They have been described as one of the most promising 
new acts of 1999. They have also been called a boy band. 
But only the former is true of BBMak, and when you say as much to Christian Burns, Mark Barry and Stephen McNally, 
they thank you for the compliment.

If you're one of those who managed to catch them live at 
Funky Town when they showcased their singing talents on 7 October, 
you would've noticed that their performance was nothing 
like a boy band's. That is, they sang live, they played instruments 
and most importantly, they didn't have any tacky dance moves.
However, because they'll an all-male group, there are some who 
still insist on giving BBMak that "boy-band" tag, so it's a good thing
that the guys aren't too bothered with it.

BAG THE "BOY-BAND" TAG
"We're not bothered," admits Christian. 
"As long as people like the music and go out and buy the records, 
you can call us what youlike, really. 
The most credible band in the world - The Beatles -
they got called a boy band too.
"We don't do any dancing; we do the singing.
We write our songs as well.
We write, we play and we produce."
So what should we call them?
"A pop band," suggests Steve. "Or just a band, really."
"Or elastic band," adds Christian, helpfully as the others guffaw. "Because we can stretch to all sorts of areas and styles of music!"

WHAT THEY'RE REALLY LIKE
Call them corny, but this friendly and candid personality is what 
made meeting the trio such fun. During our three hours with them 
for the exclusive photo shoot and interview, the guys mucked around, fiddling with some dive equipment and taking the "scissors-paper-stone" challenge to see who got to wear what cloths for the shoot.
But don't let that playful demeanour fool you. 
When it came to work, they were totally professional 
and didn't complain once about the long hours or the heat. 
It's nice to know that there are some bands out there who 
have nice personalities to match their good music.

THE BBMAK SOUND
As far as BBMak's music is concerned, Steve describes it as 
"guitar pop with an edge", and "with soulful harmonies" adds Mark.
They didn't start out deciding that this was
the way they wanted to sound though.
"It was just the way we started writing," reflects Mark. 
"We didn't even try to 'create a sound', it just happened that way."
"I think it was a few different things, because when we doing it,
we developed a sound as far as the harmonies go and 
the way we wrote," continues Christian. 
"Then when we went to Los Angeles, we met Oliver Lieber 
and he sort of helped to push us in the direction of the guitar-y 
sort of sound that we've got. So when we put together, 
that was how we sounded and we thought we'd stick with it."
It's a good thing they did too, as their music has received 
its fair amount of attention, both from the general public 
as well as the more famous.

BACKED BY BIG NAMES
On their debut album, "Sooner Or Later", the guys got to work with hotshots like legendary producer Oliver Lieber (The Corrs) and
acclaimed songwriter Phil Thornally (Natalie Imbruglia) 
- a great achievement for a new band.
"We were so lucky, working with Oliver Lieber and Phil Thornally,
cos' we're a new band and those people don't work with just any
band. They've got to like your music and they've got to like the band," reveals Steve, who hails from Liverpool.
"So we thought we'd meet Phil before we worked with him, 
go out, have a meal, chat about music and stuff … just to find out 
if we got along well. We found that we really liked him, 
and he liked us in return, so we started writing with Phil. 
But with Oliver Lieber, he just looked at what we were doing 
and wanted to produce some of our songs."
What resulted was a bunch of melodies that ended up on the album. Already, the debut single "Back Here" has received a lot of
airplay and has won them numerous fans.
"It's a love song," says Steve. So is this song based on personal experience?
The guys all reply "no" immediately, although echoes of 
"it might be about me" are heard softly from each of them. 
Guess we'll never know!

BBMAK ON THEIR ALBUM
Judging from the other tracks that we've heard so far, 
their debut album is guaranteed to be a success too.
"There are 12 songs in it and it's a very uplifting album," explains Steve. "It has a lot of different moods. And there's one song that
has Mark playing the whistle on it - it's called 'Again'."
The album also has the trio's version of Extreme's "More Than Words". We got to hear them hum and strum a few choruses for us
between takes and, I must say, they really have 
a very good remake of it.
"We did 'More Than Words' because it's a good reflection of the band," reveals Mark, who hails from Manchester. 
"When we played in London for record companies and the public,
we did that song. Everyone said it was great watching us play it because we play acoustic. So we thought it'd be a good reflection of the band today. It's an amazing song anyway," he finishes with a smile.
"Yeah, it's one of the first songs I learnt to play on the guitar so
I've been playing it for a long time," beams Steve proudly.
The original version is considered a classic by many 
so weren't the guys afraid that they wouldn't do it justice?
"We were a little bit, but we just gave it our best," replies Steve.
"It really does suit the band. So I feel that we did do the song justice," defends Mark.
They've already done a remake, so if they could collaborate 
with any band, who would they pick?
"I think as a band, we'd love to collaborate with The Coors, 
cos' they're quite similar to us," says Mark.
"Yeah, three guys, three girls - sounds good to me," grins Steve.

FAN-TASTIC SUPPORT
This might happen in the future, but for now, they're on their own, 
which suit their fans just fine. The one thing that they have to get
used to for now is the attention that these fans have been giving them.
"We're still normal guys," says a humble Christian.
"It's nice to have fans who appreciate your music as well as your looks," says Mark.
"The music, of course, is more important to us,"
echoes Christian.
"We're not like other bands who're good looking and can't sing," suggests Steve. 
"Yeah, cos' we're not even good looking!" 
laughs Christian.
We know of hundreds of girls who will disagree with them, 
but it seems that when these guys look in the mirror, 
they see something totally different from what the rest of us see.
"I see big bags of tiredness and loads of stray hairs!" 
answers Christian.
"I see a tired, white person who needs a sun bed 
and a tan after a hard day's work," says Mark,
"It's not nice to wake up in the morning and see a pasty face in the mirror," Steve muses. "It's not attractive at all."
If they really don't find themselves attractive, 
how would they describe themselves in 
an ad for the lonely hearts column?
Christian is the first to answer: "Young, frustrated, up-and-coming pop star seeks young, frustrated female."
"who likes up-and-coming pop stars!" interrupts Steve. He gets a menacing stare from Christian. "I think mine would be "'poor lonely
young bloke'…nah! Lonely guitarist seeks friendly..."
"...friendly girl to tighten his G-string!" 
Christian finishes in mock revenge.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
Jokes aside, these guys certainly have loads of potential 
to be big things of the new millennium, so it's exciting to 
know that they do have some plans for the future too.
"In 10 years' time, hopefully we'll still be on our fifth album 
and people will still be buying our records and we'll still be enjoying it,"
says Christian. "That'll be enough for me. Whether it's two people we can make happy or two million people."
"In 10 years' time I'd like to see us on our tenth album, I'd like to produce an album a year," says Steve. "That'll be cool."

With their obvious talent and a committed marketing team behind them, it looks like we may not have to wait another 10 years for
BBMak to hit big-time. As for all those who're already fans, keep your eyes on the trio. You wouldn't wanna miss them for the world!

<This article was taken from the December 1999 issue of 
Teens Magazine, Singapore>