Who is Nickolas Gene Carter
BSB StreetTeam Biography
"It all started in a small town in Upstate New York called Jamestown. I was born in the same hospital as Lucille Ball of I love Lucy fame.
There was a lounge called the Yankee Rebel, which my father and grandmother both owned -- it was a small place. My sister BJ was born up there,
but my other brother and sisters were born in Florida. We had a house on Webber Road; I used to love it up there, it was so fun! My grandparents
all lived up there.
We has a little dance floor at the Yankee Rebel, and my dad used to be a DJ and play records. When I was really small,
I'd get up there in my diapers, and dance around! I have pictures of me wearing headphones that were bigger than my face!
I was just a little chuck; everybody used to call me 'Charlie Brown' when I was little. This is all before BJ was born. One time my parents once
thought they'd lost me, they were walking around saying "Where's Nicky? Where's Nicky?" We had an old Pac-Man I had pulled up a stool; there I was
in my white diaper, sitting up on the stool playing the game. That was when my love for video games began!
My parents thought it might be cool to move down the Florida to start a different business, so they packed up their old Cadilliac Eldorado and loaded
all out stuff into this little trailer. I was about five or six then. The performing bug really didn't hit me until I was about six or seven....'maybe
I can sing, maybe I can do this, maybe I can do that.'
So we made it to Florida, and we're moved into our first house. I guess it was a retirement home, because that's where my dad started working. We lived there
for maybe a year. It was about a 16-person facility and we built into it.
My sister and I used to play with frogs and stuff around there! I have pictures of us all in mud and we have frogs on our heads! We got into some paint
one time! We were painting a chair for my father and we were joking around and started painting eachother. And so we had to take a bath in one of those
little swimming pools. We, me and BJ, used to get into so much mischief, it was so funny.
One of my favorite things to do in the backyard was go swinging on the hammock. I'd have her on it, and twist her up in and let her go and watch her spin.
She kept spinning and she'd get up all dizzy and tell mom. This was a big backyard and the senior citizens didn't care. Another thing my sister and I would
like to do was sword fights with wood sticks. We would do that all the time. We got friendly with the older people. My sister got really close to a woman named
Millie, then Millie passed away. They used to be really close friends; Millie would buy her stuff. Being around older people, I learned to respect people and
that also helped me.
When we moved to another place, I met met one of my best friends, his name was Brent and he and I used to get into trouble and all that. In all, I'd say my
family and I have lived in five different houses down here. We kept the same business, we just kept trying to live closer to the retirement home wothout living there.
Eventully we did, we moved very close to it. My mom was a cook at the retirement home, an excellent cook. My mom a really good cook! My brother, Aaron and my sister, Angel
(their twins) were born at Tampa General/Children's Hospital. Leslie was born at the retirement home. She wasn't born in the hosptial.
I had to cope with my mother giving Leslie more attention then me and BJ. We would talk to eachother and say 'Gosh, she's getting all the attention.' My grandmother would
spoil her. We get along now, because Leslie gets treated the same as us now. When the twins came, that really affected everybody. Leslie got really jelious too! I was really
excited about having another brother! The twins really didn't change my life that much, but I guess you could say it was a happy change, because now I have lots of siblings!
My dad, who's an only child, got all the attention, but had to make friends. I make friends, but I always have somebody to play with and hang out with.
My first school was Miles Elementary. Miles was my favorite school, I loved that school! I was there for four years. That was when I did my first play, The Phantom of the Opera.
My teacher helped me get into it. What happened was she picked someone else for the role, but he couldn't sing, so he sort of strayed off. She needed to find somebody else and
luckily I was there. I was really nervous about my first play, but I pulled through. I felt good about it. Being on stage is my life.
Next year I went to Orange Grove.
I had favorite teachers there too. This was elementary. I missed a lot of school because I did a lot of acting then. I started when I was about nine years old, right after Phantom
of the Opera. We were kind of tossed between acting, dancing, or singing, so I kind of dabbled in a few of them. I did plays, commercials and sang in a few places. I did commercials
for the Lottery and The Money Store (I was about 10), a lot of that kind of stuff. I really decided what I wanted to be when I was singing. I auditioned for the Micky Mouse Club and
Backstreet Boys. And the Micky Mouse Club said they wanted me! I had a feeling that was going to be my good acting year-- everybody has a good acting year! I had to choose between
the two of them... Backstreet Boys or the Mickey Mouse Club!
My siblings loved coming with me [to audtions] and stuff. The little ones were so young then, they didn't know
what was happening. My first commercial was for the 'Money Store', I was about 10. Then I got called by the Mickey Mouse Club and the Backstreet Boys all at the same time, it just
changed my whole life -- I was twelve going on thirteen. Of course I turned down the Mickey Mouse Club for the Backstreet Boys! It was kind of scary: there were meetings and talk
about when the Backstreet Boys were going to get a record deal... but we did quickly become a local sensation! We did malls and worked in local places. I was the youngest, the next
oldest was AJ, next oldest was Brian, next was Howie and the oldest was kevin. I was probably closest to Howie, Brian and AJ at the time. When we began to travel together and rooming
together, I turned out the one who liked to sleep the most. AJ ate the most -- and I pulled the most practical jokes! I brought my super nintendo with me for whatever freetime I had.
In those days, when I was home, I went to Universial Studios a lot -- I like to ride Jaws!
I'm actully afraid of sharks for real! I had a dream one time, the worst dream in the world: I was on the back of this big cruise ship, and I leaned over the rail. We were in the Bahamas
and the water was crystal clear. This lady pulls up on this red jet-ski and we're talking to each other. Suddenly, there's this 26-foot Great White shark! You could see it's shadow
underneath her, and I yelled to her. I said 'Jump!' and 'Watch out!' She jumped and grabbed on to the pole, where I was leaning over and I tried to pull her up. The shark jumped out
of the water and grabbed her and pulled her down under. That's like my worst dream!
