Wood, Danny - famous for New Kids on the Block
By: Dominick A. Miserandino
As a member of New Kids on the Block, one of the original boy bands during the late 1980's, Danny Wood proves there's more than meets the eye, and he's still ‘Hangin' Tough" as a solo artist.
DM) Do you find that you're still trying to shake away the image you had of being a member of the New Kids on the Block?
DW) It absolutely does not bother me because I think I proved on this record that I could do something else. It is definitely frustrating with all of the negative stuff that goes with being a New Kid on the Block. However, I understand it because we were shoved down America's throats for four years. I understand the backlash, but I think it's been long enough for people to give the album a listen and give the album a chance.
DM) Do you have fans who know of your new stuff, but really had no interest in your work with NKOTB?
DW) That's definitely some of the feedback that I've been getting from my website. People who have emailed me have said they're into more mature music. You definitely move on. You can tell what happened with all of the boy bands over the past few years. The girls grow up, and it's not so cool to have that N*SYNC or New Kids record when you're in college. That's the good thing to see what's happened with Justin [Timberlake of N*SYNC]. His music has gotten more mature, and the audience has gotten more mature.
DM) You've gone through a lot of "grown-up" and mature things lately. Your mother passing away from cancer, and the custody battle over your son. Does this album reflect that "maturity?"
DW) Oh definitely. The album reflects everything since I was in the group. There are two new songs that I just put on the record, and I dealt with so many things. It was the point of making a record: to vent and get it all out. Everything on the record is personal experience.
DM) It sounds like there was no way you could have done a record in the same vein as your New Kids' record because inevitably people grow up, and the style of music grows with them.
DW) My whole thing with this record was first, to make a record I would listen to. When I initially experimented in the beginning, when I first started writing in this sound—well, I grew up listening to rock and hip hop—so I wanted to do something that wasn't teeny bopper, but not so far away from what I was doing that they would be shocked. You definitely don't want to shock people; you want to surprise them.
DM) When it comes to shock and surprise, it's quite a different look you have now with your tattoos. Does anyone ever write to you wondering where is the clean-cut kid they once knew?
DW) The thing is, man, we were never clean-cut. That was created for us. The four of us were from Dorchester. I grew up being the only white kid in my class. That clean-cut image was branded for us. Not to say I'm not a good guy; I try to do the right thing in life, but I never felt personally that I was clean-cut. It isn't a conscious effort, it just went along with the record that I think you have to reinvent yourself—especially trying to make a leap from the New Kids into the solo record.
DM) Is this record the first of many?
DW) I hope, man. My whole intention is that this has enough success to make another record. It was very fulfilling making this record, so I really hope so.
DM) What is your writing process?
DW) Most of the songs, lyrics first. I sit down with a lyric or thought. Usually it happens very fast. All of the lyrics come out in half an hour. I might go back and tweak a few lines of the lines that weren't as good as some other lines. Some songs I come up with chord progressions first... they all happen in different ways, but most of the times, it is lyrics and an idea or a feeling I've had.
DM) You've gone into the production world, too, which is pretty much behind-the-scenes more than where you once were. How did that come about?
DW) It came about from the beginning of the group [New Kids on the Block]. I was probably the first one asking, "What this does" or "that does?" On Hangin' Tough, I recorded a lot of the vocals on that record, and I learned hands-on how to learn to work in a studio. That got frustrating where I got a couple of groups signed to record labels, and I worked in Lou Pearlman's company, but nothing panned out. Then, with the combination of the custody suit with my son and my mom [passing away], I realized I couldn't do that anymore. I realized if I was going to be creative, I need to be creative for myself because nothing had panned out in the past.
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