Nick Carter on Solo Album, DWTS, New BSB Music & Everything He's Been Up To

Nick Carter crushed this season of "Dancing With The Stars," making it all the way to the finals -- but the busy singer has been up to A LOT more than just the show. From new music to movies, he's been working on multiple projects over the last few years, and we're all about to see just what he's been up to. The Backstreet Boys member recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ for an exclusive interview in New York City where he let us in on everything that he's been working on -- including a new upcoming solo record. 

Yup! Nick has been back in the studio working on material, and is releasing his brand new solo album All American on November 25th. Don't worry Backstreet Boys fans -- there's another album coming from them too. But for now, Nick is really excited about his solo music because -- as he admits to us -- he's "actually never really had success as a solo artist."

Nick Carter on his aim to reach success as a solo artist 

"I'm definitely passionate about solo music because in a lot of ways I've actually never really had success as a solo artist. And this is a true story. The boys, we've had such great success, great songs, hits, and tours, and all this stuff. In a lot of ways it's so big and I try to reach to that, and sort of got over-shadowed a little bit. So I feel that it's one of those bucket list things for me, to have a song that people can connect with me too. Or an album that finally reaches that pinnacle, and that goal I set for myself. That's one of the reasons that I love doing music. Also because I want to go out on the road, and play guitar, and perform as well. And I feel like I haven't found myself up until now, as a solo artist."

Nick has been working on much more than just solo music. There is a new Backstreet Boys album AND tour on the way. He also opened up to us about the rumored Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls tour, the movie coming out next year that he wrote, and more. Read on below.

1. On making his solo single called "I Will Wait"

"When I wrote the song, I think we wrote it with the intention going back to what the Backstreet Boys and what we were known for, which is love songs. As a writer and an artist, sometimes as your career goes on, you try to make points, and you try to be overly creative. So I just wanted to go back to the basics, and tap into what our fans knew us for."

2. On the meaning behind the music video for "I Will Wait"

"I Will Wait" also has an extremely touching music video. Nick tells us that the video was based on The Notebook. In other words ... it WILL make you weep uncontrollably. 

"There are a lot of stories that are in the video. The song really kind of was like an old-fashioned love song. It sort of has fifties elements to it. So when I decided to do the video, we had this idea of doing my own take on The Notebook. With some elderly people, it had some similarities to that. So we found an actual couple who had been married for forty/fifty years in Hollywood that worked together as actors. So they were able to portray this couple who -- if you watch the video [SPOILER ALERT] you'll see that one of them passes away -- and then they go to Heaven together. But they truly were in love and still are together. So it was really, really, really sad, but also cool as well to see that there was an inner love story. I thought the song was really beautiful, but when people watch a music video, and if there's something they can emotionally attach to, it hits even deeper into the soul and into the heart."

3. He has a new full-length solo album called All American

"I'm very inspired by rock and pop music, and have those in me, and have done albums like that in the past, so it's going to have that. But it also has some rhythm, it has some soul for sure. I feel like I'm definitely coming into my own as an artist. But it just touches on all sorts of different styles and feels, so when you listen to the album from top to bottom, you know it's taking you on a ride. Like a musical. Like a movie, or something."

In case you were wondering where the name All American comes from, Nick tells us he thought the sound reflected the title really well. "Also a lot of people say, 'Oh he's like that all American boy.' Whatever that means. So I just kind of went with it." 

And he can't wait for people to hear "Cherry Pie" because the song is "a riot," according to Nick. "It's so much fun, it really has that Mark Ronson, throwback type feel."

4. There is a collaboration with Avril Lavigne on his new album called "Get Over Me"

During his iHeartRadio Twitter Tuesday Takeover, Nick revealed that he had a collaboration with Avril Lavigne on his new album. The song is called "Get Over Me," and Nick told us about working with Avril and what the song is about.

"I have been such a big fan of Avril for so many years, and it's people like Avril, people like P!nk, that actually really were able to do that pop-rock music, and still have that soul to it, and be okay with it, and create something for themselves. I felt like, in a lot of ways, I would like to be like them. Almost like the male version of them as a solo artist. And so I talked to Avril about doing a collab together, and we became friends, because we were on tour together with the Backstreet Boys. She was into the idea, and really liked it, and she liked the song that I'd written. And she put her vocals on the song, and it was really cool. I just really respect her as an artist, and a writer, so it's great do a song with her.

