The Write Hear Interview: Jordan Knight of New Kids On The Block

In which we discuss Dutch beats, EDM and dressing up like it's Halloween.

This is totally relatable. I’m from Boston. Knight is from Boston. I’m a music journalist. He’s a musician. I’ve been on a few cruise ships. He’s performed/met fans/went nuts on New Kids On The Block-hosted cruises. What’s not to love?

OK, let’s put this in reverse, back up and park between the lines. You know about New Kids On The Block (come on, people!) and what they did to and for pop culture in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. I daren’t repeat that era, line-by-line, step by step… *sigh* Okay…

In all seriousness, the collective hive of what are known as ‘Blockheads’ has been going strong this whole time. I’m not talking about nostalgia in the purest sense here. There has been a monumental wave, a growing contingent of Millenials and Gen Y that are gladly putting themselves front and center for this group.

After disbanding in 1995, there was no serious word on getting together and in the wake of Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Westlife and Take That, their appeal had been waning.

Fast forward to 2008 and The Block. The boys, erm, kids – Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Danny Wood, Donnie Wahlberg and Joey McIntyre – have reemerged. With a vengeance. Tours, co-headlining tours (including their 2011-12 with Backstreet Boys!), world domination (again) and the album 10 in 2013. Oh, and more tours.

Their eighth studio album Still Kids has just dropped and if you’re a Blockhead, you are going to love it. They’re not pretending to win over critics (what’s the point nowadays). So, get on board, and enjoy a taste of nostalgia as your cultural pop disseminator spends a few minutes with the one and only Jordan Knight.

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Hey, Jordan, how are ya?

Not too bad. How are you?

I'm doing good. You look wicked cool!

Wicked! [Laughs]

First off, I had no idea there was an entire album coming out. You’ve got a new label. This is kind of a big deal. How did all of that come together?

We kind of get bored sometimes, and we'd like to do new music. When you've been doing it for so long – singing the same old songs on stage – it's like we need some new energy. We need some new life into this whole thing. Honestly, we have to do our hits, but we'd like to sprinkle in new music. So, that's why we did a whole new album.

I'm slightly outside your original fandom, but I watched two videos you guys did [“Boys in the Band (Boy Band Anthem),” “Bring Back The Time”] and honestly, Jordan, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. They’re hysterical.

The music is cool and we’re not trying to take ourselves too seriously at the same time. That’s just fun for us. Doing those kinds of videos, it’s like Halloween.

I have to say, this album sounds great. Very clean production. Did that have to do with your producers?

There's a group out of Denmark that we've been working with for ten years and they're just excellent producers. They’re called Deekay and you know, those folks over there in Scandanavia-land, they're pretty damn good at pop music production. I gotta tell you seriously, that's probably the reason why it sounds so cool, so crisp.

This sounds like a cliche, but the first song “Magic” sounds like you, but more mature. And in “Pop,” you make song references in there. Like an homage to yourselves, because you speak to “Popsicle” and “My Favorite Girl.”

Oh, Joe’s song, yeah, yeah.

It gives you a nice little –

It gives you warm and fuzzy!

Right! The whole thrust of this collection of songs is, it's going to fit in nicely with all the other stuff you've done. But do you even sit down and question “Here I am at this age. Why am I singing “Hangin’ Tough?”

If I was 20 years old and you told me I'd be singing “Hangin’ Tough” at this age I'd be like, “Oh, my God, that’s terrible. I do not want to be singing that when I’m 50!” But now we’re here and doing it and we see the reaction of the crowd. We get the feeling that we’re doing good. It works.

I happened to find out you do cruises and watched a few of those videos. Can you put any more people on that boat? [Laughs] As a group, were you approached to do it?

Yeah, that's another thing, too: if you told me back in the day you're gonna be doing cruises with your fans when you're 50, I would have been like, “We're gonna be in wheelchairs doing the shuffleboard thing!” But if you go on our cruise, it's a freaking rave, an EDM party! It’s crazy. I can’t keep up!

Are people cannonballing into the pool?

Yeah! People are cannonballing into the pool. People have all these crazy costumes. The music is thumping. The place is nuts. Crowd surfing. But it’s good fun.

I have to ask, do you all bring family members?

Sometimes. My wife’s never gone. It’s not that it’s our cruise, it’s just that she’s not crazy about cruise ships! [Thinks a moment] Joe’s wife has been on. Jenny [Donnie’s wife] has been on. Harley, my brother’s husband. But family like sisters, nephews, parents… they’ve been on the cruise.

My mother has been on, she went, and she's done speeches on the cruise, smoking a cigar. She doesn't smoke cigars, but she's doing it that night! [Laughs]

Cruises are so far removed from reality. I totally sympathize.

That’s what it is. It’s an escape. A good escape.

You do address the fans a lot, in song and in social media. You're like basically, thank you. For our lives, for all the fun that we've had giving to you.

It's definitely reciprocal. I remember fans said, “Don't break up, ‘cause if you do, I will not have a life. I won't know what to do.” And I was like “I feel the same way. What the heck would I do if all the fans left or the group broke up, I'd be like, “Where is everybody?” It would definitely be a void.

It's a lot of fun being in a group, a lot of fun interacting with the fans, doing tours. You can't do this without your fan base. We have to be as appreciative of our fans as they are of what we do. Of us. We just want to let them know that.

When Jonathan left in 1995, that was almost like a double blow, being such that you’re a tight group and he’s your brother. I know he’s talked about having anxiety and panic attacks, but obviously that must have been the right time for him to stop.

I've had bad, bad anxiety myself, like stage fright and stuff like that. Something terrible. But, Jon, I think at the time, just wasn't into it. We wanted to stay together. He wanted to just take a break. I think it was all too much for him, which is understandable. Everyone deals with it differently. It wasn't a blow to me at all, and I don't even think it was a blow to the group because we all kind of understood. We’re like, “If that’s what you have to do, that’s fine. We’ll carry on. You’re still Jonathan Knight from New Kids on the Block. Whenever you want to jump back in, it’s good.”

Maybe at the time, there was a little bit of like, “Oh, he's bailing on us, you know, when the ship’s going down. He's jumping overboard.” But we understood. I didn’t take it bad. He’s my brother. And anytime you want to come back, you’re in.

There's some heavy stuff in the last song on Still Kids “Stay.” I hope that’s one you're planning to end your set before an encore because it’s gorgeous.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I'll keep that in mind.

Is Jonathan singing that?

No. Jonathan sings on the country-ish song, which I love: “Better Days.”

You’re going to rehearse and then tour. How do your bones feel before you go on tour?

[Shakes his head] Every tour, I think I'm too old. It's been like this for 30 years. Honestly. Even when I was 29, 30, I was like “I’m too old for this!” Now I’m over 50 and I still feel the same way [Laughs]. But I really do like every single tour. It didn’t matter when I was young. I was “Oh my God! This is tough!” And then two weeks in, I feel good. My body gets used to doing it and it doesn’t feel like bone-on-bone. I hope that’s gonna happen again.

Well, at this age, it’s a mindset.

Mind over body! [Laughs]