PCM's Rebekah had the privilege of living out one of her tween dreams by talking with one of the Backstreet Boys. She talked with Howie Dorough about the new album "This is Us," the longevity of the group, and what to expect on the current tour. The Backstreet Boys have been making some of the finest pop music for over 16 years. Their signature harmonies and upbeat rhythms have allowed them to craft a variety of hits over the years.

Q: The new album just came out last week, what kind of reactions have you been getting from fans so far?

HD: Its been really really good. I've been really surprised. Between Twittering, BackstreetBoys.com chat room, Live Daily and the press have all been really surprised by this record and they have been blown away. This is the Backstreet Boys that they have known and we are going back to how we initially started and it is really being accepted very well.

Q: The album definitely has the classic iconic Backstreet Boys sound, did you guys ever think you would still be going after this many years?

HD: I think we always hoped and dreamed for it. We like to model ourselves after bands like The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys--groups that have been around for many years.

Q: Do you guys think you will still be going for another 15 years?

HD: I think so, I really do. I think we have some really good songs and some people would have probably thought we would have come and gone after one hit single or album and now we are seven albums into it worldwide--not just in the United States--and time has just flown by honestly. I mean 17 years has just flown by like crazy. Where does the time go? We have a lot of fans at this point and we are still getting new ones and we are ready for the climb.

Q: So you guys got to work with T-Pain on this album, what did he bring to the table?

HD: He was great. The guy is hilarious. The attitude he has and the crazy work ethic--he brought in some great songs. We were excited to work with him. He is a label mate of ours on Jive Records and he is really really hot right now. We weren't really sure what we were going to get from him. He actually wrote a song ahead of time that we got and we were like "wow you definitely have a good pop sensibility." He is an amazing singer himself as well, he did all his demos and everything. He is a musical mastermind. He is kind of crazy and all over the place. He would be working on two to three different things at the same time. He is very multitalented and very good at multitasking.

Q: So I have to tell you that my first ever concert was a Backstreet Boys concert on the Millennium tour. How do your concerts these days compare to the ones you did back then?

HD: First of all that is very flattering, I wanted to hear that. That's awesome. Actually the concerts that we are putting together are very reminiscent of the Millennium tour. They are very theatrical and there are some surprises that we don't want to give away, but I think they will be very revolutionary for the music scene--there are not too many different ways of putting on a tour out there. It is going to be a two hour, energy packed, theatrical show. You are going to hear three-fourths of the new album as well as pretty much all of the greatest hits album.

Q: When you guys sing some of your older stuff how do you compensate for where Kevin would be singing?

HD: Kevin's parts mostly I have been taking, believe it or not. That is because back in the day Kevin and us--when the whole group was together--more of the vocals were Brian, Nick, and AJ, and Kevin and I you hear sparsely on certain songs. On the show actually there are only two songs that Kevin had a lot of vocals on so the guys are like, "Howie, why don't you just take them." It's really crazy, I think we have been able to accomplish what we set ourselves out there to do. We re-choreographed everything, re-blocked everything, we covered all things necessary to still sound like a group and I am very proud that we have been able to do that.

Q: By now you guys have a pretty extensive music catalogue to choose from, which songs seem to get the biggest reactions from fans during your shows?

HD: I would probably say overall it is some of the older stuff--"I Want It That Way," "Backstreets Back," and things like that because people have listened to them so much and they know them. But it's crazy, once these new songs come on we get really amazing reactions as well. "Straight Through My Heart"--people are going crazy when they hear it. I think the longer people live with the album, the more excited they are about it when they come to our concerts.

Q: What has been one of your most memorable moments on stage?

HD: Well we have had plenty of embarrassing moments. I have one from the last tour. I was up on some speakers on the side of the stage, I fell in-between two speakers and my pants ripped in half and I didn't know about it until the last part of the show. We have had moments where Nick has knocked me off balance and I have fallen. We have had moments where Brian and AJ have forgotten some of the words to the songs. We have had moments where crazy fans have run up on stage and literally attacked us. We have had lots of pretty crazy moments.

Q: You guys are getting ready to tour all over Europe, how does the European crowd differ from the American crowd?

HD: Not really that much. I think when we get over there it is a little bit more hysteric due to the fact that we are not there as much as we are here in the states. Other than that it's pretty much the same reactions--fans line up sometimes days before the concerts. It is all about getting up front so sometimes they get there days earlier. But overall they are just as fanatic there as they are here. They scream and sing the words, but they're great.

HD: Well, we had a couple girls in the early years over in Germany stowaway on one of our busses. They were in the back of the bus behind one of the bunks and our manager fell asleep and he felt something on his leg. It startled him and he woke up and there were these two girls in the corner of the bus really quiet. They were pretty much just going to travel with us on to the next city and three hours into the trip they were busted. I think security took them to the next rest area, helped them get a hold of their parents and then we drove off.

Q: I know that Brian and Nick have released some solo albums, have you done any solo stuff yourself?

HD: I have been working on this little project this past three to four years now on and off. For me, I have been trying to work on something that is different from Backstreet. It taps into the culture on my mom's side of the family--Latin and Puerto Rican. I have been kind of going in a different direction rather than doing something that would sound just like Backstreet. It kind of sounds a little like earlier John Staccata kind of stuff. I have been working, like I said, on and off throughout the past three years. I am definitely working towards coming out with a record. It is just a matter of timing and I don't want to take away time from the Backstreet Boys and I'd need time to promote.

Q: You and Brian are both married and have kids, do you bring your families out on the road with you?

HD: We do actually. This is going to be the first time my wife and my son are going to be coming out with me--well my wife has come out before a couple times, but this is going to be the first time I am brining my son out on the road. We are really excited. He came to his first concert the other day--his first performance of ours--on Jimmy Kimmel and he was great. He was listening right there on the edge of the stage, he was dancing and everything.

Q: Sounds great. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today.

HD: Alright, thanks. I enjoyed it a lot, I appreciate it. Take care.