The Wanted Interview
“If we get number one in America we will streak in the streets” announces Siva Kaneswaran just after Tom Parker lets us know that they will be releasing an album in the states this summer including songs off both “The Wanted” and “Battleground”…
I then go on to up the ante to try and get them to streak at a baseball game, Max George pipes up, “I literally will go swimming naked, in central park” but after being in a room with him for over an hour, I assume he may swim naked often.
It was a rainy day in NYC but we headed into the storm regardless, to interview England’s latest imports and your new favorite boy band, The Wanted. The boys had been doing interviews all day, and we were the last to get to speak with them. Although tired and ready to go back to their hotel to get some rest, the boys of The Wanted sat down with us to talk about what it takes to be in an internationally acclaimed boy band. The Wanted are Geffen Records’ talented toddler, created over a 9 month long audition process, or as Jay would say “we were basically grown like a baby, but instead of just us developing we were developed along with other children who were then cast away and leaving us at the end.” Whether they found out about auditions through a friend, family member, the newspaper, a phone call or just some how got the word, Jay McGuiness, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes all ended up at the London based “casting call.” Though it sounds long and tedious, none of them seem quite bothered with the results of the long development process. The Wanted aren’t your average boy band however; they always have a say in the writing process of their songs, and Max and Nathan even wrote “Warzone” on their own. They have a dream team that write songs for them, but Nathan claims “we have a bit of a reputation at the moment for being really outspoken about pretty much everything.” But we all decided that isn’t a bad thing, because as a group they should have final say in their musical choices.
Although they are constantly busy, whether it’s being in the recording studio or going on tour the boys still manage to remain close with their best friends from home. Putting their time into the band made them realize who their true friends really were, Jay stated, “A lot of other people begin to resent that you miss their birthdays, so only my best friends from home have remained close”. Nathan has taken hits from friends at home because he hasn’t been as readily available to them, “I did have a furious text off a very good friend of mine saying ‘I haven’t heard from you in about 5 or 6 weeks and we used to talk every day’ and I didn’t know how to respond, it’s like really bad of me but sometimes I can’t help it.” “I’ve got you boys, I don’t need anything else,” Jay so boldly stated, making it obvious that these guys really are great friends. Good enough friends that Tom feels comfortable pooing in a bag and chasing the others around the tour bus with it. “You can’t poo on a tour bus!“ shouts Tom as rebuttal for Nathan and Jay telling us this story. “Never take a shit on a tour bus, drivers go insane,” warns Max, Siva fills us in on the secret, “you can’t flush on a tour bus! So the driver has to clean it out.” So really, Tom was doing the driver a favor, while bringing fear into the lives of his band mates. Max and Siva cowered in a corner while Tom dangled the bag of crap over their heads. But Jay was the only one who could really be mad about this situation,“[he] Tom chased me around with the bag, and the bag touched me, I felt the warmth inside.” If they can sit and laugh with us in a room about this poo situation, I’m sure their friendship can withstand anything. But we’re sure they will never chase their fans with bags of poo, or so we hope. The Wanted boys try their best to always meet fans, Jay filled us in, “If a fans waited for 6 hours or something it’s only fair we go talk to them. It’s horrible when due to security reasons or because of venue policy you can’t stop and all the fans know is that you broke their heart and that is a horrible, horrible feeling.” They’re always trying their best to meet their fans no matter what or who is telling them it may not be the best idea, and that is admirable, especially due to their caliber of fame back home in the UK. The Wanted know what they want, and sometimes they may need advice from others, but they always get the last word on everything they do. Their single “Glad You Came” is available on US iTunes now, and is being played on almost every major radio station. So go buy their song and request it a million times on the radio so that these boys can continue making their fans happy and throwing poo around worldwide.
~Sara Feigin
(Source: blog.l-i-f-e-press.com)
