YOUNGSTOWN:  GETTIN' DOWN FOR THE GET DOWN

by Sarah Lounges


  A lot’s happened to the guys of Youngstown since I first talked to them two
summers ago at Premears In The Park in Chicago.  I did my third interview
with them this month and I got to chat up Sammy and D.C about their new
album, Down For The Get Down, upcoming tours and O-TOWN.     

    Here’s what Youngstown has been up to...

   Had their sanity, health and friendships suffered any in light of their
success?  “You just have to try and absorb the positive things.  There’s a
lot of negativity that goes along with things moving at a fast pace.
Sometimes it goes so fast that you forget to absorb some of the good things
and that’s what helps you keep your sanity,” Sammy said.  “Once you get that
quiet 15-20 minutes on a bus to yourself you just absorb everything you’ve
done that day and use that to your advantage and to keep you going.”
 
     It’s good advice for anyone, especially on those rough days when things
are totally stressed out. Being a pop star is not always easy.  It’s as
demanding and stressful as any job. “Well, definitely the lack of sleep and
the fact that you’re constantly busy.  People tend to forget that you’re
human like anybody else,” said Sammy on the down side of being a pop star.
“None of us ask for fame, we just want to be successful and respected for
what we do.  We work just as hard, if not harder than a lot of other people
and I think our fans realize that.”

     It seems as though all their hard work is now paying off, seeing as how
“Sugar,” the first single from their new sophomore CD, Down For The Get Down
(in stores Aug. 7th), has been heavily added at pop radio.

   “We’re at about fifty stations right now that are playing it and we’re
trying to get a lot more than that...” Sammy said.  “Sugar” is not the only
song getting attention for them.  Youngstown is also on two new movie
soundtracks. One being Disney’s new movie, The Princess Diaries.  Their song,
“Away With The Summer Days” is featured along with a song by fellow label
mates BBMak who are doing a new song called “Miss You More.”  The soundtrack
also contains songs from the Backstreet Boys, Aaron Carter, Mandy Moore,
Hanson, and Myra.

     D.C said that the group did not feel any extra pressure while making
this album. “I don’t think there was any extra pressure put on us at all. 
It really wasn’t like we had to top the last album.  With the first album we
were new at the business, we didn’t know the formal way of going about
things, so we threw all the songs we had together and hoped for the best.  We
didn’t know how the public was going to take it, so we named it Let's Roll,
because we were just going to roll with it.  On this album, we figured –
‘Now we know what we’re doing, so let’s just make the best album we can.’”

    Oliver Leiber (who worked with BBMak) was one of five producers to work
with the group on Down For The Get Down.  “It was actually our A&R guy who
got us involved with Oliver,” recalled D.C.  “Oliver submitted some songs to
our A&R guy and we liked them.  He really brought a lot to this album,
including our first single ‘Sugar’.” 

   Producer Julian Raymond (whose credits include Fastball), twisted knobs on
their remake of John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me,” a stand out cut on the CD.
 “Julian is a huge Beatles fan and while we were searching for songs for this
album he said – ‘Ya know... This would be a cool song to remake.’ – and
played it for us.  The original that John Lennon did was only a demo
recording. It sounded like he did it in his house with a keyboard and a
little recorder, so it was muffled and a little bit grainy.  We weren’t sure
it would fit with the other songs, but as the album started coming together,
there wasn’t any one style of music ... so we went ahead and did it.”

    Youngstown’s sound has matured considerably since their first album. The
guys have a more textured and soulful feel.  “Just us knowing what we were
looking for this time and being more prepared to record,” D.C. said
contributed to their musical growth.  “We wanted to make an album we were
proud to have our name on. We ‘executive produced’ this album so nothing
went on it that we didn’t approve. We picked all the songs and we love all
the songs.  If you were to ask me what my favorite song was, I couldn’t tell
you, because I like them all.”

    Although the guys wrote a few songs on their last album, only outside
writers were tapped for Down For The Get Down.  “We actually had four songs
we’d written on the album, but they were all ballads and we didn’t want this
to be weighed down with more slow songs than fast songs, so we swallowed our
pride and took our own songs off the album.”

      Like any other guy groups these days, Youngstown also has to deal with
the stereotype of being “just another boy band.” 

