you or was your mom like a stage mom? No, I just love to be in front of people. I just would make up stories. I would, you know, learn monologues and do whatever.

But I just, I loved performing. It was either that or I was dying to be a police officer. I wanted to be a cop or a fireman. Or actually, my biggest passion was dancing before singing was ever anything. So I grew up dancing and doing theater from like ballet, jazz tap, all of it. My dream job was to be a backup dancer for either Michael or Janet. That's what I wanted to do. And singing was just there because of doing musical theater.

Yeah. Never in a million years that I think it would become my daily job. Right. But doing what I do, I get to do all of it. Right. Because in a music video, you're acting. You know, I'm dancing. I'm singing.

I'm performing. I'm on a stage. It kind of encompasses everything. So you were manifesting since three years old, basically. So you see it out in the paper. So I go with my mom, we go to Lou's house. We had to have a song and a dance routine prepared. So I had both, and he signed me on the spot.

Then the rest of the auditions ensued. So the next to get picked was Nick, who was 12 at the time. Howie would have been next to get picked. He had a stage name, which does not, because he's not. He's Puerto Rican and Irish. Yeah. And his stage name was Italian. It makes no sense.

Tony Denetti. He does not even look like a Tony Denetti. I'm like, where'd you even come up with that damn name, dude? But because it wasn't his real name, the casting director lost his resume. So he had to re-audition almost a year later. We had two other members that did not last for various reasons. We lost one. We got Kevin, who was working at Disney at the time.

Everyone's working at such a young age. Well, Kevin was 21. Oh, right? Right, Kevin was older. And then we lost our fifth and we're trying to find someone. And Kevin's like, well, I have, I've got a cousin in Kentucky who Brian was a junior at the time. And, and then literally two weeks later, we met Brian, did our first show at Grad Night, SeaWorld, 1993. And here we are 30 years later almost.

That is? Do you think that would like fly today, like an entrepreneur meeting with like, 13-year-old signing them. I mean, today, I don't know. But, I mean, if you really look at, like, I don't want to speak out of context, but just from what I've seen and what I've heard, and again, don't quote me on this.

But if you look at, like, the BTSs of the world, they are put together by, like, big business. Right. It's corporate stuff. It's not, you know, you know, yeah, it's not best friends. it's and and just like with like the Mickey Mouse Club back in the day they age out and then they just rotate yeah you know what I mean so that would be the closest thing I think to the

entrepreneurship some billionaire or you know somebody putting together a group I mean it's been done outside of Lou and he's so connected with you guys Hulu yeah he's dead oh dead dead RIP oh yeah well yeah I mean it's unfortunate because we never, not for all of us. I made my peace with it. But he went to prison for the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. His sentence was 25 years in a federal prison. For every million dollars he paid back, he got a year off his sentence. And he died of a heart attack right after we filmed our documentary. And one of the things that we wanted to have in the actual Doc was, as many of us as the prison would allow to go in and sit down with him and just ask

the most insane pondering question of just why. Yeah. And we were not able to do it. And then he passed away. So I know some of the guys still have a grudge and still have unanswered questions. But, you know, again, if I were to be asked, do I regret anything? No. No.

Nothing. This is exactly what was supposed to happen for us to be where we are. today. So when you meet all these guys, they pull them in. You're not friends. Do you... I knew Howie from auditions and Nick from auditions barely. I knew Howie more. Anytime there was any auditions for any Latinos, Howie and I would see each other because we're both Puerto Rican. So we would both see each other at all. And yet, ironically, it would be all these Latinos and then they would pick the blonde hair, blue-eyed kid for the part. It's like, what?

You have Tony DiNopoly over there. Yeah, exactly. Oh, my God. Fricin Howie. So did you have any, do you remember if you had any, like, first impressions? You're like, who's this kid, Nick or, like, Brian from Kentucky? Well, Brian, Brian still, we actually talk about it in our show right now. Actually, Nick's the one that brings it up, which is when Brian showed up to, we had a bandhouse that we were, like, were renting to rehearse.

And, like, I was being tutored at the time. And Brian showed up with a cutoff flannel t-shirt. cut off jean shorts. Rebock pumps, mind you, from back in the day, and a nice high fade. And he opened his mouth. And he's like, hey, y'all, my name is Brian Lachron. Nice to meet you. And we're like, oh, shit. Okay. All right. And literally that night, we all sat in our little garage dance studio thing, and we picked out the harmonies to Boys to Men's version of yesterday. And I wish anyone could be a fly on the wall for that moment because that's the moment we knew. This is the group. The sound, everything, it just fit. It just fit. You know, and here we are. Time to ditch

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So you guys should check out Cozy Earth, get quality bedding, sleep great, and use 35% off code not skinny. Cozy Earth provided an exclusive offer for my listeners today, 35% off site wide when you use the code, not skinny. Wait, so 1993 you started and when did you like blow up? So if memory serves, we signed with our label then, Jive Records, then. which has now become RCA, like 96, 97. I mean, we, for the first few years, we were doing, there was a thing called the ESM tour, which we were just touring around the country in a Winnebago,

doing middle schools and high schools, like auditoriums. And we were nobody. We had no label. We had no, we had songs that we had cut with local producers in Orlando. And then we would do like a cappella stuff and whatever. I mean, we did the grand opening of a pet store. We've done Walmart parking lots. We've done airplanes.

