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Big Time Rush Talks Venturing Into Spanish Music and Preparing for Tour: 'It's Going to Be Awesome'

Big time rush partners for big time rescue
Big time rush partners for big time rescue

Jordan Knight Big Time Rush

Between recording music, keeping fans up-to-date through their newly successful TikToks and preparing for their summer tour — the boys of Big Time Rush are still prioritizing giving back.

Speaking to PEOPLE about their limited edition merch line Big Time Rescue in line with Annual National Rescue Dog Day on Friday, the band — which includes James Maslow, Logan Henderson, Kendall Schmidt and Carlos PenaVega — agreed that given their love for furry friends, it was "the perfect storm."

"We've been very, very lucky with everybody being as excited as they are, including us, about the tour and everything that's going on," Maslow, 31, says. "So we thought, 'Hey, how can we partner with some charities and organizations that we believe in?' One of which is literally where I rescued my dog Posey from. Big Love is going to be one of the charities we're giving a percentage to. So just organic and awesome. We hope the fans love it and it's going to be going to a truly good cause."

Big time rush partners for big time rescue
Big time rush partners for big time rescue

Big Time Rescue Big Time Rescue merch

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Henderson, 32, adds, "Like James said, we're all big dog lovers. And there's so many dogs, animals that need homes and families, and a lot of people who are really into that. So we felt like this would be the best way to kind of share the message."

The merch line, which fans can access at www.bigtimerush.store includes T-shirts and crewneck sweatshirts in black, white and lavender with the band members' names written over a print that portrays them as dogs — which the band personally picked out themselves to mirror a current or past pet. Meanwhile, 10% of profits will go to charities Big Love Rescue and Wags and Walks.

The band is set to kick off their Forever tour in June in Maryland and will make their way across the country with stops in major cities before wrapping up in August in Concord, California, and then doing three shows in Mexico. When asked what they'll be doing to prepare for the tour as its start approaches, they admit it's a bit of a "daunting question" because "they don't call us Big Time Rush for nothing."

"The scaries are setting in, at least for that part of it," Henderson says. "But on the production side, everything's going really smooth. And as long as we've been doing it together, things happen pretty quickly. So once we're all together, things just kind of move, they kind of work."

Schmidt, 31, adds, "And this band is notoriously last minute, so that's kind of situation normal."

In light of the collaboration, the band also reflected on their past tours together when PenaVega and Maslow brought their dogs along — which Maslow plans to do again. In PenaVega's case, he'll be bringing his three kids, which Henderson says will make himself and Schmidt "a little bit insane."

PenaVega, 32, does clarify, however, that his three kids — sons Ocean, 5, and Kingston, 3 next month, as well as daughter Rio, 1, whom he shares with wife Alexa PenaVega — will be traveling in a separate bus. "You guys just wouldn't survive. My kids are amazing, but having three kids. Honestly I think three dogs is probably way easier than three... I think five dogs would be easier than three kids," he says.

Last month, the band took a trip to Miami together to record new music and teased some of their work during an Instagram Live. In this case, the "Boyfriend" singers are venturing into Spanish music for the first time. They teased an unreleased song called "Dale Pa' allá" and taught fans a dance they came up with to dance along to.

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The idea was PenaVega and Schmidt's after working with Dominican music producer Maffio, and they admit they thought the idea would be a "hard sell" — but turns out, it took no convincing!

"We had the best time. And the stuff that we came up with, I think it was some of our best writing, because it was all four of us together and stuck in this little work camp for two weeks. And I can't wait to share with the world because it's going to be awesome," PenaVega says.

Henderson adds, "And Latin America and Mexico, those have always been special places for us. The fans there have so much energy and so much love. And I think after we put those three shows on sale after not playing in Mexico for so long, they sold out in less than a day. And I think we all kind of thought, 'You know what? I think it's time to do something special.' "

The band adds that the song is definitely one of their "favorites" but it's only a taste of what's to come — hinting at their experimentation with merengue and tango, with "multiple songs" coming out this summer.