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So here I am, a college girl with a still-burning flame for BSB, and while the Boys didn't swoop in and serenade me (yet), I did get to spend some time chatting it up with Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys. He called from the road of their latest tour, Unbreakable, and filled me in on the Boys' lives, their music, their tour, and something very near and dear to his heart, the Dorough Lupus Foundation, which he started in memory of his sister Caroline, whose life was taken from the disease.

On Life as a Backstreet Boy:

CC: If you had to pick one all-time favorite BSB song, what would it be?
Howie: My favorite song of all time would probably be "All I Have To Give." It's like one of our earliest songs. It would probably be a cross between that and "Drowning."

CC: It seems that when it comes to you guys, girls forget how to talk and everything just comes out as a high pitched scream! What is the craziest moment you'd say you've experienced as a Backstreet Boy?
Howie: There's so many different fan moments that have happened that it's kind of hard to narrow it down to one. But probably the craziest thing I think for us in our career was probably doing the 100 Hours Around The World trip that we did for Black and Blue. That was crazy. I was so jet-lagged for like a week I couldn't stand it. I was…I didn't know where I was, which country, time was so off, but it was actually lots of fun.

CC: That was a long time ago. I hear you're planning another album - what can you tell me about it?
Howie: We've actually kind of made a conscious decision to go back to a little bit more of what we were known for back in the days, you know, great pop melody, a little bit more of a pop-R&B sound. We're hoping for the album to come out during the first quarter of next year.

CC: What is the writing process like for the albums? Who's the most hands-on in terms of songwriting?
Howie: In the earlier days it was maybe Brian, but we all actually really do a lot of writing, you know. Me and Nick just wrote a song the other day, and Brian and Nick have written together, and AJ as well; it's sort of a collaborative effort.

CC: You've spent the past year (and your entire career) traveling all over the world - where has been your favorite place you've seen?
Howie: There are so many great, beautiful places it's hard to pick really one place, I think if I had to go live somewhere else besides the States, I'd probably pick Australia– Sydney, Australia. The water is so beautiful, such clean air.

CC: And in the States?
Howie: Chicago is one of my favorite places to perform and party at.

CC: You guys were the front-runners of the pop scene and happen to be the only group left. Yet even though you've proven yourselves to the critics who said you wouldn't last, you still get flack from critics here the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Howie: Yeah, you know, it's America, I've come to realize it's kind of a fickle market, and you know you're only as hot as your last hit song. I respect that; you always have to set the standards and the bar high. So you just have to overcome that, and now we're making music for our fans and for ourselves. If the critics like us, great, and if not, at least we're making music.

CC: Well, your fans don't seem to care what the critics think, after all these years, you really have such a huge, loyal fan base.
Howie: Yeah, we're very, very blessed. Very blessed. Everyone just keeps us going. And you know, pretty much that's why we're doing this.
CC: What would you say are the biggest differences between the fans from now and the fans from the old school Backstreet days?
Howie: A lot of them have actually grown up with us, believe it or not. A lot of them that were in their teens are now in their 20s and 30s. Some of them are now coming to the concert with their kids. They're married. It's awesome, you know, it's almost an extended family out there on the road.

CC: So everyone thought the BSB would be over for good along with so many acts of the late 90's pop that have fallen to the wayside, but thankfully you're still here! Can we expect you guys to be around forever? On stage with wheelchairs and dentures?
Howie: We've always said we've wanted to model ourselves after The Eagles, the Rolling Stones, you know, they were groups that have done it right. They've had their ups and downs, they've been really popular and times they just kind of like, you know, just went along, had solo careers here and there. We have a really, really great thing going on, especially with the music industry being as crazy at it is, and the economy, and for us to be able to still go out there and sell records and sell tours, we're all very, very blessed.

CC: So I have to ask this. I know you and Brian are both happily married, but is there still hope for that 13-year-old girl inside all of us who thought we were destined to date a Backstreet Boy? Are AJ and Nick still single?
Howie: Haha, of course, they're doin' it. They're definitely the single ones and enjoying it - now there's plenty more left over for them.

On the Dorough Lupus Foundation and Rock Your Religion:

CC: What is the purpose of the Dorough Lupus Foundation? Is it more to educate, to donate… what's the mission?
Howie: It's a mixture of both. It's definitely to educate people because it's such a hush-hush disease. It's affecting more people than the major diseases out there that have so much more attention. I want to educate people about it, and you know, try to create awareness of the disease. At the same time, a big portion of our mission is to donate money towards research.

CC: So you've teamed up with Rock Your Religion and created a pendant - tell us about that!
Howie: I wanted to create a merchandise item that meant something to me and so we created this symbol and, to me, Rock Your Religion just seemed like a really natural fit. Their beliefs in helping different causes are really cool to me, and that's why a portion of the purchased proceeds of the necklaces are actually going out to the Dorough Lupus Foundation.

CC: What does the design of the pendant actually mean?
Howie: We used the actual signature of Kairos symbol, which is a really unique symbol. It's an ancient good luck charm that was linked to the Greek phrase "En Touto Nika" which when translated in English means, "In this sign you will conquer." So we decided to also put my signature on the back to really just endorse the emblem and the phrase.

CC:What are your future plans for the Lupus Foundation,
Howie: I'm doing a couple different fundraisers possibly throughout this tour here, as well as we're going to be possibly doing one out in LA pretty soon.

CC: Is there a way for College Candy readers to get involved? What can we do to help contribute?
Howie: We have an open-door welcoming policy for anyone who wants to come in and put together a fundraiser. They can be as small or as big as they want it to be, it's just about spreading the word out there and raising money for the cause. Anybody that has ideas are welcome go to our website (www.doroughlupusfoundation.org).