If you don't melt every time you hear that golden-voiced
quartet called Boyz II Men then you must not have your volume
tuned up! Their second album, II, is out and it is
hot!
Wanya Morris, Nate Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Michael S.
McCary, better known as Boyz II Men, have a lot to be proud of.
They've won about every award possible, their debut album,
Cooleyhighharmony, went multi-platinum, their Christmas
album, Christmas Interpretations, was wildly successful,
and they've toured the world over to mass critical praise.
And this is all in three short years of being in the
business! Nate Morris,
was able to share a little of his valuable time with Teen
Machine and let us in on the Boyz II Men magic...
Teen Machine: I wanted to congratulate you on everything
that's been going on-the new album, the video called Then
II Now. How are you guys keeping up with it all?
Nate: We're just enjoying it and try to have fun and just
roll with it.
TM: Do you feel you had more confidence as a songwriter
going into the studio this time?
Nate: We as a group just went in with the same frame of mind
that we did on the last album, which was to go in and try
to make good songs. But there was a lot of pressure,
people saying, "Can they do it again?" So we had to black
all that out and just try to go in and make a great
record.
TM: In your opinion, how do you think II differs from
Cooleyhighharmony?
Nate: Well, I think II is a lot more mature than the last
album. I think over the last three years we as a group
have learned a lot and have been through a lot. We've
matured as musicans, performers an also as individuals. So
our music and lyrics on this album reflect that.
TM: Could you tell me a bit about "All Around the World," a
song on II dedicated to your fans?
Nate: It's a song that talks about a lot of different places
that we've visited around the world, and lets people know
how all the fans around the world are basically the same in
their own right. We never really have the time to sit down
and talk to them, so we decided to record a song on the
album that was just for fun.
TM: Did you ever imagine having the success that you've
had?
Nate: No, not at all. We just realized that we're
instruments being used by some greater force because we
know that there could've been four other guys this could
have happened to. We just use what we have to try to make
the best of it. We go out and try to put the message
across that the world needs right now, and love is
definetly one of them.
TM: Your Christmas album, Christmas Interpretations, did so
well. How did you decide to record an album of Christmas
songs?
Nate: Christmas was always a big time around our houses.
We may not have had the best of things, but Christmas was a very spiritual time for us at home as well as at school.
TM: Were you amazed at how popular the album was?
Nate: We were very happy. We were also scared because we
tried to be different with Christmas Interpretations
because it doesn't talk about the regular ho ho ho and
Santa Claus and stuff. It talks about the realities of
life where verybody doesn't get everything they want for
Christmas.
TM: It's a great album. What about your video, Then II
Now?
Nate: It was fun making it, we were excited about going to
Philly and doing the footage and going through all the old
sights where we shot the videos. It was a whole
reminiscent vibe of our whole career.
TM: Love is the major theme in your music. Are you guys as
romantic in your personal lives at well?
Nate: I think so, when we have time for our personal lives.
Our music is another form of expression. I mean, if we
don't have the time to express it with that special someone
we express it on our records.
TM: And you guys are going to be touring in January?
Nate: Actually, we start a U.S. tour in January but we're
doing a Southeast Asia/New Zealand/Ausrtia tour starting in
November. We may also do some dates right after Christmas
until New Year's, possibly with Babyface.
TM: That sounds great. You guys are wondeful!
Nate: Thanks a lot!