That's the only thing I'm most afraid of. Years ago, when I was showing off on my bike a
nd broke my right arm, it didn't scare me as much as the thought of sharks -- and I did a 360 in the air and landed on my right arm! I'm geneally not a scared kind of person. I try to
be funny, but I'm not really funny all that often -- I just keep quiet a lot. I'm interested in girls, but it's hard to find a girl who doesn't just like me for what I do, but for who I am.
I don't really test girls, you can just tell.
When I was in school, I used to come home with letters -- this was when I was really young. It was so funny, my mom kept all these letters that I came home with in my book bag!
These girls, I can't remember how young they were, but they would wright stuff. They could hardly write their names, but they were writing 'I Love You'!
It was so funny in a sweet way! I was looking back on it, and they had like hearts all over the paper...
My family keeps me humble though. I still have to clean my room and put my dishes in the sink and stuff. My rooms has got a lot of posters in it, my drum set, my bed, and VCR and TV.
It looks like an old 60's room. I enjoy the times when I can get home and be with my family, but the Backstreet Boys are my family now too -- and we want to stay together."
BACKSTREETBOYS STREET TEAM BIOGRAPHY: NICK
We first met Nick Carter, the sweet, blonde, blue-eyed member of the Backstreet Boys, about seven years ago. He knocked the socks off of girls and boys alike worldwide while receiving
innumerable praise and awards from the music industry. Now that he is a bit older, we find him digging a little deeper to show us a side we've
never seen before.
Nick Carter is getting up to his own things these days. It's his chance to break out and share a more personal side of himself while still doing the thing he loves - music.
Making music that comes from his heart is something this 22 year-old
has been yearning to do for quite a while.
On his debut album, Now or Never, Nick brings a cathartic pen to paper to release what he says he's "been holding inside for a long time." We begin to watch the layers unfurl
on each track as we hear a young man's tales of life
and love and growing up. His deepest thoughts and confusions, as well as his
passions come across in the album's songs.
"It's a release of energy - all sorts of energy that I've held inside for od knows how long;" Nick says, "now I get the freedom to do everything that I, myself want to do."
After fifteen years of performing, it is certainly his time to shine, but Nick is very modest about his success. "It's not about shining," he says, "it's more so
something that is helping me out as a person, and it's kind of like therapy to me. I'm able to free myself and express myself." He
describes this move to do his own thing as a
kid going off to college. He is breaking away from the family within the Backstreet Boys to spread his wings.
This endeavor did not begin with a plan to make a solo record. It just so happens that Nick was messing around in the studio with the production team, KNS (Josh Schwartz and Brian Keirulf)
and they came up with the song "Do I Have To Cry For You." When the folks at Jive took a listen they were blown away,
and so began the idea to make Now or Never.
His work (and play) with KNS allowed him to experiment with writing for the first time. He co-wrote "Do I Have To Cry For You" as well as "Girls In The USA" and "I Stand
For You" with them, and "My Confession" and "Is It Saturday Yet" with producers Gary Clark and Martin Brammer. Although he admits that he hasn't reached his potential as
a writer, he is very excited about the prospect of exploring his artistic side.
During the making of this record, Nick took to Sweden to work with good friend and songwriter extraordinaire, Max Martin (best known for his work with Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys and
Celine Dion). Before the recording process began, the two got into deep discussions about life and what Nick was going through at the time. The songs Max came up with and produced with partner,
Rami. were closely related to Nick's emotions so they were a perfect fit for the record.
Now or Never has also been graced by the production skills of The Matrix, Steve Mac, Matthew Gerrard and Teddy Riley.
"It's a very personal album," Nick says of the songs chosen for it, "every one has a connection of some sort."
While Now or Never delves into some deep topics, it doesn't take itself way too seriously. It has the ability to transport you to the open road for a long drive while you sing every song
at the top of your lungs. It reflects the freedom and passion that it is meant to reveal.
"Help Me," the first single from the album, was written by Matthew
Gerrard and Michele Vice-Maslin and produced by Matthew Gerrard. It's a fun ditty that we can all relate to.
In it Nick sings about his confusion and appreciation of life and relationships while he begs the questions we all ask ourselves everyday.
The tender ballad "Do I Have To Cry For You" works its way into a passionate and raw plea for some middle ground in a less than normal relationship.
"My Confession" is a very sweet and pleasant sonic journey that expresses
honest affection towards a new love. Its bouncy guitars and textured beats are candy to the ears.
Nick truly loves American Rock, and its influence shows up on the guitar-driven anthem "I Stand For You." You can tell he was reared on a healthy serving of Bruce Springsteen,
Journey and Bon Jovi. His rebellious lyrics like, "I'm gonna have an attitude," are spoken with that sense of youthful
invincibility and fervor.
We see his compassionate side on the ballad "Heart Without a Home (I'll Be There)" while the song "I Got You" calls out the words "they can't touch me...now that
I've got you" over a lush landscape of chimes, beats and subtle guitar wisps.
It's not all work for Nick Carter though. When he is not recording or touring he likes to rest - a lot. The ocean is another obsession of his. He enjoys taking his boat out and swimming
or scuba diving as often as possible. He also makes it his priority to do his part to preserve the ocean, so much so that he began Nick Carter's Ocean Campaign. He feels very strongly
about the environment and intends to get more involved to protect it.
As a result of his upbringing, he learned and experienced a lot more than the typical American teenager. This, he says, has made him "much more caring when it comes to the world
and the place we live in." He is more open now and would like to learn and share his experiences with as many people as possible.
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