Watching VH1

Well, here is the last of my interviews with the guys of Sureshot. I had already talked with Jeff Timmons and Chris Kirkpatrick, and I then was lucky enough to also talk to Rich Cronin after his doctor’s appointment. He was a lot of fun to chat with and I even found out his favorite pretzel topping and if that’s really him behind his MySpace page. Want to find out those and other fun tidbits? You can listen to my interview via the podcast below (both .m4a and .mp3 formats–caution! Large files for those of you with slow connections), or you can read the transcript after the jump.

Also, please consider helping the Rich Cronin Hope Foundation. Click here for more information.

 

 Interview with Rich Cronin from Mission: Man Band (.m4a file format) [23:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Interview with Rich Cronin from Mission: Man Band (.mp3 file format) [23:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Note: Heather’s dialog will be in bold, Rich’s will be in plain type

How are you feeling today?

I feel great.

Good, great! I know it’s been a long time since the show wrapped up, so what’s been going on in your life since you finished filming?

Oh, man, I’ve just been doing, I built a music studio right outside of Boston and I’ve just been doing a lot of production and a lot of writing for local artists and trying to get songs placed on radio, so I’ve been busy with that. I’ve been in the studio, but I’ve been really focused on just writing and producing my own music and I did a record for myself as well—a solo record.

Great! Is it coming out anytime soon?

Yeah, actually, I should have it ready by I’d say September.

Oh, great! That’s awesome.

Yeah, I’m excited.

Yeah, we’ll have to keep an eye out for that and I’ll make sure to plug it on my website for you when it comes out.

Please do!

Yeah, no problem! Alright, so, um, what did you learn about the other guys and yourself in the three weeks that you were together filming this show?

I learned that…hold on for one second…

Sure…

I learned that all of us are pretty insecure and we could definitely use a lot more confidence and that’s probably the only thing that’s held any of us back. So that’s the one thing we definitely all had in common—insecurity. I always thought…I’ve got a little bit of insecurity, but I never thought the other guys did. But when we got in the house together, it was really evident that we were all very similar in that sense. That’s the one thing I learned about those guys was that we were all exactly the same in that way. And we’re all just really regular guys, and we all just love music—we all just want to be a part of music, and we all have that in common. You know, I think at this point we’re all in this music business for the right reasons. And, you know, when you’re younger you sometimes get into this business for the wrong reasons and things get convoluted, but it’s evident now that we all just love the music and that’s why we’re there.

Right, and it’s evident from what they’ve shown so far in the show. I don’t think you guys would have put yourselves on the line if you didn’t love what you’re doing.

No, we wouldn’t have.

I think that’s a great underlying message, you know, you guys aren’t necessarily in it for the fame because it’s not guaranteed that it’s going to happen this time. I think that’s kind of cool.

No, not at all.

That’s definitely kind of cool. So what did you do with your bed spread with your face on it?

I, uh, gave mine away to be honest with you. I gave mine away. I knew I wasn’t going to use it that often, so I gave it to someone that would use it a lot more. I gave it to my…I uh, gave it to a friend.

Very cool.

Yeah, they were very excited. You know, I’ll tell you something…it was a very nice comforter.

Yeah, it looked good quality.

Yeah, it was really comfortable.

We were actually talking, I was talking with Jeff and Chris before, and we decided that you should’ve Ebayed them off for your foundation.

That would have been genius. I might still do that. I might take it back now that you said that.

Yeah…the other guys…well, don’t take it back from your friend! Just have another one made.

Nah, I’m taking it back.

Just have VH1 make another one. They can afford it, I’m sure.

That would be a lie. I’m gonna take it back.

Okay, and Chris said he’d even give up some of the things in his house for your foundation, so I think you should definitely do that and let me know and I’ll be sure to plug it for you guys.

I’m definitely going to do that. I’m going to auction that thing off. The timing is good, though.

Yeah, it’s perfect, now that the show is on.

Now the show is on, so people will see it and it will be great.

That’s probably one of the biggest questions I get from my blog is about those bed spreads, so you might get quite a bit.

Like where are they or whatever?

Yeah, like what happened to them? Did they take them home?

I would have! The only reason I didn’t take mine home was because I live in Boston and, you know, I didn’t…it’s so big. So I just left it in Florida. We can Ebay it.

Get it up on Ebay. They’ll do charity auctions and you’ll make all kinds of money.

That’s a great idea.

You’ll probably have to sign them and that kind of thing…autographs from everybody, and that’d be cool. Maybe you can even get one made of all of you guys with the Sureshot pictures.

That’s a really good idea, too.

Alright, well, I’m going to ask a few questions you’ve probably never heard before, just to kind of keep it fresh. I know you guys have been doing interviews for like weeks now, so let’s see. Boy bands typically have “roles” like the “cute one”, or the “funny one”…that kind of thing. What’s your grown up man band role?

