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The Ticket on Thursday May 25,2000
Despite the wirlwind of escalating fame and fortune, the dressing room scene two weeks ago showed D.C. is right when he says they've remained humble. While spiking hair the
one boys hair they sat around with two other kids and their parents, talking about everything from tattoos and body piercings to dating. All three have lots of tattoos and pierced ears. The kids were especially into Dallas's spiked hair and pierced tongue. Thier mothers cringed. "I look at tattoos and piercings with how people cut their hair," Dallas said. "It's how people want to see themselves."
But D.C. understood where parents were coming from. "I wanted to get my tongue pierced like Dallas but my mom
said she'd be very upset," D.C. said. "So I got my eyebrow pierced instead.
"I know she doesn't want me to have anything pierced, but
the tongue thing was her worst fear. When she saw the eyebrow she was mad...for about an hour."
They said that being heart throbs for young women across the nation doesn't exactly open the door to the dating scene. The hectic pace of writing,producing, recording,and touring has left little time for significant others. "We have been on the road so much doing so many shows. We're
just to busy," Dallas said, pointing out that none of them have steady girlfriends.
"I'd like too," said D.C. "But this lifestyle at this point
in our careers just won't allow for anything meaningful to develop." "Any time we do get a date we keep it on th DL," Dallas added. "When our fans see us with a girl we kind of walk separtely a few feet apart. Then we get back close after the fans are gone.
"If you're with somebody people are going to start talking
right away. Privacy is shot." Sammy said " We date occasionally when we have time."
"Your job, when it's on TV, in the paper or magizines, is
all an illusion to the real world," Dallas said. "There's so much work and sacrifice involved that people don't see."
What the band won't sacrifice are their ties to family and
the Mahoning Valley.
"We manage to get back there alot to visit," said D.C., :We
have lots of memories together that we built in Youngstown. We have lots of good people there. We'll never forget where we came from."
D.C. a gradutate of Campbell Memorial High School, said he
didn't begin singing seriously until his late teens. He performed at talent shows and karaoke bars, then at Cedar Point where he met manager, Jimmy Searl. D.C. said his insperations are Michael Jackson, Babyface, and Metallica. He likes playstation, hacky sack, and in-line skating.
Sammy is origionally from NY but his family now lives in
Youngstown's southside. He said he likes to return often to visit. Sammy came from a family that requirede all
the kids to play a musical instrument and sing in shurch youth choirs. His introduction to music came when he began playing drums at four years old. Sammy works out five days a week and enjoys playing basketball.
Dallas is from Kansas City, MO., where he was a hip hop
dancer before becoming a singer. He plays guitar mostly but also plays piano on three "Let's Roll" songs. He had lived on the eastside of Youngstown and said he would like to return there for a performance. (I'd like that)" I think we'd like to play in Youngstown", dallas said.
"We were suppose to when 98* played there last year but we couldn't get all the dates to work out."
Dallas,24,met D.C., 23, through mutual friends six years age. Dallas' original group, Part 4, needed a fifth member so D.C. joined. They moved to Atlanta hoping to boost their careers. But the other three members quit.
Sammy,21, already knew them from Youngstown, so he hooked up with them four years ago and they began writing their first song "Remember." "It's cool to hear that song", Sammy said. " It always makes me think back to when we were just starting."
The most emotionally gripping song, however , whould be
"Jamie Lee", a tribute to Dallas' mom. He said she calls him Jamie Lee, and he wanted to write a song to tell
her he knew she tried her hardest. "She sacrificed herself to give so much," he said. As much sacrifices continue to pay off, the bands manager had his eyes on what's next.
"The promise land" says Searl.
This is the 2nd half of the article. I will post the first half when I find the email..Thanks to Nicole for sending it our way...
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