We need all B5 fans to come to the front because the singing and dancing brothers are back, and they’re all grown up, with new music!
The group—made up of Dustin, Patrick, Kelly, Carnell, and Bryan Breeding—captured young hearts across the country with their Jackson 5-esque presence, even releasing a cover of the legendary group’s song “All I Do” as their debut single.
After the release of their first self-titled album in 2005, which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart, the group went on to grace the covers of popular magazines like Right On!, perform on 106 & Park, the Scream Tour IV, and work with Disney on songs like High School Musical 2‘s “Get’cha Head in the Game” and more.
In 2007, B5 released their second album with Bad Boy, Don’t Talk, Just Listen, which featured hits like “Hydrolics” featuring Bow Wow and “In My Bedroom.” After the band’s second album release, they briefly changed their name to Audio, before reclaiming their original name.
After a hiatus, the Florida natives signed with Motown Records, where they released “Say Yes” in a new deal that was unfortunately short-lived.
Nevertheless, the group has kept their eye on the prize, persevering through music industry woes and periods of reinvention to come back as independent artists.
BOSSIP’s Char Masona chatted with the brothers about the hiatus, their experience as independent artists, and, of course, new grown and sexy music; their latest EP, S.T.A.Y. (Still Think About You).
BOSSIP: Catch us up on the journey from being signed to Bad Boy, working with Disney, and signing with Motown. Where are you in your careers now?
Bryan: Well, we released from Bad Boy back in 2009 and then that kind of started us on the journey of being independent. When we start with “Say Yes” which was the transition period from Bad Boy to Motown. But there’s a whole gap period that I’m going to just skip right over because we went through a group name change.
We had to do all these things [to] get our title B5 back. But eventually when we got the name B5 back around 2012 and “Say Yes” came out.
We had one single at Motown. Unfortunately, that was as far as that project went. And then back around like 2016, that’s when we were officially independent. So that’s really where that’s really where we are at in the journey right now as independent artists and we put out some singles called “DO THAT” [and] “GIVE IT BACK” up to our latest EP S.T.A.Y, which we dropped this year [on] January 1st.
How has being independent artists impacted your artistry – specifically on the business side?
Dustin: I remember at times we were on the labels, major labels and stuff like that. We recorded these songs, a lot of them were really good. But, there would be some songs that we didn’t like or that we didn’t necessarily want to cut, but we had to. So the difference with that is having the freedom of choosing what we hear musically [and] sonically. It’s all basically from us versus like some executive and office that don’t really know music. P
You’ve gone from singing about puppy love to more mature things. How would you describe where B5 is now?
Carnell: We’re at that age where we matured and you want to talk about certain subjects which we feel like relate to us and also our audience. You know, more mature things.
Did you feel any apprehension about the transition into the more grown and sexy vibe?
Patrick: No, because you know our fan base has been growing with us since day one. So we felt like being authentic to ourselves is very important. So it wouldn’t make sense to be still trying to do like those types of records. So, for us to always be authentic to B5, we always have to be authentic and true to where we are now with our personal lives and [who] we are as men and our fans have grown with us as well. So it’s only right for the music to evolve like that. We don’t want to be stuck in the past, we always want to evolve and grow and better ourselves, which is why we also write and produce as well now.
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What role does each of you play in songwriting within your creative process? Do you all bounce off of each other, or do some of you write while others are more on the production end?
Dustin: Well, we all write. Some, as of late, have been writing more than others. But. you know we all write. Patrick does a lot of producing with his stuff. I know he has a bunch of songs that he’s been producing himself, which is really cool.
And I got stuff that I’m doing for my stuff too, but as far as writing, I know Kelly has a project that he’s writing with The Exclusives and Bryan [and] Carnell have [their] solo projects. So we’re all writing on our solo projects, and then when we bring them together for the group. We’ll either grab The Exclusives and have them co-write with us and stuff like that. So as far as the writing process, we’re always involved.
No matter what is going on, the writing is always going to be coming from one of us five.
Patrick: And sometimes that’s like one person, sometimes it’s two, sometimes it’s three.
Carnell: The direction is about how we feel [and] what works at that time.
Dustin: Not everybody is always able to be in production or writing mode.
