B5: Band of Brothers

The Breeding boys, Dustin, 19, Kelly, 18, Patrick, 16, Carnell, 15 and Bryan 13 are finally putting out their second album "Don't Talk, Just Listen" which hits stores this week. The first single "Hydrolics", featuring Bow Wow, is tearing up the clubs. The Atlanta-based R&B bros, credit The Jackson 5 with inspiration and, after hitting tons of talent shows in the late '90's, impressed heavyweight P. Diddy who signed them to his Bad Boy label.

These hot and gorgeous brothers can bust a great move. Combine that with charm, personality and energy and they were destined to win the hearts of fans. The guys are fronting more of a mature edge in the new album, leaving the days of walking girls home from school behind in favor of songs about club hopping and more serious relationships. Dustin has said "We came up with the title 'Don't Talk, Just Listen' because we want people to let go of their old notions about who we are and listen to what we have to say." The guys are growing up and realize their fans are too. We got a little phone time with the brothers. We admit that, on the phone, it's hard to tell them apart so, some quotes are credited to individuals; others are just B5. Enjoy...

TeenMusic: Are you guys in New York for BET today?

Kelly: We just shot that. 106 [KMEL, Hip-Hop and R&B station] is on Thursday.

TeenMusic: Are your dance moves as important to you as your music?

Carnell: Oh yes, very. We love to entertain people.

Kelly: We were dancing before we started singing so our dancing is just as important as our music and our lyrics.

TeenMusic: Do you do your own choreography?

Patrick: We usually do our own choreography but, on this album, we had some help with a really, really hot choreographer named [John] Rowell.

TeenMusic: When do you decide on the big winner of your dance contest?

Carnell: It ends on the 30th so, right now, we're still lookin' through all the YouTube [submissions]. We saw a lot of good people.

TeenMusic: Which of you is the biggest style icon?

[All the guys say "me!"] Bryan!! Uh, no, we can't agree. Kelly is.

TeenMusic: Who is the most different?

All at once: Everyone is. Nobody's really the same. Me and Kelly wear the rock stuff, a little Goth. I wear my hoodies backwards. [okay, we give up on this one].

TeenMusic: We know you've had wild fan encounters but what was the one that most touched your hearts, maybe put a little tear in your eye?

Patrick: Actually, yesterday, we did a show and we were about to leave and my manager told me to come off the bus real quick and when I got off, there was this girl and she was like crying because she just saw our performance and said she loves our music and she loves what we do so that really hit me in the heart.

TeenMusic: Which of you is the biggest jokester?

All: Bryan!

Bryan: They give me grief on everything.

Kelly: Everyone can be funny. Everyone has jokes around here.

TeenMusic: When you argue, who is the peacemaker?

Carnell: I am.

Kelly: Carnell is not the peacemaker. There probably isn't a peacemaker. Our mom is probably the peacemaker.

TeenMusic: Who musically, was the biggest influence on you guys growing up?

All agree: Michael Jackson!

Carnell: He's like number one. When I was five years old, I was listening to his music.

Patrick: Nobody can touch him.

TeenMusic: If a girl is gonna roll with you guys, what qualities, other than hot, does she need to have?

Carnell: Personality. She's gotta be down to earth. Fun to hang out with.

Kelly: She has to have style and she has to smell good. Or she has to have a good sense of style, let me put it that way because some girls think they have style and it's...

TeenMusic: Lame?

Kelly: Yeah.

Bryan: She has to be able to get along with the family because I'm around my family 24/7.

TeenMusic: What would you all say is the biggest barrier to having a long-term girlfriend for you? All the travel, female fans? What?

Kelly: Actually, it depends on the girl. Some girls understand and some don't. Some know that there's always going to be girls all over all the time and some will freak out about it every time it happens.

TeenMusic: So, does anybody have a long-term girlfriend now?

Everybody: No.

Kelly: We're all single and lookin', baby!

