Face
To Face With Westlife - October
2006
They're
all in their late twenties and one is even a happy, nappy-changing dad, but you
can still call Westlife "a boy band" and get away with
it.
That's what Prime Time Morning discovered in an exclusive interview
with the Irish group who were in
When asked about being called a 'boy band' Westlife's Kian Egan cheekily
stated "just don't call us a girl band".
At the same time, he was
serious in maintaining that the group doesn't find it offensive being called a
'boy band' since that is indeed what they are. "We started off ... we were young
at that time, we're abit older now but we still do the
same thing, we stand on the stage,sing songs, we do
dance routines... we're a pop band."
Egan went on to say that "we don't
really care what people call us because when people have something negative to
say about Westlife it's because they don't really like
Westlife and we're not really interested in those
people..."
Westlife which is touring Asia with
the launch of 'Face To Face', says the album is a collection that has their best
material so far.
Speaking on Prime Time Morning, one part of the
quartet, Shane Filan said, "this album really says what Westlife is all about" and the single "You Raise Me Up"
which comes from the album "is exactly the type of music we want to sing", he
adds.
Nicky Byrne also believes that release of "You Raise Me Up" is
giving Westlife a kick-start again, opening up new
markets and re-opening older markets, which is part of the reason why the group
is touring
The
28-year-old also revealed that "it's always nice to go back to Asia, and our
fans in
And the fact that the fan base has matured along with the band,
is a reason why Mark Fehily feels the music has
changed too, becoming more adult and contemporary in its approach.
Overall, the members of Westlife feel little
has changed for them even though one is father to a little girl and another is
married, with a father-in-law who just so happens to be the British Prime
Minister.
But Byrne would only reveal that that having a VIP in-law is
"good fun", describing him as a hard-working, "nice guy ... very down-to-earth
for the job he holds".
Still, having family makes touring difficult as
Filan revealed, and that may have an impact on just
how long Westlife will continue as a band.
But
for now, the group who say they take things a year at a
time, have no plans to change anything.
And that includes taking back a
fifth member who left Westlife some three years ago.
Byrne who admitted that the loss of Bryan McFadden was a difficult time,
also said the group had managed to survive that and "go from strength to
strength, which is a big deal for us".
And when asked if the group would
consider taking McFadden back, Egan said "we will never close the door on that
one... but we don't see it happening, realistically... in the near future."
He also said that Westlife has since worked
very well as a four piece, and that "if it's not broken then why try to fix
it".
Credit/Source:
www.channelnewsasia.com