Five think that boybands are cowards:
- We dare to confess that we like girls and parties!
"I don't understand why all boybands come dragging with a bunch of tear dripping ballads. We want our fans to party!" Rich
Boybands live dangerously! To be the biggest today doesn't mean that you're gonna be on the top forever. The guys in Five are now in the passing lane - and they have BSB in the sight! Because each time they visit Sweden there are more and more fans outside of their hotel. At the prospect of their debut album they seem to have the world in their hands!

The debut single Slam Dunk (Da Funk) promised big! The follow-up When The Lights Go Out sealed the deal.
Five emerged out of nowhere as England's BSB with five good-looking guys and a slightly tougher style than their American colleagues. Now they've visited Sweden more often than any other country, and for each time that they come, the fans have doubled. They've slipped in many times unannounced. Even the record company hasn't known that they were in Stockholm to work with Denniz Pop and Max Martin in the Cheiron studio.

But they can't hide from the real fans. - No, we've got no chance, Rich laughes when Okej meets the guys during their last visit. All it takes is that some girl sees one of us outside the studio and the bush telegraph starts. In a few hours it's crowded in the streets outside the studio. It's almost frightning how fast our popularity has grown. We've only released a couple of singles.

It was when they visited Greece a few months ago when it really hit them that they're becoming really, really big. - We've gotten used to it that girls recognise us in England, J says, but then we went over to Greece without any expectations at all. We couldn't believe it when everybody recognised us, even adults were screaming "Five, Five" after us.

It's the same thing in England after they appeared on the TV-programme Neighbours From Hell. - It's not a youth programme, so now we get glances of recognition everywhere, even in the grocery shops the ladies recognise us, Rich says.

How do you handle being a celebrity when you've been an ordinary, anonymous guy all your life? Rich has a theory:

- Let's say that a doctor tells you that you must go through a by-pass operation. You get scared and think "How am I gonna get through this?". But you will, you have to. It's the same with us. We have to adjust to it.

J says that it's important to keep your feet on the ground:

- Many new celebrities lose control, he says. We realise that the fans' love isn't for us personally, it's for the image we've created. We might as well face the truth: pop is an image, a product - and at the moment we're in the limelight. When you start believing in your own image then it's over! I mean, I've been characterized as the quiet, the little temperamental one in the band....

-....and I'm the cute one, Rich interrupts with a small grimace and J continues:

-....which has led to the fact that a lot of people think that I am like that, that I'm a cocky "bad boy". You have to separate the J you are in Five and the one you're private. You're not better than somebody else just because you sell records and are on TV.

Something weird happens when five guys live so close together, touring and hanging out all the time. They get a bit "lawless". Both J and Rich agree:

- Yes, I've noticed that, laughs J. You think that you haven't changed, but you have. I went home for X- mas for the first time in a long time. I assumed that everything was like before, but it isn't. You've adjusted to another lifestyle whether you want to or not. The people around you see it.

- It's those around you that change, Rich thinks. Not your best friends, but the casual acquaintances. My mum owns a pub where I've hang out at since I was little. Everyone knows me there, but when I go there these days, I find myself analyzing how people talk to me and when I say something I might think "Oops, that might be misunderstood....". The thought of me having changed has changed me. Weird, eih?


Five don't want to be called a boyband, even though they understand that it's inevitable.

- Why not call us a popband? suggests Rich. We're just doing our thing. We haven't planed anything.

- Boybands seem so alike; same clothes, same attitude, same dance routines, says J. You don't need a recipe, all it takes is to be yourself. I'd dress the same even if I wasn't in Five - though I probably couldn't afford a Ralph Lauren-shirt. I mean, it's so ridiculous to hear all these bands say: "No, we don't have any girlfriends, no we don't drink alcohol, no we don't have sex....". I'll be 22 soon! Is there anyone who would believe me if I'd say that I don't like girls and parties?


Both J and Rich know that they have a responsability to the young fans who've fallen in love with them.

- We must be careful, admits J. If we'd make a mistake it might hurt a young girl and break her fantasy image about us. I'm proud of it that they like Five. Imagine when they get older and they think back to their teenage years and say: "I liked Five and I was totally in love with J". That's flattering.


Five are soon finished with their debut album and they're very nervous.

- We've made a good record, thinks J. Everyone who's heard it say that it has a chance to be No. 1! Like we would be less nervous then...


It's also tough.

- We're a tough band, says Rich. I don't understand why all the boybands come dragging with a bunch of tear dripping ballads. We want our fans to party!

This year is said to be a very crazy year for Five.