Tuesday, June 29, 1999
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
Moffatt-mania marketing madness appears to be
underway.
Need a translation?
Fast-rising boy band The Moffatts -- the four teenage Victoria, B.C.,
brothers who have young girls screaming at the top of their lungs
wherever they go -- are about to be immortalized on the silver
screen.
"For three months in the year 2000 we're going to be filming
a movie -- The Moffatts movie," says bassist Clint Moffatt,
15, down the line from the band's tour bus prior to tomorrow
night's Molson Amphitheatre show.
"We haven't got the whole plot set up, but we were just
talking with some people the other day. It's a Hollywood movie.
The guy we talked to did a movie for Charlie Sheen called The
Chase, he did Small Soldiers and a new movie coming out called
Detroit Rock City -- it's like a KISS fan movie."
Clint, who is currently travelling through the U.S. on a
promotional trip with fellow triplets Bob (drums) and Dave (keyboardist),
along with 16-year-old brother Scott (guitar), says to think more
Hard Day's Night than Spiceworld.
"I think that some of it's going to be on the road, but we
want it to be more like a comedy," he says. "We just
saw Austin Powers 2 and we're really big fans of Wayne's World.
It's going to be a professionally done movie; it's not going to
be, like, a 90-minute EPK (electronic press kit)."
While the buzz, stateside, is just beginning, the group has been
making headlines at home since last year's release of Chapter 1:
A New Beginning. It spawned hits with Miss You Like Crazy, Girl
Of My Dreams and I'll Be There For You, and is approaching double
platinum sales in Canada.
For its U.S. release two weeks ago, however, the album was
drastically repackaged with the new cover featuring the four boys
in suits and ties -- as opposed to the earlier, younger version
of them in T-shirts and shorts.
More importantly, The Moffatts hooked up with hitmaker Glen
Ballard, best known for his work with Ottawa native Alanis
Morissette, to produce four new tracks including Until You Loved
Me -- the first U.S. single, written by Phil Thornalley and Dave
Munday (Bryan Adams, Natalie Imbruglia). It's also on the
soundtrack for the Drew Barrymore film, Never Been Kissed.
The repackaging appears to have worked, since Chapter 1 debuted
at No. 3 on the (Billboard) Heatseeker's Chart, which Clint
points out, "is really good."
The arrangement with Ballard was actually set up last summer
while The Moffatts were in Toronto for a performance at Canada's
Wonderland. The boys were asked by a record company
representative (Capitol's head of A & R Perry Watts-Russell)
who they'd like to go back into the studio with for the U.S.
release.
"We said that we'd like to work with Glen Ballard because
you know Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith, No Doubt -- all those
bands were really big at the time -- so we went to the studio and
we got it all worked out, because ironically he has a record
company one floor up in the Capitol building. So Perry walked up
there and said, 'Can you please do me a favour and work with
these guys?' and we got together and did it."
Until You Loved Me ended up on the Never Been Kissed soundtrack,
because Ballard was working on that at the same time.
"The song fit the movie so well that that was the first song
Drew Barrymore picked to be on the soundtrack. So we were very
fortunate that we could be a part of it as a first thing in the U.S.,"
says Clint.
Still, they didn't get to meet Barrymore -- the movie was already
in the can and the premiere date didn't work into their schedule.
"The premiere was on Scott's birthday, we were in Canada, so
we couldn't go," says Clint. "I mean, I would have
loved to have met Drew Barrymore because she's my favourite
actress, but we had to make other arrangements. So maybe one day."
(Original text: http://www.canoe.ca/AllPop-Moffatts/990629_movie.html )