"My other goal is to see how many words I can get into a song. You look at groups like 98 Degrees and the Backstreet Boys, and the most words they've ever had in a song is 270. I'm shooting for 350 to 400 words in one song. That's just how much talent we have."

The boys cite many musical influences in their lives. Kurly . . . er, Kirby, has always liked Elton John, Liberace and the Carpenters, for example. Danny prefers Ozzie Osbourne and Marvin Gaye. But they all share one musical passion: The Osmonds. "That's the post-Marie Osmonds," said Kermit. "Her voice is too high for us, and we tend to stay away from country. It's just so country."

Wherever they go in the future, however, the boys know they will take their fans with them. "All we've wanted is to share our incredible gift with everyone else," said Will.

They also know they have an important message to share. "I would like to say to the fans of Everclean, stay cool, stay strong, stay focused — and stay punctual," said Will. If they can do that, "it will be really, really, really, really good."

Danny hopes people remember his mantra and that if "in your heart, you know it's right, follow it."

But perhaps Kirby said it best: "I say, keep the faith and keep rockin.' In fact, that's so important that I've broken it down into an acronym: KTFAKR. And so I just say 'ktfakr,' and people just smile. They know what I'm talking about."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com