My grown up man band role is uh…like the comedy guy. So is Chris, though, so we’re probably battling for that role in the group. I’m also still the tall one.

The tall one? Okay, that works. You’re not the blond one anymore, though. That’s what you used to be to me, anyway, in LFO.

We don’t even have a blond one!

No, you don’t. It’s strange.

I’m going to dye my hair blond and I’m going to still be the blond one.

There you go. Okay, you can keep it consistent that way.

Right, so I’m going for that. You are just full of good ideas today.

I am. I’m always full of good ideas. Anytime you need a good idea, just shoot me an email. I’m full of them.

This is a crap boy band, or man band, without a blond guy.

That’s right, that’s what I was thinking. How can you not have a blond guy with the frosted tips?

It’s like a joke.

Exactly. You can’t be taken seriously.

98 Degrees didn’t really have one, though.

But maybe if you’re a man band, maybe you should be gray instead of blond.

No…no. It’s not an OLD man band.

Okay, you don’t play wooden spoons or anything like that?

No, no. Not yet.

Okay, well, you got to live with Chris in his house for 3 weeks, and I happened to dig out my NSync Backstage Pass board game and I have some questions about Chris. Let’s see if you can answer some of these and get them right. And just to make you feel better, he even missed one about himself, so it’s not a big deal.

Okay.

“What lady in Chris’s life has been his greatest inspiration?”

I’m gonna say his mom.

That’s right. Very good. Alright. I don’t even know if these are true because he said that one of the questions I asked him was a lie, so, anyway, let’s try this one. “If Chris could meet any celebrity, whom would he want to meet?”

Who would he meet? That he hasn’t met?

Well, I don’t know…this was back in 2000, so he could have met her since then.

Oh, it’s a girl. Alright.

Yeah, it’s a female. I’ll tell you that much…and she’s a musician.

Uh…Dionne Warwick. I don’t know.

Uh, close. Gwen Stefani.

Alright. I didn’t know that.

Okay, remember this was in 2000, this might have changed, but, “How many piercings does Chris have in his ears?”

Yeah, uh, how many piercings?

In his ears.

3 in each.

Nope. Just four, it said. Good try. Well, that’s enough about Chris. So, LFO. When you were in LFO, my favorite song was Girl on TV, believe it or not, I know that probably wasn’t one of your biggest hits, but that was my favorite one, and it was written about Jennifer Love Hewitt, right?

Right.

And I know you got to meet her because she was in the video.

Yes, I did get to meet her.

Did you ever date her?

Yes.

You DID?!!? Good gossip. See? I didn’t know that. That’s pretty cool. So was she flattered by it or kind of creeped out that you wrote the song about her?

About the song? She was probably flattered by it, because that’s how I started dating her.

Well, you never know…sometimes creepy turns into dating.

It was probably creepy, too. It was kind of a stalker anthem.

It was, and that’s probably why I liked it so much, because it was kind of how I felt about boy bands at the time.

Yeah?

Yeah, if you could’ve seen the NSync shrine that used to be in my bedroom, oooh boy.

No, I didn’t see that.

I know, I should send you a picture of that because it was kind of scary, but funny all the same, because I was out of college by then. So…you’re single that Sureshot made, what’s it got to offer boy band fans and non-boy band fans, like, what can you guys give the masses with your song?

This song…you know our music is I think it’s universal. I think it’s just good music. It’s catchy. Lyrically it’s good, melodically it’s good, production wise it’s very strong. I just think anyone who appreciates music can appreciate us…our music. You know, we’re not really going for any core demographic when we record. We’re just doing stuff we think is good that we like and we’re hoping that that translates to other people as well.

Alright, alright. From what little snippets I’ve heard so far, it sounds like it could be a pop hit song to me, but you know, I’ll wait until the show’s over to make my final judgment.

Okay, that’s fair.

Alright, so, if Sureshot had to wear matching outfits, kind of like Boyz II Men used to do, what would they be like?

Oh. Um…man…what could we all wear?

Yeah, what would you ALL wear?

Maybe we would…you know I think to be safe, what we’d do, is just wear the exact same outfits that Boyz II Men used to wear.

Oh, hey, there you go! The sweaters with like the shorts.

The sweaters, the ties, the whole Gap preppy thing. The early 90s look. Since it’s been about 15 years, we’ll just bring it back, because the cycle is, you know…so to be safe and to always know what we’ll wear, we’ll just wear the same thing Boyz II Men did.

That’s perfect. I think that’s a great idea. Those cardigans with the shorts? Those were hot.

You know, if it worked once, it will work again.

It will, because everything old comes back. You know, these kids nowadays are wearing you know, the 80s denim skirts with the Capri pants…ugh.

