What's The 911
They've had to endure stage jitters,
getting slagged, the threat of being stripped naked in
the supermarket and girls who only want to shag them. But
they're still mad for it.
CHEEKY?
YES. SAUCY? WITHOUT DOUBT.
DEFINITELY.
911 is allthis and one more thing - nice [say that with a
huge grin on your face] and hugely famous.
There's
Simon "Spike", 24, the quiet one who doles out
the answers only when he wants to. Ther's James
"Jimmy" Constable, 25, the friendly though
seemingly wary one. and then there's Lee brennan, 23, the
irrepressible one. They first scored with a remake of yhe
classic Shalamar disco tune A Night To Remember. That
went to No.38; followed by Love Sensation, No.21; Don't
Make Me Wait, No.10; The Day we Find love, No.4;
Bodyshakin', No.3; and now they're hoping for the No.1
hit with the little track from their debut ablum The
Journey. Their fanclub in Birtain already has close to
50,000 member. And over 10,000 Malaysia fans showed up at
their meet-and -greets across the country last month.
Life's tough when you're a celebrity.
Are you
a pop star yet?
Spike
: What is a pop
star?
Lee
: I think they are
just the people you see on TV. They are just people who
have a job. It's like people who play football are called
footballers.
Jimmy
: It doesn't have
much meaning. We don't feel like pop stars. We feel like
normal people. It's just that our job is done onstage
making music.
Has the
term boy band paved your way to stardom?
Lee
: No. We like
making music and being on stage, so we thought we would
just do it and see what happens.
Jimmy
: We never thought
of being another boy band. We just did what we thought
was natural. Now, they're calling us a boy band.
Is it a
burden being known as a boy band?
Spike
: We don't really
mind. We are a boy band, we just don't think about
being one. It's not like,"Oh, God, we are a boy
band! What are we gonna do?"
Lee
: If people like
us, they like us. If they don't, they don't. We just
enjoy ourselves and hopefully everyone is enjoying it
too.
With so
many boy bands out there, is there an intense rivalry
between the groups or does everyone really try to get
along?
Spike
: You just do what
you have to do.
Lee
: If people want to
talk to you and be your friend, that's fine. Kavana's our
best friend in the pop world.
Spike
: He calls us to go
kicking (football).
Lee
: Lots of groups
just slag each other off just so people think,"Oh,
that's good. They slag people off. Let's follow
them." It's just like jumping on the bandwagon and
trying to capitalise on somebody else's success.
Jimmy
: I think we annoy
a lot of people by not jumping on that bandwagon. We
don't really care what they do, we just do what we have
to do and we enjoy it. If people want to slag us off,
then that's fine.
Lee
: We focus on 911
and only on 911. Even if there are another 10 boy bands
trying to get into the Top 20 in Britain, they've got to
cut through us first.
Do you
think boy bands get less respect than rock stars?
Jimmy
: Probably not
because of their talent but because of their reputation.
Because if you're a boy band, you are automatically
grouped in the boy band category and people say they're
all the same, but they're not. But I'd say yes, rock
stars probably do get more respect.
Would
you ever consider being rock stars?
All
: Naah.
Spike
: Think of all the
gear, the smell and never having to wash.
Jimmy
: Like big sweaty
Chewbaccas.
Lee
: No, thank you.
Do you
think pop bands need to be good-looking to make it?
Jimmy
: If that's true, I
dunno how we've made it.
Lee
: I don't think you
have to be. If you've got a bit of talent, wether as a
boy band or a band which plays instruments like an indie
band, you've got good songs and a good image and you come
across well on stage, then I think anybody can do it.
Spike
: Look at Mick
Jagger --- he's got big lips; the Osmonds.
What's
the difference between boys and men?
Jimmy
: Lee's a boy and
I'm a man.
Lee
: It takes a boy to
do a man's job. I dunno. We're all grown up but we're
still doing what boys do.
Spike
: We're still boys
although we look like men --- we have facial hair and we
have to shave everyday.
Do you
think the Spice Girls are a signal that the boyband era
has come to an end?
Jimmy
: I don't think so.
We're getting there.
Spike
: We're getting
bigger.
Jimmy
: Every year,
somebody says,"Boy bands are coming to an end,"
but every year they are still there and there is always
another boy band coming along. Spice Girls just happened
to hit a lucrative market.
Lee
: Sure, boy bands
come and go. Even 20 years ago there were boybands, and
although music goes through different phases there'll
always be boy bands.
Spike
: There's always
going to be teenagers. At their age, they're not into
rock music, they're into dance and pop music.
Why do
you think the Spice Girls are so famous?
Lee
: tI's because of
their personalities; they're outrageous. They are
different from other girl bands.
Who's
your favourite Spice Girl?
Jimmy
: Victoria.
Lee
: Emma, the baby
one.
Spike
: (Grimacing) I doubt any of them.
What do
you remember about your childhood?
Lee
: I remember when I
was about three, sticking an ice-cream in my ear. I've
got a photograph of that one.
Jimmy
: Lot's of
football. Every spare minute.
Lee
: I was snooker
mad. I used to play on a pool table while standing on a
box when I was eight. Then I got interested in football
when I was a teenager.
