Date: June 20th, 2002
Location: By black light/candle light, music blasting in the background, at Zero Gravity dance club in Naperville, IL :)
Thanks to: BIG, BIG, BIG thanks to Erik Bradley!

Hi, my name is Stacy and I really appreciate you guys letting me have the chance to interview you.

For the new fans reading this, why don't you guys introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about yourselves?

Justin: My name is Justin and I am in a group called Vi3, that was good, I'm Justin and I'm from Chicago, and I'm 23 yrs. old. And, yeah, I'm gonna pass the mike.

Lucas: I'm Lucas and I also just had my 23rd birthday. I'm also in a group called Vi3.

Jackie: Whatup everybody? My name is Jackie. I'm originally from Boston, but I'm living in Chicago, now. And I'm lovin' life, and I'm lovin' Vi3. I'm 22 years old and that's cool.

How old were you guys when you decided to sing and you wanted to be a singer?

Justin: I don't know how old I was, but I was at my first New Kids on the Block concert and I saw all the way the girls were screaming for these guys on stage. It was at that point that I realized I wanted to be up on stage and have the girls scream for me. I don't know how old I was, maybe 7 or 8, something like that, and I'll pass it around to Luke.

Lucas: We kind of had a similar starting ground, I never knew that. But my first concert was New Kids on the Block. It was the first concert I ever went to and it was the same type of thing. You see all the hype created around being on stage...the love that they had for the music and everything, and performing and it just kinda flowed on through my life. I always kinda had that in the back of my head, how much fun I had at my first concert. I actually had a chance to see Nsync before the Disney special hit, before they ever got huge, at a fair in Wisconsin, and I saw them out there, and it was the same type of thing all over again. And that was right when I was starting with everything we were doing in the group I used to be in, Faze4. That's kinda how I got started.

Jackie: This is Jackie. It's sounds funny, but honestly everything that Lucas just said is me, too. I mean I always wanted to be a New Kid, especially because they were from Boston, so they were like my favorite group ever. I can remember being 10 yrs. old, 9 yrs. old, sitting in front of the TV and trying to do the all dance moves and had all their CDs and stuff. When Lucas said when Backstreet and Nsync came out, it was like, wow, flashbacks. Now, I'm actually old enough to do this myself. I just wanted to do it, too. I've been acting and doing musical theater my whole life. It's really since I was a baby that I really wanted to do this, you know, and now I'm getting the chance.

Have you guys ever had voice lessons? If so, how many years did you guys take them? Are you still taking them?

Lucas: Yeah, we have a vocal coach now and we work with her on a regular basis. That's a lot of the behind the scenes things that people don't think about. But we work with a vocal coach almost every day, regularly, for about 2 hours a day, just on different things like you want to prepare acapellas. We're getting ready to do the National Anthem at the White Sox game coming up on Monday, and just for being on stage and learning proper techniques and everything like that. So, yeah, Sasha Geretson, she's awesome, she's a wonderful, awesome person, singer, vocal coach, all that.

How long have you guys been performing? What was your first performance?

Justin: Umm I was, this is Justin, I um, like I said, up until I saw New Kids on the Block I was kinda like in a closet, singing in the mirror. Michael Jackson, I wanted to be who he was, and that was like my private performances. But up until probably my first time I performed was in 8th grade. I had done, I was Djing at that time, and I just kind of grabbed the microphone and I was singing at school dances and I saw the way the girls loved that. Every year it got bigger and bigger. I would do festivals. I probably started early high school, being on stage, performing for people. That's my story.

Lucas: I started as a kid in musical theater, and things like that. I've been performing, I think I started when I was about 8 years old. Still to this day, actually, I am the only child ever be allowed to sing with a huge choir from my home town, the Freeport Choral Society. You had to be over 21 to be in the choir, and they invited me to be a part of that when I was 8 years old, and I sang a solo with that. So it's always been a childhood thing, and I've always been performing whether choir, chorus, musical theater, anything like that. So for a long time.

Jackie: This is Jackie again, same with me. I'm thinking me and Lucas are long lost twins now [Lucas laughs]. When I was young and I was a baby, I used to be in the church choir, back in grammar school and that led to musical theater. Then that went to high school theater and plays, and then that went to college, and then my other music group, and it built on to what I'm doing today. More than most of my whole life has been based around music and acting.

Have you ever had any major embarrassing moments on stage?

Lucas: Yes.

Jackie: Luke, take it away.

