Post by shayne on Apr 29, 2006 7:32:04 GMT 8
DESPITE PASSING THEIR 'SELL BY DATE' IRELAND'S FAB FOUR ARE HOTTER THAN EVER
THE 'Boyband' label doesn't seem to fit Westlife these days.
The teenyboppers are all grown up. They are opinionated. Two are married. Shane is a dad.
Add to that 34 million album sales, six multi-platinum albums, 13 number ones and a stack of awards, and it's hard to believe it's just seven years since they were the fresh-faced new boyband on the block.
Even their mentor Louis Walsh only gives boy bands a five year life-span.
But somehow Westlife continue to rewrite the rules. Every other boyband that went before them, from Five to NSYNC, Boyzone to Take That, danced one too many a step past their peak once members hit the 24-year mark.
There's no denying that this is 1 of the most successful bands ever, despite critics putting every year down as their last.
The death knell was sounded again when the famous five became the fab four with the departure of Brian McFadden. But after yet another sell-out run at the Point, the Westlife bandwagon shown no signs of running out of steam.
So what is it that has seen them continue to dominate the charts? Is it the safe choice of music, the boys themselves or the magical Midas touch of Louis Walsh?
It's half six, three hours before stage time o the final night of their latest sellout run in Dublin's Point. Outside, minders mingle with hundreds of teenage girls, dressed to kill and hoping for a glimpse of their heroes.
Ever the professionals, Westlife have already been inside the venue for hours. Nicky bounds into the green room. The life and soul of the band, he is the giddy one out of the bunch. At 27 he acts more like 17.
So what's the secret to all that success?
"No one can make you sing what you don't want to sing. Yeah, we stick to songs that have done well, we are not ashamed to say it, but you make it your own and we sing it the way we want to sing it," he says.
"We don't have 100 per cent control in the band because we don't write the material, but we have 95 per cent control of things. The touring is what we get more involved in - the clothes and what goes on on-stage.
Fun Guy
"We tried writing songs over the years, I think when Mark has more time he will have bands come and record his music. Unfortunately though, we are not John Lennon," he laughs. "If we were, we would be ten times richer than we are, which is a shame, but we are not ashamed to say it."
Nicky is a fun guy who shines with modesty. Hard to believe for someone on Ireland's most famous boyband, not to mention being also married to the Taoiseach's daughter.
"Because you are in a boyband, and because we are in a pop band as such, people have preconceptions of what you are like. We are just normal lads, normal 26 and 27-year old lads," he says.
"Georgina was born into the public eye, and then she married me, but she keeps out of it. She is not in the public eye the way she sees it, and she lives her life the way she lives it, out of the public eye."
Nicky also puts the continued success of Westlife down to lack of pregnant doging and backstabbing in the camp.
"We are great friends and we have a laugh on the road - and we are honest with each other," he explains.
"In the pop industry there's a lot of back stabbing, and a lot of slyness that goes on. Once that doesn't exist between the four of us, then we can go on, and we will continue to last.
"I think U2 are the heroes of that, they are who we look up to. There are no secrets with them, there is no one getting secret deals in the background, which can happen - look at Take That and Blue.
"We always said from day one that if there's solo deals just say it out, don't keep it quiet. We have nothing to hide."
Speaking of solo deals, was it a shock when Brian McFadden chose to ruthlessly pursue his own career shortly after quitting the band?
"Three weeks before the opening show he came and said 'I don't want to do this anymore'," says Nicky, recalling the bombshell that dropped as they prepared for their last world tour.
"We tried to talk him out of it for three or four days but, to be honest, we couldn't waste any more time on it. We said 'if you want to go, go now, we don't want to make this a 'Brian McFadden Farewell Tour'. Not only that, but we could have fallen out with him on tour.
Solo career
"At the time when he left he said he wanted to spend time with his family, and then for a solo career to come so soon afterwards it shocked us, of course it did, but we never fell out with him over it.
"When all the press started writing then about his personal life I said 'Brian, just go away, bury your head in the sand'. And when all the magazines were printing 'The Real Story', I advised him to let the press die down. I did feel really sorry for him - he is a good kid, and very talented."
I'm eager to see Kian and Mark when they appear in the green room. I want to offer my congratulations as both have recently been engaged, according to reports.
Mark (25) is the quietest Westlifer and is much taller than I imagined - a little like a gentle giant. But the rumours that he is to marry his boyfriend are false he assures me.
"There is no truth in that whatsoever, I am still just having fun," he confides. "It has been such a happy year for us, probably the best yet."
