The Emerald had a chance to chat with Aaron Carter on the phone prior to his performance in Eugene this Thursday, to talk about his new tour.
Carter released three albums before even hitting puberty, including “Aaron’s Party,” which went platinum and features “I Want Candy” and “That’s How I Beat Shaq.” He hasn’t released an album since 2002, but recently released a single titled, “Where Do We Begin.” Carter will be hitting Eugene this Thursday (talk about #TBT) on his 75-city North American tour.
Would you start by telling me about the inspiration behind your new single and why you decided to go on tour?
The tour is just my way to getting back to my fans I haven’t seen in a long time. I haven’t toured for a while and I had some family stuff that was going on, it took me a lot of time to get over it. And the fans were just hitting me up on Twitter and all my social media sites just wanting me to get back on the tour and come see them so I was just like “I want to this do this too.” So since I turned 18 I’ve been taking all the steps that are necessary to get me back out on tour. And getting people to believe in who I am and my music and what I stand for all over again.
How does that feel to have been gone for so long and all have all those crazy fans still adoring you?
It feels awesome. I mean I must have made some kind of an impact on their lives. You know, 10 years can go by and they can come see me again, you know. That’s just what’s amazing about everything to me, it’s just a dream come true all over again.
Do you want this tour to change how fans view you at all? See you as grown up, maybe?
I’m not really like desperately trying to like break out of my image. There’s people like Miley Cyrus that really desperately want to get out of how people perceive them. I mean I have that intention sometimes but it’s not really like how I am physically or how I look, it’s just within myself, you know what I mean?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Still making music?
I hopefully will be making music forever. As long as I am on this planet and alive and breathing, I will be continuing and always striving to make music and be successful at it.
Would you ever try different types of music?
I’m gonna stick to being a pop artist. There’s so many different styles of music that can be incorporated while being a pop musician. I mean, pop stands for popular. I mean Michael Jackson is the epitome of it and he didn’t even hear how his music had different influences and genres but it’s still considered pop; that’s kind of where I would like to take my music.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
Like um … Chris Brown. I like Katy Perry … Lady Gaga. I’m very into pop music.
Is it kind of weird to be back into doing interviews and signing autographs and everything after taking such a long time off ?
No it’s just like awesome to me. I mean I grew up doing this, I started when I was really young and it all kind of got taken away and I lost it for a while and to start getting it back like this, even after not having any new music. I mean if all these fans show up now, I look forward to releasing music and getting back out there in a good way.
How different is touring now than when you were 13?
Touring now is a lot different. I’m older now I can kind of do whatever I want, I guess. It doesn’t mean that I do, but I mean, I can. I don’t have my parents around monitoring, but I have good people around still, but not my parental units watching my every move.
Can we expect some “Aaron’s Party” at your show?
If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get.
I have to ask, did you ever get your candy?
No, I’m still looking for her in the audience every night.
What are you looking forward to in Eugene?
I don’t know, I heard there’s cute girls there. I don’t know, you tell me.
Well let’s see … we’ve got some good parties, beautiful landscapes, the Ducks … if you’re into that … I’m guessing a lot of screaming drunk girls will be at WOW Hall.
Well let’s make it happen. You get on the phone and tell all your friends.
Aaron Carter is playing at the WOW Hall on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 9 p.m. Tickets are available at ticketweb.com. $15 for regular admission and $65 for VIP, which includes a meet and greet with Aaron.