We were getting paid. No. Oh, not getting paid. No, we were just doing our thing. I mean, we would sing for dinner if we had to. And then there was an offer on the table for Mercury Records back in the day. And that fell through. And the head of A&R at that time left Mercury and went to Jive.

Kept telling everyone there's this group of guys. I'm telling you. So I believe we were in North Carolina. We did a club show. And unbeknownst to us, there were label reps there shortly after they signed us. And they shipped us off to Stockholm. It's our first time leaving the country. And we met the now infamous Max Martin and the entire Sherron team, Dennis Pop.

And that's how we created the Backstreet Sound. I mean, it was just... Did Luke come up with a name? Yes. So Backstreet Boys, Backstreet came from a... There was a place called the Backstreet Market, which was off of International Drive, which was like a huge tourist street back in Orlando. And I guess kids would hang out there on the weekends and, you know, probably tailgate or do whatever the hell they were doing.

So Backstreet and then boys because we're boys. Boys. We're all buds. We're friends. So did you become friends, though, after, like, when you were touring on the road? Yeah, I mean, you know, there's a 10-year gap, really, between Nick and Kevin. Right. So Nick and I being the youngest, Howie's.

second oldest, Brian's in the middle. But I mean, I mean, Brian live with me. I moved out when I was 17. Moved in with my then girlfriend. 17. It's ridiculous. Yeah. Brian moved in with me. And then Brian, Howie and Kevin all lived together in like low income housing. Kevin's car that he just got, got left on bricks one day. They pretty stole his rims. We definitely paid our dues. Yeah. I mean, hell, Brian had a water bed. That's how far back I know. I grew up having a water bed done. Well, that was all the rage. Is it weird to looking back, like, because I know I was eight, I think, and obsessed

with you guys, like posters on the wall, you know, looking back, is that weird to think that we, like, you had like eight-year-old, 10-year-old pants? Well, I mean, if you look at our ages then, you know, when we really took off, I was about 18, I'd say. Yeah. so it just kind of made sense you know and but you know Europe is where we kind of got accepted first the U.S. at the time it was Nirvana it was Snoop it was Dre it was you know alternative rock there was no room for pop band like us and there was no such thing as a boy band yet that word

did not even exist yet so we went to Europe because it just took off Europe accepted us that's where we first heard the phrase boy band we had never known what that was we considered ourselves and still do to be a vocal harmony group that's what you say in the states that's what it is duop kind of harmony group the temptations the shylights the oj's boys to men that's what we thought we were and then we go over there and there's like 30 other groups like us

but only one or two guys could sing they all looked pretty they could dance but that was it and then the minute we sing encapella everybody was like oh shit this is the real deal and from Europe

into Paris from Paris into Montreal from Montreal it bled down into upstate New York and finally at that time Hanson had come out and Spice Girls they blew up in the States

now radio was like okay we'll give these five these five dudes a chance so we re-release least a brand new first single. We got it going on was the first single, peaked at like 69 on the charts, came back to the States and put out quit playing games. And that and put the video together with us in the rain and all that stuff. And our pastel colored silk shirts. I love. Yeah. And

MTV had to create some way to retire our videos because they just, there was, there was just too popular, hence TRL was created. So it was essentially created because of us in the sense of having to find a way to retire videos. What do you mean by retire? So like, you know, people would call in on like the top 20 countdown and like at a certain point, other people need an opportunity. You know what I mean? So if the same video is always playing, there's a bunch of other artists. It's not just about you. So TRL was then created, which was this huge explosion of. Us, InSync, Christina, Brittany, good Charlotte, Blink 182, you name it. Yeah.

And that was the hub, you know. And I'll never forget, we did the very last episode of TRL. I think it was in 2004 or something like that, somewhere in there. It was the final episode and then it was done. And it was done. But, yeah. Wait, so when Insync came about, were you guys like, where are these new kids? Also from Orlando.

It's wild. also signed by Lou. We had the same management team. Jive Records also signed them. So it got a little sticky. Yeah. You know, because it was that whole don't shit where you eat mentality. And we kind of took it personally.

Like, okay, this is the exact replica of us. Like, why are you creating? Yeah. Yeah. And then Lou continued to make more boy bands, none of which really reached the level of us and or in sync. In sync, their opportunity came from something that we turned down. We were so fried and so burnt from traveling and touring and everything that there was a Disney special

that we said, no thank you. We want to rest. In sync got the slot and that's what blew them up. I mean, we work with the same producers, the same everything. Those guys all, you know, knew each other. Howie actually went to school with Chris Carpatrick. They went to college together. And I knew Joey just from around the Orlando area where I lived was down the street from the high school that he went to.

If you would see each other at like VMAs or like award shows was there like friendliness? There was friendliness. Back in the day Chris and I had beef.

Really? It was over an ex that we both dated was the dumbest thing in the world. Now we're actually both really really good friends. He's a dad now

and I think just over time you kind of squash stupid high school. And looking back there was room for both. I mean, both fans were huge. And they were extremely talented. Yeah.