Kian (25) is in the green room with his new Maltese puppy when I meet him. The dog, it seems, is man's best friend while he's on tour.
"I haven't seen my girlfriend [Jodi Albert of Hollyoaks fame] in two weeks," he sighs "Sometimes we see each other every day for three weeks, it is hard but we are with each other now for three years so we are well used to it."
So surely he is engaged?
"Despite what you read, no, I am not engaged, not yet, apart from whatever everyone reads in the papers," he reveals. "I don't think we have much intensions of being engaged for another few years, we are both so busy. I think we would prefer to wait and relax till the time is right to enjoy being married."
Listening to the boys talk about the last 12 months, you feel their seventh year has been their best yet.
Shane proudly tells me: "It's been a great year for us, we have stepped up our show - it's more energetic and a bit raunchier! It's a great show to watch and Louis thinks it's the best so far - and he would point out the worst.
"The album 'Face to Face' is the biggest ever and 'You Raise Me Up' is our biggest single ever worldwide.
"At the time we were very nervous when Brian left - we knew we had four months touring ahead of us. But the rest of us wanted to continue on. We worked on 'The Rat Pack' album and this album that was so successful. Luckily, we had a good year.
"But every year there is always that question, 'what if'?'. What if the album does bad? Thank God that hasn't happened. We are enjoying it more than we ever did. We have our partners, our houses, and we are more relaxed in our life.
"My baby Nicole gives me another thing to live for, another thing to be happy for and be proud of. We want to be here in five years time. We have broken the rules every year - people kept saying that this would be our last year every year and here we still are, we keep breaking the rules."
Maybe it's down to their loyal fanbase, some of who get a little too fanatical, according to Shane.
Mad things
"Fans send us mad things at signings. Mark got a turnip once in a box with a ribbon tied round it. What was that about?" he laughs.
"Nicky got weighing scales - he isn’t fat whatsoever! We get mad stuff. We got used tampons once at a signing in Argentina."
Westlife are also blessed with the support of the dynamic duo of the pop world, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.
"Simon isn't scary at all, but he is a shrewd businessman," says Shane. "He plays a good role on American Idol and we knew him before he was portrayed as this scary person. It's good to have people like him around, you need that. You need to have honest people as opposed to 'yes' people around.
Walsh and Cowell also carved out Westlife's latest record deal, said to be worth 5 million Euro to each of them.
THE 'Boyband' label doesn't seem to fit Westlife these days.
The teenyboppers are all grown up. They are opinionated. Two are married. Shane is a dad.
Add to that 34 million album sales, six multi-platinum albums, 13 number ones and a stack of awards, and it's hard to believe it's just seven years since they were the fresh-faced new boyband on the block.
Even their mentor Louis Walsh only gives boy bands a five year life-span.
But somehow Westlife continue to rewrite the rules. Every other boyband that went before them, from Five to NSYNC, Boyzone to Take That, danced one too many a step past their peak once members hit the 24-year mark.
There's no denying that this is 1 of the most successful bands ever, despite critics putting every year down as their last.
The death knell was sounded again when the famous five became the fab four with the departure of Brian McFadden. But after yet another sell-out run at the Point, the Westlife bandwagon shown no signs of running out of steam.
So what is it that has seen them continue to dominate the charts? Is it the safe choice of music, the boys themselves or the magical Midas touch of Louis Walsh?
It's half six, three hours before stage time o the final night of their latest sellout run in Dublin's Point. Outside, minders mingle with hundreds of teenage girls, dressed to kill and hoping for a glimpse of their heroes.
Ever the professionals, Westlife have already been inside the venue for hours. Nicky bounds into the green room. The life and soul of the band, he is the giddy one out of the bunch. At 27 he acts more like 17.
So what's the secret to all that success?
"No one can make you sing what you don't want to sing. Yeah, we stick to songs that have done well, we are not ashamed to say it, but you make it your own and we sing it the way we want to sing it," he says.
"We don't have 100 per cent control in the band because we don't write the material, but we have 95 per cent control of things. The touring is what we get more involved in - the clothes and what goes on on-stage.
Fun Guy
"We tried writing songs over the years, I think when Mark has more time he will have bands come and record his music. Unfortunately though, we are not John Lennon," he laughs. "If we were, we would be ten times richer than we are, which is a shame, but we are not ashamed to say it."
Nicky is a fun guy who shines with modesty. Hard to believe for someone on Ireland's most famous boyband, not to mention being also married to the Taoiseach's daughter.
