When The Citizen spoke with Jake Lauckern last June, the Auburn High School junior had recently taken first place in a regional round of the Colgate Country Showdown. Lauckern's music career was poised for its breakout moment.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Auburn High School junior Jake Lauckern recently joined a national pop group called WOW.
Auburn High School junior Jake Lauckern recently joined a national pop group called WOW.
That moment may have come only a couple months later, when Lauckern auditioned for WOW, a new national pop group. Along with four other young men, Lauckern was chosen from hundreds of young performers and swept to Los Angeles to record WOW's first songs. He recently returned to Auburn to resume his student life, though Lauckern is already learning that his life may never be the same now that he's a member of a national music act.
The Citizen sat down with Lauckern to recount his audition for the group, its first days, its growing fame and its music.
THE AUDITION
Q: How did you find out about the audition?
A: Through my singing coach in New York City. He told me I should go and audition for it. So I went down and auditioned in Manhattan. Then they called me back to audition in New Jersey again and I auditioned down there and made the band. I went to Manhattan August and I had to go back in September.
Q: How many other boys auditioned? What did you think of your chances?
A: I don't remember but the count was like 400-something, I think. I thought my chances were slim because there was a lot of really good singers and dancers, and I don't dance at all, so I was really nervous seeing everybody there.
Q: What did the audition consist of?
A: You had to sing three songs, then they'd ask you questions and you went from there. I sang “How am I Supposed to Live Without You” by Michael Bolton, then I sang “Amazing Grace” and “Imagine” by John Lennon. I picked the songs. Some of the questions were “What's your favorite movie?” “What's your favorite music?” “Would you be able to travel a lot?” “Do you get homesick often?”
Q: How did you react when you found out you made it?
A: I was ecstatic, I was so excited.
THE GROUP
Q: How did the group get started?
A: After the audition we had a photo shoot in Brooklyn, and we just got back from Los Angeles about two weeks ago, where we recorded five songs. Then we went to our first red carpet event.
Q: What does WOW stand for?
A: It just stands for what we are - our clothes, our personalities and our music.
Q: Do you expect the group to get big?
A: I see us being successful because my manager (Paris D'Jon) has worked with 98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson and LL Cool J, and he knows what he's doing.
Q: How do you get along with the other guys in the group? Do you have a role that distinguishes you from them?
A: We all get along really well. We all have really different personalities; I'm more laid back than everyone else. They call me the small-town, all-American kid. I think it's fine, I don't have a problem with it.
Q: How do you feel about the boy band label? How do you see WOW distinguishing itself from other boy bands?
A: I think the boy band thing is fine. Usually people look down on that, but it's absolutely fine. We are like the other groups - I don't think we really have to be different. We're the same, really.
Q: When you saw boy bands on TV when you were younger, did you ever imagine being a part of one?
A: All the time when I was little, when I'd see the bands, I always wanted to do that. But it's definitely more about the music than the fame for me.
Q: Are you managed very closely?
A: We got told what to do to a certain extent. But we can still be ourselves. Like anything we put on the Internet we have to ask about - we can't put too much on MySpace. And some of the clothes we buy, because they like to tell us what to wear. I think some of the stuff they want me to wear is my own taste, so I'm OK with what they give me to wear.
THE FAME
Q: What was your first red carpet event like?
A: I don't really remember what it was though. We went and got interviewed a bunch of times and took pictures on the red carpet. There were Disney Channel stars and stuff. I had a lot of fun.
Q: Have you received a lot of attention since joining the group?
A: A little bit, I've been hearing from people that I usually never hear from, like former friends and family members.
Q: Are you prepared to deal with the female attention boy bands usually receive?
A: Yeah, definitely (laughs).
Q: Have students in school treated you any differently since you joined WOW?
A: Kind of. Sometimes some people come up to me and talk to me more - kids I'd never really talk to.
Q: Has it been difficult to balance your band commitments with being a junior at Auburn High School?
A: My school is working with me really well. They're letting me use a program where they e-mail me all my notes and everything I'm doing in class. They're trying hard to work with me.
THE MUSIC
Q: The last time we spoke, you mentioned continuing in music as a career after high school. How do you see WOW affecting your those plans?
A: I don't know. I never really thought of that. This is truly what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a recording artist. Now that's happening.
Q: What type of music does WOW perform? Do you have a hand in it, creatively?
A: It's pop music. We didn't write it, it was given to us by the producer we worked with, Drew Lane. He's worked with Miley Cyrus and Mary J. Blige.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish, musically, with WOW?