And they're the nicest guys. And I mean, I'm still friends with all of them. And you know, there was enough room for everyone. And there was there was, you split down the middle. You had in sync fans and you had

Backstreet fans. You know. Right. And just like... And also there was no one like you at the time. Like tattoos. No. I mean, there's There's still no, if you look at all boy bands, starting back from the Jackson 5, if you want to call that a boy band, which it was, there has been nobody that looks like they should be in good Charlotte. Nobody.

Not in sync. Not 98 degrees. Right. None of them. Right. You were like a, yeah, you were like not the stereotypical boy band dude, which is why I'm proud today. I just posted about this before we even scheduled this interview.

We were talking about the backstreet boys. and I asked my followers, like, who do you think that I like the best? And I got offended. I mean, Nick is great. But, like, there were the girls that loved Nick. You know what I mean? Because he was, like, blonde and had that thing. He was a baby.

He was a baby. And I felt cool for, like, you being my favorite, you know? Because that meant that I was, like, hardcore, you know? It was between you and Brian. I had, like, both going. Even though I'm the biggest teddy bear in the world, I'm not at all what. What you look like? No, not at all.

I'm a major pushover. I really am. Okay, so ever since Noah was born, I've been getting KiwiCo crates and they were lifesaver because I was so lost at the beginning that I was like, wait, what toys do I even buy? Like, do I just type on Amazon like toys for three month old or whatever? KiwiCo will get you the good stuff, the good stuff that will actually help with their learning and with their advancement and with their development.

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So make summer a new learning adventure every month with KiwiCo. Get 50% off your first month plus free shipping on any crate line with code not skinny 50 at KiwiCo.com. That's 50% off your first month at KiwiCo.com. That's K-I-W-I-C-O dot com, promo code not skinny. I think for me, it was, you know, it was all cookie cutter back in the day. Like, we all had the matching outfits, but it was different colors. Yeah.

You know, and finally, when I, I think the first thing I did was dye my hair blonde. And that started this, like, self-discovery of, like, I don't want to be like the rest of you. Then I got my first tattoo in Germany in a hotel room when I was 19. And then that's continued. And- Do you think you did that because sort of wanting to stand out or be different than? It was just a form of self-expression, I think. And then I started painting my nails.

And it just became what felt comfortable to me. Yeah. I've always been comfortable with my feminine side, my masculine side. I mean, I've worn dresses before. I wore a dress at my wedding. Like, I don't really care what people think about what's on the outside. It's more so what's on the inside that matters. It's like, this is just who I am, you know, and I, nobody just gets one tattoo either.

I don't care who you are. Yeah. You, even if they're small, you've got to at least have two. Right. So. Are you done? No. No.

I mean, I, gosh, my last tattoo I got was probably a year and a half ago. But, no, I'm not done yet. The next one I'm getting is going to be for my youngest daughter, because I've got one for my oldest year over my heart, which hurt like a, ugh. But I'm still trying to figure out what to get. for lyric it's got to be something as creative as what i got for eva so what did you get for eva it's actually she was about four months old yeah and it's her actual hand holding my finger and it's a heart locket so she has a key to my heart now this was when we were only having one and then we had two

and now i'm like oh shit but lyric it's got to be something music based because right that's that's that's what inspired the name right my wife got to name eva after eva gardener my wife grew up watching all the old movies and loves old hollywood and lyric was mine so i mean that makes sense now that you say that makes sense how did you meet your wife rochelle right yep she was a bartender and waitress uh at a restaurant oproft sunset called saddle ranch um oh it looks like that western they have the mechanical bowl yeah yeah what i think's hilarious though is now it's become a ticotkers haven so all these millennials think that it's like the new cool spot you guys are so behind, like 20 years behind, you guys are so, no.

I mean, it's so uncool that it's cool again. Yeah, it's like, well, like now you see like the millennials with, instead of AirPods, they have the old school ones. They have the, like, everything comes back around. Yeah. And the 90s will never go away. So you think what you're doing is original, but guess what? I never stopped doing it.

Yeah. So she was a bartender waitress. I asked her out. It was a Sunday morning. she claimed that she didn't know who I was. Wait, really? And this was... She was an Insig fan.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So... Wait, what year was this that she claimed she didn't know who you were? This was in 2009. No freaking way. And so, but what's funny is she took two of her younger friends,

drove them to Vegas, I think when she was 18 or 19, to go see our black and blue tour. And they were up in the nosebleeds. And I always ask her to this day. I'm like, did you look down and ever think you're going to marry one of those guys? And she's like, no. Because she was obsessed, ironically, with the gay members of boy band.

So she was obsessed with Jonathan from New Kids. Yeah. Obsessed with Lance. And then she married me. So it's like, okay. But, yeah, so I asked her out. What, you just thought she was a hot waitress? She was beautiful.