Lucas: At the Taste of Chicago last year it was so hot, and I had sprained my vertibrae and strained muscles on my back and everything. I was horribly in pain and we were dancing and it was so hot and I got really sweaty. We do this move where we kick our arms around, and I threw the microphone like 100 feet in the air and it went out in the crowd. I was like, " Ookkkk, goood..." [laughs]

Anyone else?

Lucas: No, I'm the king of that one.

Justin: Yeah, I mean I can't really compete with Luke, but so it doesn't seem like he's the only one that messed up. We just taped at NBC5 Live TV show like a couple of weeks ago, actually a month ago. Thankfully, it was during soundcheck...... "Go Get Her". We've sung that song a million, million times

Lucas: And you wrote it. [laughs]

Justin: And I wrote it. For some reason I just blanked out during the "Oh, Shorty, get em down" part. I did that part actually twice. It was funny, because all the devoted fans were in the front singing along to the words. They were singing the right words and I was singing the wrong words. We fixed it for the TV show, so it was all good. But if you were there early, you saw the mess up and stuff.

Jackie: Basically the only thing I can think of was when I was in high school. We were doing the play, "Bye Bye Birdie", and it was actually me and my buddy, Val. It was a scene where he had to pretend he was drunk and he was running out on stage. And when he ran out on stage, I was supposed to catch him. Besides the fact that he knocked over the side curtain that came down in the middle of show time, I had to catch him and I went to turn to look at the curtain. I was supposed to catch him, but he fell right to the floor, so he hit the back of his head. It's not funny now, but it was funny back then.

Have you had any fan encounters? Any wild or wacky ones?

Jackie: I think, well, I'll let everyone speak, but I think for me we did a club show at a club called Static and that's meant for 14 yr. old kids, 14, 15, 16, something like that in that area. We've done some older shows like at Zero Gravity for 16 and up or adult shows, not adult shows but for 21 and over, but this particular junior teen club to have panties thrown up on stage was kind of crazy. I mean like I said, these girls were 13, 12, 14 yrs. old, so that's kind of crazy.

Lucas: I remember Jingle Bash last year. There were girls were like flashing us in the front row.

Justin and Lucas: That was good! [group clapping]

Lucas: That's not a fan encounter, that's a good thing!

Justin: That falls under the good encounters!

Jackie: The biggest shock for me was we were in Quad Cities a couple days ago. Who to show up at the radio station, but really one of our biggest fans from New Hampshire. She flew all the way to Chicago and Quad Cities to see us live. That's pretty crazy to me.

How do you deal with so many fans screaming at you guys? Are you getting sick of it, yet?

Lucas: No way! We're trying to create more hype around it...We're trying to expand upon what we have in Chicago, and just make it that much bigger. We wouldn't be where we are today without the support of the fans, you know, the undying love and the passion for what we do. They're more excited about the things that we do than we are...We love that, that's the greatest thing. We have the best fans in the world.

Now that you guys have opened for Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, do you find that you get more recognized on the street?

Lucas: Yeah, a little bit more. The bigger shows that we do, it seems like the more people recognize you and place you, with the star factor, the celebrity status. It's getting to the point that we kind of have to go to the mall like this [covers head]

How does it feel to be young on the music scene? Compared to Backstreet Boys, you are relatively young.

Justin: It feels great. I mean it's cool, because we have our whole lives ahead of us. We're gonna look back 10 years from now and realize that we're going through this right now and we're just babies. That's cool. See, the funny thing is we've all been trying to do this for a long time. I mean we really, it's like we all said, we were like 9, 10, if not earlier, have been trying to do this. Even though we are young in the scene, we've been doing this for like 10 years to get to this point. We're young in like the official, signing the deal, legit artists, but we're not young when it comes to, you know, we didn't start just yesterday, you know.

Jackie: I think it's something to remember.

Jackie: We feel like we've been doing this for so long, but we are lucky to be this young. Doing it now, you know what I mean, we always try to remember that and to remember how lucky we are to be this age and to be doing this at this age.

Lucas: We're definitely not getting any younger.

Jackie: Yeah, exactly.

Lucas: Now is the time.

I saw you guys perform at the B96 Summer Bash. You were great! Do you think having participated in the BBash has helped promote Vi3 to a larger audience?

Lucas: Definitely! I mean you can't beat 67,000 people. You know that's 67,000 people that have never seen you or maybe a small portion of those people have seen you, or heard of you, or whatever. All those people are going to leave there and say, "They had a great show", or "You know, I know their music", or "Let me go check out their CD", or whatever. Yanno, it was a great thing for us.

Lucas, since you've been in the band the longest, can you give a short history of how the band originally started and the changes it has gone through?

