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BOYZ

"I'm spending Christmas with my family," says Flow from new
German boy band the Boyz. "The 24th is the really big day for us
in Germany and, like you in Britain, we eat a big meal. We usually have
duck and potatoes and cake and lots of really tasty stuff." Forget the
stockings left out for Santa, though! "We do that on December 6,
Nikolaus Day, and we stick out either a shoe or a sock. It's a pretty
cool idea!" ~ taken from www.lineone.net

 

theboyz.jpg (26k)

  Boy bands. In the 80s we had them : Menudo, New Kids On The Block. In the 90s we had more of them : Backstreet Boys, 911, N Sync, Boyzone, Human Nature, The Boyz, Hanson. Wait, hold on. The who? OK, so The Boyz may not have achieved cult status like some of the boy bands mentioned up there, but they are trying hard. And part of the 'trying hard' routine is doing their promo rounds in the Asian region for their debut album, Boyz In Da House.
The Boyz comprises Kane, Salvatore, T-Soul, Flow and Stephane, and they hail from Germany. They have had two singles out in the market - the dance tune Round And Round and the ballad, Let Me Show You The Way (which is available in three other versions, Italian; French and Spanish).

Andrew Hui spoke to Stephane, also one of the 10 finalists out of the 4,000 contestant at the 1996 Face Contest held two years ago.

stephane.jpg (7k)

So, you're one of the 10 huh? That must have been such an honour. How did your foray into the modelling industry start?
I entered the competition not for the modelling career. It was for the prize. The prize was a trip to Mauritius and my friend and I really wanted to go. So my friend submitted my applications and, I really don't know how I was shortlisted as there were many other good looking guys there.

members.jpg (14k) Beating 4,000 other guys to qualify one of the 10 is great and you would have a head start in the modelling industry. So why quit modelling to join the band?
I have never liked modelling. I joined the competition for the trip to Mauritius. People in this industry (Modelling) are so pretentious. Not for me. I feel like a piece of meat when I model. Music is my first love.

Now that you are in a band, have a few singles out and doing promo rounds, are you happy?
Yes. It is very exciting to be able to travel and also sing. We started small, travelling in a small van from town to town to sing and living in small hotels. Now look where we are today, in this luxury hotel (we were at a suite in a rather posh hotel in the Golden Triangle area). So, looking back, I must say I am proud of where we are today.

Musically, who are your influences?
Black music mostly. I love Sade, Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men.

And you guys will be opening for Puff Daddy's concert soon?
Yes. It was scheduled to be held some time early this year but he (Puff Daddy) fell sick so he called off the tour. But he'll resume the tour some time soon and we are still signed on to open his show in Germany.

stephane1.jpg (22k)

Are you surprised that people from Asia embrace your kinda music?
Yes. I mean we have never been to this part of the world but the response we get from the people here is tremendous. There were around 3,000 fans who came to see us in Kota Kinabalu when we were there. It's really amazing.

So, you have an album out, a couple of singles in the chart and even more fans. What are your future plans? USA?
Yeah. We sing in English so eventually we will be spreading our music there. But not now. At the moment we are concentrating here (Asia) and our country.

How do The Boyz sound like? Take a listen :

Posted : 23 MAY 1998 | Designed by ok hin ( taken from Zoom , May 98 )

 

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