Superteen Article

These three gorgeous dudes from Tulsa,OK released "MMMBop" last April, and suddenly the whole world started buzzin'! Whats more, the song hit MTV and Number One on the music charts faster than the blink of an eye! The guys have been taking their current mini-concert on the road-overseas too! And here's what it sounded like when SUPERTEEN caught up with them in sunny Los Angeles! Listen in!!

Superteen: Where were you the first time you heard "MMMBop" on the radio?

Isaac: We were in a van...

Taylor: Coming out of an interview...We got back in the van, cranked it up...it was an awesome feeling!

Superteen: What was the first song you ever wrote?

Isaac: The first song we wrote was called "Rain Falling Down."

Taylor: Isaac wrote his first song in third grade.

Superteen: Third Grade? Were all the words spelled correctly?

Tay & Ike: (Laughing) We didn't write'em out,we just sang'em. It's in your head!

Superteen: How do you write your songs?

Issac: All kinds of ways. "MMMBop" was written over a year's time.The chores was intended to be a backround part.and then became the chores...Everyone contributes to every song.

Superteen: Is this what you expected from your first single?

Taylor: How can you expect it, you can't expect it!

Zac: No,you can't expect this-you hope for it!

Isaac: You can't expect it,no way!

Taylor: You just have to have fun with it!

Isaac: This is great experience,a great expeience.

Superteen: What's the best part of all of this for you?

Taylor: Going around seeing the world,going sll over the country...

Isaac: Seeing all these kids down there just come to see you play...That's a pretty great feeling.

Superteen: What's your favorite of all the places you've visted so far?

Isaac: We really enjoyed being everywhere...England, France, Germany... We also love New York and L.A.

Superteen: Zac,do you have a girlfriend?

Zac: Nope! I don't!

Superteen: Would you like to have one?

Zac: Maybe. I'm still looking.

Taylor: Who Knows?

Superteen: Is there anything funny that has happened at one of your concerts?

Taylor: When we first started out, Zac had some old Ludwig drums that wouldn't stay still- they would roll across the stage...

Superteen: Are you guys getting enough sleep?

ALL: NO!

Superteen: If you weren't in a group,what would you be doing?

Taylor: Music for someone else.

Isaac: I think music is a part of us and it's what we've always done. We intend to be doing it for a long time.and if we weren't doing music, then we wouldn't be who we are,because music is our life. That's what we love.

Taylor: The first music we really heard was 1950s and '60s rock 'n roll. That was the first music that inspired us... Everything, I mean "Johney B. Goode," "Splish Splash," "Rockin Robin," the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Otis Redding, all the original rock 'n roll.

Superteen: What's a secret no one knows?

Zac: No one knows, so it's not a secret!

Isaac: "MMMBop" is about relationships. It's the first verse that says,"You have so many relationships in life only one or two will last, you go through all the pain and strife, then you turn your back and they're gone so fast."And so,yeah, it's much more intense than the chorus sounds. And "MMMBop" is actually a frame of time.

Superteen: What is it based on? A past relationship?

Ike & Tay: It's based on life.

Isaac: Things happen...

Zac: We were writing songs about our lives and our girlfriends leaving us before we could even care, so who knows?

Superteen: Where is the Middle of Nowhere?

Zac: ...Nowhere!

Isaac: In the middle of nowhere is wherever. Ya know, people use the phrase "the middle of nowhere" all the time. It was part of a song, it was part of the bonus track, "Man From Milwaukee. "It says, "It started out at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere..." Well, we thought that ws a cool title, and so here it is.

Superteen: Are you guys homesick?

Zac: Yeah! We've been going around for a [while],so...

Superteen: What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?

Zac: Sleep!

Taylor: Sit down and do nothing probably. I don't know. See our friends...

Zac: Go to "Laser Quest."

Taylor: Yeah, it's awesome.

Superteen: Do you guys take anything on the road to remind you of home?

Isaac: Well, we bring a turtle with us all the time.We write in our journal...

Isaac: Ya Know, one of those balls you turn upside down...

Superteen: Do you have a favorite sport?

Isaac: We love street hockey and rollerblading ...

Zac: Soccer...

Taylor: ...Basketball.... I don't think we have a favorite sport...

Isaac: Yeah, we just love to play sports, period.

Superteen: What would your advise be for kids who want to do what you guys do?

Zac: It's a lot of work.

Taylor: ...You have to really be dedicated. When you want something, it's not that's easy. You have to keep going for it.

Zac: Once you get a record deal, it doesn't stop there!

Superteen: What do you think about working with each other?

Isaac: We have a great relationship with each other. We're best friends, basically. So we have no problem working with each other. We get in the occasional arguments I guess, But that's part of life.

Superteen: How does it feel to have the Number One single in the country?

Isaac: It's incredible to think your song can actully be in the Top 10, Top 40, much less number One. There's nothing to say, but "Wow!"

Taylor: We were presonally happy with anything in the Top 40... you don't have much to say, you can just be in awe.

Zac: Yeah!

Superteen: How does it feel to have all these screaming girls around you?

Zac: It's really cool to think that people are screaming for you, but it's really not about you in a way...

Taylor: It's fun...it's not about you, you're kind of holding a position--hopefully, you'll get to hold that position for a while.

Isaac: You have to remember that this kind of thing can go, just as fast as it can come--and it's come really fast, so it can go just as fast!

Superteen: Are you going to go down to Australia at all?

Isaac: We're intending to go ot Southeast Asia and Australia, so we're really looking forward to that. That's going to be a lot of fun!

Superteen: What's the best peice of advice someone has ever given you about coping with the business?

Isaac: I think any musician will tell you,you have to love music in order to do it.

Taylor: That's got to be the base of it, it can't be about the fame or the money--You have to really love it.

Superteen: What advise have your parents given you to deal with all this?

Taylor: Our parents are completely behind us, and they've always been... they've [also] said "You can stop if you want to..."

Superteen: Do you get special treatments over your other siblings now?

ALL: No, not at all!

Taylor: If that ever happens,someone needs to hit us really hard!

Superteen: Do any of you have girlfriends now?

Taylor: We don't have girlfriends...

Zac & Ike: None of us!

Superteen: Can you describe your idea of the perfect date?

Isaac: Ahhh...

Zac: I don't know...

Superteen: Zac whats your perfect evening out?

Zac: I don't know.There's a lot of [girls] out there!

Taylor: There's a whole world!

Isaac: I don't think we want to get into the whole dating thing. It's about music, it's not about that kind of thing...

Superteen: Are you closer to each other, now that you're working together?

Zac: No, we've always been close.

Superteen: Do you find that you get into more arguments now?

Isaac: No.I think we get into way less arguments.We get along really well, we're best friends, so you know we have no problems.

Zac: No. what is there to argue about?

Superteen: Do you intend to go touring in the states?

Isaac: We intend to do a tour in the fall at some point...