O-Town – Lines and Circles

Q) What has connected all of you throughout the years that now you’ve come together for a reunion?

Dan: Our first experience with “Making The Band” and touring those first few years, we really have a bond that not many people could understand. I think the four of us and Ashley [Parker Angel] are probably the only ones who are ever going to understand what we went through and how everything went down. I think that’s going to tie us together, no matter what we do, for the rest of our lives.

Q) What made now the right time to reunite since we had been hearing rumors for some time?

Jacob: I think I’m to blame for those rumors because I had a meeting with a friend about a solo project and he asked what O-Town was doing. It hadn’t dawned on us for years. I sent out a text and it spawned a lot bigger reaction than I ever would have thought! So, it kind of got us into real talks where we thought maybe we should actually do this. It did take about two or three years for Dan and I to finish our degrees. Dan had a son and I had a Nashville. So, us moving to the same state had a lot to do with it and finding the right team of people around us was the biggest part. Once we had the right team, we started moving forward.

Q) Were these new songs ones you had for a while or did they come about once you had been reunited?

Dan: Everything happened organically. Everything came together really quickly. Initially, our idea was to only do one song and see how it went. The reaction to “Skydive” was so well received that we decided to put everything together and do a whole album. Everything came together in a matter of months, but we’re really happy with the end product.

Q) Which song has the most meaning to you and why?

Erik: For me, it’s “Skydive” because it really triggered everything.

Jacob: Oddly enough, the last song we recorded for the album and my favorite off the album is “Rewind.”  How it came about, how each one of us are showcased on it, how aggressive it sounds as a song…There are a lot of classic songs on the album and this one just has a very contemporary feel. It really showed me where this band could go in the years to come, even after Lines and Circles is over.

Q) Since your sound has matured, has your inspiration for your lyrics and music changed as well?

Jacob: I think what’s always been best about this band is that our lyrics are so different. We grew up so different. We’re all talented in our own right and we all have our own specific skill set. We were able to build on that and make an album that highlights each one of us.

Q) What can fans expect from a live O-Town show?

Trevor: Obviously, it’s been twelve years since we have been on stage together. That alone is exciting. We’ve always loved our live shows. We hope people come to our live shows and judge us on that because we love putting on a live show. The energy is something we love to give and get. We do some old stuff, the hits. We do a lot of the new songs, which is very exciting! It’s completely different than the shows we did in Germany because the new music was so fun to give to the fans. Hopefully, come November, they will have been listening to it for a couple of months and singing it back to us. There are some surprises. We do some joking on stage. It’s a fun show. We like to entertain so it is more than just a concert.

Q) How have you all been preparing to tour?

Jacob: Getting back together was just like the first time. We had ten years apart to experience life separately and go on our own musical paths. Getting back together, we’re able to express that and really feed off of what each other has learned in the process. Getting back on stage, I want to say it felt like old times (like Erik said), but doing the new stuff was a new brand. I felt like we could take this somewhere we have never gone before, especially with something up-tempo and the way we have interacted with our fans has evolved a lot.

Q) Are there any contests you have coming up for the tour or album?

Jacob: We have talked about lining up a base because our first song is “Skydive,” but I’m terrified of heights. We’re still discussing it, but we are kind of taking our time because some of us are scared of heights. We want to line up an event to go skydiving with our fans, but we’ll see if we can actually pull it off.

Q) With Dan having a new son, how is it going to be touring and balancing your family lives?

Dan: I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t know what it will be like. We just have to get into it and see how everything goes. I’m nervous about it, but I know everything will work out.

Jacob: We have made agreements with each other because we used to do 315+ shows a year. We’ve agreed to only tour two weeks a month and be able to manage life with family and with O-Town.

Q) Since you’re time with “Making The Band,” social media has become quite popular and a large part of promoting music, TV and movies. How has your experience been with social media and using it to promote your music now that you are back?

Erik: Social media is the backbone of allowing us to come back. Obviously, we tweeted “O-Town?” and all of a sudden all these rumors started spreading all over the place. Social media, essentially, is the spark to the flame that got us to this point. We have just tried to embrace it and utilize it to the best of our ability. When we first started this project, we were on “Making The Band,” and it gave everyone a personal view of us. We don’t have that show anymore so the only way for them to connect with us on any level is through social media.

Q) How has it been getting a whole new audience to open up to you and become new fans of O-Town?

Trevor: That’s always the most exciting thing, getting new fans and having people say, “We didn’t listen to you back then, but we love your new music!” Having people tweet us and say that they are new fans of O-Town or that they have gotten their husband to listen to our music, that’s what we do it for! That’s what we love! It’s the most exciting thing to get new fans and performing and making the new fans happy.

Q) Is there anything else you would like to share with fans about your new music and the tour?

Jacob: I think the main thing we want to relay to them is that the only reason we’re out there doing what we’re doing now is because of the support they gave us. If anything, we want to let them know we are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to do this again.