Mere months after polishing off an international tour with Backstreet
Boys, the Bostonians are already at work on their first new record
since their 2008 comeback disc, says Jordan Knight.
“We’re doing an album now,” the 42-year-old vocalist confirms. “We’ll
be touring with it next year. It’s exciting; the last album we did was
four years ago. It’s going to be great for the fans — but it’s going to
be really great for us because we’ll be re-energized with new music, new
videos, new dance moves, a new stage act. It’ll be new, new, new.”
That reinvention may extend to their sound, he says, claiming NKOTB
would even be willing to try their hand at dubstep — though a mashup
with genre superstar Skrillex might not be in the offing. “Who?” Knight
asks. “See? I’m showing my age there. But we do like to mix our classic
sound with whatever is going today so it’s very relevant. We like to
keep on top of the trends.”
But before moving forward with bandmates Joey McIntyre, Donnie
Wahlberg, Danny Wood and his older brother Jonathan, Knight has to take
care of some unfinished business: Touring Canadian theatres with his own
band in support of his 2011 solo album — titled Unfinished,
appropriately enough. While driving in the slow lane outside Boston, he
chatted about being secretly Canadian, life as a middle-aged heartthrob
and stretching on the Lido Deck. You just finished the NKOTBSB tour in June and you’re touring again. Are you broke or a workaholic?
Yeah, what’s wrong with me? I think I’m a workaholic. Really, the
thing is that I didn’t get to do my solo tour and sing my new music in
Canada. I did about 20 cities in the States and I got a lot of requests
to go to Canada. So I felt the need and the desire to top it off with a
Canadian run. It seems there’s a strong connection between New Kids and Canada. You started your 2008 comeback tour here. Why the love?
Well, both my parents are from Canada. I’m actually a dual citizen. I
definitely have Canadian roots. I mean, I definitely consider myself an
American because I was raised down here, but every Christmas I would go
to my grandparents’ house at Dunville, Ont., and every summer we’d
spend time on Lake Erie. We were always heading up to Canada. So there’s
definitely a connection. What’s the difference between Americans and Canadians?
I’ve always thought of Canadians as salt of the earth people. All my
relatives, you could just feel the Canadian essence when we would go
visit. They were just good people. Not that I’m saying Americans are bad
people — at all. I just feel comfortable around Canadians. They’re more
polite. That’s for sure. How do you feel about touring theatres with your solo band instead of touring arenas with New Kids?
I look at it as a special thing. I don’t look at it as a downgrade.
It’s just a different setting. It’s cool to be in a smaller setting with
hardcore fans. They get to have a more closeup view, and I get to be
more off the cuff, instead of having a set show in an arena where every
song has to be a smash. I get to sit at the keyboard and sing songs of
mine I wouldn’t be able to do at a big show. I can take my time, I can
do whatever I want: Make a joke, have a laugh, bring someone onstage.
It’s more of an in-the-moment experience. Does being a heartthrob make it tougher to be taken seriously
when you’re in your 40s and trying to get people to listen to your
music?
Nah. I think the fans can enjoy the music I make and see me as a
heartthrob. It just comes with the package. But I don’t feel like I’m
going out there and living off my image of when I was 18 years old. I
put a lot of pride into my work and that’s why I’m still doing it. And I
believe they feel that. It could be worse: You could be a former heartthrob.
Yeah. That would just be sad. I don’t think I’d be on the road if
that was the case. Then again, I probably would. I love it too much to
let that stop me. Speaking of getting older, how are you holding up? Is it getting tougher to keep up with the physical demands of your show?
There’s a lot of stretching, I gotta tell you. But I’ve always been
big on stretching. Fans know me as someone who likes to stretch.
Actually, on one of our (concert) cruises, I did a stretch class on the
Lido Deck. The whole ship was watching me do yoga moves. And on Twitter,
there was a time when I would walk fans through stretches every
morning. I guess it’s pretty weird.
Jordan Knight tour dates:
Oct. 3 | Ottawa | Centrepointe Theatre
Oct. 4 | Toronto | Guvernment
Oct. 5 | Montreal | Metropolis
Oct. 13 | Halifax | Casino Nova Scotia
Oct. 14 | Moncton | Capitol Theatre
Oct. 16 | Edmonton | Citadel Theatre
Oct. 18 | Calgary | MacEwan Hall
Oct. 20 | Vancouver | Venue
Oct. 21 | Victoria | McPherson Theatre
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