MEDIA -
Icons
- AIM Icons
- Livejournal/MSN Icons

Graphics

Picture Gallery
Discography
- Lyrics
- Soundclips
- Song Inspiration
- Song Leads


Articles

Max Magazine Article
August 1999

Chapter 1: A New Beginning
Its an early Saturday June morning and here I am, standing beside the giant fountain in the Suntec City basement with my shutterbug, Jacque, waiting for our photo shoot with The Moffatts.

"I'll Be There For You" goes one of their songs and we are betting to see if the Canadian quartet would indeed do just that. The clock strikes 10, our appointed time, and suddenly we hear screams. Look out! Screaming girls are coming our way! Oh, wait,The Moffatts are amidst them, slowly but surely making their way towards the MAX crew.

"Hello, I'm Scott," says the eldest Moffatt with a firm handshake. "Hi, I'm Bob," says the one with the smooth long hair. "Hiya, I'm Clint," says, er, Clint, the eldest of the triplets. Last but not least, it's the soft-spoken Dave who greets us with a shy "Hello, I'm Dave" as fans flash their cameras at him and his equally handsome brothers. Hey, hey, it's The Moffatts in the flesh. And they don't look bad at all.

Chapter 2: Picture Perfect
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!", "We love you!,""Look over here Bob/Dave/Scott/Clint!" etc. Gee, this goes down in history as the noisiest MAX photo shoot ever. But work we must and the very professional Moffatts make the shoot smooth-sailing.

Chaperoned by their dad Frank (who doubles up as manager) and stepmom Sheila (who doubles up as makeup lady), none of the boys bat an eyelid when we ask them to stand in the fountainÕs moat for the shoot. They just simply roll up their shorts, step right intothe cold waters and immediately strike a pose. Ah, the tough life of a pop star.

Each time a Moffatt hears his namebeing hollered, he would smile, wave, and mouth the words "thank you" without fail.

"I was told that this is the biggest fountain in Singapore," exclaims Bob, "Cool."

Well, Bob, apparently The Moffatts and the MAX crew have the distinction of being the first allowed to shoot here by the Suntec City people. That makes it double cool, eh, Bob?

Click! Flash! Click! Flash! It's not just the MAX camera working overtime but the gazillions of (okay, that's an exaggerationÑbut it sure sounds like it) shutter boxes in all shapes and sizes belonging to the Moffatts fans as well. It is so Hollywood to say the least.

Chapter 3: Big In Germany
As the shoot rolls on, Sheila Moffatt takes time to tell MAX that she loves out "strong colours and thick paper!" (Thank you, ma'am!) She admits that going on promotional tours is tiring but the warm reception that fans worldwide have given the brotherly foursome make everything worthwhile.

Sheila also reveals thatÊThe Moffatts are used to having fans trail them wherever they go, especially in Germany where the boys are very popular.

"We have a house outside Cologne (big German city; check your atlas) and our studio is about a mile away. Everyday there will be a group of fans waiting outside our house with their scrapbooks and pictures, asking for autographs," she says.

"Of course the boys will sign for them. Then as we make our way to the studio, the fans will hop on their bicycles and ride all the way to the studio where they would ask for autographs again! On weekdays, there would be at least 20, 30 of them. In the weekends, it can easily be about 50 to 100."

Chapter 4: Question Me and Answer
The shoot is soon over. Scott, Clint, Bob, Dave and I then make our way to a deli for some Q&A.


For a new band starting out, are you amazed with your popularity?

SCOTT: We never really thought about that. I mean, we really like the fact that the fans are appreciating what we are doing. But we never think about how much stardom we have or are going to have. The thing is to have as much fun we can have doing what we are doing.

BOB: We just want to do music and make people happy.


Do you guys spend a lot of time on band practice?

CLINT: We don't practice everyday. On tour, we practice about two to three hours. If we have more free time, then it could go on for five to six hours.


What's the best part of touring?

BOB: When you walk on the stage and you hear all the fans screaming, it's a great feeling. Playing live, we play our instruments live. And that people actually enjoy our music.

SCOTT: Just the vibe. Just to get on the stage and do the show. You are a familywho travel together all the time.


Do you get sick of each other?

SCOTT: We are all brothers, so we have arguments and stuff like that. But it doesn't happen often. I mean, you may quarrel but you forget about it tomorrow.


Clint, Bob and Dave are triplets. Do you guys have the habit of doing the same thing?

CLINT: Actually yes. Bob and I are identical twins. In school, we used to be in the same room. And they thought we were cheating because we always chose the same questions. So they put us in different rooms and still we would have the same questions and the same right or wrong answers as we write our answers the same way.

BOB: We also like the same movies. We like comedy and horror movies.


What do you guys do when you are not working?

SCOTT: I will be relaxing. Or playing sports like soccer, American football and hockey. Or just watching TV, playing my guitar.

CLINT: Music is a big part of our life so everyday we are either singing or writing songs. But I like to play sports. I'm at present following the World Cup. Bob, Dave and I support Germany, except Scott who supports Brazil.

BOB: I like to write songs most of the time and play sports. I like soccer. I also play American football and I also swim.

DAVE: Drawing. I like drawing portraits with pencil. I like to write songs and play soccer and American football. We do school work too.


Besides your obvious musical talents, do you guys have any other special talents?

BOB: We are good at American football. We are good at sports generally. Hockey, basketball and football.


Do you guys read your fan mail?

CLINT: Yes. We have a fan club where most of the mail get sent to. We can get about 10, 000 letters sometimes. We get letters all the time, and most of them are in the States, so we read those letters. Do we reply them? No. I mean, we are so busy now that we donÕt really have time to reply them. But we try to read as much as we can.


Do you guys currently have girlfriends?

ALL: No!

CLINT: But it's not like we haven't dated before, you know. (Laughs)


What kind of girls do you like and what's your idea of a perfect date?

BOB: Singapore girls! Probably dinner first at a nice restaurant, then probably bowling or the movies.

CLINT: Singapore girls. Dinner, talk, horror movies.

SCOTT: I like all kinds of girls. Preferably a dinner and movie.

DAVE: All kinds of girls. Dinner and a movie.


What's the most essential thingyou have to bring when travelling?

CLINT: CD player. My guitar ; (breaks off as Scott suddenly decides to video tape the right side of his younger brothers) Do you mind? I'm being interviewed!(Scott grins and proceeds to film the already-in-hysterics fans fenced at the deli's entrance. Cue screams and wild waving. Interview continues...)

BOB: My CD player. A suitcase full of clothes. And my drums.

DAVE: My CD player. My sketching pencils.

SCOTT: My CDs. And I would bring a book. The one IÕm reading now is Absolute Power.


If you get stranded on a desert island, what three things would you bring?

SCOTT: My guitar. My CD collections, a CD player, and É (thinks for a while) a girl.

CLINT: A girl. And I will bring a bed. Like a fold up bed. No, no I will bring a hammock. ÔCoz I got a girl you know (grins). And a bass guitar.

DAVE: I say, a girl, a book and a radio.

BOB: A pair of drumsticks, a CD player, then a girl.

SCOTT: (asking Clint): What did he say?

CLINT: A pair of drumsticks, CD player, then a girl.

SCOTT:(to Bob): Why not a drum set?

BOB: The question is things you can bring or carry with you

SCOTT: What if you can have it?

BOB:(ponders for a second): Oh. Ok then. (Back to MAX) a drum set. With drumsticks. A pair of very good drumsticks.


Last question: do The Moffatts have any message for your fans in Asia?

SCOTT: Thanks for all of your support and for listening to our music. We hope to come back here again and do some more shows. Thank you!