Since the A*Teens formed in October 1998 they have become one of today's biggest teen bands. Their nearly overnight success story includes many special moments, including receiving several international awards, breaking sales records around the world, appearing on American TV with Puff Daddy, not to mention touring the USA with pop mega-stars N�Sync and Britney Spears. It's appropriate then, for a group enjoying such a rapid and mind-boggling rise through the pop world, to name their new single "Bouncing Off The Ceiling (Upside Down)." The A*Teens debut album The ABBA Generation has sold close to 1 million copies in the United States and has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. The A*Teens� world has indeed been turned �upside down.�
The A*Teens� road to success included lots of touring. Most of 2000 was spent in the United States touring�..first with N�Sync, then Britney Spears, then on the Nickelodeon �All That� Summer 2000 tour.
"We were very nervous before the N�Sync tour, we didn't have an idea how we would be received. But we didn't have anything to worry about, it all went really well! It was fantastic! To play in front of 10,000 �15,000 people every night was so great. That tour was very important for us in many ways, especially for our self confidence," says Marie.
"The Britney tour was such fun. People were starting to recognize us. We were at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco on a day off, and fans starting screaming, �A*Teens, A*Teens!� At the shows we actually had fans singing along to our songs,� says Dhani.
By September 2000 all the hard work in the States was starting to pay off - The ABBA Generation reached Gold status (500,000 copies sold) and only a couple of months later the record is close to reaching Platinum (1,000,000 copies sold). Of course, with such a successful album in the can, the obvious question about the future was raised�. should The A*Teens continue with Abba's songs?
"We immediately felt that we wanted to try original songs," explains Dhani. "Of course we realized that it is absolutely impossible to find better pop songs than Abba's. We discussed what kind of songs we wanted to make with our record company and they brought us some great material."
Amit qualifies the thinking behind the new album Teen Spirit further - "We didn't want to make the mistake of doing an album that was too mature. We should never forget that many of our fans are young, and so are we. We wanted to do a happy, uptempo and positive album. We wanted to keep some parts of the "old" but at the same time show our development as a group."
"A big difference from the last album is Dhani's and Amit's roles. On Teen Spirit they sing a lot more than on the first album," says Marie.
The album Teen Spirit was recorded in between tours and promotion, and most of it in Sweden. That was important for the band. "Sweden has some of the world's best pop producers so there was no reason for us to go to anywhere else to record," they explain.
�We were excited to work with Max Martin; he�s worked with all our favorite artists,� adds Amit. The A*Teens also worked with some up and coming producers; the first single "Bouncing Off the Ceiling (Upside Down)" was produced and written by Grizzly/Tysper/Sepehrmansh.
"`Bouncing Off The Ceiling (Upside Down)�� is a simple and happy pop song. Whether you�re at home, in your car or at a club, you feel happy when you listen to it. The positivity is important," says Sara.
Now that smells like �teen spirit.�
�Bouncing Off The Ceiling (Upside Down)� will be in stores December 12, 2000.
Teen Spirit will be released February 27, 2001.