"Because you are in a boyband, and because we are in a pop band as such, people have preconceptions of what you are like. We are just normal lads, normal 26 and 27-year old lads," he says.
"Georgina was born into the public eye, and then she married me, but she keeps out of it. She is not in the public eye the way she sees it, and she lives her life the way she lives it, out of the public eye."
Nicky also puts the continued success of Westlife down to lack of pregnant doging and backstabbing in the camp.
"We are great friends and we have a laugh on the road - and we are honest with each other," he explains.
"In the pop industry there's a lot of back stabbing, and a lot of slyness that goes on. Once that doesn't exist between the four of us, then we can go on, and we will continue to last.
"I think U2 are the heroes of that, they are who we look up to. There are no secrets with them, there is no one getting secret deals in the background, which can happen - look at Take That and Blue.
"We always said from day one that if there's solo deals just say it out, don't keep it quiet. We have nothing to hide."
Speaking of solo deals, was it a shock when Brian McFadden chose to ruthlessly pursue his own career shortly after quitting the band?
"Three weeks before the opening show he came and said 'I don't want to do this anymore'," says Nicky, recalling the bombshell that dropped as they prepared for their last world tour.
"We tried to talk him out of it for three or four days but, to be honest, we couldn't waste any more time on it. We said 'if you want to go, go now, we don't want to make this a 'Brian McFadden Farewell Tour'. Not only that, but we could have fallen out with him on tour.
Solo career
"At the time when he left he said he wanted to spend time with his family, and then for a solo career to come so soon afterwards it shocked us, of course it did, but we never fell out with him over it.
"When all the press started writing then about his personal life I said 'Brian, just go away, bury your head in the sand'. And when all the magazines were printing 'The Real Story', I advised him to let the press die down. I did feel really sorry for him - he is a good kid, and very talented."
I'm eager to see Kian and Mark when they appear in the green room. I want to offer my congratulations as both have recently been engaged, according to reports.
Mark (25) is the quietest Westlifer and is much taller than I imagined - a little like a gentle giant. But the rumours that he is to marry his boyfriend are false he assures me.
"There is no truth in that whatsoever, I am still just having fun," he confides. "It has been such a happy year for us, probably the best yet."
Kian (25) is in the green room with his new Maltese puppy when I meet him. The dog, it seems, is man's best friend while he's on tour.
"I haven't seen my girlfriend [Jodi Albert of Hollyoaks fame] in two weeks," he sighs "Sometimes we see each other every day for three weeks, it is hard but we are with each other now for three years so we are well used to it."
So surely he is engaged?
"Despite what you read, no, I am not engaged, not yet, apart from whatever everyone reads in the papers," he reveals. "I don't think we have much intensions of being engaged for another few years, we are both so busy. I think we would prefer to wait and relax till the time is right to enjoy being married."
Listening to the boys talk about the last 12 months, you feel their seventh year has been their best yet.
Shane proudly tells me: "It's been a great year for us, we have stepped up our show - it's more energetic and a bit raunchier! It's a great show to watch and Louis thinks it's the best so far - and he would point out the worst.
"The album 'Face to Face' is the biggest ever and 'You Raise Me Up' is our biggest single ever worldwide.
"At the time we were very nervous when Brian left - we knew we had four months touring ahead of us. But the rest of us wanted to continue on. We worked on 'The Rat Pack' album and this album that was so successful. Luckily, we had a good year.
"But every year there is always that question, 'what if'?'. What if the album does bad? Thank God that hasn't happened. We are enjoying it more than we ever did. We have our partners, our houses, and we are more relaxed in our life.
"My baby Nicole gives me another thing to live for, another thing to be happy for and be proud of. We want to be here in five years time. We have broken the rules every year - people kept saying that this would be our last year every year and here we still are, we keep breaking the rules."
Maybe it's down to their loyal fanbase, some of who get a little too fanatical, according to Shane.
Mad things
"Fans send us mad things at signings. Mark got a turnip once in a box with a ribbon tied round it. What was that about?" he laughs.
"Nicky got weighing scales - he isn’t fat whatsoever! We get mad stuff. We got used tampons once at a signing in Argentina."
Westlife are also blessed with the support of the dynamic duo of the pop world, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.
"Simon isn't scary at all, but he is a shrewd businessman," says Shane. "He plays a good role on American Idol and we knew him before he was portrayed as this scary person. It's good to have people like him around, you need that. You need to have honest people as opposed to 'yes' people around.
Walsh and Cowell also carved out Westlife's latest record deal, said to be worth 5 million Euro to each of them.