It's a really fun play on a couple. It's like a crazy stalker guy, but I'm calling her a crazy stalker girl. So we're saying 'you need to get over me,' and then she's like, 'no you need to get over me.' And we're giving our own stories of the situation that had gone down in the song."

5. As for the rumors surrounding the possible Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls Tour -- the ball is in the Spice Girls' court

Back in October 2016, Nick Carter appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" where he addressed circulating rumors about a joint Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls tour. And Ellen was all for it. Nick explains to us that the ball is in the girls's court! 

"I did 'Ellen', and I even asked her to help with the situation as well. It was an idea that we had been talking about for some time, and we feel it'll be a great idea, and a great tour for all of our fans. It's just in their court now. The girls have got to decide if they want to do something like that. We did a tour with the New Kids on the Block and had good success with that, and it was a lot of fun. So, we felt like it would be a perfect match, because The Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, and actually Hanson -- there was a time when music wasn't pop at that time, in the mid-nineties. And we all broke around the same time with all our singles. We've had the same journey together.

I reached to Mel B because we were really close. She was possibly going to be in my movie Dead 7 with all my boy band buddies. Snd that didn't work out because she was doing her show. So I just sent out a tweet to her and said, 'hey, you know what do you think?' So the buds out there. I mean if Ellen couldn't get it out to them, then nobody can."

6. On what it's like being a part of "Dancing With The Stars"

"Dancing With The Stars" has been one of the many accomplishments Nick has under his belt this year. And he's taken away a lot now coming out of it. It's made him a stronger artist -- solo and as part of Backstreet Boys.

"I think one of the things that I've learned on 'Dancing With the Stars' is when you're in a band, and you've been with a group for so many years, you play as a team, and that's a good thing, but you also mask and hide behind one-another. So on the show, I'm able to come out of my shell and just be out there by myself, and learn how to fix those things, and those habits, and those mistakes, and those flaws on that show, as a performer, as a entertainer. What I've learned is to stand on my own two feet as well. When I do go back to the group, and we do the next tour, and next album I'll be a stronger member as well. But, more confident also as a solo artist."

In case you've been living under a rock, Nick absolutely CRUSHED this season of "Dancing With The Stars," making it to the finals along with his partner Sharna Burgess. One of the more memorable dances he's done on the show was his routine to the Backstreet Boys classic "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."

"The '70s John Travolta was so much fun, I really had a blast with it. Just portraying and acting, and being a character is a lot of fun, and we're able to do that on that show. But the 'Backstreet's Back' performance was really great as well. I love that. It was cool to be able to go back and take our routine and dance that we had been doing for so many years, the same way which can get monotonous, and then add some new choreography, and some new life to it."

7. There WILL be a new Backstreet Boys album and it's currently being made

Yes, that's right! The Backstreet Boys are still going strong, and they are ready to put out another album! Their last album, In a World Like This, came out in 2013, and Nick tells us they've actually started work on the next one!  

"The goal right now is for me to get this solo album out. Then my movie Dead Seven will come out [around] April on Sci-Fi. We're starting to record right now -- the group is. It should be done probably mid next year, and then there will be another tour probably starting the end of next year."

it's no secret the guys are family to Nick. They all remain extremely close, and Nick tells us that he continues to learn from the guys, as he always has.

"I've learned so much from those guys. They've become an extended family, have become more of a family than anything to me. Every single one of those guys is a piece of me. They're my older brothers obviously, but they're families became my families. And I learned their morals, and their values, and really was able to lean on them in times of trouble for myself. So it's not just one specific thing, there's so many things that they've taught me."

8. He has a movie he wrote coming out on Sci-Fi next year called Dead 7 starring every boyband member you can think of

"I've had so many amazing things come to fruition. And one of them was this movie that I had written about eight years ago. It was a western-zombie movie. I co-wrote it and developed the story and everything. I was out on the road on tours, typing on my computer, creating the story. We finally had some time, and I brought it to the guys, who did Sharknado Asylum, and they loved it. We had this idea of putting a musical cast together of musicians and singers, and specifically boy banders. The movie is post apocalyptic, this gang of bandits are hired in order to save this town from this woman, she's called Apocalypta, played by Debra Wilson. Everybody that you can think of is in the movie, O-Town, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, *NSYNC, we got all of them in the movie. I had called Joey, which we became really great friends, and he signed on with me. He was like 'yeah, sure I'll do it.' So it evolved from there. So basically it's boy-banders trying to save the world. I mean it's awesome."

Photos: Rachel Kaplan