A: I hope to influence other people that want to do this and I hope people like our music.
Q: I also remember you're into songwriting. Do you plan to continue that with WOW?
A: I'm still going to continue it, like when we're on the road. I'll just keep it to myself for now. For now, I'm just going to be in this band.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
The Citizen sat down with Lauckern to recount his audition for the group, its first days, its growing fame and its music.
THE AUDITION
Q: How did you find out about the audition?
A: Through my singing coach in New York City. He told me I should go and audition for it. So I went down and auditioned in Manhattan. Then they called me back to audition in New Jersey again and I auditioned down there and made the band. I went to Manhattan August and I had to go back in September.
Q: How many other boys auditioned? What did you think of your chances?
A: I don't remember but the count was like 400-something, I think. I thought my chances were slim because there was a lot of really good singers and dancers, and I don't dance at all, so I was really nervous seeing everybody there.
Q: What did the audition consist of?
A: You had to sing three songs, then they'd ask you questions and you went from there. I sang “How am I Supposed to Live Without You” by Michael Bolton, then I sang “Amazing Grace” and “Imagine” by John Lennon. I picked the songs. Some of the questions were “What's your favorite movie?” “What's your favorite music?” “Would you be able to travel a lot?” “Do you get homesick often?”
Q: How did you react when you found out you made it?
A: I was ecstatic, I was so excited.
THE GROUP
Q: How did the group get started?
A: After the audition we had a photo shoot in Brooklyn, and we just got back from Los Angeles about two weeks ago, where we recorded five songs. Then we went to our first red carpet event.
Q: What does WOW stand for?
A: It just stands for what we are - our clothes, our personalities and our music.
Q: Do you expect the group to get big?
A: I see us being successful because my manager (Paris D'Jon) has worked with 98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson and LL Cool J, and he knows what he's doing.
Q: How do you get along with the other guys in the group? Do you have a role that distinguishes you from them?
A: We all get along really well. We all have really different personalities; I'm more laid back than everyone else. They call me the small-town, all-American kid. I think it's fine, I don't have a problem with it.
Q: How do you feel about the boy band label? How do you see WOW distinguishing itself from other boy bands?
A: I think the boy band thing is fine. Usually people look down on that, but it's absolutely fine. We are like the other groups - I don't think we really have to be different. We're the same, really.
Q: When you saw boy bands on TV when you were younger, did you ever imagine being a part of one?
A: All the time when I was little, when I'd see the bands, I always wanted to do that. But it's definitely more about the music than the fame for me.
Q: Are you managed very closely?
A: We got told what to do to a certain extent. But we can still be ourselves. Like anything we put on the Internet we have to ask about - we can't put too much on MySpace. And some of the clothes we buy, because they like to tell us what to wear. I think some of the stuff they want me to wear is my own taste, so I'm OK with what they give me to wear.
THE FAME
Q: What was your first red carpet event like?
A: I don't really remember what it was though. We went and got interviewed a bunch of times and took pictures on the red carpet. There were Disney Channel stars and stuff. I had a lot of fun.
Q: Have you received a lot of attention since joining the group?
A: A little bit, I've been hearing from people that I usually never hear from, like former friends and family members.
Q: Are you prepared to deal with the female attention boy bands usually receive?
A: Yeah, definitely (laughs).
Q: Have students in school treated you any differently since you joined WOW?
A: Kind of. Sometimes some people come up to me and talk to me more - kids I'd never really talk to.
Q: Has it been difficult to balance your band commitments with being a junior at Auburn High School?
A: My school is working with me really well. They're letting me use a program where they e-mail me all my notes and everything I'm doing in class. They're trying hard to work with me.
THE MUSIC
Q: The last time we spoke, you mentioned continuing in music as a career after high school. How do you see WOW affecting your those plans?
A: I don't know. I never really thought of that. This is truly what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a recording artist. Now that's happening.
Q: What type of music does WOW perform? Do you have a hand in it, creatively?
A: It's pop music. We didn't write it, it was given to us by the producer we worked with, Drew Lane. He's worked with Miley Cyrus and Mary J. Blige.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish, musically, with WOW?
A: I hope to influence other people that want to do this and I hope people like our music.
Q: I also remember you're into songwriting. Do you plan to continue that with WOW?
A: I'm still going to continue it, like when we're on the road. I'll just keep it to myself for now. For now, I'm just going to be in this band.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
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