Lucas: Yeah, Erik and I have been together since day one, back in the days when we were Faze4 and when we all kinda broke apart and went our separate ways. We created Vi3 and we knew right away, Erik and I knew right away that we wanted to call Justin, because he's a very talented kid. I knew him actually from when I first started when I first moved to Chicago. When I first started in the music industry he and I were both working with the same production company, so when we added him on, he knew Jackie from their "Making the Band" days. We called him up and had him come in and we just instantly clicked. I definitely didn't us to come across, not to knock the O-Towns, and Eden's Crush, or anything. They're great guys, great people, but I didn't want to come off as a manufactured group, and I think that coming into the public eye together as friends in the industry kind of separates us into our own and we're trying to do that.

Do you each have your own agent or manager? Or do you have one group manager, or do you have both?

Lucas: We're not to the agent status, yet. We just have our manager, Erik.

How many people work with the group, like singers, songwriters, choreographers?

Lucas: We have a lot of people who have gotten their feet wet in the Jacuzzi. We try to expand our horizons as far as producers, trying to get a different flavor on things. Justin's actually writing a lot of what's going to be on the album. But we've also got some different insights on different people writing in there, too, with some of our producers that we've worked with. The producer that did Go Get Her and Getcha boogy on and also helped write on a couple of the tracks. Jackie and I, and Justin, are all collectively trying to write a few more tracks for the album. There are a lot of hands in the pot right now, trying to be a part of what we're doing right now.

Jackie: The people who are in our everyday lives, like our vocal coaches, our choreographers, our security, are just like our Vi3 family. We have a great family. We have really great people around us all of the time, which is really good for us.

What is a typical week for you guys?

Jackie: Sweat.

Lucas: Sweat, sleep. Tiredness. Minus the sleep.

Jackie: Yeah, exactly. Naps. No sleep. Naps.

Does it get more intense prior to a show or a tour? Do you practice more before you go into a show?

All: Yeah.

Justin: We're at the stage now where we're not just in Chicago anymore; we're all over the place. Now, the part of the group that we never really experienced before by doing shows in Chicago are the long drives. We're going to a lot of places. Now, we're coming up, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Green Bary, Milwaukee, Cancun. We're actually performing there. It's awesome. It's all good. The travel time is long and tiring. We're experiencing it all for the first time right now, so it's cool.

How long does it take you to learn new choreography?

Jackie: Maybe a couple hours.

Lucas: A few days. When we have to learn new choreography, we do three, four hour sets where we're going non-stop, non-stop choreography. You're breaking your tail, trying to learn everything and trying to get it tight.

Lucas: We'll go for a week straight. It will take a couple of days to learn it, but it will take a few more days to make everything tight, so where everyone's arm is here. When my arm is here, everyone else's arm is exactly at that height or your fist is turned this way. You do a lot of the tightening things.

Who learns the fastest?

Jackie: I'd say Lucas was #1 on that, absolutely.

You guys have opened for Britney Spears. How did it feel working with them? Was it any different? Were you guys nervous, that they were such big stars?

Jackie: For me, I'm sure for all of us, too, it was an honor to be part of the Britney Spears Tour. You know it was in Chicago. It was in our home town , so that was one of the best feelings first of all. And then just knowing that Britney is going to be walking around the same spot you are right now was a really cool feeling.

Do you have a favorite artist that you've performed with?

Justin: O'Town. Because we're friends with them, well for me. O'Town, because we're friends with them. And, honestly, you know that we've met some awesome people like Britney and P. Diddy, and Ja Rule, and all these great people, you know. The cool thing is that they're all pretty much in our age bracket. So, it's not like we're 9 years old looking up to Michael Jackson, anymore. It's kinda like we're hanging with people who are more in our age group, so it's kinda like more friendly as opposed to nerve wracking or whatever.

Speaking of shows, you guys have been doing a lot of out of state shows. Are they responding to you well?

Lucas: Yeah, it's been crazy. Every city that we've left so far, our song has been the #1 requested song in that city's biggest radio station for the next two weeks. We went to Rockford, went to Moline, to Peoria. We just got back from Moline and that was kind of our return show. We did a show with Soluna and it was just insane! I mean we were just talking before. It was just pandemonium there. We've never heard so much just chaos at a show ever for us and it was a great feeling to be a part of that.