And we had a connection. I asked her out and then she asked her manager who I was and our first day was supposed to be dinner and a movie and I worked late

in the studio the night before so I was like why don't you just come over to the house and we'll watch a movie and we'll order in and she panicked and was like oh okay come over to your house

watch a movie Did you have like a fancy house at that point? It was a nice house but I wasn't really thinking of anything but really why I love movies literally I'm obsessed with movies

and so she flaked. And then she quit. She was gone for a year. So I was like, oh, well, okay, well, there goes that. And then she came back a year later. I asked her out again. And March 22nd, 2009 was our first date. It was the best worst first date ever. Where'd you go? We went to a place called Camacho at City Walk at Universal in L.A. And there was a mariachi band playing the entire night. So dinner was very loud. And our conversation was screaming. Back then, Then she was big into horror movies, which I was, is my favorite genre. And we went to see a movie called Last House on the Left.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a seven-minute, very graphic, rape ensued scene. So I'm sinking in my seat, like, oh, my God, this is the worst night ever. Dinner was horrible and now this. And I'm like, God, I'm so sorry. Walked her to her car and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and that was it. And then we've been together ever since. It was just, she was normal. She was normal.

You needed that? You needed that, like, grounded? I didn't think I needed that. And nor did I want that. I wanted, because I was in my crazy phase. I was in my drugs and my parties and all that. So that's what I thought I wanted. And come to find out, she was to come before the storm.

And then she was one that tamed the savage beast. I mean, she put up with me, we've been together for 13 years now. Yeah, 2009, yeah. 13 years, married for 10. almost 11 this and it'll be 11 years this year it's like it's nuts did you did you have any high profile like relationships before her no you know you didn't date in the industry there was a couple of opportunities that I heard about after the fact that were interested in me and I'm like oh man wait you got to tell me one was Jennifer Love Hewitt back during like I know what you did

last. Oh, my God. But I blew it. I didn't know. And then Mandy Moore, but she was significantly younger. And that would have been weird. When she came out with Sandy. She opened up for us a millennium tour. But no, I mean, there was, I, oddly enough, never, never a celebrity. Never. Yeah. It's just I, I, I never. I'm sure I could have hit my publicist up and been like, hey, let's go on a date with so and so. Yeah. That's just not me. Yeah. I like the balance. And my wife's in the industry. She's a professional special effects makeup artist, hair, beauty, all of that. She's worked on film sets and TV shows and

commercials. Her dad's in the industry, her brother's in the industry, her sister's in the industry. So she's been around it, but never like in it. And you were saying when you met her and on your first mariachi horror movie date you were in the crazy part of your life i had just started kind of in the not so good phase like i did drugs right in front of her but she didn't think anything of it she'd probably thought oh this is a casual thing this isn't going to be a problem yeah but it but it was right because your famous stories that you tried cocaine before the the call video yeah which is what got me into that but i was already drinking before that Mm-hmm. I mean, I started drinking, really drinking at 25. I didn't even drink on my 21st birthday.

Everybody else got sloppy-ass drunk and food poisoning on my 21st birthday. I just had no desire. Really? Yeah. Until 25? 25 to 27 was bad. Yeah. And then since then I got sober for about almost seven years and then on again, off again up until almost a year. ago. So I've been sober now for a little over 10 and a half months. Amazing. So, you know, it's been, it's not easy, you know, but this two-year break that we all had really did a number on me in the right way. It gave me a chance to really reflect and really like take, take this as serious as I possibly can. As well as now with the fentanyl crisis, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a scary world out. Yeah. Where, you know, I know me well enough. If I pick up a drink today,

that'll be it today. Tomorrow, it'll be two or three. Eventually, the drugs are going to come back. And I don't know what's out there. I could do one line and be dead. Yeah. And I cannot leave my children fatherless, my wife, a widow, my bandmates without a bandmate. I just, it's just not worth it. So you tell, like, you tell stories about the fact that your bandmates didn't know. what was going on? They didn't know at the beginning but I'm sure like midway through they're all really smart guys

even if they did know they didn't think it was a problem because I still showed up on time I still did my job I still performed I did all these things and it's like but it was when it started to affect where I started missing rehearsals and or

vocally I sounded like crap or then I started drinking on stage fans didn't know because I was drinking out of a red solo cup just a straight shot of jack so yeah i mean that's when it got bad yeah you know like like like like we say in the rooms of a a it worked until it did is it hard to be in this industry and be sober um yes and no you know i know a lot of guys that have been sober 30 years that are in this business it's just how bad do you want it yeah how bad do you want it you can literally have everything and more

and enjoy the fruits of your labor and remember it and savor it by staying sober. I have flashes to this day of things that I didn't remember that I'm like, oh, that's right, I did do that. Oh, I've been there. But what really kind of kicked it off for me was dancing with the stars two years ago, getting in good shape for that, getting mentally prepared because I had no idea what to expect. Nick tried to prepare me and I was not prepared. but it was a life lesson that show

and then it really kind of was the catapult for me to really start looking at myself and you know I had some ups and downs during this two years but then finally I just woke up and I was like you know what I'm done I'm done

I don't want to go on the road again and be out there for a week my my alcoholic brain would already tell me before I left home where and when I'm going to drink. If it's two days after I leave, if it's a week into it, if I'm going to be in a certain city that I know that I love, but that thought never crossed my mind this time.

