 |
April, 2000
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A DAY IN THE WESTLIFE
(from
Childline at the Point)
(It’s
not the whole article, but just our favourite parts!)
...talking
about the jet set hard life...
How
do you cope with all the early starts?
MARK:
Well, some of us don’t cope with them. I’m just terrible. It’s not a
deliberate thing. I’m just crap in the mornings. I was always late every day
for school. It’s just the way I am.
NICKY:
The only time he gets up is when we’re travelling a long distance in a car cos
the first one down always gets first pick of the seats. Apart from that he’s
terrible.
So
would you say you’re the hardest working band in pop?
MARK:
I’d say we were definitely strong contenders. A lot of bands have a schedule
similar to ours - bands that have hit that certain level of success when it’s
just non-stop.
Which
bands have it the easiest then?
BRYAN:
Boyzone!
NICKY:
The Spice Girls!
MARK:
Oh yeah. All the Spice Girls do these days in shop in Gucci and throw a concert
every 12 months! Only jocking girls, by the way!
BRYAN:
Michael Jackson’s got a pretty easy time of it at the moment and I believe
Elvis is pretty relaxed these days too, heh - heh!
Has
there ever been
a time when you’ve forgotten which country you were in?
MARK:
We were appearing live on MTV Select in Brazil and the interviewer asked us
something about football and I said I wanted to get the Mexican training
tracksuit and everyone just looked at me. I honestly thought we were in Mexico!
NICKY:
I remember waking up in the middle of the night one time and I swear I didn’t
know where I was. I grabbed my mobile to call Georgina and it was like 12.30am
in Dublin. I was like, “Where am I? what am I doing?” She was laughing,
telling me to relax and that I was in Poland. It was really freaky.
Is
it the times when you’re really tired and stressed out you’re most likely
argue?
BRYAN:
We have our little niggles about someone sitting in our seat and stuff but we
never properly
argue or fight. We’re normally too tired to fight most of the time anyway!
How
much longer can you keep going like this?
BRYAN:
Another twenty minutes, tops!
MARK:
At the end of the day we’re just ordinary people, so of course we’re going
to get stressed being away from home so much, and sometimes we do snap. But then
you sit back and realise how how lucky you are.
What’s
the worst thing about being in Westlife?
SHANE:
All the early starts. Being away from home can get you down too. Sometimes
you’re on the other side of the world and all you want is to be at home with
your family and a nice cup of tea.
MARK:
Having to shave every single day is pretty bad too. I hate it, especially cos
I’m so terrible at getting up in the morning, I usually only have five minutes
to do it and end up with a slashed face, dripping with blood!
NICKY:
Interviews can be pretty bad sometimes if you’re doing, like 40 of them in a
row. It’s fine in Britain and Ireland cos there’s usually a theme or a topic,
but elsewhere when they start asking you the basics, we end up making stuff up
just to keep ourselves amused.
BRYAN:
To start with we used to fight over who did the interviews cos we all wanted to.
Now we’re only too glad to let one of the others do it! (Unless it’s TOTP,
of course!)
Do
you still feel excited about appearing on front covers?
SHANE:
Of course! I can’t wait to see how this cover turnes out. I’m really looking
forward to running into the shop and buying it.
NICKY:
I remember the first time we ever saw ourselves in a magazine... it was TOTP in
fact.
KIAN:
We were in ‘Everyone’s Talking About’ and it was when we were still called
Westside.
NICKY:
we were just so chuffed! You never forget that buzz.
Aren’t
press conferences just a wee bit scary though?
MARK:
Oh no, they’re excellent. It’s almost like walking up the red carpet. They
make you feel very important.
BRYAN:
Do you remember the one we did in Taiwan. It was fantastic. It was called Get To
Know Westlife and we were all in a separate booths. We had these pieces of card
and they’d ask us questions like “Who’s the laziest?” and we’d have to
write the answers on the card. It worked so well! They got so much out of us,
stuff we normally wouldn’t have said.
SHANE:
By the end of it Bryan was doing impressions of me in front of the whole crowd.
It was so funny!
You
must have been asked some pretty bad questions in your time?
KIAN:
Questions referring to virginity are always embarrassing and a bit too personal.
SHANE:
One of the first questions we were ever asked in Germany was about sex.
MARK:
It’s just a bit disrespectful really cos these people don’t know us and
that’s the first thing they ask. Can you imagine just going up to somebody in
a club and asking, “So when was the first time you had sex?”
SHANE:
Any questions relating to stuff like that we just don’t answer, it’s too
personal.
MARK:
The thing is though, in places like Germany it’s perfectly normal to talk
about stuff like that. I’ll never forget opening a teen magazine in Holland
and seeing pictures of naked teenagers in it. You’d never see that in the UK
or Ireland.
SHANE:
It’s not that we’re prudes or anything, it’s just have respect for
people’s privacy.
Do
you feel as if people are watching you the whole time?
BRYAN:
It just comes back to beeing careful. The papers go mad if they see us talking
to a girl. I’ve lost track of the number of people I’ve been linked with.
SHANE:
Bryan’s been getting a real hammering about girls in the press recently.
MARK:
It’s so unfair though.
BRYAN:
The best example was when we were at Titanic one night and I was talking to
Jamie from Hepburn and her boyfriend. But of course, the story the next day was
that I was going out with her!
SHANE:
The thing is it’s really affected him. The poor fella’s now afraid to meet
any girls.
BRYAN:
It’s tough cos I’m now afraid to approach girls and girls from other bands
don’t talk to us cos they’re scared of us being linked. But it’s an aspect
of the business we’re in and we have to accept it.
MARK:
People must think Bryan’s a complet slapper and he so isn’t! Please set the
story straight once and for all.
So
apart from stamina what other essential qualities would a sixth member need?
KIAN:
Well, the voice is the main thing. You have to be able to sing.
SHANE:
It’s not so much that we can sing well individually, but that we sing well
together as a group. We don’t boast about it but that’s the main quality
that sets us apart.
Would
a sixth member have to be Irish? Are Westlife Equal Opportunities Employers?
KIAN:
You’d probably stand a better chance if you were Irish. It’d be a bonus!
MARK:
But, like, if Michael Jackson called us up saying he wanted to join the band
we’re not likely to turn around and say, ‘Sorry Mike but you’re not Irish!
Tough!’
SHANE:
I’m not sure we could have another blond actually cos they already outnumber
the dark-haired ones. Perhaps we could have someone with red hair.
BRYAN:
Or pink?!
KIAN:
Yeah, someone we could have a dig at and slag off. ‘Ah, shut up you there with
your blu hair!’
MARK:
If you can’t take a good slagging then don’t even think about joining
Westlife.
SHANE:
We’re always abusing eachother in a nice funny way. We always niggle each
other about one thing and we all know abot it but nobody else does. It’s
something we keep between the five of us. For example I could say one word to
Kian and it could wind him up a treat.
It
wouldn’t have anything to do with an in joke about horses, would it?
SHANE:
That’s not the exact one I was thinking of but Kian is afraid of horses.
KIAN:
No it’s not that, it’s just I’m a stallion!
THE
REST: Yeah right!
SHANE:
You so are scared of horses! When we were younger he’d come along when I was
doing shows and stuff, but he wouldn’t go near the horses. I was like,
‘It’s a horse, man! It’s just like a big dog!’ But he was having none of
it.
KIAN:
They’re just too big, man. I don’t mind other big animales.
SHANE:
Oh, I don’t like bulls, they’re vicious man. And ostriches, they’re freaky
as weel!