Justin: Chicago, we've done a lot of shows there you know, so it's funny to go to a new market for the first time and to see it the extreme excitement, the way Chicago was the first time we were here. Chicago's great every time we do a show here, but I think we all can agree on we did a show in Quad Cities/Moline on Thursday and, far and away, that was our best show ever. The reaction was pure pandemonium and pure hysteria and that gives us the energy boost like, "Oh, man, this is happening! We're outside of our hometown and we're still rockin' it." It's a blast!

When a show is over, are you guys more hyped up? Or really exhausted?

Lucas: I'm exhausted. I leave every ounce of energy on that stage. We come off. I mean, you're pumped up because you've had a great show or whatever, but you leave everything on the stage to the point where you walk off and all you want to do is just fall in bed.

Jackie: I think that's one of the funny things about performing. I mean, you'll sit there in a long car drive or plane ride and you'll be all kind of draggy and then you're getting ready for the show and you're starting to get pumped up, you're starting to get pumped up. You explode on stage and then you crash back down. That's actually one of the hardest parts of being a performer, is how high and low you go. I think that's what makes you more tired than waiting around and working really hard. You know what I mean?

When you record, do you record the whole song, or do you record clips of it that are then later put together?

Jackie: It depends on the producer.

Justin: Normally, it takes a couple of days to do the whole song. Normally, we'll spend one day devoted to background vocals, and then one day devoted to lead vocals, and then one day devoted to fixing things. Normally, at least with Go Get Her and Get'cha Boogie On, it's taken about 3 days per song, 2 or 3 days per song.

What are your goals/hopes to accomplish with your music?

Lucas: I think we just treat every day the same. We try to take one step forward, one step towards our goals, being at the top or having a Grammy or whatever. We try to set personal goals and collective goals. Every day we just try to take one forward step in a positive ? toward getting to that point.

When you're not touring or recording, do you guys hang out with each other? Do you ever get sick of each other?

Justin: Definitely.

Lucas: That's the cool thing. Like I said before, we wanted to come through as friends. That's the good thing about us. When you see us out , you see the three of us. Or two of us. One of us may be at home sleeping or whatever. We all hang out, and if it's not me and Jackie, it's me and Justin. If it's not us two, it's them two. We're really good friends.

Jackie: And especially me coming from Boston, I don't have anyone else to hang out with.

When you guys tour, do you bring your family or friends along?

Lucas: We haven't been on tour, yet, so we'll tell you when we do.

Justin: We only travel with us three. [Points to the guys and Erik]

A lot of fans are dying to know, do you guys have girlfriends?

Justin: No, I don't. No, Justin does not.

Jackie: All single.

Since being a singer is hard work, do you consider this your full-time job? Do you guys have side jobs?

Justin: We have no time for side jobs. Our full time job is being with Vi3. We're out every single day. Any spare time we have, we're sleeping.

Do you consider yourselves a "boy band?"

Jackie: ARGGH! I hate that word!

Justin: Not at all.

Jackie: But you know what. That's going to happen. If that's the category you're pulled into, and, guess what, who gives?. If it happens, it happens. The reason why, you look at the term "boy band" it's manufactured.

Lucas: We're going to be pigeonholed to the "boy band" category strictly because people at us and see pretty white kids. That is the only reason anyone will ever be able to put us into that category, because if you listen to our music, we don't sing kiddy pop/bubble gum music. We have real strong hip-hop flavor. Justin comes out on first single writing collectively on the album several tracks. There is nothing we do that has anything to do with the typical boy band that has come out.

Justin: We're a male vocal group. We're a music group.

Regardless of what happens in the future, do you think you'll look back on these days as the "good ol' days"?

Justin: Oh, yeah, these are the great ol' days! And they're just getting better and better.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

Justin: I cut a record deal when I was 17 years old. It was possible.

Jackie: I can honestly say I would never change anything. Everything I've done in my life has got me to here, right now. I couldn't be more happy with the downfalls and the upsets.

And last, but not least, if you could say anything to the fans reading or watching this now, what would you say?

Justin: Thank you for your support in the past, the present, and, hopefully, the future. We have a song on the B side of our single called "Nowhere" and it's kind of our motto. We know we'd be nowhere without our fans. In Chicago we see a lot of familiar faces, a lot of new faces. But when we go outside of Chicago and see some of those same girls who drive hours away to give us that comfortable feeling, it's tremendous. We couldn't get ask for any better love than we're getting right now, so thank you.

Lucas: Definitely!

Jackie: And to all the Chicago fans, honestly, I just want to say that this huge, life-changing event for me, coming here, you guys have made me feel that much more at home, so I just want to thank you for that. I feel like a Chicago boy, now. Thank you.

Thank you, guys!

All: Thank you.