Cover
Story: Facing Up To Westlife
- August 2006
Westlife’s
nicky fesses up to the boy band way of life.
After
a four months break, one of the biggest groups is back on the fast track to
world –wide musical domination.
Westlife took a well deserved break from
the limelight, after the success of their 2004 tribute cover album to Frank
Sinatra, Allow Us To Be Frank, in which time Nicky,
Kian, Shane and Mark took time out to rejuvenated their batteries.
It was
their longest break since the boys self titled debut album in 1999 catapulted
them to boy-band superstardom. The departure of member Bryan McFadden in 2004
didn’t dampen the remaining boys spirit in the
slightest.
And after six multi-platinum albums in the
“We had nearly four months off and it felt like three years,”
laughs Nicky, “the break made us realise how much we wanted to start work again.
At the end of it I couldn’t wait to get back into the studio.”
Their
seventh album sees them teaming up once again with long term collaborator and
friend, Steve Mac, and Swedish hit-makers The Location (Britney Spears,
Backstreet Boys, Nsync), to release their latest venture, Face To
Face.
The album features the boys taking on three of the most popular
tracks of all time.
The first single is their remake of Josh Groban’s
You Raise Me Up where they gave it an Irish feel by adding bagpipes to the
track.
That was quickly followed by another heartbreaker and chart-maker,
When You Tell Me That You Love Me, a duet with Diana Ross.
Their third
single from Face To Face is an original song, Amazing, which sees the boys do
what they do best: soppy, heart wrenching love ballads. Also included is their
version of The Eagle’s Desperado.
Fans won’t be worried, because the
rest of the album is full of original tracks, the sort that Westlife does best,
with enough happy pop tunes and love songs to tickle everyone’s boy band
fancy.
New tracks include That’s Where You Find
Love, She’s Back, Colour My World, In This Life, Heart Without A Home, Hit You
With The Real Thing, Change Your Mind and Maybe Tomorrow.
Recording for
Face to Face was spread throughout
Buzz caught up with Westlife member Nicky, to find out
what’s up with one of the most popular boy bands in the
universe.
How’s
the tour been so far?
Great,
but tiring! It’s been a good time though, the crowd
seems to really be enjoying themselves every time we play. It’s amazing for me
to see that, Westlife’s been together for almost eight years now, and we’re
still packing them in.
Where’ve you guys played?
So far, we’ve
played the U.K,
Where would you say has the best
audiences?
Well, since I’m Irish, I’ll have to say
How different
would you say asian fans are compared to western
fans?
It’s been six years since we last played in
polite
when they meet you, but when they’re at the concert, they go crazy, they really
do! They show that they’re enjoying themselves by singing along to the songs.
Over 30 million albums sold in
your career with westlife – what does that mean to you?
Well, in a way it
tells us that we’ve made it in the industry. But while saying that, we also have
to remember that there’s no room for complacency. You’re only as good as your
last album. There is always room for improvement. Perhaps when you’ve sold 60
million you can sit back a little and relax, but not now, there’s still so much
more we can accomplish. But it is a proud feeling. It’s something we didn’t know
we could achieve. But the fact that we’ve lasted this long, having overcome so
many things like Brian leaving, and we continue to forge forward shows us we’ve
got a lot more kick left. We’re not finished yet!
Would you guys ever look for a new
member?
No, I don’t think we’ll ever have a new member. We’ve managed to
sustain ourselves very happily as a four piece group. Besides, I’d much rather
split finances four ways than five ways!
What would you do if this whole ride
stopped tomorrow?
We just finished our six months break, so I think I’d
take a year off if it all stopped tomorrow. I’d enjoy my life with my wife, my
dog, and hopefully by that time, have a little family too. I’d like to stop and
take a breath and think long and hard about what Westlife has achieved. Then I’d
start all over and do something completely different like golf, because, lets
face it, we’re never going to be as successful individually as we were with
Westlife as a group. And I’ve always wanted to be the best, never mediocre. So I
think I’d put that whole group thing aside and say that was then, and this is
now.
Your last two albums have
been predominantly covers, have you been stalling - when are you going to hit us
with another original sure winner?
We have been very cover driven lately.
But there are so many great old songs that are being remade, and that’s just
where we are right now. As far as writing original stuff goes, Westlife has been
lucky to have such success that we can’t afford to be mediocre anymore. We have
to ensure that every track we come up with is a hit. There are lots of people
out there willing us to fail, and even the media can be against you. But the
fans, you can’t fool them.
In
all your travels, which country do you think has the prettiest
girls?
That’s a hard question! There are lots of pretty girls everywhere.
But I think I’m going to have to go with
Do
you ever get sick of being called a boyband?
Not really. Our fan base
isn’t just the young, though, anymore. We’ve won over a lot of the older fans
with our cover tracks. The boyband stigma is always attached, but whether we’re
a boyband, or boys in a band, it doesn’t bother us at all.
Tell us a bit about the upcoming asian tour?
Touring always is the best part of what we
do. And as for our upcoming Asian tour, we have a couple of surprises in store.
We’re going to get quite raunchy, so even if you’re not a Westlife fan, there’s
something to enjoy!
it looks like
Really? Are you sure? That seems strange. I know we have a really big
fan base there. We’ll speak to our agent and get that changed.
We’ll keep you to your word …
I’m
sure we’ll be seeing you guys down in
Face to Face is currently available
under Sony
A quickie with
Nicky
Best thing about being
a westlife member?
Travelling the world.
I feel sexiest when …
I’m
naked!
I’m happiest when
…
I’m naked with my wife!
Pussycat dolls or hillary duff?
Pussycat Dolls, because there’s six of
them.
Life is about
….
Enjoying it, not stressing, believing and living
your dreams.
Credit/Source:
www.mmail.com.my