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Beanies, booty and bubblegum >> A chat with pre-teen hit machine Aaron Carter by CHRIS YURKIW
The briefing: a thoughtful rep from Attic Records in Toronto gives some hints: 1) Aaron Carter has recently turned 11. He travels with his mother, Jane, while pop Carter takes care of older bro' Nick, the youngest, blondest and most scream-inducing member of teen-queen faves the Backstreet Boys. Aaron also has an older sister Bobbie, and a twin sister Angel, who are "into acting." 2) Aaron Carter's self-titled debut album of last year has sold 90,000 copies in Canada (almost platinum) "with no airplay." 3) Don't talk to Aaron for much longer than 15 minutes. He loses interest. 4) Don't bother trying to ask him about other "boy bands." He doesn't really understand any larger picture. 5) Nintendo and Beanie Babies are good, possible subjects. Doesn't sound much different from the usual pop-star interview. So, when did Aaron decide that he wanted to be a singer? "Um, I'd probably say maybe a year ago," he says. "Actually, maybe about four years ago." Four years ago, a seven-year-old Aaron was rushing off after school to go to another school, the Taragon Rock School in the Carters' hometown of Tampa, Florida. Indeed, Rock School is a place where possibly prodigious, pre-prepubescent performers can learn to rock, and Aaron learned his lessons well. He formed a band called Dead End with some classmates. "We did like, uh, rock 'n' roll," says Aaron. "Kinda like Metallica music." Dead End broke up in 1996, according to Aaron's bio, "due to differing tastes in music." "It was fun," says the youngest of the Carter clan, and then with a laugh, "but I like doing this better." And "this" is just what you might expect: bright and bubbly dance-pop ditties with titles like "Crazy Little Party Girl" and "Crush on You," produced and largely written by project supervisor Gary Carolla, who thanks Jane Carter in the liner notes of Aaron Carter: "What can I say? We did it! It really makes me feel wonderful that your dream for Aaron came true." It's also probably expected that a nine-year-old kid (when Aaron recorded the album) will be given songs of puppy love to sing. Who could forget Donny or Lil' Jimmy Osmond? Carolla certainly remembers them, for he gets Aaron to take a stab at the Osmonds' "One Bad Apple" in a cute tribute to the "roots" of bubblegum. "Yeah," says Aaron of the song, "it's probably older than me." But what about the girl thing? Does he think he's old enough to have a girlfriend? "Hmmm... Yeah, I think so," ponders Aaron. "I think everybody's old enough to have a girlfriend. But I think I might be a little young for one yet. I have crushes though, like, [starts singing] 'I've got a crush on you.'" A little less expected, however, is Aaron's foray into the bump 'n' grind genre of Miami bass, although its nod to his Florida home could be seen as fitting. Carolla hooks Aaron up with booty-shakers 95 South (who had the breakthrough bass hit in '93 with "Whoot! There It Is") for "Shake It," although Aaron is blissfully unaware of the style, let alone its substance. No, Aaron has no booty, no girlfriend--not even any plans for St. Valentine's Day save riding his bike. But he seems to like the adult world: "I like having everybody older than me [laughs]. I'm the runt of the family. I'm even one minute younger than Angel." At the Spectrum this Friday, February 12, 8pm, $23.50+taxes
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The mission: enter into the deepest, quick-beating heart of contempo bubblegum music by interviewing its youngest star.