Solo *N serious
February 4, 2007 | Filed Under kate articles |
Solo *N serious
JC Chasez, former boy band member, wants people to ponder his new album
by Lisa Sokolowski
PITTSTON – JC Chasez fidgeted with a black Sharpie marker while fielding questions from winners of a local radio contest.
The women – and the winners were all female – seemed to all be in their mid-20s and remembered Chasez from his boy-band days. They hoped to get *NSYNC CDs, DVDs and a vintage tour booklet signed.
Maybe vintage is exaggerating. It was only a decade ago that *NSYNC led the boy-band craze.
The men in the room at the KRZ studio – and there were some – were part of Chasez’s entourage (if you can call his manager and driver that) and radio staffers.
And, on Monday, they all watched Chasez as he did the meet-and-greet solo, talking about his new single, “Until Yesterday,” without the help of four other group members.
“It’s just a matter of the company’s a little different but the game is still the same, I guess,” said Chasez, 30. “You still have the same responsibilities; you just maybe can’t lean on somebody else for some of those duties.”
The content of the single is a far cry from waiting for a woman to be ready to fall in love (as *NSYNC’s lone No. 1 hit, “It’s Gonna Be Me,” covers).
“Until Yesterday” is the story of a cheating girlfriend who gives birth and a boyfriend who finds out the baby isn’t his when it’s born.
“The content doesn’t bother me,” said Tias Schuster, program director at KRZ. “Look at a lot of the songs out there. I think that his content is nowhere near close to some of the other product that is out there, especially in the hip-hop world.”
The album, slated for a spring release, is tentatively titled “Kate,” after Chasez’s imaginary muse. He co-wrote the album with the fictitious woman in mind. The songs, and the unfaithful girlfriend, aren’t sewn in Chasez’s reality, though.
“It’s not a true story, but it’s been a true story, just not in my life,” he said.
Four songs were played – “Kate,” a hybrid with some programmed and some live audio, “Love Again,” a song presumably crafted for club airwaves, “You Ruined Me For Life,” an emotional yet peppy pop ballad, and “Until Yesterday,” a faux-throwback to the ’70s pop era that can be heard on local airwaves.
“A lot of this stuff is all throwback,” he said. “There’s only 12 notes in the scale.”
Although confined to a chair at the head of a table, Chasez danced to every one of his songs – closing his eyes tight, sashaying in his black turtleneck and gray corduroy pants, keeping time with his right sneakered foot.
The audience seemed to be using the time to listen, tapping a finger on occasion.
“I think that every superstar artist deserves a shot,” Schuster said. “Being in a group like *NSYNC, I think people want to hear their solo projects. Justin (Timberlake), when his single first came out, everybody started playing because it was the first solo project from *NSYNC. Same thing with JC. I’m one of those radio programmers that feel that people will tell you if they like it or not.”
Chasez coined the term “Intelligent Pop Music” to describe his style. The songs (at least, the ones he lets listeners hear) are upbeat, but the term refers to the lyrics more than anything else.
“If it’s gonna be a smart record, it’s usually a very serious record,” Chasez said. “Or if it’s a fun record, it’s not necessarily saying anything, and I wanted to make a fun record that was smart as well, so I decided to create this intelligent pop sound. I think even the songs that don’t take themselves seriously still have interesting stories and interesting metaphors and ways of coloring the story to make it more interesting than just stating the obvious all the time.”
It’s hard for modern artists to reshape the love song, but Chasez is trying.
On “Until Yesterday,” he sings “I loved you all the way until yesterday.” It’s his way of saying, “I don’t want to be with you anymore” without the words that have become so trite.
After the songs were played and the questions were answered, Chasez went around to each contest winner, signing not the lyrics booklets from his new single but the jewel cases that cover them.
Maybe he’s been out of the game for a while. His last solo album, “Schizophrenic,” came out in 2004, and perhaps he forgot that Sharpie rubs off plastic more easily than off paper.
Or maybe he really will hold true to his word of touring the area – and in that case, the former Mouseketeer can re-sign anything.
“I want it to be fun, man,” he said. “I want it to be a fun record, but I don’t want to treat my audience like they’re stupid. I think that music is supposed to be entertaining, and I also think great music is supposed to inspire you, and it’s supposed to trigger thought even, and I think if nothing else this will hopefully trigger thought.”
- The Times-Leader 2/4/07
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coming up
:: America’s Best Dance CrewJC is one of the judges on MTV’s new dance contest. The show premieres on Feb. 7 at 10 PM, with a casting special airing on Jan. 26 at 2 PM.
Dance Crew website
The sixth track on the new Sugababes album Change, “Back When” was co-written by Dallas Austin and Gary White, with additional vocal production by JC Chasez.
Listen to a clip of the song here.
:: Treat Me Right“Treat Me Right” is a track on the new Backstreet Boys album, Unbreakable. It was co-written by JC and BSB member AJ McLean. You can hear a little of what AJ has to say about the song in this post, and read reviews of the song here.
:: Break Out This BoxGet a preview of the Cheetah Girls song “Break Out This Box,” which was co-written by JC:
on youtube
song details from MySpace
According to IMDB, JC will play the part of “Ted Buckley” in a new comedy/horror movie called Killer Movie. (Formerly called Dead of Night)
Director: Jeff Fisher
Genre: Comedy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Plotline: A reality television shoot that goes terrifyingly awry when its crew becomes stranded in a remote Northern town. A killer is on the loose, stalking cast and crew-members one by one.
