Shane interview Hitkrant (November 2004)

Interview from a Dutch magazine... typed up and translated by me

They’re together for about seven years now and the first 'aged-men' cd is a fact. Should we begin to worry about Westlife?
Shane: The question is if there will even be a next album..

Err an album full of Frank Sinatra songs?
Yeah, our 6th album, in six years time, so we thought it needed be to a kind of surprise

But why this kind of music?
Haha, it was quite a big honour for us. Frank is amazing and I think that many people will agree on that. We realise it’s risky. But I think that loads of people love his music. And who doesn’t know it, is going to love it!

But don't you actually do the exact same thing as Robbie Williams did with 'Swing When You’re Winning?
I understand the comparison. Two of the songs we’ve done, are on Robbie’s album as well, but they’re different qua style. But it should be, because our audience is different from Robbie’s. By the way Robbie complimented us, upon this album. He thought it’s amazing, he said. The same goes for the U2 guys.

What’s the difference between Robbie fans and Westlife fans?
Robbie is much more of a rock/pop artist. His audience consists way more of men. And his musical message is meant for men as well, frequently. And we, on the contrary, have much more girls in the audience.

What’s next after Westlife’s jazzy Sinatra-album, a rock 'n roll-album?
No, we will always continue to make pop music. This album is just a once-only. We really liked to do this for once.

But if this album is going to be a huge flop, what’s the next album going to be like then?
No idea, the question is if there’s even going to be a next album. I rather focus on today than the future.

Come on, you're around for seven years now! Westlife is getting old together, aren’t they?
Loads of boybands came to an end. Even bands of which you didn’t expect them to. We really like what we’re doing now. We miss Brian, but we’re still friends. I wish him all the best, but we’ll continue with Westlife. For how long, that’s the question we can’t answer ourselves.

What aspect of Brian do you guys miss then?
There’s just a character gone, out of the band. He was very funny and sometimes just off his rocker. And he just had his own little things, and you just miss them. For me, I miss his friendship. He always was there if you needed him. He still is, but we don’t see each other everyday anymore.

Would you recognise Brian, if you’d come across him?
Well he looks much better now, if you ask me. I just see he’s happier now. Now that it’s done, we can all say: it was a good decision of him to go solo.

What do you think when you look into the mirror, yourself?
Oh, I don’t really care about that. As long as my wife is pleased with it.

Mister Filan, you used to be a right hunk, right?
If you write that in Hitkrant, I don’t mind, but I don’t think I’m a hunk, no.

Do you feel the threat of the Popstar-hunks?
It’s getting quite big huh, all over the world. But no it’s not a threat for Westlife. The music industry gets boosts coz of that kind of programmes. That’s why I like that kind of television. It can be a profit but you can fail coz of it as well.

How do you keep this strong motivation after 7 years together?
That’s harder than it seems. Staying successful is harder than becoming successful. There keep coming more and more great bands, but that doesn’t really matter to be honest. There’s space for everyone. But it is right to say we can not say: we take a one-year break. If you’d wait too long we’d get into trouble.

Are you still interesting for the girls, now you’re all a bit older and married?
That you have to be single, young and fresh to be in a boy band, is just a media thing. Maybe it used to be like that, but it doesn’t really matter anymore, nowadays. And I think we prove that, hahahaha! And besides that, there are so many good-looking, young and single artists, who don’t have success.. so that’s bye to your theory!

Alright, but what’s good-looking?
Well, I’m not gonna mention any names, but there are plenty of good-looking people who started a band, of which I think the music is proper shite!

What’s your 'beauty secret’?
Eat wholesome food and stay away from the snack bars and stuff. And if there’s no other option, then I’d go for the Chicken Royal, that’s less fat than a Whopper!

And finally: When will you come to Holland again?
At the end of March we’ll visit Holland and we’ll show our true Dutch fans that we still love them.

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