Team 5 five: boy band swims on the 90s wave

The 90s are celebrating a comeback (once again) – and Team Five is jumping on this trend. The boy band around Jay Khan (39) and Marc Terenzi (43), founded just this year, want to bring back the sound of the popular decade. On their debut album, which will be released on September 3rd, they reinterpret hits from boy groups such as the Backstreet Boys and Co., the lyrics are in German.

The “ex-boyband veterans”, as Khan calls himself and Terenzi, have brought David Lei Brandt, Joel de Tombe (40) and Sven Light to their side. Together they want to make their new group successful. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Khan and Terenzi tell how the boy band came about, what the five men are planning, and remember their own boy band times.

The 90s and early 2000s were dominated by boy bands. How do you remember that time?

Jay Khan: It was a magical time for me. My love for boy bands started in 1990 with boy band pioneers New Kids on the Block. What was only a temporary phase for many kids and teenagers turned out to be life enlightenment for me. I was a big He-Man and Superman fan as a kid, and boy bands looked to me like earthly superheroes … at least the good ones.

Marc Terenzi: That was the best time of my life. We have traveled the world, gained amazing fans and got to know the music business. I was on the road with my best friends for months. We had our idols and became idols for our fans on this trip. I can tell stories for hours about those years. A time like the one we were allowed to experience back then in the music business never came back.

Why do you want to bring this time back with team 5 five?

Khan: Especially in times like these, people need lightness in life and a memory of a time when everything was still reasonably fine. In addition, we are currently experiencing an absolute boom in the 90s, when boy bands were of course right at the front. It has a lot to do with an attitude towards life and the nerve of the times and of course with where you are in life. I can say for myself that my time in a boy band, but especially as a boy band fan from the very beginning, was the best of my life.

Terenzi: The boy band era has a very special magic. The fans will know what I’m talking about. People identified with the songs and many people can still associate emotional events with the songs today. So you experience a flashback when the melodies start playing. That’s what always got me excited. I want to touch people with my music and trigger emotions in the fans. Having the chance to do that again makes me very happy.

What is special about your boy band?

Khan: We’re doing something unique that has never been seen before in such a constellation and implementation anywhere in the world. When developing the concept, I wasn’t even aware of this because I was acting out of pure passion. There has never been a boy band consisting of two ex-boy band veterans who are reinterpreting the biggest world hits of international boy groups in German for the first time.

Terenzi: We have incredibly controversial characters with different experiences in our band. But our will to achieve something big, the music and the performance bring us on stage as a team. For some of us it’s a boy band blossom again and for Sven it’s a completely new experience. We are 100 percent behind the plan to make this boy band successful, and I think the fans can feel our enthusiasm.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​reinterpreting well-known hits in German?

Khan: I became aware of Eloy de Jong’s German interpretation of the Boyzone classic “No Matter What”. That set the impulse to find out whether this can also be carried over to other boy group classics. At first I was thought to be crazy. When I presented my first demos to my record company, just sung by myself, they quickly became pricked up.

Terenzi: A few years ago I wanted to start a boy band again that would reinterpret the hits from back then. I was sure that the fans of the boy bands from that time would still love their songs today. Of course we have all gotten a little older, so I wanted to produce the songs less teeny-like, but – just like us – a bit more grown-up. Jay then had the idea to translate the texts into German. In this way, the German fans could also sing along to the lyrics and understand what the song is about. I was immediately enthusiastic and the project took on more and more shape. The German fans were my favorite even then. I’ve always felt at home here. Many of the fans I’ve known for 20 years write to me that when they hear the songs, they’ll feel like 15 again.

You have also rehearsed choreographies for your songs. How long do you need to rehearse dance and music? What’s the challenge?

Khan: On average, we need two days for a choreography and another third day for fine-tuning. That is not a record time, but not a bad rate for a few older men in their late 30s or early 40s. The challenge lies in creating choreographies that are reminiscent of the old days without being too bold and still seeming age-appropriate. In this case, the margin between “too over” and “too underchallenged” is very narrow and requires a great deal of sensitivity. We have a very competent choreographer at our side for this.

Terenzi: Of course I’ve been on stage very often in recent years and had my choreographies, but in a group it’s something completely different. Staying in sync with five people, singing and not looking super focused, is really tough. We train from early morning to night before each performance. The nice thing about it is that we as a team set high standards for ourselves and motivate each other to keep getting a little better. Before the performance, every step has to be taken almost “automatically” by the body, because this is the only way to concentrate on the audience.

They didn’t all know each other before. How do you harmonize with each other now?

Khan: It feels frighteningly natural and well-rehearsed. I took a lot of time in selecting the candidates. Past experiences in an internationally successful boy band are very useful. You can now see the red zones and character traits of a player who is not able to work in a team very quickly. I am very happy with the selection.

Terenzi: I’ve known Jay for 20 years, we even lived together before. We both have a lot of experience with boy bands. We usually agree and if not, we discuss and we always find a common denominator. I also have a very good relationship with the others. We all get along extremely well. That really is a six in the lottery and not a matter of course. Now it feels like we’ve been traveling together for years. The harmony between us is great and everyone has found their role within the team.

Do you ever have a quarrel?

Khan: Not yet, knock knock knock. We are all grown men with some families, children and a lot of experience under our belt. It works differently than under five teenagers. Creative differences are discussed at eye level and everyone knows their role and that of the other, that’s important.

Terenzi: I wouldn’t call that an argument. Of course, with such different characters, there is sometimes a difference of opinion. But we always find a common way or a solution that is expedient for our team. We then quickly leave such issues behind and focus again on what we all agree on: the music. We have the second chance to live our dream. This is madness.

Do you have an alpha animal? If so, who is it? What is the role of the others?

Khan: I take care of the production of the music and all the administrative work. I also write our songs. Marc is very well versed in the field of video and editing, among other things he shot Sarah Connor’s video “Bye Bye”. David is our “Dance Captain”, he already went on tour with Lady Gaga. Joel takes care of arranging our a-cappellas and Sven is responsible for TikTok, an increasingly important tool, also for boyband retirees like us.

Terenzi: There isn’t one alpha animal for all topics. There are our experts for different subject areas, who set the direction for certain topics. We complement each other very well as a team.

“Once a boy band and back” is her debut. How should you go on? What are your plans as a band for the future?

Khan: We clearly want to convey the attitude towards life boy bands with a touch of 90s flair in a new, fresh musical guise on the stages and the people. Your own tour would of course be a dream. But this time it’s mainly about having fun.

Terenzi: We can’t wait to get back on stage. A live boy band show for our fans. That’s what we do best. There is still a lot to come from us and I am really looking forward to it.