Post by shayne on Nov 18, 2010 20:31:50 GMT 8
Westlife talk to new! about saying ‘no’ to Simon Cowell, getting drunk with Brian McFadden, and why they’re backing One Direction…
Unlike many boybands before them, Westlife have stood the test of time.
While other groups have bickered, split and reunited, Westlife have stuck together for 12 years.
Back with their 11th album Gravity, Shane Filan, 31, Nicky Byrne, 32, Mark Feehily, 30, and Kian Egan, 30, are showing no signs of slowing down, despite newcomers like The X Factor’s One Direction nipping at their heels!
Here, the lads tell us why they’ve learned to stand up for themselves when dealing with their record label boss, Simon Cowell, and why Brian will never do a Robbie and rejoin the band…
You’ve been together for 12 years – what’s the secret?
Kian: Taking a year off in 2008 made a huge difference. We went home and came back feeling like a new band. We also started insisting on stuff we hadn’t before like new songwriters and new producers.
Mark: We discovered the word ‘no’ basically!
Kian: And obviously in Simon Cowell’s world it’s pretty difficult to find that word!
Is Simon scary?
Nicky: He’s not so much intimidating, but he can actually get inside your mind, and make you feel that your career can get much better if you take his choice.
You make him sound like a hypnotist!
Mark: He’s got similarities to a hypnotist! But he’s a good guy.
Shane: We probably have a better relationship now than before.
Do you still get crazy groupies?
Nicky: I got into Heathrow airport at 7am the other day and three hardcore fans were waiting. I said to one we see all the time, Dawn, “Hey, it’s a Sunday morning, is today not your sleeping-in day?” It’s lovely but I wouldn’t even do that for Michael Jackson. Even if he was coming back from the dead!
Kian: You really worry for them. What’s going to happen to them when we are off the scene?
Do you think One Direction are the new Westlife?
Nicky: I think Louis [Walsh] said that. I don’t think they are musically. They’re closer to my kids’ ages than us, so they’re probably a lot more like JLS. We think they’re probably going to win it.
Apparently Simon is using the same “formula” on them as he did with you…
Nicky: He’s probably using the same hypnosis!
Kian: I think he’s taking a lot more risks with them than us. And he’s letting them wear what they want!
Any advice to the lads?
Mark: Just have a f***ing laugh!
Shane: Enjoy it. Listen to Simon. Don’t fight. Everything you don’t like about each other, just get it all out on the table.
Nicky: I disagree! I think we used to f***ing kill each other when we did that, it didn’t do us any favours. I think what Shane means is that don’t let disagreements fester. Bands are full of egos. You have to learn to be unselfish.
You recently blasted JLS for releasing branded condoms…
Kian: That was just a mickey take!
Shane: It’s because our single was called Safe, so I said we should do our own condom called Safe.
Mark: We were just messing around in an interview, it was nothing personal against JLS.
Nicky: But if we do release our own branded condoms, we’d hope ours would be slightly bigger!
Would Brian ever rejoin Westlife?
Shane: Brian left because he didn’t like being in Westlife. Robbie [Williams] got kicked out of Take That for being an a***hole. So when Take That reformed and Robbie the superstar joined again, it was life-changing. Our situation’s completely different. I don’t think anyone would be interested if Brian came back.
Kian: We’re all still friends though. We saw him in LA about five weeks ago and got drunk with him. He’s got a totally different life to us, and is very happy.
Kian, you now manage girl group Wonderland that your wife, Jodi Albert, is in…
Kian: Yes. It’s good. It’s been very nerve-wracking. I hope they sell records and people love them.
Louis manages them with you. Have you clashed at all?
Kian: We clash all the time!
Is it weird managing your wife?
Kian: No, Jodi’s done it all before. She’s gone through the bad side of getting a record deal, having money pumped in and being dropped, so she’s at the point now where if me or Louis tell the band something’s for the best she agrees.
What if people think she’s in the band because she’s your wife?
Kian: She’s more worried about that than me. But as Louis says, she wouldn’t have got in if she’d had no talent. Obviously she might have had an upper hand as she’s my wife, but she honestly has so much talent.
Half of you are dads. Is it hard not seeing your kids when you’re working so hard?
Shane: This year my five-year-old daughter Nicole started school so it’s even more important to fly home to Ireland on my days off. Her first day of school was funny – the whole school were screaming and asking me for autographs. The next day Nicole told me her principal had instructed people not to look at me. But that was more hilarious, as the next time I dropped her off, no one made eye contact!
Kian, are you going to have kids soon?
Kian: God no! Not that we don’t want them, but there’s too much going on right now.
Mark, when is your wedding [Mark is engaged to photographer Kevin McDaid]?
Mark: It will happen soon-ish but not immediately. Kevin and I need a bit of space to plan it.
Shane: We’re all giving him grief to hurry up. And to do it abroad. We want a week somewhere hot!
Westlife’s single Safe is out now and their album Gravity is out on November 22
Credit/Source: new-magazine.co.uk
www.westlife.gr