The boy band chatted with ET about the next chapter in their musical lives, relationships and going on tour.
CNCO is ready for its "sensual" new era.
The Latino boy band is entering a new phase of its career following Joel Pimentel's departure in May. Zabdiel De Jesús, Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón and Christopher Vélez took ET's Deidre Behar exclusively behind the scenes of their Toa La Noche Club Tour rehearsal, which kicks off Aug. 19 in Austin, Texas, and got candid about life as a foursome, dating in the spotlight, and how Camacho navigates fatherhood and superstardom.
"It's been interesting, to be honest," Camacho admits. "I think this transition helped us to find different areas that we didn't really experiment on musically. And also it gave us time to reflect and kind of just see, where do we want to go? How do we want to look? What do we want to give our fans? Or what are they asking for?"
"They've grown with us. So what's better than giving them an authentic and more of a mature version of CNCO?" he continues, adding how they're bringing a new flavor to their sound. "Once in the studio, we recorded a lot of great songs that we are super happy for you guys to hear and sing as well…We've just been working and going crazy. Just enjoying life as we have it, making the best out of it, and growing in every kind of aspect that we can."
The singers released their first single as a quartet, "Toa La Noche," in July, with Colón teasing that the song is just a snippet of "all the songs that we have been working on."
"This is kind of an introduction, lyrical-wise, because it's just been a little bit more grown, more mature. It's a little bit more sensual," Camacho describes their upcoming music, with Vélez adding, "It's a little spicy."
As for the challenges of having one less member, Colón notes, "A challenge for us is to just find new music, and I think it's just that. Renewing and trying to find a new sound, a new music." Camacho, meanwhile, notes that something new is "we have more parts now in the songs…We got to sing a little bit more."
De Jesús also adds, "We've been having meetings between us more than ever. We always do it with our team and our label and stuff. But most of the time it's between us and we always brainstorm together. It's really fun when we [come up with] different ideas, because since everybody's from different cultures, we all have different opinions."
Pimentel had been with them since CNCO's creation in 2015. Their journey together cemented them as brothers, with the four singers being adamant about how they still remain close with their former member.
"He's our brother. He will never stop being a brother," Vélez expresses. "Right now he just took a different path and we support him 100 percent. But everybody will have those moments like that. You just need to be supportive. And that's what we did with him. And he's working on his music right now, as [we are as well]."
Vélez adds, "We just want to continue making a legacy, and we just support him. The best era of CNCO is about to come."
With losing a member comes thoughts about a name change or potential breakup -- a la One Direction and Fifth Harmony. The singers express that the conversation of changing the band's name (CNCO is short for cinco, which translates to five) never came up.
"CNCO is so dope, so why change something that we fell in love with from the beginning," Camacho notes, before adding that they're not going anywhere. "We're working [like] crazy."
"I feel like we're thinking more in the future," chimes in Vélez. "We're more concentrated than ever. We have the power and the will to do whatever we want with our careers. We're learning still, it's a learning process every single day, but we've been in the industry for, like, six years now and we know what we want now. So right now is a moment for us to do it, and just explore it and go for it."
CNCO, meanwhile, is busy concentrating on their upcoming album and tour. Work has been consuming the artists, who note that dating is not something they're focused on.
"The whole band is still single," Camacho cracks, with Vélez adding, "Ready to mingle."
As for how they go about dating when they have such a high public profile? "It's hard. It is hard," Vélez admits. "Sometimes you just don't have a private life. But, I mean, we just go out, some partying around. But we don't date like that. I haven't dated in a while, like date-date, properly dating in a while."
"And if it does happen, it doesn't really last long," says Camacho, explaining that distance and communication between couples takes a toll. "But we're still having fun."
When asked what qualities they look for in a partner, De Jesús says, "I love confidence," Vélez adds, "Smile," while Colón notes, "Charismatic, I think, is a big one."
And while the guys have a number of celeb crushes -- including Bella Poarch, Emma Watson, Megan Fox and Madison Beer -- Camacho gets candid with his response, "Honestly, I'm focused on my daughter."
"When you have a daughter, or anybody to take care of, I feel like you really focus on yourself a lot. Which is not that you don't do when you have a daughter or anything, but now you have a different entity to take care of. It's another part of you," the singer says of his 5-year-old daughter, Aaliyah. "So now you have to take care of two persons. And that fills my heart with energy to just keep working and keep pushing. Because at the end of the day, if she's not well, then I'm not going to be well. If I'm not well, then she won't be well. So it's kind of providing for one person that it splits into two."
The rest of the members can't get enough of Camacho's little one, with Vélez saying, "She's beautiful. I think she likes more Zabdy than all of us. When he was blond it was more, right?"
Camacho quips, "She's always had a crush on Zabdy…Zabdy and Erick. Sometimes she mentions Erick because of the eyes…Chris is like the fun uncle. He is like the more hype one."
The guys, on their end, are more than excited to head out on tour. "We're ready for you guys. We're so excited to see you guys again and hopefully we will be in new countries, in South America, and everywhere you are," Vélez relays.
As for what fans can expect from their shows -- a big dance party.
"Come comfortable. That's the first thing that we're going to tell you, just come comfortable. Don't come in heels. If you want to come in heels, it's great. But just know that you're going to party and dance a lot," Camacho shares. "We're going to just have a good time… celebrate the new era, and kind of just bring it with the best that we can."
See more of ET's behind the scenes of CNCO's tour rehearsals in the video above, including who they want to collaborate with, a potential CNCO movie and so much more.
RELATED CONTENT:
