1) How did you get started as a singer at 7 years old and become a superstar pop singer by 9?
Aaron Carter: I think that starting so young, music chose me. I didn’t really choose it. My brother auditioned at 13 for the Backstreet Boys, Nick [Carter]… And he got the job, of course. I wanted to be like my big brother, like any typical 7 year old, you know? Actually, my parents sat me down and were like, “Are you sure you want to do this?” And I was like “Yeah, I’m sure I want to do it.” Also, my brother would come back home with like huge bags of like stuffed animals and stuff; all the stuff they were throwing on stage for them. And he’d give them to us. I wanted those. I also wanted to spend more time with my brother, but it ended up working contrary to that, because once I began doing the same thing, we are on the opposite sides of the world from each other.
2) How did you ever get Shaquille O’Neal to play basketball with you in your “That’s How I Beat Shaq” video?
Aaron: Well, he found out about it and wanted in! We were doing the music video in LA. We had “Aaron’s Party” out. We had already sold 2 million records in like 6 or 8 months with that and he heard about the song I did about him, so the producers called him and he came over to set and did it with me! We’ve stayed in touch all these years. About four years ago, we did a rematch game for Spike TV… and he beat me.
Aaron Carter — Pics of The Singer
3) Your new sound on your singles, “Fools Gold” and “Sooner or Later” and your new EP is EDM — what made you fall in love with EDM?
Aaron: EDM started in Germany, and that’s where I grew up listening to it when I was touring. So I think I had that in my head. But also, I just liked the way it would make me feel. It would be so gratifying. I couldn’t do country. I couldn’t do rock. I gravitate toward what the DJs do, like the Zedd’s, and the Martin Garrix’s. The thing is that the music in the EP, “LøVë,” sonically, is contrary, to what the lyrics are. The lyrical content depict a story about a love that wasn’t good. It’s all about an ex-girlfriend that did not love me. I was trying to write the songs and make the beats to try to tell her things during the relationship.
4) You EP is called “LøVë,” but it sounds like you’ve been through a breakup, as you mentioned — will the rest of the album be about your relationship with your new girlfriend, Madison Parker?
Aaron: Madison and I have been together about 6 months, and I’ve already written more songs about my new love than about my ex and they’re going to be in the album. The album is going to tell a story and it’s also probably going to be called LøVë. So, right now you just get the extended EP, which is all about the negative sides of love. The part 2, basically, is going to be the grass is greener on the other side– getting out of it and dealing with the emotions. I was in such a bad place last year when I went through the break up. My ex was my backup dancer and she just started getting ashamed of me. The little things in relationships are really important. I have this saying “It’s the little things that make something very big,” and it’s also the little things that can make something very big fall apart. You can pull once little piece out of a Jenga and lose the whole thing. I had something very important to say about love for this album. I think that it was helpful for myself, and now that it’s becoming helpful for other people is just a whole other thing for me.
5) We hear that a new remix of “I Want Candy” will be on the new album! Tell us about it and whatever else have to look forward to.
Aaron: The new remix of “I Want Candy” will be on the new album, and that’s something very, very special to me! It will be monumental. The fact that I got to co-produce it, it’s incredible. I can say that I’m the first person of my kind to do a cover of my cover and produce it. I have a whole story behind it. I took what StrangeLove did with “I Want Candy” in the ’50s… What Bow Wow Wow did with it, what I did with it, and I fused all three of them together for this new remix. Then I put the EDM twist drop in the middle of the song. So, it’s like four “I Want Candy’s” in one.
HollywoodLifers, you can get Aaron Carter’s EP “LøVë” on iTunes or Spotify and keep an eye out for the full album, set to come out soon! Make sure you listen to HollywoodLife’s full interview with Aaron on our podcast on iTunes!