Bryan: There are different seasons where people take different roles, like we’ve always been the group where if there’s a task that needs to be done, somebody within the five of us knows how to pick up the tasks and execute it. And that’s just what we’ve done [it] naturally from the days of them being really young, pushing the couches back and making choreography.. So, it really doesn’t matter if it comes to fashion, social media, songwriting,or photography, somebody in the group has been capable to deliver.
Let’s talk about the evolution and the creative process of the EP, S.T. A.Y, you dropped this year. How did it come about?
Patrick: The EP came about through a relationship. We ended up working or meeting with a producer named Sean “Pen”, who is a part of The Exclusives and you know working with him has given us a great opportunity to revitalize our sound and to just kind of give the fans what they want. It’’s been a great experience so far. It’s been very well received. We cut the whole.EP in Atlanta, and it probably [took].a little less than a month [to make]. ourselves and their producers, they work. We work really fast together. So that’s a big plus.
The new EP has a lot of songs about love and making love, do you consider yourselves lover boys or romantics?
Dustin: Lover boys, for sure.
Patrick: I think we all know that you got to find that person.
You went on tour last year and you’re going back this year for B5’s 20th anniversary. How are you approaching this tour with new music?
Patrick: Without getting too deep into the details, we’re going to mix obviously the classics and the nostalgic feel and the era that the fans want, but also we’re going to incorporate some of the new music because it’s the 20th anniversary of everything we’ve done collectively.
Where it’s going to be put, how it’s going to be presented, we can’t give that away yet because that’s part of the surprise of the show but yeah, it’s all going to be fun.
And if you’ve ever been to a B5 show or a concert they’re very high energy, very energetic. We’re all over the place. And ultimately, it’s a fun time. So we’re very much looking forward to all the fans and people who’ve been out and rocking with us for 20 years, 20 more to come.
Do you love being back on stage again?
Patrick: Of course, like my favorite thing to do is be on stage. Everything is like work until we get to the stage. The stage [is] like the payoff. So you get that instant gratification, you get that instant energy back towards the fans.
Speaking of your fan base, can you remember the craziest fan interaction you’ve ever had, either recently or in the past?
Carnell: One that stands out a lot is the one in Minneapolis. It wasn’t a specific fan, but it was just fans in general. The whole thing went on the news. It was a really wild time and turn for us all.
Patrick: The fans basically swamped the whole stage and collapsed it and it was picking everybody apart like individually. It [was] on world news, so it’s pretty wild.
Kelly: I think Dustin found a fan pop out in his hotel closet one time and that was kind of strange.
Dustin: A fan got my room number from one of the ladies that worked there and she basically got the key and I go in there to put my stuff up in the dresser and stuff, and she’s in there in lingerie.
What does 20 years of B5 mean to you?
Dustin: It means 20 more for me and it’s like, ‘Okay, now I got 20 more to go and then this next 20 is going to be really crazy. Actually, the next five, [even] two years from now,it’s all going up.That’s all I’m excited about, so.20 years we killed the game. We did amazing stuff. I’m trying to do a lot of more amazing things now.
Kelly: 20 years of B5 has had a lot of success, so it’s definitely something to appreciate and to celebrate for sure. And we definitely want to continue that growth of success for 20 more years.That’s what it means.
Patrick:There’s a lot of appreciation for the guys here and also the fans who’ve grown up with us. To see them today still rocking with us, still going to the shows, still on our social media, listening to music, and still telling us how they feel and how passionate they are, means a lot to us. To me, it’s like 20 years of us celebrating busting our tails and [continuing] to do what we love to do and having people who love what we do support us.
Bryan: And sometimes, our fans now send us videos of their kids dancing to our music videos and like, whoa, we’re like,’ B5 is now affecting an entire new generation.’ So it’s really cool to grow in that way too.
What do you have to say to those people who want to know where you have been? What is your message to them?
Patrick: We’ve been low key because it’s been independent. We had to reassess the music game, because social media has influenced the music industry in a major way. So, understanding that and taking a step back [to] reassess. Plus being independent, we take everything on ourselves. So just trying to figure out that and navigate took a little time, but we’re here now and we got a tour, we got music, we got photo shoots.There’s so much going on that we’re constantly taking meetings, but we’re excited.
Kelly: Definitely keep up with everything that we’re doing on social media, we probably post more on Instagram more than anything. So for anyone who wants to keep up with what we’re doing, check us out there for sure.