TeenMusic: That's good news. So, who chose the girls for your 'Hydrolics' video?

Carnell: They called a dance school and people brought the girls over. They had a couple of girls over there try out and we just picked the best ones we liked.

TeenMusic: Did you keep in touch with any of them?

Kelly: Yeah. A couple of them.

TeenMusic: When you are on tour, do you try to get out and see the towns you are in or just hang in the bus or hotel room playing video games or watchin' DVDs?

Kelly: The bad thing about it is we never get to see the towns when we travel. It's always the bus or the hotel. We might be able to go and see a movie or something. But, as far as sight-seeing goes, we don't really get to do that?

Carnell: We've been in New York millions of times and we still haven't seen the statue of liberty or anything.

TeenMusic: What if you separated and went places?

Kelly: We tried that once and it doesn't really work.

TeenMusic: What is the best thing about being on the road and the worst?

Kelly: The best thing is you're not really that bored. There's always something going on on the road and the worst thing is you kind of get homesick once in a while. Homesickness is probably the worst for me. The good thing about it is you get a lot done on the road, a lot of promotion things and business things done.

TeenMusic: So you all live in the same town still?

Kelly: We still live in the same house!

TeenMusic: Is the 2nd single out yet? What will it be?

Carnell: It's called "In My Bedroom". Right now we're still focused on "Hydrolics" but maybe around October or November.

TeenMusic: How has the music or musical style changed on this album from your first album?

Dustin: Our style has changed a whole lot or it's more mature.

Kelly: It's still us but more mature. The subjects are more mature. We're not talking about being on top of school buses and walking you to class each day no more. That was the last album. We're talking about what normal teenagers or young adults would. We try to keep it in the middle.

TeenMusic: What is the strangest thing you've written lyrics down on when you don't have any paper or anything. One guy said his girlfriend's arm..

Patrick: When I have something in my head, usually the first thing I see, usually like a big old dirty napkin. But I usually have my Sidekick with me so I don't have that problem.

TeenMusic: What tracks on the new album are the most personal and to which of you are they personal?

B5: I think "Incredible", "She's Got It Like That". Those are very personal because we wrote those two.

TeenMusic: You all wrote them together? How do you do that?

Dustin: Yes Ma'am, we did. We sit down in the studio get the track and go.

TeenMusic: What do you say to critics who say you don't have any street cred when your lyrics are clean and you are singing about guy/girl relationships?

Patrick: My answer to that is we're not rappers. There's enough stuff like that [gangsta rap] out in the world right now anyway. We're trying to be totally different from that. We're not trying to be like everybody else. We're trying to stand out. Plus you've got the people who'll give you the negative music too so why would another group come out and put out more negative stuff? Somebody needs to do something positive. We want to give out stuff that a 13-year-old can grow up to and not be negative about that.

TeenMusic: Do any of you guys want to go to college or have taken college courses?

Kelly: I always wanted to go to college for something in music. A friend of mine is going to Forrestal right now. I wanted to go with him but I can't because I'm too busy.

TeenMusic: Have you all had to learn the business part of music in order to be in control of your own destinies?

Carnell: Every day we learn more about the business but the older guys know more than us. We've got to think 'how did they get to that point?' We have meetings weekly so nobody is takin' over our thing.

TeenMusic: What question do you wish someone would ask you that hasn't been asked yet?

Kelly: How about 'do you guys want a billion dollars'?

Dustin: Ask me how my day is going and be sincere about it.

TeenMusic: Frivolous question. What kinds of rides do you guys want to drive in the future?

Patrick: My first car I'm looking to be a Lotus or a Porsche.

Carnell: I'm looking for a Rolls Royce.

Kelly: I want the new Audi. I saw it in a car show and it was like the craziest car I've ever seen in my life. I took pictures of it and everything. That's how crazy it was.

Patrick: No! Lotus!

TeenMusic: What do you do when you do have time off?

B5: Play basketball, sleep, play videogames, watch movies, hang out with friends.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.