    “You know what?  I think people assume that before they see us,” said
D.C., “then when they see us they say – ‘You know, there’s something about
you guys that sets you apart.’ I think that’s because we try to be as real
as we can, you know, I’m not going to go out there and smile for everyone
because that’s not who I am.  Sometimes I feel that way and sometimes I
don’t.  So we go out and we be ourselves and I think people can really feel
that about us, that we’re not just out there to bullsh*t everybody.  I think
it’s cool that they call us ‘the bad boys of the boy bands.’”

     Neither Sammy and D.C. feel the need to compete with other pop acts. 
“We don’t really feel a big competition thing going on with other groups.  I
don’t dislike anybody, except for one band that I’m not going to mention. 
But like N*Sync and Backstreet.. they’re doing their thing and I even listen
to some of their stuff.” 

    Many people feel there are too many “boy-bands” on the scene.  “You
know, you never hear anything like that about bands.  How many Limp Bizkits
are out there now?  I mean there’s Linkin Park, Crazy Town, and all these
other bands and no one says – ‘There’s too many of them, I’m not going to
play them anymore.’  I think it’s just a lot of jealous guys that make the
term “boy-band” a negative thing.”

      So what are his thoughts were on the television show Making Of The
Band.  “Well, since you brought it up, that’s the one band I was talking
about earlier.  It just breaks my heart to know that it’s that easy, because
I’ve been doing this since I was thirteen and I finally got it and I just
turned twenty-five in June.  What really kills me is that I think that Dan
from O-Town can really sing, I think he’s the best singer in the group, and
the funny thing to me is that they didn’t even pick him!  It wasn’t until
Ikika dropped out that they went back and got him. I don’t understand how he
didn’t make the group in the first place.  We’ve had a run in with them
before actually, it wasn’t a big deal, but their show had just come oqnd we
sensed a huge attitude like – ‘Hey, we’re stars.’”

     A lot of times in an interview there is always a question that the
artist wished they were asked.  So I gave D.C. the chance to tell me the one
question he has been dying to be asked and how he would answer it.  “ I’d
love to have a reporter say – ‘Britney (Spears) wants to marry you, will you
marry her?’  And my answer would be – ‘Yes I do!’”  And to follow that up I
asked what interview question he's truly tired of being asked.  “That would
have to be – ‘What do you think about O-TOWN?’,” he laughed.
 
     Youngstown has a pretty good following here in the U.S. and according to
D.C. they are as equally popular in other countries.  “The first time we were
in South America, we did a huge three-story mall, and they had this one huge
part in the mall where you could see all three floors and they put a stage up
right there,” he said.  “We packed that mall so tight that when we got
off-stage girls were literally ripping our clothes off.  And we had never
been there before!  It was crazy.  Then we’ve had girls in Sweden who have
stayed outside our hotel rooms in the freezing weather.  We’ll sign
autographs and we’ll stop and talk to them and say ‘Hi’ and then they’ll
still stand outside!  So it’s like ‘Why are you standing outside?’  I mean,
I could see if you wanted to get an autograph or a hug or a picture, but
we’ve already done that. So why are you still out here?’ and they’re like –
‘Just because of you guys.’  I’m just like ‘Thank you guys for standing out
here, but you need to go home, you’re going to catch a cold.’”

     After surviving through two albums, I figured that D.C. was experienced
enough in the music biz to offer a few words of advice to the region’s
starry-eyed locals.  “Learn the business because it’s about a sixty-forty
split,” he said.  “It’s 60% business and 40% performing.  Keep your trust
levels at a minimum.  There’s a lot of people in this business just out for
the money and they don’t really care what happens to you as long as they can
make money off you.  So you have to watch your back, keep a clear head, stay
grounded and everything should be fine.”

     So there you have it, straight from the mouths of “the bad boys”
themselves.  Youngstown’s Down For The Get Down hits stores August 7th. The
guys are part of the Jessica Simpson Dream Chasers tour, along with Eden’s
Crush and Samantha Mumba which hits Chicagoland Sept. 7 with a stop at Orland
Shopping Mall in Orland Park, IL.
   
For more on Youngstown, hit their website at: www.Youngstownfan.com or
contact Kari, President of their Promo Crew at: Ytpromocrewprez@aol.com.