And I have a healthy fear every day. If I don't have a healthy fear, then my ego comes up and then I tell myself, I got this, you don't got this. I don't have it. Yeah. If I don't have that little bit of fear of, oh, my God, this could be the end. then yeah. Yeah.

So you don't get too confident. You're like, okay. No. Okay, good. Well, you just posted like, I'm 44, I'm sober, I'm feeling great. You're in amazing shape. Getting there. Getting there.

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dot com slash win and that's code not skinny for 20% off all products we were talking before you were like I've been doing this shit since the 90s like what the TikTokers are doing today so speaking of like TikTok and the whole world of social media do you feel the pressure of like keeping up making little videos like I mean I you know I wasn't on TikTok until last summer and it's blown up. Oh, yeah? I mean, I've, I enjoy it. But I'm not one of those that, like, posts every day.

Is it you? Do you have help? It's me. No, I do. My Instagram, I've got an amazing social media team. But when it comes to TikTok, I like to create the content myself. And I like to think out what I'm going to do. I don't just do it because, oh, it's trending.

Like, I'll do something just off the cuff random. I think probably my most. viewed and liked is again just random we were at lances house rehearsing for this for the show that we did for for la pride and we were trying to move furniture and we were moving a couch and i asked the guys can we recreate the famous pivot scene from the best tv show ever created yeah and oh my god that's my favorite thing so we did it and it literally just blew up yeah and so and so So, yeah, I mean... Have you seen the bloopers of that scene?

Oh, God. Oh, my God. Yeah. It's... So I had never seen that show in my entire life until about... Now, I'd say, nine years ago. Oh, my God. And now you could ask me anything about any episode, and I will tell you...

Well, you binge it? Did you binge it? Oh, I've seen it at least a thousand times. Oh, my God. Love that. We would go to bed watching it when it was on Netflix. I brought the box set with me on the road. Oh, yeah. Back when the, when the Blu-ray box set...

came out. My wife got it for me for Christmas and I brought it with me on that. That is the sweetest thing. Horror movies and friends. That's the way of your heart. Now my new one is New Girl, even though we were like about a year late on that one, but it's what a... It's a cute child. It's, yeah. Schmidt and Nick are like, it's like the best duo. Nick is so lovable. Come on, Nick Miller. He's so good. Yeah, I mean, what an amazing cast. Yeah. And I've known Zoe. for a while, and she's just the sweetest, most amazingly talented woman, period. My wife and I, actually, for Christmas, last year, went and saw she and him do their Christmas

show. And that was, that's her little duet band, it was so awesome. It was so awesome. She's so fokey and cute. She is. She really is. So do you, so you're good with social media. Yeah. You don't feel like the pressure to keep up, pose. I guess what I, and maybe I'm dating myself, I don't know, but what I, what I do find fascinating is that these, these TikTokers make a living freak moment. Massive fan of shit. Ew, AJ. Ew, AJ, ill.

Massive fan of freaking shits creek. So good. So we were in Toronto and I hit up my publicist and I was like, crap. Shows tomorrow. I know it's probably last minute, but I really want to invite Annie and Dan. I thought Dan still lived in Canada, but he's in L.A. And then within like three hours, get a response back, an email from Annie saying, I already have tickets to the second show.

And the fact that he's inviting me, her exact words. I'll be there topless with bells on. And so her and her little squad came and we sat on my bus and talked. And I don't, yes, I know a lot of celebrities. Fine. But I don't know a lot of celebrities. I don't walk up to other celebs on the red carpet. I don't walk up to celebs at parties.

It's just not me. They can be the nicest person in the world. But that's their space. That's their time. I'm inviting. You can come talk to me whenever you want. And my wife gets on me about it all the time. She's like, do you not know who you are?

And I'm like, I do, but I don't look at myself that way. Why she wants you to like. Like just, you know, like if you're on the right carpet and, you know, Jack Nicholson's there, say something. I'm like, I'm not going to do that. Yeah. I just, that's not me. Yeah. And so like to know that someone like Annie looks at me the way I look at her. Yeah.

It was just sweet. Yeah. And, you know, and it was just funny because when I, when I asked her, I was like, can you do me a favor? Can you please do the ill? Oh, you asked her? I asked her. And then she goes, only if you do this. And I was like, done. Whatever you want, I will do it. I don't care.

And, oh, my gosh. That was a moment. That was so good. I love how moments was going to happen. Kevin is really mad because I kind of, he's a massive fan of the show as well. And I kind of hogged her at my bus and he never got to meet her. So I'm sorry, bro. Sorry, Kevin.

You know what, Kev? Listen, you became friends with Drake. I became friends with Annie. Okay. So I want to hear the Drake story because that also blew up. Well, that was Kevin. That was Kevin because his family and him went out. They asked the hotel, what's the best Italian restaurant in all of Toronto?

And I don't know what it's called, but they went there. And I guess apparently it's like Drake's, like, favorite place in the entire city. He was there. Apparently from what Kevin said, he approached Kevin. Apparently, we don't, we're not sure we believe Kevin. Oh, yeah. Basically saying how much of a fan he is and he shared the story with Kevin that at his 16th birthday bar mitzvah, he was madly in love with this girl that wouldn't give him the time of day.