And, and, I mean, in a pinch, we can probably wear space suits because 98 Degrees also wore space suits.

Yes. NSync wore space suits as well.

Well, there you go. And I’m not sure if Color Me Badd did, and I know we didn’t, but I’m happy to do it.

Okay, well, we’ll get talking to NASA about those space suits for you guys and see what we could get for ya.

Yeah, no problem.

Yeah, that would be nice, and you know, you could incorporate like a moon or a rocket or something into it. And SureSHOT goes with rockets. There you go.

Unbelievable.

Look at that.

It’s all true. It’s all coming together.

When you guys do your cheesy mall tour like boy bands used to do back in the day you can wear your space suits, and I will be there taking pictures.

I remember those.

And I’m hoping you guys do that again.

Me too. Nothing would make me happier than to play malls as a 30 year old guy.

I think it would be pretty hot, personally.

To be honest with ya, it would be. Really hot.

It would be. And it’s going to be those stay at home moms, and MY age demographic that’s there screaming for you instead of the 13 year olds, you know? Their kids will be playing at the little play area and then they can come see you. That’d be perfect.

And I’m ready.

Alright! You know, Brooke Hogan’s on tour and she’s a VH1 star.

Yeah, I just saw Brooke. Brooke is a really good friend of mine. I just saw her on a mall tour as a matter of fact.

So there you go. You guys can get together and call it the VH1 CelebReality Mall Tour 2007 and hit up all the hot spots.

No doubt. I’m in it.

Alright. I’m there taking pictures. You guys gotta come to Iowa, alright?

Well, that’s probably where we’ll start.

Alright! Sounds good. I can set that up for you. I probably know somebody at a mall. I know the guy that runs the pretzel stand, so…we’ll get you hooked up.

I love pretzels.

Yeah, I do too. What kind of toppings do you eat on your pretzels?

I go with the traditional mustard, or if I’m feeling ambitious, I might go for caramel.

Ooh, caramel. That sounds good. Yeah, I’m a generally a cheddar cheese type person.

No, not me, but I’m not going to hold it against you. I’m not a melted cheese kind of guy, though. Just on pizza.

I’m disappointed to hear that. I enjoy the melted cheese, very much.

I’m really odd.

Well, you know, when you come to the mall in Iowa, I’ll buy you a pretzel with whatever you want on it.

Thank you.

You’re welcome. Alright…so…groupies now vs. groupies then. What’s the difference?

I don’t have any groupies now. I have no idea what they’re like now. I couldn’t tell ya.

You have no groupies? That’s why you’ve got to get on the mall tour.

I’ll know then, but right now, I have zero groupies. I haven’t been in the same room with a groupie you know, for many many years.

Awww, geez.

They’re probably the same groupies, just older.

Yeah, that’s what Chris said, too, and you’re probably right because I’m still a huge fan. I’m 29 now and I still have this huge boy band obsession.

Now come on.

I do.

Everyone says it’s about the boy band, but it wasn’t about the boy band. You guys liked the music, it was fun, and it was a fun part of your life.

It’s true. I teach high school kids and they make fun of my CD collection because it’s probably like 85% boy band. And they’re like “you’re too old for this!” and I’m like, “whatever. You’re never too old for good pop music.” That’s all there is to it.

That’s right.

So that’s why I’m excited that Sureshot is coming out with some more good pop music for people my age who are either closet boy band fans, or crazy obsessed boy band fans like I am.

That’s fine. We need more of that.

Well, I think there is more out there than you realize. I keep getting reader comments on my blog about, you know, you guys, and visiting all the message boards.

We must have a niche market then. They must all be watching the show.

I think they are. You guys got pretty good ratings, you know, for that first episode, even though it was only a half an hour long, which kind of stinks, but there was only 3 weeks of footage so you gotta do what ya gotta do, right?

Hey, I’m not going to bother. I just showed up, they filmed us, and whatever happens, happens.

So, that three weeks…how intense was it for you trying to get all that stuff done in 3 weeks?

It was ridiculously intense. It was really really intense. I mean, that’s the perfect word for it. You know, for me, coming out of you know, my health thing, and the stem cell transplant, and being cooped up for so long and being put into that fast paced world that was ridiculous. The stuff we tried to accomplish, the stuff we tried to do you know, for anybody would have been overwhelming, but for me, it was just mind boggling. But at the same time, I welcomed it because it was such a refreshing thing for me. It was really crazy…really crazy, but we pulled it off, I think.

Yeah, I mean, so far so good. It looks like it’s going to touch on really serious topics and I hope we get to see more of you guys’ sense of humor on the show, rather than just on the clips.

Yeah, I hear ya.

But they do have the behind the scenes clips on VH1.com, so I watched those and they were hilarious. I can still get my fix.

