by alyssa plotts
photo by jordan kelsey knight
Big Time Rush became an overnight sensation in 2009 from the launch of the Nickelodeon television series Big Time Rush. The show was a huge success and catapulted the group into real-life stardom, as they went on to release three studio albums and performed across the globe, including five tours from 2011 to 2014. In June 2020, the band held a surprise virtual reunion to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their smash hit “Worldwide,” resulting in mass hysteria amongst their fans and in the media. In March 2021, all four seasons of Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush were added to Netflix and the band went viral once again, increasing fan demand for an official reunion. Soon after, the band announced they would come together for two special live shows in New York and Chicago, which sold out in a matter of minutes, blowing expectations out of the water and proving the power of the band’s devoted fandom. Now, with the launch of their nationwide Forever Tour and the release of all new music, including hit singles “Honey,” “Fall” and “Not Giving You Up,” fans can expect to see a lot more of the power group for years to come, including their new single “Dale Pa ‘Ya” with Maffioon being released Friday, August 19th.
What is it like being back touring, after almost a decade?
James Maslow: “This tour's only been, been about a month, feels like a decade short, but, it's going very well.”
Logan Henderson: “We're having a great time. It is like, there's no time here. They all kind of run together. Each show almost kind of tops the last show before they just get better and better.”
Kendall Schmidt: “It feels like being in Narnia.”
What is the energy like every single night from these crowds?
Carlos PenaVega: “I think for us, you know, it's been such a blessing to come out and all of our shows are now selling out all around the country and it's just so cool to see everybody come back together for, you know, a really epic concert. And I really feel like we put on one heck of a show. And the people who saw us 10 years ago come back and they're just like, we’re better than we were before. And that's the best compliment that we could ask for.”
And for people that maybe haven't seen you before, or if they've seen you and it's been a while, what can fans expect if they're coming out?
Kendall: “Well, you said the energy in there was insane. I mean, you can expect it to be high energy, for sure. We don't put on a boring show just because we like to have a good time. So you'll expect some banter, us chatting with each other, chatting with the crowd, big old light show, [it] looks like a spaceship.”
Logan: “So one of the biggest things also is the music. Although they've heard these songs for years, a lot of them are, if not, most of them are reproduced. And so they're hearing a different side to our music and we're playing a lot of new songs. So people are getting new music and of course all the old classics.”
How did you guys begin to put the set list together? You just have so much material at this point.
Carlos: “Thank you for noticing that, it's a very long show.
We definitely got together and, you know, we didn't wanna cheat the fans out. So for us, like hitting that two-hour mark was a big deal. And, you know, I really feel like people get their money’s worth, I mean, it's a lot. And if you love the show, you'll love the concert.”
Kendall: “Rehearsal is a different thing from the show. So you could try this pacing that you have in your mind thinking it's gonna work, but until you get out there, you don't know. And we got really lucky. I mean, with all the hard work we put into it, that the show ended up being exactly as we had planned, you know, even better.”
New music keeps coming out. What is the approach now that you have your solo projects during the hiatus? How did it change your approach to this new music?
Kendall: “I could speak for myself of my own solo project. I think when I started that I was operating in a different way.
When we first got started, we were selling CDs. So our biggest album sold 750,000 CDs. So for us, a release was a big deal and everything that went around. And I think now after our own careers and things evolving, changing, I think we realized like if we have a song, we like it, put it out. Like, rather than trying to do some giant thing, we're just kind of saying, you know what? We like these songs, they're fresh, put 'em out. And then we'll see what people love. And then we'll put together an album.”
Logan: “And our musical tastes have changed and they've grown and evolved over the years. And I think that's what makes it special is that we've always been a band that kind have a very diverse catalog.
I think now we just play off each other's strengths and wanna continue to do that. So, like Kendall said, more music, more tours.”
Would you ever go back to TV and do a project like that?
James: “Well, we do individual projects still at this point. But collectively, we've had a few conversations, you know, there's nothing set in stone. Our focus is very much on this tour and our music release, but I think it's something that we're recently a little bit more open-minded to, and you never know, gonna see what I come up with. You never know.”
Kendall: “Look, we are definitely like TV guys. We all grew up doing that. So I think that that's something that we really think about doing a lot. And also it's gotta be good. That's the main criteria. It's gotta be good. So that's what we're focused on.”
photo by jordan kelsey knight
Is there a plan for the future that you can share?
Carlos: “We're just taking it day by day. Our main thing and James said it earlier, it's like fans first. Like we literally are like, what can we do for them? You know? They're the reason why we get to do what we love.”
Logan: “We know for a fact there's more music on the way, a lot more music, and then also a tour. So we have those and that's what we're focused on right now.”
What are some of your favorite interactions that you've had from this tour so far with all the fans?
Kendall: “Well, there's a lot more Big Time Rush tattoos. They've gotten older. So we like seeing those.”
Is there anything that you want fans to know?
James: “We feel very blessed and we're having a great time. And this truly is because of the fans, you know, it's because of them that this was started up again. We were able to financially do this again. We're gonna be thinking of them every step of the way because this is very much a fan-driven band.”