New Day 26 Interview!

UrbanBridgez.com: So the new album comes out Tuesday, I know you guys are excited… what’s different about this album from your debut, in terms of sound and your own personal involvement with the album?

Will: I feel like the difference is we wanted to go more club oriented, as you can see on the show. We wanted to knock the club doors down with this album, we feel like we missed that as a group the last album. On the flipside, we get a lot of the rights on this album, the majority of the rights. We did some co-production. We just wanted to show the world what Day26 really was. The first album was really catered to singing, letting the world know that we’re real artists and we can get down. This album is just about great music–showing the world we can make you dance with this great sound, we can make you slow down with this new sound. We wanted to step away from the comparisons to Boyz II Men, Jodeci, 112, we want everybody to see DAY26!

UrbanBridgez.com: If it were up to you guys, what would be the next single?

Will: I think the whole group would say, this record we did with Jazze
Pha, called “Your Heels.”

UrbanBridgez.com: Who didn’t you get a chance to work with this time, you would like to work with next time?

Brian: I would say, I wanted to work with my grandma on this album.

Oh, she was going to lay down a verse for you guys?

Brian: Yes, but I didn’t get a chance to, ‘cause they wouldn’t fly her out.

UrbanBridgez.com: Well there’s always a remix…

Brian: (laughs) Nah, nah, honestly…we wanted to work with Timbaland, Lil Wayne of course, Weezy is just everywhere.

Will: Yeah we wanted to get in with Dream… we wanted to do Rodney Jerkins. Due to time constraints, some producers we did get a chance to work with, those songs didn’t make the album because of how late we did it… so we’ll actually get back with them on the third album.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s the best advice Diddy has given you guys?

Will: There’s always somebody tryin’ to take your spot!

Brian: That is the best advice. That stays with us. At the end of the day, when you’re sleeping, there’s another group out there doing everything that you supposed to be doing while you sleeping, so why sleep? You sleep when you dead and that’s what we do!

Will: And that’s not even just in music, that’s in radio, and TV–it’s always somebody in life trying to take your spot, so you really gotta stay on you’re A-game. If you think like that you will never lose. Even if there isn’t anybody working to take your spot, just that thought will keep you moving.

UrbanBridgez.com: How do you guys feel about the editing of MTB when it airs?

Brian: You know what man, everything on that show is 100 percent real… that’s our lives. But the thing is, we film over 2 months. Y’all only see about, what–8 or 9 hours–so when somebody’s mad, they cramming all that anger into one episode, so you’re over there watching TV like ‘Damn he’s trippin’’… and he is, but it’s not really that bad!

UrbanBridgez.com: Do you guys ever sit down to watch old episodes or old seasons?

Brian: I haven’t had a chance to but I have old seasons at home, I’d like to watch them sometime, to see how things have changed and we’ve grown…

Will: Everybody goes through some differences, now we just gotta figure this thing out, but now I think we’re stronger than ever, we gonna be around for a long time.

Brian: Will, you changed since you made the band!

Will: Thank you.

UrbanBridgez.com: In an interview that Dawn did recently, she mentioned that many of your industry peers didn’t treat DK with the same respect, or take them seriously, because you guys were formed on a reality show? Do you guys feel this way as well? Do you ever wish you weren’t on a show?

Will: We did, at first.

Brian: But you know, surprisingly, when I met my idol K-Ci Ailey of K-Ci and Jojo, when he came to us and was like, “I love y’all’s album, I love y’all’s music, y’all are doin’ your thing. I cannot get enough of your album”… That right there changed everything, ‘cause this is my IDOL! I remember growing up and trying my hardest to sound like him, and now he respects what I do, our music. That right there was an honor in itself, and that let me know that regardless of what anybody says, whether they take it seriously or not…if they don’t take it serious they’re hating. Don’t look at how we got in the game, look at what we’re doing in the game–our music. Don’t worry about how we got in.

Will: Yeah and that’s the truth like what Brian was saying, and our first album we marked ourselves, to make sure that people understood what the brand was, we were creating a brand. We gotta let ‘em know who we were. For this new album, we just want to show the world our new brand, our brand of us just getting out there and you knowing that we write, we produce, we sing, we can hold ourselves–

Brian: WE STRIP, WE STRIP! We do it all! When y’all come to the show! The next show!

Will: Even with Bad Boy, they understand the brand now. Our contract no longer even reads like we came from a reality TV show, so now we’re treated like we feel we need to be treated. Now we’re just artists that have a reality TV show, like Keyshia Cole is doing one, Ray J is doing one…

UrbanBridgez.com: Which of you guys are on Twitter?

Brian: All of us except Mike. Will’s twitter is will_day26, and Q is my_worldQ, mine is brianangel, and Robert is Robert_day26.

UrbanBridgez.com: What is it about Twitter that is so addictive?

Brian: Because it’s like you’re talking to your fans directly. We will all be like, “You know what, the next 10 people to send me your numbers, we’ll call you, and the fans actually send their numbers and we call them, and we conversate with them, and they’ll be like, “Wow y’all are so down to earth so humble, I never expected or anybody to call me.” It’s just a good way to keep in touch with our fans and be more on a personal level with our fans, I love it. Like, Diddy stays on it all the damn time, Diddy will be in the middle of the club, and he’ll stop, and he’ll start twitting!

UrbanBridgez.com: What is your favorite city to visit?

Brian: My hometown, Houston, they show crazy love. We started our promo tour in Atlanta, from there we went to Houston and then Dallas—Dallas is like my 2nd home—we’ve been to Detroit, Rob’s old home… All of our hometowns, it’s always a little crazier there, than visiting any regular city.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s next for you guys outside of the release of the album?

Brian: We’re all doing our other things as well, like, Will is doing a clothing line called RIP IT OFF, it’s a female clothing line. You should hear of it real soon. Collectively we have a clothing line called 826 Boys, we’re ready to have a high heel shoe coming out soon as well. I know Rob and Q, they have a clothing line called EMO, real high fashion, it’s really dope. Myself, I’m a CEO of my own record company, and I have like, crazy, crazy acts that I’m getting ready to drop. So yeah, I mean we’re artists but also entrepreneurs and we’re all involved in each other’s endeavors. Keep it all in the family, making sure that if I’m eating, I’m gonna make sure my brother is eating as well! And vice versa. That’s something that’s real special about Day26. Y’all might see fuss and fight on television, but at the end of the day we love each other. And that’s a side that people don’t really get to see. Day26 is forever, we all got tattoos on our arms or somewhere on our body, Day26 is real. I’m not sure a lot of people take it seriously but we take it seriously! We here to stay, it’s forever!

UrbanBridgez.com: It’s actually forever and a day…

Brian: And do you know how long forever and a day is?

UrbanBridgez.com: I’d imagine a long long time… forever ever ever…

Brian: Yeah, it’s forever, but then PLUS another day!

UrbanBridgez.com: Any last words for your fans?

Brian: (yelling) WE LOVE YA! GET THE ALBUM! BUY MY RECORD!

FOREVER IN A DAY: IN STORES & ONLINE NOW!

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