‘N Sync still doing what it loves to do

Randy Matin

Friday, July 27, 2001 | 9:20 a.m.

'N Sync is a joke, right? Little more then a pre-manufactured boy band put together by a slick corporation for the express purpose of tilting disposable income and pin numbers from the knapsacks of the world's teens.

If this true then it's a pretty good joke.

Journalists from some of the country's most respected journals -- Newsday, the Austin (Texas) American Statesman, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Chicago Tribune and about 40 others -- are jacked in to a centralized teleconference service to speak with JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass, and most offer an opening spray of praise for the singing group that plays Sam Boyd Stadium tonight.

Surprisingly this praise comes not just from the teeny-bopper phone voices, but also from the more leathery, seasoned pros who laud 'N Sync for its lavishly staged shows, its a cappella singing and a growing maturity in its music -- particularly for "Celebrity," released this week.

On the new disc, 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake takes a greater role in writing the songs that most say mark a distinct diversion from the 11-million selling "No Strings Attached." The boys -- if we can still call them that -- have also recruited some of the top producers working in pop and hip-hop: BT, the Neptunes and Brian McKnight, and "Celebrity" features their work.

Then, as if to trip the last of the naysayers, none other than Stevie Wonder puts in a harmonica solo on the track, "Gone." And Billboard, the gatekeeper of all musical trends, in reviewing the album's first single "Pop," warns "prepare to discard all you know about 'N Sync ... this boy band ... seems poised to prove itself ... (as) a defining presence of Top 40's next genesis."

Here, then, are highlights from the conference, in which 'N Sync attempts to field all the questions from this nation's press.

Newsday asks what expectations the band has to match sales-wise or artistically for "Celebrity."

"Artistically is the only way we can answer that question," Kirkpatrick says. "We are playing half the album live and the audiences seem to be digging it. So far that is the reaction we are getting."

The reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wants to know if 'N Sync feels limited by the genre of pop.

Lance Bass responds, "I think it is just the opposite. Because we play pop it extends to every style of music. And this has allowed us to work with many different kinds of artists from Phil Collins to Gloria Estefan to Richard Marx and Babyface.

"Musically this puts us in the driver's seat."

Kirkpatrick picks up, "Our job is to keep the sound innovative and not be stuck with what we did five years ago or even two years ago. We don't want to release a Part 2 of "Bye Bye Bye" (one of the key singles from "No Strings Attached."). We keep changing our sound so people will continue to be interested."

The Hollywood Reporter polls the guys for their favorite tracks from "Celebrity" and Bass is first to answer.

"One of my favorites is 'Gone.' Justin wrote it and there is something very different and eerie going on there. It takes us back to where we started because you can hear all five of our voices and harmonies."

Kirkpatrick chooses the gospel-tinged "Do Your Thing," and JC Chasez selects the single "Pop" because, "It is so unique. It goes from rock guitar and dance beats to harmonies. There is an aggression in the vocals and changing. It has an energy that nothing else out there right now has."

Discussion of the multifaceted "Pop" then brings a number of questions about Timberlake's intentions in writing the song and using "Celebrity" as the title of the album and Bass picks up the reply.

"With 'Pop' we are making fun of the whole question of 'N Sync's legitimacy as a musical outfit. It's about the respect that we get from our peers and the variance of opinions we get from the press. I think Justin wrote the song to help explain what pop music is today and that it can go from rap to hip hop and from Snoop Dogg to Limp Bizkit. And then there is 'N Sync coming from R&B and combing influences from all this stuff."

The Cleveland Free Times then brings up the notion of celebrity as an art form and Kirkpatrick agrees. "It is definitely art but is also kind of weird because most celebrities are foreign royalty. Everybody needs a little Princess Di. The Hollywood. The glamour. But musicians didn't used to get it.

"Now MTV gives us that image, but there is also a lot of information showing how not glamorous it really is. And that is what we are trying to say by naming the album 'Celebrity.' We are kind of like a big sneeze. We are probably five of the most normal Joes you would ever want to meet."

With the heavy questions out of the way the press then becomes interested in the magnitude of the "Pop Odyssey" tour.

"It's the largest stage production of all time," Chasez says. "We really beat up our crew because we travel with three different stages. It takes three days to set up, and another two days to take down. So our crews are always dodging baseball games and other events happening in the stadiums.

"As big as it is we still have the gags you expect from 'N Sync and we still fit our tricks into whatever song we want."

Another reporter asks about the band's annual Challenge For Children charity event that will take place while the group is in Las Vegas.

It's grown, the band replies, and will include a citywide scavenger hunt with teams in Suburbans collecting clues.

Yes, 'N Sync had a gas making its first IMAX film "Bigger Than Live."

"It's really strange to see your arm up on that huge screen looking bigger than your whole body," Chasez says. "The most challenging part was in doing a mix for 12 speakers instead of just stereo. The only band who had done one of these things before us was the Rolling Stones. But even with that precedent I think we were still able to make an innovative and exciting movie."

There were smaller inquires about favorite venues to play, recovering from a rained-out performance, explicit lyrics, ticket prices, with few trying to get to any dirt that may lie behind the band's well-scrubbed image.

Finally one reporter asked what the guys hoped would be left out, years from now, should 'N Sync become the subject of VH-1's tell-all show, "Behind the Music."

After a lot of joking around, Kirkpatrick summed, "We will probably have the most boring episode ever. These guys are four of my best friends. We enjoy each other's company. And we are getting paid to do what we love so why be cynical about it?"