TITANS OF ‘TWEEN
The Slumber Party Girls are typical teens. They’re five giggling shopaholics who are addicted to music, movies and each other. They giggle and gab constantly.
The only difference is, these girls don’t do their gossiping from the comfort of pink cheetah-print bedrooms or at the food court of the local mall. They do it from a national stage: a regular Saturday morning gig on CBS.
In September, they took over a three-hour block of programming that’s aimed at ‘tweens. They have their own show called “Dance Revolution,” based on the popular video game. Then they host the “KOL Secret Slumber Party,” introducing cartoons such as “Sabrina” and “Trollz” and the live-action “Cake” between their banter.
The SPG, as the cool kids like to be known, also are releasing their first album this month.
The group – and all their multichannel promotion – was manufactured by music industry veteran Ron Fair of Geffen Records, who also shepherded the careers of the Black Eyed Peas and the Pussycat Dolls.
Fair says he and Andy Heyward of DIC Entertainment had been kicking around the idea of launching a ‘tween band when a hole came up in CBS’ schedule. The group was always envisioned as all girls, who could successfully mix the Spice Girls, the Power Rangers and the Monkees, Fair says. “They also had to be able to capture the audience of the Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce and Christina Aguilera – mainstream pop. They also could not be talking down to kids in Barney’s voice. They had to be hip for ‘tweens.”
‘Tweens were the target, according to Fair, because they embrace their favorites on their iPod, on their bed sheets and in their toy chest. After all, they’ve grown up on Barbie and the Bratz, he says.
“They’re a powerful audience because everything spills over to their lifestyle and all the ancillary products. That’s what the music industry is today,” Fair says.
So, you can expect to see the SPG – Mallory Low, Cassie Scerbo, Karla Deras, Carolina ‘Lina’ Carattini and Caroline Scott – in a TV movie next year, featured on Mattel dolls and even, possibly, a sitcom.
The fivesome beat out 1,000 other girls at open auditions. All the candidates had to be able to sing, dance and act, explains Fair, but the girls who won the parts also had “stardust.”
Mallory, Cassie, Karla, Lina and Caroline say they would’ve chosen each other anyway – they had swapped cell phone numbers even before they knew they were finalists. They also claim no cattiness.
At least during the 30 minutes spent on the phone (clearly a medium they’re comfortable with), there was no ill will. Sure, there was occasionally teasing – about Caroline being The Brain, for example – but no harsh words.
“I think it’s really cool that I have found these other girls. I can learn a lot from them. … We’re like sisters,” says 17-year-old Mallory, who, as the oldest band member, fills the role of ringleader. (She’s just a few months older than Karla, but when you’re this young, months and weeks matter.)
Mallory describes herself as the “street, urban one,” a little like Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas. “I’m LA born and bred. I’m still in the house I grew up in. I want to stay here in California because that is where the party is!”
Parties, boys, shoes certainly are on the SPGs’ minds, but so are their careers.
Lina, 16, says she’s sorry she had to miss homecoming and that she gets a bit homesick when she thinks of her friends back in Portage, Ind., but she says she feels blessed to be able to dance and sing with her new best buds. “I’m happy to make the sacrifice.”
Lina’s other passion is fashion. She says her look is “sassy but classy” a la Jennifer Lopez.
Karla acknowledges spending much more money on clothes now that she has such a high-profile job, but her “look” – a little more vintage-inspired and unique than the others, she says – hasn’t changed from her pre-SPG days. “They say I’m considered the fashionista of the group,” Karla, who also speaks Spanish fluently, adds shyly.
Caroline, who hails from Memphis, Tenn., is a little funkier, emulating the style of Gwen Stefani, who’s a role model. Caroline appeared as a dancer in Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” video.
And she wears a lot of red.
Cassie’s wardrobe, however, is almost entirely pink. “I’m the girlie girl. I have the Juicy (Couture) Sidekick with pink rhinestones,” says Cassie, of Dix Hills, N.Y.
Their Sidekicks are practically extensions of their bodies. None of them leaves home without them.
“Even though we spend so much time together, when we’ve just left each other, we’ll text, ‘What are you doing?’ ” says Karla. They’ll also send each other photos, music files, inside jokes and even reminders of what’s on TV that night. Apparently Caroline is a huge fan of “The Office.”
“We’re together all the time so it’s weird when we’re not together,” Mallory explains.
They do spend hours together each day, first at “school,” which are actually sessions with private tutors, then at rehearsals, voice lessons and interviews, and then for dinner or some other social activity.
The time probably is right for another batch of teen bands, says Susan Schulz, editor in chief of CosmoGirl. About every seven years, as one wave of teenagers mature and another one comes up the ranks, the audience wants their own music.
“Every new crop of kids wants their Bay City Rollers. It’s probably been that way since Elvis, then The Beatles,” observes Schulz, who was a Duran Duran fan in her teen days.
A band that’s going to succeed with this crowd will have the right look, the right sound and the right marketing, she says. But to have staying power, they’ll have to be good, too, she says. “There’s so much marketing that it feels a little ickier, but the talent part has to exist. You can only get along being cute for so long, you have to be talented. ‘N Sync proved to the skeptics that they actually were pretty good.”
This group has a good chance because they also seem fairly wholesome, Schulz adds. ‘Tweens don’t have a lot of their own money to spend, so they have to persuade their parents to make the purchases – that was a factor in the “High School Musical” phenomenon, she explains.
Mallory, Cassie, Karla, Lina and Caroline are indeed trying to emit the perfect blend of sassy and sweet to keep in line with their audience.
And they do indeed have slumber parties. One recent sleepover was in a hotel room in New York in honor of Mallory’s birthday.
She recalls: “We went to a grocery store and bought so much junk food! We had ice cream and candy and watched scary movies. But only Caroline and Karla stayed awake for the end of ‘Seven.’ ” Mallory recalls.