And I want it that way came on at the party. and he asked her to dance, and she actually danced with him. And so it was a moment for him. And since then, she's not giving him the time of day. I'm sure now she probably wants to. But so he shared this whole story.

They exchanged numbers. And he asked if he could perform with this. But Kevin was like, of course. Then that turned into, okay, I just want to introduce the song. And then once he did introduce the song, we kept him on stage. And it turned into what it turned into.

sing the whole song with you? He's singing everyone's verse except mine. Why? He literally, because I kind of asked him on stage, I'm like, and he's like, can't touch gold. I was like, okay. Damn. I'm like, thanks, buddy.

But he was by far the most sweetest, humbled, just genuinely good human. I think I've, I mean, look. So maybe your wife's right. You need to... Canadian, you know, we know. We know. It goes without saying

Canadians are the sweetest people in the world. Yeah. But he would just, with all his success, you know, I know he's very, he's been very philanthropic. He gives back. He's just a good human being. And he was geeking out up there with us and it was so much fun. Oh, that's so cool.

But do you know how many, I'm going to be on your wife's side here? Like, hello? Do you know who you are? Like, do you know how many kids in the industry or? in Drake's age group like all of us grew up on the freaking backstry boy it's it's interesting because when myself nicholas shay and lance we presented an award at the MTV awards two years ago and when we walked the red carpet here in the city i didn't know anybody walking the red carpet except ed sheridan and little gnaz i didn't know anybody else all the young new you know artists

but everybody knew who we were. Yeah. And, like, looked at us like, I don't know, like. The OGs. Yeah, and it's just, it was a really surreal moment. Yeah. You know, and it was sweet, but it was surreal. Okay.

Everybody. I could be your dad. Well, technically. Yeah. I mean, you are aging yourself, AJ. Enough with that. Okay, you guys, look at my nails. I don't know.

You can't see. I have no nail polish on. And we have AJ over here with the full. like the stars, the lightning. Did you do that yourself? No, good Lord, no. No, no, no. But this base color is one of Ava Dean.

This is one of my and my partner, Josh's color. So I want to talk to you about that, about your, we call a nail polish brand. It's a beauty brand. I mean, obviously nail polish is at the epicenter. That's what's starting this. But we do want to move into a full cosmetic and beauty brand. with face dreams and lotions and lipsticks and eyeliners and shadows and concealer and, you know, the whole gambit. So actually the way I think this podcast even happened was because I was going through like a deep dive of all the nail polish brands that celeb men have kind of came out with this past year.

And every time I'd be like, oh, M.GK's coming out with one. Oh, you know, little Yadi's coming out with one. And then I'd be like, you guys, AJ literally has had one. And he's like the OG of this. And also, you've been actually wearing nail polish since BSB days. Yeah, I mean, for 25 plus years. I mean. And now, like we've been talking about everything kind of coming back around.

And now it's like Pete Davidson. I mean, I feel like so many men are manicured now. They are. I think it's become, you know, acceptable. You know, like I even say in our show, you know, I give a shout out to all the ladies in the audience. And I give a shout out to all the dudes in the audience because now that we're older, for dudes, they can finally admit, I've always liked you guys. Yeah. I couldn't say it back in middle school.

I probably got beaten up. But I've always liked you guys. Yeah. So, yeah, it's what's now considered acceptable. I mean, but you see a lot more guys really just taking care of themselves, period. more skin care, nails, manicure, pedicure, facials. Are you good about that, like skincare and stuff? Yeah, I mean, I, you know, it's one of the perks of having a wife that's in the cosmetic world

because she gives you all the inside track of what's the best products and what is good for my type of skin. But you do, like, lasers and treatment. Um, yeah, I don't know. I don't know about all that. Like, you know, like, you know, people don't understand. understand, like, I'm terrified of needles. Yeah. I know it doesn't, you would be, like, wild.

But I, like, so Botox and all that shit, never. There's no, it doesn't make sense to me to intentionally stick a needle in my head. Yeah. Just so that my expression doesn't change. Yeah. And that's okay. Yeah. I'm fine, never having done that.

No, you have great skin, AJ. Latino, oily skin. Hopefully, I looked like this when I'm 70. Yeah. I hope. Also being sober helps. because I could look much older right now if I was still out there doing my thing.

Do you still smoke Sags? Sadly, yes, not as much, but that's my last vice. Yeah. Do you feel like that? You're like, I just need to hold on to one. I mean, I'm a fan of celebs that smoke. It's like my advice.

What I tell myself, though, is like once I get to the physical place that I want to be with my, with my body, and I get to the mental place I want to be with my mind, and I can quit coffee, then the cigarettes will be gone. Because that's a huge goal, though. It is, but it's a realistic goal. But I will not stop until I'm 1,000% ready. Because I don't want to quit and then two months later pick up again.

Because to me, that's just as bad as picking up a drink. So I'd rather be 100 million percent ready to be done and then do it. And you're going to be a macha drink in? Yeah. Yeah, no. It's just water. Like, you know, I drink more water now than I ever have in my life. The only soda I'll do is Diet Coke because it's the least amount of sugar. Yeah. But like grain free, gluten free, sugar free, it sucks.

