Interview: At Home With Travis Nesbitt

It's a beautiful thing to create something and see it take flight, and Travis Nesbitt has been enjoying just that -- but not only the success of The Boy Band Project, which has captured peoples' attention and adoration since Nesbitt first created it. Travis has lived what some might call a charmed life, going from gig to gig, something that hasn't actually stopped since the shelter in place order started. Although under quarantine like everyone else, the industrious Nesbitt seems to be as busy as ever, only with some new jewelry on his left hand and a puppy on his lap. Not bad, Nesbitt.

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced as written.

Name: Travis Nesbitt
First Cabaret Show (Title, Year, Club): The Boy Band Project, 2018, The Iridium
Most Recent Cabaret Show: Boy Band Brunch w/ The Boy Band Project, 2020, The Green Room 42
Website or Social Media Handles: www.theboybandproject.com, Instagram: @boybandproject, @Bocotrav2006
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0TaLi_7rOiaPZN-ZA4cp2Q



Travis, how is married life treating you?

Great! We've been together for 11 years, so I had him properly vetted :)

And even though under quarantine, you have been very busy creating online content for The Boy Band Project, and you have a concert on Sunday with Bravo Amici.

Yeah. I've found it so essential to stay busy during this time. With everyone staying home, EVERYONE is on their phone or online constantly. The world is literally watching, so it's time to pivot. We turned our weekly Boy Band Brunch at The Green Room 42 into a LIVE weekly Digital Get Down on Facebook and Youtube and we are creating an "in quarantine" music video coming out next week! BUT for something COMPLETELY different..... I also sing with an opera "cross over" group based out of New Zealand, New York, and London. We put a contemporary sparkle onto classical music and we were supposed to be taking off for a month-long tour of New Zealand this month that was canceled, unfortunately. In an effort to spread love and keep folks entertained, we are doing a LIVE streamed Mother's Day concert from the Bravo

Amici Facebook page this Saturday, May 9th at 7 pm (EST).


What has been your experience, creating your own entertainment company and making it so successful?

It has been such an unexpected joy in my life. For 10 years I had strung together a pretty successful living doing theatre in New York. I LOVE performing, but always knew I wanted to be more involved creatively and logistically. A week after finishing a season at The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, while in London with my husband, on a whim, I interviewed for the Creative Producing Master's Program at Royal Central London School of Speech and Drama. I got in, got a scholarship, I went, and it was simultaneously the hardest/smartest thing I've ever done in my life. I then created The Boy Band Project, and it has consumed my life ever since. I get to work with my best friends everyday and create amazing opportunities for them and myself. I truly am passionate about this project and I believe that's why we've had some success.


Away from the entertainment industry, you have worked as a health and fitness specialist, have you continued that line of work, as well all your show business ventures? If yes, are you able to teach your students by remote during the shelter in place order?

I've been a certified personal trainer for, I think, 8 years now. I've had to scale back as BBP has kept me quite busy, but I still keep up with all my certs and make time for a few consistent clients every week. Working out and going to the gym is so important to me, and it's nice to use my brain on something completely different. I haven't done any Facetime or Zoom training sessions, but I have been designing at home work out programs for my clients. You have to get super creative due to lack of equipment.

Is Kiyoko enjoying having you around so much, these last seven weeks?

That has been the silver lining of this whole experience. We were obsessed with our dog before, but now she is literally attached to our hip. I'm literally writing this Q/A with one hand as she demands attention from the other. lol. We relocated to a cabin in The Poconos so we could quarantine outside of the city, and she is in heaven. She is going to so bummed when things go back to normal!

You are an avid traveler, when society returns to normal, what is the first trip you would like to make?

Andy's best friend from Yale moved to Florence and we were just about to go visit her before all this started. It's torture seeing flights so cheap and not being able to travel anywhere!

How was the Altar Boyz virtual reunion?

Incredible! I can't believe it had been 10 years since we all sang together. Altar Boyz was one of the most formative and spectacular times in my life so far. SO many memories. We had all kept in touch a bit, but it began to dwindle over the years. This video totally brought us back and we had a Zoom cast reunion last week and we now have a text message group called ALTAR MEN. lol

What have you and Andy discovered about yourselves and your marriage by being self-isolated during your newlywed year?

I feel like we are all on some social experiment that is going to be released on Netflix next year. For years, Andy and I have been wanting to grab the dog and tuck away in a cabin for a week. I wouldn't want to be quarantined with anyone else and I feel like this whole experience re-affirms that I choose the right person.

Audiences at a Boy Band Project performance can get a little carried away - what's the craziest thing that has happened at one of your shows?

Oh my! so many drunk fans and audience members trying to cop a feel on stage. We had a sold-out performance in Puerto Vallarta last Feb with NSYNC's Lance Bass in the audience and the lights went out. The microphones stayed on, so we kept going! Everyone pulled out their iPhone lights and lit the stage for us. It was really incredible and Lance loved the show.

Travis, what's the best Girl Group of all time?

oooof! Sophie's Choice... I would have to say the Spice Girls, although Wilson Phillips was the first tape I ever bought. Stay tuned for The Girl Band Project :)

All photos provided by Travis Nesbitt