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New heart to old soul (Shane Interview)
Topic Started: Dec 21 2009, 11:33 AM (321 Views)
JoanneVIP
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THE BOSS
New heart to old soul (Shane Interview)

After a year’s hiatus, Westlife - which has churned out 10 albums and
14 No.1 hits in the past decade - is back. PETRINA JO FERNANDEZ
talks to one of its members, Shane Filan, to find out what makes it tick.

THEY rocked the ‘90s with their soulful crooning and it looks like they’re back with more.

Westlife, whose hits in the past decade include Flying Without Wings, World of Our Own, What Makes a Man and Fool Again, are returning to their pop roots in their latest album.

Featuring hit singles such as Shadows, What About Now and the album’s title track Where We Are, this latest production promises the band’s trademark ballads with a whole new rhythm.

Heartthrobs Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne make up the boyband.

With 10 chart-topping albums and 14 No. 1 hits (trailing only Elvis Presley and the Beatles), Where We Are is the band’s testimony of their journey from boyhood to manhood.

All the way at home in Ireland, Shane spills the beans on Westlife’s new album and their incredible adventure so far.

QUESTION: What have you been up to recently?
SHANE FILAN: I’ve been home Westlife is returning to its pop roots. The last couple of days; took a few days off. My wife and I put up the Christmas tree with my kids, and it was a lot of fun. We put on Santa hats and sang Christmas songs. The kids are so excited. My little boy is just a year old but he can already say “Santa” even though he doesn’t know what it means. My daughter is four and she keeps asking me when Santa’s coming (laughs). It’s going to be a great Christmas.

Q: Westlife took a year off before coming out with Where We Are. What did you do?
SF: I had a holiday at home; we all did our own thing for the first time in nine years. My wife had a baby so it was a really busy year for me as a family man. Musically, it was great to sit and look back at how far we’ve come since we fi rst started out.

Q: What does Where We Are mean?
SF: It’s supposed to be ironic. We’re showing our fans where we are as a band, 11 years into our career.

Q: How is this different from your previous albums?
SF: I think it’s our best album to date. It’s strong pop music with an original sound that is purely Westlife. It’s powerful. We stayed away from covers this time - we wanted to capture the originality we had in our first couple of albums. As for the songs, they’re written by the best in the industry. We’ve got Ryan Tedder (who’s written songs for Leona Lewis and Beyonce), Steve Robson (James Morrison), Steve Booker (Duffy) and Sam Watters (Whitney Houston, Anastacia). They’re an incredibly talented bunch, and they’ve crafted amazing songs for us.

Q: Tell us about your hit single Shadows.
SF: It was co-written by A.J. Mclean from the Backstreet Boys. Shadows is a new direction for us, but it’s not too far from the type of sound we do. It’s just a really great love song.

Q: And your favourite track?
SF: Definitely Shadows. The vocals are the best. We pushed ourselves like never before with this song. You have to listen to it; it’s terrific.

Q: How have you grown both musically and as a band in the last 11 years?
SF: Well, our music has stayed pretty similar from when we first started out. I think that when you have a terrific sound and people like your music, it’s important not to change too much. So we’re staying close to what makes Westlife works. As a band, we’ve definitely become closer, especially after Bryan (McFadden) left the group.

Q: You once said that Where We Are is “phase two of Westlife’s story”. Can you elaborate?
SF: It’s our first album of our second decade together. We have to keep looking to the future to stay relevant - there will be more originality both in songs and music. It’s time for us to create new material, and we’re starting with Where We Are. As I mentioned earlier, this is the best album we’ve ever made. It reflects our journey this last decade. It’s not good - it’s great.

Q: Do you listen to your own songs?
SF: Of course! I listen to Where We Are in my car all the time now. In fact, my daughter loves this album. She’s a big fan of Westlife. She understands I’m in a band and that it’s me, Mark, Kian and Nicky singing on those albums. Every time she gets in the car now, she says “Put on daddy’s song!” She’s my biggest fan (laughs).

Q: Lastly, after more than a decade and 10 albums, how would you describe Westlife’s journey so far?
SF: It’s been absolutely amazing. We never thought we’d last this long or enjoy this much success. I mean, take the time we last toured Malaysia - there we were, a million miles away from home, and we had fans who gave us a terrific reception! It was unbelievable. The good news is, if things work out, we will be here on tour soon!

Credit/Source: www.nst.com.my
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Louise4Shane
Louise
Thank you for posting it Jo.

Awww Nicole like to hear Westlife album of Where We Are in Shane car.
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Gloria
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Westlife DIVA star
Thanks Jo for posting, looks like the Filans will be having a wonderful Christmas, they are so happy & excited. :D ssanta snowmann bearr santacapp
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lulibelle
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Louise
Thanks Jo. I find it funny that Shane has Where We Are in his car :lol: it's really sweet that Nicole likes to listen x
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Nicky's Angel
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Sara
That's really sweet, I hope they have a wonderful Christmas :D
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JoanneVIP
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THE BOSS
I hope they have a lovely christmas aw and another baby filan to look forward too xx
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MrsMaryByrne
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Mary
thanks for posting .. thats soo sweet hope they have a good xmas xx
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