A*Teens – Interview

Dancing with the A*Teens… a chat with ahmet & sara!!

Ahmet:

You guys have been traveling a lot.

Yeah we were just in South America doing a promotional tour. We were in Chili, Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico.

How do you all get along when you are on the road together for so long?

Surprisingly well. We are really good friends. We’ve been friends for five years. We know each other quite well. We’ve been on the road for a while and I was actually surprised how well it went. Honestly, we are all really good friends.

How does touring and schooling work?

That is really hard. I have to go to school, we all do, but Marie is taking a year off. For example, this morning I studied for three or four hours of math. It’s really hard because you aren’t in school so much so you have to take your own responsibility. You get homework when you go away so you have to study on your own. It’s hard, but it works.

Are you out of school even when you are home?

No, I attend when I’m home, at least a few days every week. Next year we’re all going to take the year off because we can’t take anymore.

How do your friends and family react?

My family is very proud and supportive. My friends are too, well, that is my real friends. You get a lot of new friends when you get famous, but my real friends I had before and still treat me the same.

Is it tough being away so long?

Yes and no. It is a lot of fun, and since we get along so well, it’s not that hard, but sometimes I want to go home and eat my mother’s food and sleep in my own bed.

What is the one thing that you didn’t expect when you joined the group?

I didn’t expect this much work. I thought being an artist was really glamorous, cool, not too much work, you go around and do concerts. I thought maybe one or two interviews.

I know you are probably doing more than a few just in one day.

Yeah. They never end, but some are really fun, depending on the journalists.

How did the group form?

Last November, November ’98, we went to this dance school and there was an audition and we went to the audition together. So we danced for them and answered questions for them. It went very well.

Yeah, because obviously you got the job.

Yeah.

Was it always the plan to do the ABBA songs?

Yes, it was the plan. It didn’t feel so strange for us because we are from Sweden, and ABBA is from there as well and we grew up listening to them. We knew all the songs before A*Teens.

Is the plan to do original material instead of covers after this album?

Yes. We don’t know what form of music yet, but we will do original music.

Have you met ABBA?

Not yet. We would really like to, but our schedule is tough.

Have you had a chance to meet any groups or people you admire?

Yeah. We did a tour with *NSYNC and we’ve met Five and Enrique Iglesias.

Is doing the shows the thing you enjoy most?

Yeah. That is really why you get into this business. To be onstage is great. Before, you’d be in front of your class and see they enjoyed it, but now it’s thousands of people enjoying what you do.

Do you ever go on your web site and see what fans have to say?

When we are home we do, but when we are on the road we check our mail and that is about it.

Email has to help a lot.

Yeah, it is really easy and cheaper. (laughs)

Where do you hope to take your career in the future?

I think the A*Teens will last for a long time and we can do this as long as we think it’s fun. Then I hope to be in the music business in some way for my career, either a record company guy or a producer. Maybe I could write music.

Sara:

So what are you doing in LA?

We have a meeting later on about a video.

For what song?

I can’t tell you. Sorry. (laughs)

Big secret?

Yeah, that is the price for everyone. (laughs)

Are videos a lot of fun?

Yeah. We’ve done three before and it’s been great fun.

How about shows?

That is the most fun.

Is there anything you didn’t expect to have to deal with when you joined?

Of course, you’ve got a lot of traveling and you’re not home so much. You really miss your family.

How do your family and friends act towards you?

Some are like, ‘Hi, how are you?’ And they are just starting to make contact now. My family and friends are quite the same. They see me as the same person.

Is it weird to try and do stuff like normal?

Yeah, like in the shops and malls, you get discovered by a lot of people. (laughs) You have to think about everything you do.

What about school?

This is my last term, so I’m ending in June. I have three subjects left: math, English, and Swedish.

When you go home, do you go to class or study at home?

I go to class.

Is that weird?

That is really weird. After doing shows and TV shows, you have to go home and go to school with your friends. It’s two different worlds. It does seem weird.

How do you keep your head on straight?

You do a show and then you get home and it’s like, ‘Whoa, I have to study math.’ I can’t concentrate and I want to do other stuff. You have to do a lot of work.

Is it better that you are in a group because each one of you keeps the others levelheaded?

Exactly. That is why I still go to school too. It’s important for me to stay on earth. You have friends in school that try to treat you like you were before. I don’t want to go there and act like a pop star, but it’s really common for people to treat me that way.

Have you all become really good friends?

Yeah, exactly. We were friends before, but now we are really close. We are like brothers and sisters who hang out and fight. (laughs)

When you tour, are you flying or traveling on a bus?

Flying.

Is that tough?

Yeah, because I didn’t like airplanes before. We traveled a lot when I was smaller. So in the beginning it was weird. You get used to it.

How often do you stay away from home?

We used to play only on weekends, but now we will take a month to travel and come home for two weeks. We’re touring a lot now.

What do you enjoy most?

Singing and dancing and knowing that people like you, and to know that they came there to watch us.

Do you ever get to meet your fans?

Some places in the world we do, but some places where it is crazy then it’s more like ‘Run into the car!’ (laughs)

Do you ever get on the web or emails?

My mom sends me a lot of emails, but not too many fans, mostly friends at home.

It’s better than calling all the time. The phone bill would get lofty.

Yeah. I think I have the highest phone bill in the group.

When you tour, do your family members go with you?

My family members haven’t been so much with us, maybe two times, but otherwise, it’s the other parents. Now we are like, ‘Okay, one parent is enough.’ Before, it was like three parents, but that was like, ‘Hey, this is too much parents.’ Yeah, we are only fifteen and sixteen, but we are living like twenty-year-olds. You grow up quickly.

Where do you hope to take this career?

I really hope I could teach myself more and get my future. I want to be in this group, but if we feel like it isn’t fun anymore, I always have a dream to start on my own.

Singing or songwriting?

Singing and dancing.

You started out dancing?

Yeah. Actually, I started in gymnastics. Then it was more training and more training so I quit that, and my sister asked if I wanted to join her dance school and I did. I have more confidence dancing than singing, but I’d love to sing my own songs.

Did you know you could even sing?

My friend and me were writing children’s songs when we were like nine and I have the lyrics left. It’d be fun to meet with her again and sing those songs from like five years ago. I never thought I could really do it for real.

Is there anyone you idolize as a singer?

I really look up to Britney Spears. I hope that people will look up to me. I would like to be a role model for kids. Maybe it’s easier when you are younger because then you think the same way as they do.

I think that is why it’s shifted from police always doing anti-drug messages to teens and artists, because kids can relate.

Yeah, exactly. I think it is really important to think about what you are doing too because we are role models.

That is actually good to hear.

Thanks! I think that if you are nice and respect people and know what you want to do, you’ll never have any problems. Nothing can stop you from dreaming.

+ charlie craine