But you get used to it. Yeah. You get used to it. I mean, and every so often I'll. Well, whatever you're doing is working. So maybe we should smoke sakes. I'm sure you guys have seen hot influencers drip, drip, drip, dripping this product. all over their legs and you're like, I need it. It looks like the sea. It looks like the ocean. It's Osea.

What an amazing product. It sounds sexual, but it's not. I don't know why I made it sound sexual. I don't know. Like oil for your body just feels sexual to me because it's so hot. So Osea has amazing products. And Dewey Summer Skin isn't just for your face, you guys. You should have a full body glow and Osea skincare and body care products.

Help get your skin ready. for every summer look. So Osea's Celebrity Loved Body. Oh my God, I didn't, like it's literally celebrity loved. So Ocea's Celebrity Loved Body Oil is part of my daily routine since I'm with shorts all summer. You know, I want these legs to at least glow since they are not tan, since I'm a mom and I am not tanning because like a really, really known aesthetician told me, she's like, your face is like a small part of your entire body. And like your entire body should be cared for even more. So you guys, check out Osea, really amazing products and especially their body oil. find your new skincare and body care favorites at Ocea Malibu.com and get a special discount just

because you're listening to this podcast. So it's Osea O'SEA Malibu.com. 10% off code is not skinny. You'll also get free samples with every order and orders over 50 get free shipping. But you're going to want it all, you guys. Go to Ocea. O'S-E-A. Malibu.com, promo code is not skinny. So Ava Dean is the brand and obviously you have amazing nails and you take care of them. And again, I will shout from the rooftops that you've been doing it. You've been doing it. So all the dudes that are doing it now.

And is there any, though, like little feelings of like, that's OG, but whatever. No, I mean, look, I think it's cool, you know, that a lot more guys are using their platform to kind of, you know, show that it's okay and it's it's it because it is unisex it really is there's no it's not only for women or only for men um same applies to makeup i'm wearing makeup right now i wear makeup you are every day every day i wear makeup always always i have no shame in that i mean i just can't even tell no what like foundation foundation yeah yeah my wife's taught me uh you know the best way to make it look nice and natural and even i used to do just for men but i can't anymore because my wife is violently

allergic to hair dye. What's just for men? Like to, you know, get the grays out of your hair. So, a little fun fact for all you guys out there. Waterproof mascara. That is the best waterproof mascara. You need to do a little Vogue getting ready with me in the morning video. I'm telling you, there's a lot of tricks to the trade that you can literally do yourself

and nobody would be the wiser. I love that. Okay. So New Song just came out. last week. It's going to be last one or not. So a new song came out last week called Smoke. Love it. Thank you. What a bop. Thank you. What a fun song. It gives like Prince vibes with the video to the video was run. Yeah. Well, you know, like I when, so this is the fifth video that I have co-directed with my with my partner, Renee Elizondo. The last

video we directed together was actually Backshy Boys Chances video. was our last single off of our DNA record. Yeah, the inspiration was the old Robert Palmer video for Addicted to Love. Like, I was young enough that, like, these women were, like, not even scantily dressed, but they weren't wearing bras. They could see through their black dresses, and I was all, like, getting excited in the pants. And I was just like, oh, my goodness, this is awesome. And then the George Michael Freedom video with all the supermodels and then blurred lines,

but blurred lines did not leave anything to the imagination. Right. Like that was, here's Tatas, they're out, here they are, Emily Radikowski, who is stunningly gorgeous. Mm-hmm. Here's my boobs. So I wanted to kind of merge all three of those together, but do it in a very classy way. And yes, it's sexy, it's edgy, but you never see anything. Yeah.

And we purposely did it that way to where we get you there and then it's over. Yeah. And leave it up to the imagination. And did you co-wrote the song? Yep. Co-wrote the song with a bunch of amazingly talented writers. And it was one of the last songs in the first round of writing that we did back in January. Once it was done, you just know.

Like we just sat around and we just kept playing it and playing it. And we're like, this is a hit, man. This feels right. No, it's definitely, like, it's one of those songs you want to keep on listening to. What happened, though, because you posted earlier, was it, like, a week ago, that the music video was, like, almost ready. But then you were like, I'm not putting it out because, like, there's something we need to change. We had to re-edit the video and we had to re-edit the song. The length was not right.

um so because basically now what i've learned is back in back in my day uh three minutes and 30 seconds was a typical radio edit it's not the case anymore was it today it's like you're lucky if it's two 30 really and if you and what blew my mind is my manager told me want to be twice girls was two minutes and 35 seconds and what's so great about that is it's over so quickly you can't wait to play it again it's a mind fuck if you will so we smoke is

two minutes barely or a little bit over two minutes so the video we had to make it longer so we did a remix we added some more footage because we had so much footage and my producer and I did like a little breakdown and we made the video

just shy of three minutes but the song itself the radio edit is actually like under two and a half minutes so hopefully it makes you want to listen to it over and over and over again. Is it like is the excitement different when it's like a solo thing versus like a BSB thing?