Yeah, those were really classy, really classy.

They were pretty good! So do you ever like go to message boards or anything and read things about yourself, or do you try to stay away from that whole vibe?

I’ve been doing that a lot lately because there’s a lot of stuff about me on the internet right now. And, um, you know, I don’t even know where it all started, but it’s like, it got pretty personal with me because they gave out my phone number and all my personal information.

Oh my gosh!

It got pretty ridiculous.

No kidding.

Yeah, and um, I just had to have my phone shut off yesterday. There was like a blogger site or whatever and there were thousands and thousands of entries about me in one day. I actually broke a record for this blogger site for the most comments and it crashed a few times. All negative, too. I can’t tell you how it feels to just sit there and read endless negative things, but these people are psycho, so I don’t worry about it.

Well, the people who really matter are too busy to sit on the internet all day writing bad things about people.

That’s how it goes. Some of these sites are really sick, like LiveJournal and everything.

That’s why the only one you need is WatchingVH1.com because you get nothing but love at my site.

That’s what I need. I need the looooove.

You should hit up the sureshotband.com message boards because they love you there.

I actually joined that.

Good! And how about your MySpace page. Is that really you or do you have people who do your MySpace page for you?

I have two MySpace pages. Which one? The Sureshot one?

No. The Official Rich Cronin Music site.

That’s me.

So you really do that one?

Yeah, I totally run that one.

Okay, because I totally just added you as a friend so you have to like approve.

Yep, I’m on that all the time as a matter of fact.

You know, because some people have people that do that thing for them.

Those people don’t know what they’re missing. I like to be in touch with the people.

I agree. Great. And I think that’s the best way to do it nowadays is MySpace and Facebook.

That’s the way you have to do it nowadays. Everything is very, uh, everything is on the web, everything is about connecting the people that way. It’s ridiculous. If you’re not onto that, then you’re missing the boat, I think.

I totally agree because that’s the first thing I do when I’m looking for information is I hop on the internet and type in whatever.

I know. Thank God for Al Gore who invented that internet.

Yep, those internets. Well, I’m glad to know that it’s really you on there. How about the Sureshot page? Is that you guys or is that the publicist?

We’ve got a guy who does that, but I’m on there all the time. We don’t run that site. We don’t control that site. I can’t log in and delete comments or whatever, but I am always seeing what’s posted.

Okay, so that’s cool. That’s good to know because I write messages and stuff on there.

But the other one, I’m on there. The official Rich Cronin one.

How about the other guys, are their official MySpace pages theirs, too? I forgot to ask…do you know?

Uh…let’s see.

I know Chris’s is.

You know Chris’s is?

Yeah. I think it is, isn’t it?

The Nigels 11 one?

No, his personal one.

The nada one?

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s him.

Yeah, that’s what I figured.

Jeff is him. And Bryan sort of knows how to turn a computer on, so…he’s my boy, he’s my boy, but he’s not like an internet guy, you know?

Okay, because I was thinking his page looked pretty professional. I was like, hmmm…I wonder if that’s really him?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that’s like, he’s probably got someone hooking him up with that.

Alright, it’s good to keep in mind. It’s good for my readers to know.

However, I will say this. He’s very in tune with everything that’s going on. He just doesn’t…he’s just not into it kind of like me. I’m an internet guy.

You know, some people are, some people aren’t. That’s cool.

I try to keep him abreast of everything that’s happening.

Yeah, and stay away from those sites that are bad for you. Don’t listen to those people.

There are so many of those, aren’t there?

Well, you know, everybody’s jealous, everybody wants a piece of it, and some people just can’t take it. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

I wish people would…you know, people don’t live by that motto. They should. It’s a good one.

I know, I know. I get comments about me on my blog. I’m like “you don’t even know me! You read one thing I wrote. Go away.” Seriously.

I hate them.

Ah, well, someday…

Hate is a strong word, but I hate them.

Alright, well…is there anything else you’d like to plug? Personal appearances, anything you’d like to say to your fans.

I’d just like to plug my MySpace, my official Rich Cronin one, and I’d like to plug the fact that, you know, if they’re in the Boston area and want a place to record and write, they should check out my studio Orange Freeze Studios and also, most of all I want to plug the show, obviously. And the fact that I’ll be coming out with a record in a month. It will first be available on CD Baby, and I can’t really mention that something right now, but it will be on CD Baby, so look for that in a month.

That sounds great, and when it comes out, I’ll do a review for you on my site and plug ya some more.

Please do. Thanks a lot.

No problem. Write me on MySpace sometime if you get bored.

I will!

Thanks a lot for doing this. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.

Thanks for doing the interview, it was really good.

Yeah, alright–thanks!

Take care.

Bye.