entertainment

Howie Dorough can’t stand still

Howie DoroughTo say Howie Dorough is a busy man would be an understatement. Famous as one of the Backstreet Boys, he just wrapped up the North American leg of the NKOTBSB tour, and is embarking on a South American Tour opening for Britney Spears before NKOTBSB hits Europe. He manages the Canadian band Neverest and just released his first solo album Back To Me. The question has to be asked, why release an album amidst so much going on?

“Timing is everything,” says Dorough. “I have been working on this album on and off for five years, I started in a Latin direction and then got more centred with the sound I wanted it to be within the last year here. I felt like right now the momentum we have and visibility we are able to create in towns on this tour almost piggybacks to a point. 

“Nick Carter, Jordan Knight and myself all have solo records coming out,” Dorough told Outwords. “For some people in this situation, there would be too much to focus on with the tour and if they were to release a record this would not be good timing for them because if they are not capitalizing on it with radio and TV and press, if you have the opportunity and you can capitalize on it, it is a win-win situation. If you have it and you don’t capitalize on it and you just let the album sit out there you lose momentum. 

“That is why I am trying to strike right now while the iron is hot, and I am blessed I heard that my single went to No. 1 on the MuchMoreMusic countdown,” says Dorough. “It is due to a lot of the fans and hype around the tour that is helping me as well. The album was supposed to be out in August but got pushed back because the original deal was done in Japan, and when the tsunami happened we had to push things back to November. But I really wanted to capitalize upon the fact that I was going to be in the States and Canada. We signed a deal in Canada with Fontana music who is a label I use with artists that I manage. I felt the timing was right to capitalize on press and use this momentum and platform to launch it.”

Outwords caught up with Dorough backstage before a recent concert in Calgary. His schedule included leaving Edmonton at 2 a.m., being on TV in the morning, additional media in the afternoon, a two and a half hour concert, and a public after-party at a Calgary bar. It is a breakneck schedule but Dorough loves it.

“I have a lot of energy,” says Dorough. “Since I was a little kid I have always been a workaholic - I need a lot of stimulation. My mom had me doing everything from dance to voice to acting to piano, everything she could think of to keep me stimulated. I find that I get bored very easily if I am not working on several things at once. When I am doing one thing I get an itch to try and do other things and help in other ways. By helping other artists it puts me in a totally different mindframe and I get excited about it, then I work on my solo project it puts me in a different mindframe that I am able to get excited about that. Not one thing gets too boring after awhile.”

In 1996 the Backstreet Boys first got noticed in Canada, and there has been great support for the band ever since. Dorough expects that support to continue with his solo album. “I am very blessed that I have a lot of Canadian love,” says Dorough. “In addition to Backstreet Boys and my solo project I have a management company here in Canada called 3 Street with another gentlemen named CJ Huyer who used to be in a boy band called 3 Deep (with Young and The Restless stars Eddie Cibrian and Joshua Morrow) several years ago. We had an artist named George Nozuka who did really well on the charts here and our newest project the band Neverest who actually opened up for us in Canada on this tour. 

“I learned a lot about the Canadian market and the tricks and trades about things like you guys being very helpful to Canadian singers and writers,” Dorough says. “My first single was written and produced by a Canadian group of guys and the video was directed by a Juno award winner. The songs have been really accepted here and I am really thankful. I have a great record label, publicity company, radio reps, it is a total win-win situation for me up here.”

The Backstreet Boys have certainly counted members of the LGBT community as faithful fans. But they have experienced their share of homophobia as well. “It comes with the territory,” says Dorough. “I can definitely say when we started you try and go out and give your all and there is a lot of jealousy out there in the world, especially from guys to guys and it is sad. Instead of narcing on the music, come to the concerts. There are so many women here, your odds of picking up girls is so great here you would be foolish not to come. 

“Guys won’t admit it to us but sometimes their girls might be into us and they will use our music to get the girls, but then when it comes to seeing us eye to eye they always want to throw in slurs and whatever,” says Dorough. “I have a pretty thick skin, my family has kept me pretty well grounded. I have always believed in to each their own, I have a cousin who is gay and to me I have always been someone who doesn’t judge anybody and appreciate when people don’t judge you. If they have the time to be thinking those things, at least they are thinking about us.”

The band has shown its support for the LGBT community in return, including as parade marshals for the 2010 San Francisco Pride Parade. “We were asked to be the parade marshalls and it was an honour, very flattering,” says Dorough. “With a gay cousin and several of my wife’s girlfriends are lesbians, I have no issues at all. A lot of people came to the parade and were supporting us. Our music is out there for everybody,. I don’t care what colour, race, sexual orientation, it is about making good music that makes people happy. I am very, very thankful to our gay fans. They are a huge part of our success. I support them, and am glad they support us in our music.”

If you want to know more about Dorough’s music and his band’s schedule, check out www.HowieD.com.