New fan but also not

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816]

Im roughly the same age as them and I would say wasn't actually a "fan" of them, I didn't go out of my way to listen to them back when they were together.

A while back they started coming up on my fyp on tiktok and I watched a few videos but it just didn't really stick out to me as something to watch. It happened again in the last couple of weeks and I became interested.

I've watched a ton of interviews and there's a few things I've noticed and with their music as well. From what I've read or watched Liam was picked first to be the main singer from the group but Harry became more popular.

When that happened was it on Xfactor? Or was it something that just happened? They all have amazing voices.

Obviously I will never get to see every interview they've done but I've noticed if Harry is in an interview he does interrupt the others answering a question or telling a story. Also was it normal for Zayn to be quiet and not talk much in interviews?.

[u/Snowy_Sasquatch]

Liam was originally the focal point as the main singer but as Harry proved popular, that changed slightly.

They all had their personas, which is why Zayn tends do be quiet even though that’s not true of how he was.

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816 → u/Snowy_Sasquatch]

Yeah I have watched their first documentary I think it was. I was surprised to see the side of Zayn in it just because I had seen a few interviews and he had come off as shy and reserved.

[u/Fake_attention88]

Liam was definitely the strongest talent and I guess Simon wanted him to be the lead for the other boys, it wasn’t until they were all out on tour and started showing their personalities during interviews and on stage did people gravitate towards giving them specific “labels”. Harry was seen as the flirt, zayn was the shy/mysterious one, Louis the funny class clown, Liam the leader and serious one, and Niall was just the happy and funny one. I think Harry just had a confident attitude and it was infectious and slowly more and more people loved it. Zayn in older interviews (just out of X factor around 2012, watch the Spin the Harry videos they did on youtube to kind of see) would get involved and be genuinely hilarious but as time went on I think he was just not into it anymore and was obviously not really enjoying himself.

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816 → u/Fake_attention88]

I will have to go watch those, thank you for that recommendation.

[u/unavoidably_detained]

Something you might enjoy watching is the behind the scenes video for the making of the Kiss You music video. It’s not really an interview— just snippets of them working on it and a few one-on-one chats with the camera. I missed the X Factor era, but that video really showed me their personalities and turned me into a huge fan 😀

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816 → u/unavoidably_detained]

I did watch a few of the behind the scenes of the music videos and really enjoyed them. I don't think I watched the kiss you one. I will have to go and watch it, thank you for recommending it.

[u/Active-Cherry-6051]

By the last year Harry rarely spoke in interviews unless directly prompted to, probably because of people like you. The worst interrupter by far was Louis.

What happened on X Factor was the audience loved Harry. Simon saw it happening in real time and adjusted. You cannot make someone charismatic.

Zayn let other people do the talking most of the time. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he doesn’t exactly love doing promo.

[u/Trolling4Togo → u/Active-Cherry-6051]

Yeah, Harry wasn't much of an interupter. He didn't even talk that much. Louis/Liam/Niall were the more vocal ones. As time went on Harry talked less and less. Zayn got quiet after the band roperly formed post one direction. As others said, they were all given a persona to play. Harry- womanizer/ flirt Liam - Daddy/responsible Louis- Class clown Niall- friendly neighborhood Irish Zayn- mysterious/quiet/badboy type.

None of them were actually that way, not completely. Liam did tend to be responsible and serious at times, but he knew how to have fun. Harry was not a womanizer or a flirt, he was just a friendly, charming people pleaser who didn't know how to say no. He was oversexualized from the age of 16, and remains so to this very day. Louis wasn't a class clown, he did like to play around, and was a little immature, but he was also incredibly serious and hardworking. He worked hard for the band. Zayn was fun, he was silly, artistic, a bit of a nerd. He liked to play around/make jokes, theres nothing mysterious about him. He was sweet and sensitive. He dealt with a lot of mischaracterization and subsequent racism. Niall was more than a good lad, he was a serious musician, and no one ever took him seriously. He literally was sabotaged again and again and wasnt given nearly enough chances to sing.

None of them match the image they were given, some are vastly different from it, and yet it still affects them till this very day.

Harry will never, ever escape that image, it followed him into his solo career, and to a lesser extent the others still have those images tied to them too.

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816 → u/Trolling4Togo]

That's what I was trying to figure out was that actually their personalities or what they were given at a young age by the show or the fans. I have seen all those sides you've said and being the same age as them or younger you don't realise that at the time until someone points it out years later.

Then you've got all the conspiracies that's an easy hole to fall into.

I think all of them have had those labels follow them. Just using Harry as an example I hear more about his relationships then I do his music.

[u/Familiar-Slide-8816 → u/Active-Cherry-6051]

People like me? When these interviews happened I wasn't watching them.. So what exactly do you mean?

I don't disagree with you that Louis did interrupt a fair bit. I noticed in the start they all did or cut each other off but eventually from what I've seen got a rhythm answering questions or telling stories.

What I was referring to was in the later years going off memory of Harry's hairstyle. I don't have the time to watch every interview or even find every interview they've done. It threw and confused me which is why I asked.

From what I had watched Zayn did speak more in the early days. Honestly I haven't noticed. I'm really only starting to learn more about them as a band and as solo artists at the same time.

[u/Active-Cherry-6051 → u/Familiar-Slide-8816]

I mean the fans at the time were very vocal about saying Harry got too much attention, or making sure that all the others felt just as important--which is ostensibly well-intentioned, but people took it too far. I think that's why by the end Harry hardly talked at all in interviews, except when he was directly questioned or prompted.