Here he goes again
By Jed Gottlieb / MusicTuesday, December 8, 2009
The Mac is back.
After the New Kids on the Block reunion last year, Joey McIntyre figured the pump was primed for a fresh solo album. Not that he’s leaving Boston’s most famous non-Aerosmith quintet: NKOTB play a sold-out Toys for Tots benefit at the House of Blues Dec. 20 and are planing a second-annual NKOTB cruise in May.
Calling from his home in Los Angeles, Joey Mac talked about his new EP, “Here We Go Again” - available online today - and a solo tour that kicks off at the Paradise on Jan. 14.
Herald: The first thing you notice on the title track on your new EP is the overdriven Auto-Tune effect. Your voice explodes and quivers like T-Pain.
McIntyre: (Laughs) If you want to get technical about it, when I sing that first part, (sings) “Here we go again,’‘ I sang so loud that the mike distorted. Normally, engineers will tell you to do a clean vocal, then they can artificially distort it. But my natural distortion, plus the Auto-Tune created that cool overdrive effect you’re talking about it.
The video for the song features a fight-club theme and has you shirtless and going Van Damme on some dudes in a basement brawl.
With this music, I was like (expletive), I was just feeling it. I couldn’t have a normal video. I’m doing this independently and I had to keep a tight budget. If I said I spent $200,000 on that video, you’d believe it. But we did it for nothing. People helped me do it because they were into the music. The producer of the song is a huge “Fight Club” fan, and it just dawned on me, the video’s got to be a fight club. There’s a little metaphor there about how in show business we love the abuse, we take a few shots and give a few back.
Why just a seven-song EP?
When you’re making a record you have this first burst of energy and everything’s cohesive and everybody’s feeling it. Then you get to a certain point and you go, “Oh, man, we’ve gotta write six more songs.” The wheels can come off at that point. And patience isn’t my strongest suit. I just wanted it out there so I could book some live dates and run with it.
You start those live dates at the Paradise. That’s a pretty small room for you.
Oh, yeah, I want the line to get in to be going right down to McDonald’s. I want the bathroom in McDonald’s to be overflowing with fans. (Laughs) No, listen, if I can fill the Paradise for the rest of my life, I’m a lucky man. The New Kids have played two Garden shows and the Comcast Center and it’s phenomenal. But on my own, the Paradise is a great venue. I just wish I could take that pole out in the middle, that big frickin’ pole. But it’s a great club.
You’re expecting a new baby with your wife soon, but you’ll be in Boston for the Toys for Tots gig, right?
We might have the live feed from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. My wife hasn’t signed off on it, but in this day and age I think it’s only right to show the fans the birth. (Laughs) No, I’m kidding. If I can’t make it I’ll do something special for the fans. We thought of doing the show in L.A. because of my wife, but doing it in Boston was a no-brainer. Hey, I was 13 years old when we were opening for acts at 9 Lansdowne, so it’s cool to be back on Lansdowne after having to sneak into the clubs when we were 13 and 15.
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