Spike
: Football,
football, football. And getting into trouble, lots of
trouble, like knocking doors and running so the blokes
would chase ya.
At what
point did you want to be in showbusiness?
Jimmy
: When I was in
this television show.
(Jimmy
and Spike were dancers on The Hitman And Her)
Lee
: I always wanted
to be famous, to be on the telly.
Spike
: (Sniggers) We changed him.
In what
sense?
Lee
: I used to be
really quiet.
Jimmy
: (Nods) He's a cheeky little git now.
He's a madman. We still aren't too sure about having him
in 911 because we're always beating him up. Can't you see
the marks?
What's
the first thought that runs through your mind as you step
out on the stage?
Jimmy
: The first thought
is probably.....
Lee
: Change your
pants.
Jimmy
: Is it legal to do
it this time? (He means sex)
Lee
: Nervousness.
Because we're facing a brand new audience.
Does it
ever go to your head, all those screaming girls?
Lee
: (Grinning) I love it. I just
stand there and say, "Take me."
Jimmy
: It's a good laugh
when you're on stage but once you're off stage.....
Spike
: It goes off once
you're off stage because you see another band going on
and the girls are screaming for them.
Lee
: They are all
around. When you start running, they run after you and
they steal all your clothes and you're standing there
naked in the street.
Do you
ever wonder whether the girls want to be with you because
of who you are or because you're 911?
Lee
: Probably because
we're in 911.
Spike
: You mean the
girls who fancy us? Well, I got more women before I was
in 911, more than I do now.
Lee
: I had more
girlfriends when I was out of 911. Because we've
got a schedule to follow, we're busy and we don't get the
chance to see anybody. When girls know us before 911,
then we know they like us for who we are. But if we see
new faces, then we go, "Hey, wait a minute.We'll
suss this one out before we do anything."
Spike
: Sussing is our
business.
How do
you suss them?
Spike
: It's easy for
me.Spike isn't my real name. If they call me Spike, then
I know they didn't know me before I was in the group.
Jimmy
: Call me Jimmy and
I'll know. If they knew me before I was in 911, they
would call me James.
Lee
:
They called me Bruce Lee before and now they call me Lee.
It's Lee Brennan, by the way.
What's
the difference between girls and women?
Jimmy
: Lee likes the
girls and I like the women.
Lee
: As long as
they're over 21, they're women.
Jimmy
: Women are sexy
and girls are...getting there.
Lee
: Girls are not,
developed properly.
If one
of you decided to quit the band, would everyone quit as
well, or would you carry on as a duo, or would you get a
replacement?
Spike
: I think if one of
us left, everyone else would. Because it's not like other
bands where they can carry on with fewer members. I
wouldn't want to be just Jimmy and I. I wouldn't want to
be his twin.
Lee
: It's three or
nothing. We focus too much on 911. We want to be no.1
before anything happens to us.
What do
you think breaks up a group?
Jimmy
: We've seen groups
break up over silly arguments, when they can't handle
pressure and hard work. I think people in groups take it
too much to heart. It depands on what type of characters
you've got in your group. If you've got a character who
goes off after a month, then you know it's going nowhere.
If you're strong enough, you can sort things out and you
can go on forever. Well, not forever, but longer.
With
three people in the limelight, there's bound to be some
rivalry. What do you do when you start feeling envious of
each other?
Lee
: Rivalry? Well,
they can do the dance routines and I can't. I'm jealous
because my body can't move in time with the music. I'm
jealous because they are brilliant dancers and they can
do backflips and somersaults and spin on their heads.
Spike
: He's better than
any others. If he were a different pop band, he'd stand
out. He just got in with us, so he just waves his arms
about.
Jimmy
: We don't really
feel envious of each other. It's 911, isn't it? We just
have a laugh.
Do you
find the freedom of fame better than the restriction it
brings? Can you do anything you want to do, go anywhere
you want to go?
Jimmy
: We can do what we
like.
Spike
: We can do some
things a lot of people can't and we can't do a lot of
things normal people can.
Lee
: Entrance to
nightclubs are free; that's a bonus.
Spike
: But we can't
afford to make a fool of ourselves either. It's a 50-50
situation.
Lee
: There are some
places you can and can't go. In Britain, you can still go
shopping in some places, but obviously people notice you
the more you're on TV, or when they see you with
somebody. Then if they recognise you, you might get your
clothes nicked; they'll pull all your clothes off and
you're standing in the shopping centre naked.
Would
you rather be credible and sell fewer records or be
really popular with little credibility?
Lee
: We don't care
what the music industry thinks about us. It's what the
fans think that's important. I don't care if anyone says
we're the worst band in the world. If we're no.1 with the
fans, that's fine. The bottom line is we can't do without
credit but we don't mind. We just do our job and if
people like us, they like us.
Do pop
stars have a responsibility to teach or is it their
primary reason to entertain?
Lee
: There are kids
who look up to us. There are probably fans who probably
copy things we do. So yeah, we do have a responsibility,
and we do go up on stage to entertain.
Jimmy
: We do have a
responsibility to people out there, especially the young
ones, and at the same time we say, "We're here to
entertain."
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