It is and especially now because I my first solar record came out in 2009 and it was only released in like the Pacific Rim and parts of Europe and it was if you go back and listen to it it sounds like a backshie boy album. It just does but just with one guy. I mean because I didn't know who I was yet. I didn't have

a sound that I was identifying with and then I stuck my feet in the world of country for a hot second and it was great and then COVID hit and I knew that once things were lifted I would have to start all over again because you really have to embed yourself in Nashville if you want to be a successful country artist especially coming from the pop world doesn't matter if you're Beyonce they don't care yeah you still have to prove yourself and so during the two years I was just like can I do it yes

is it what I'm passionate about no funk and R&B and soul is what's always been in me and I can't even tell you how great this album is it's it's yeah wait so is a full album going to come out full album will be out we're looking at hopefully top of the year next year we were thinking fall of this year

but I don't want to rush it Yeah. But there will be another single out this year for sure. Amazing. And then album next year. And yeah, I'm stoked, man. I'm really, really excited. You're in the freaking prime of your life, Alexander.

During my damnedest. Okay. So you were saying that what are you watching right now? You finished New Girl. Finish New Girl. Modern Family. I know we're way behind them. We're watching Modern Family.

I love that. It's so good. And then for me, personally, Stranger Things. and we just finished myself, Josh, and our other buddy, Justin, who is on my bus as well. He does our meet and greets and all of our photos, a TV show called The Boys. Oh. Which is phenomenal. It's weird.

It's very. Oh, it's with Chase Crawford, right? Who's a really good friend of mine. Yeah, it's a little bit of a different character from Gossip Girl. Right? He, like, has sex with like a lizard, like something weird. With sea creatures. Like octopus and.

Oh, yeah, yeah. His character is the deep, and he is like the Aquaman of this show. And he talks to Sea Life, but he also has sex with Sea Life. I need to see what the show is. It's really, and it's really, if you don't like violence, don't watch it. You'll see stuff you never thought they could show on television. Do you watch any reality TV? Big Brother. Yeah?

Oh, yeah. I am not watching this season yet. Would you go on? Trust me, I've been asked multiple times. Yeah? So no. No. I'm away from my family enough

But I'm a huge Huge fan I've missed the last couple of seasons Just because of tour I've become really good friends With one of the castmates Paul Abram

Who was on season 17 I want to say yeah Him and I have become the best of friends But it's a It's such a fun show to watch Like I never thought my brother-in-law Who was like Football and like

Dada-da-da-da obsessed with me Like oh yeah And, like, we'll even watch the, like, after dark. And, like, we get the alerts on the CBS app. No. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God, you guys. Yeah.

I love this information. So, celebrity crush man or a woman. Ah, man. Ryan, Ryan Reynolds is my celebrity crush. Oh, fuck, yeah. That is my. So. Wait, we need to make this happen.

So, when he got on TikTok, he put, like, his second video, he posted. something, I think it was all for one. And then he did another one with him and Will Farrell because they were doing a movie together. And I duetted both of them. The first one, he runs in to get like soda and like something melts out of this convenience store. And he comes out and I'm like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh, my God.

He's like, what, what, what? I'm like, look who comments on my page. Second comment. He said, number five on my bucket list. duet with AJ from the backseat boys. I have chills. And then I duet in another video with him, and he said another thing that was amazing. Wait, did you reply?

I didn't know what to say. I was just like, we had the same trainer because when he was doing Amityville and doing Blade Trinity, I called my publicist, and I was like, I want his trainer. You're like, he looks hot. I want to. So now his trainer's been my trainer for the longest time. We're best of friends. And I've always tried to get to Ryan somehow.

I know he lives here. Yeah. But I don't know. Maybe I'll ask my publicist today if they can just randomly hit up Ryan and invite him to the show. That'd be kind of fun. I mean, AJ. I don't know. I mean, look, hey, I literally reached out the day before to get Annie Murphy to come and it well, it worked out.

Yeah. But she already had tickets. I highly doubt Ryan has tickets to the show right now. Well, maybe Blake. Maybe his wife does. Blake, I know, is a big fan. Yeah. So, yeah.

Oh, now you got me wondering. Now you got me. Oh, my God. You guys can't. Do you know Ryan? I don't. Okay. But I know.

Like, I know his publicist. Oh, my God. I know his publicist number. Oh, he go. I'm going to text there. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We're making it happen.

It is happening. I am obsessed. And I can't believe all the fun things we found out about you today. I love it. AJ, you made a childhood dream come true for me. and we all love you so much. Thank you. And everybody, check where the backstrip boys are playing near you.

Yes. Christmas show. We have a Christmas album coming out this year, our first one ever, hopefully doing some Christmas radio shows, as well as go stream or download Smoke. It's out now. Thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support for each of us outside of the group.

It's overwhelming and it's, I'm beyond grateful. And thank you and album coming soon. Thank you for having me on the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Not Skinny but Not Fat. Follow me on Instagram at Not Skinny but Not Fat. Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any episodes.

Rate the podcast that you love so much on Apple Podcasts and write a little review. If you tell me you did, I'll give you a big virtual smoocheroo. Thank you guys so much for listening. And I'll see you next Tuesday. Thank you.