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Question: (To Gunnar)"How did you get your name?"
Gunnar: (Jokingly)It's a Scandinavian name. I used to get a lot of flack for it in school, but twenty percent more dates now!
Question: Do you guys still get nervous when you're performing?
Gunnar: Always. We still get butterflies. I think you're in trouble if they start to go away.
Question: What's your favorite part of the show?
Matthew: The beginning, middle, and end. I love every part of it. The show has peaks and valleys like the album, it keeps them guessing. I'm a total extrovert on stage, which is contrasting to my personality off stage.
Question: What is the weirdest gift you've ever received?
Gunnar: A g-string with a red Devil's face on the crotch and a big forked tongue. When you press it it plays 'When the Saints Go Marching In.'
Question: Will you ever record any of your father's songs?
Matthew: There's no point. No one does Rick Nelson better than Rick Nelson.
Question: What are the best and worst parts about touring?
Gunnar: The best part is meeting the different people from city to city, playing for the kids. The worst is the discipline that's involved. And having to be Marcel Marceau between shows--I can't talk during the day.
Question: What about off stage--do fans follow you everywhere?
Matthew: Yeah. It can get scary. I'm trying to get adjusted to the fact that there is no such thing as a private life. But Nelson fans are the coolest fans in the world. We just don't want it to get to the point where we can't hang out with the people who put us where we are.
Question: Your videos are colorful, visual, and very popular. How involved are you in the creative process?
Matthew: Very. We're very hands on. If you want something done right, do it yourself. With every successive video we're much more confident and comfortable in front of the camera. 'Love and Affection,' we had nothing to lose and we made the craziest video we could make. People didn't know what the hell to think when they saw it. 'After the Rain' established that Nelson is six guys, not a duo. You can see that in the 'More Than Ever' video, which is a live video, a live audio track.
Question: You grew up in a show business family, the sons of singer Rick Nelson. What did you learn from his experiences to apply to your own career?
Matthew: We've seen the down side. It's not all glitz and glamour. They don't talk about the years of down time when you're writing, or when you're not popular any more. It instilled in us what was important--family, friends, loved ones. We chose to come into this situation, and it hasn't been an easy ride. We really had to bust our asses. It makes you want to work harder, though. We realized no one's gonna do it for us. It's our work, and we take pride in it.
Question: How do you decide who sings lead on what song?
Matthew: We have different ranges. I have a broader range, Gunnar has a stronger voice in a more limited range. I tend to sing the songs that tend to be a little more melodic and Gunnar sings the songs that are more balls to the wall, and we switch off live, just to keep you totally confused.
Question: Why doesn't Matthew ever stand on the left in photos?
Matthew: I'm right-handed and Gunnar's left-handed--it feels more natural to me that way.
Question: What do the symbols on the After the Rain cover mean?
Matthew: We use the symbols because we feel people learn not only from what they hear but what they see. They're a visual representation of our song titles or concepts such as love, hope, peace, etc.
Question: Did you ever use the line "Have you ever had twins" on women? Did you ever play tricks on your family or girlfriends?
Matthew: Yes. Around 97% of the time we were joking about it. Around 3% of the time, we were desperate.
Gunnar: That's the ace in the hole line. We never pull it unless it's a case of dire emergency and we're obviously going down in flames. And we can't get away with the switcheroo on our family because they know us so well and our personalities are so vastly different. We did pull it on our girlfriends, especially in our teens, when we looked more alike. I think it turned them on more than it pissed them off. I also tried to take a test twice in fifth grade and it didn't work. I got caught. That was the end of tricking people in class.
Question: What inspired you to write "Only Time Will Tell?"
Matthew: The song was written about a childhood friend who flipped out due to drugs and bad friends. He wanted things to be the same, but we weren't the same people.
Question: What five words would each of you pick to describe yourselves?
Matthew: sensitive, passionate, balanced, intelligent, sexual
Gunnar: shameless, complex, pensive, ambitious, giving
Question: Has there been a turning point in your lives?
Matthew: The one turning point in our lives that really kicked us in the ass and got us back on the path was when Tracy got sick. She had cancer. To see your beautiful, talented sister losing her hair, having chemotherapy and wasting away to 70 pounds, it made our problems look like shit.
Question: Did having each other to rely on help?
Matthew: Everyone always said, "They'll be fine, they have each other." Whatever shit we were going through, we had to rely on each other.
Question: How are you different, personality-wise?
Matthew: I'm usually the one who sits back and waits for my moment to kill. I'm a little bit more spiritual. Gunnar is real out front and forward and aggressive, raw and sexual. When we write I usually don't say a lot and then it just comes through in a flash. We have some of the qualities of each other but we're different enough to balance each other out.
Question: Do you ever argue?
Matthew: It's more like intense discussions. We're so close, we're together for life and we're committed to keeping the channels open. We got into fights in our younger days. But it's not worth it. When it comes down to it, all we've got is each other.
Question: Do you enjoy making videos?
Matthew: I love every aspect of what we do. You can wear so many different hats. Poduce records, write songs, direct videos, put shows together. It's great.
Gunnar: I would've used a different director of photography on the first video. It turned out very muted. If you think it's colorful, you should have seen it in person. Now we have a bit more of a say. They'll get better because we'll get more comfortable. We put a lot of time and effort into making sure it's what we want.
Question: How do you feel about your work as a songwriter?
Matthew: It's my priority. The way I write is like a storyteller. That's the way I imagine things and I always put things in a "what if?" scenario and write about a story. My goal is to take some of what I feel and inspire someone along the same lines, maybe somebody can relate to something I've experienced through the songwriting. My goal is to always reach people on a very large scale through my songs because it's my voice. That's all I've ever had. I wrote my first song when I was 10. I've really made a conscious effort to try and be the best songwriter that I can be.
Question: From the outside it may look like you have everything you want. Is that how you feel?
Matthew: I feel great. The only thing I've ever asked for is to be happy playing music and making people happy. It sounds really hokey, but I'm being serious. My dreams are coming true. Everyday I'm living the dream. I thank God for the fans and giving me the ability to do what I'm doing. I really don't need a whole lot more. One thing that I've learned is that you're only going to be as happy as you allow yourself to be. I've got no reason to feel miserable right now. I'm feeling great.