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Q.
How does it feel, to be releasing a greatest hits album, and being
one of the biggest bands of the moment?
Mikey: "Well of course, it's fantastic. It was six years ago we
started out. It's been a long hard slog - and now today we can see
hundreds of fans camped outside of the RDS waiting to see our show.
It's a very, very proud feeling."
Ronan was busy the moment he arrived, helpfully sharing historical
snippets of Dublin Castle trivia with everybody - pointing out points
of interest all over the place!
After a solid month on the road with the UK section of the By Request
tour, (as featured last month) the strain was showing in poor Shanno's
leg, and he passed most of his time before the press conference
bandaging up a poorly knee!
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Q.
How do you feel your music has changed and developed over the years?
Ronan: "Each new song brings a change,
from Father and Son, to Different Beat, to Isn't It A Wonder, into
No Matter What, which was definitely a turning point for Boyzone.
We feel we've definitely catered for an older audience - if you
come to any of our shows now, you can see that the age group has
changed dramatically. It's a proud feeling for us to see that, because
it's a very difficult thing for a band in our position, a band performing
pop music - a so called boy band - to have an older audience come
to our shows and enjoy them.
The press conference kicked off with Ro in very jovial mood, greeting
the assembled audience with a very Irish, "What's the craic?" But
he continued with a more serious, "Dublin Castle is the centre piece
of the city where we were born and raised and we're very proud to
welcome you here."
The conference was held in the castle's ginormous main hall, with
the Boyz seated in front of a massive "By Request" banner, beneath
the Irish flag�
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Q.
The album is called By Request. By the request of whom?
Ronan: "I guess it's probably by request of the fans. We started
six years ago, we've released 15, 16 hit singles since then, which
our fans have made successful, and all those records are on the
album."
As soon as the boys were out of the their press conference, they
rushed to check out their 'massive heeds' which were waiting patiently
outside, and it's probably safe to assume that they went down well�
"They're completely priceless!" grinned Keith Duffy, as he wandered
round his.
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Q.
Have you got any plans for cracking America?
Stephen: " We're signed over in the states and we've been over
a few times for promotional trips. They've taken on No Matter What,
which is doing really well on the radio over there. We're very optimistic
about how things might take off over there, and we're looking forward
to going back. It's a country we haven't been to as many times as
other territories but hopefully we'll be back there soon."
"I've escaped lightly!"
chuckled Ronan, as he climbed inside his 'heed' and paraded up and
down the room (in complete hysterics all the while�) Once Shanno
had finished checking out is head, he clocked Keith's �"Look
at the goggles on Duffy!" he grinned, spotting Duster's bulging
'heed' eyes!
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Q.
Are there places you'd recommended us to visit while we're in Dublin?
Mickey: "We all have individual places we like to go to, whether
for cultural reasons or just to have a good time. But you can always
find a good pub in Dublin, I'll say that!"
Stephen: "I prefer the quiet places, I prefer a nice restaurant
to a bust nightclub. There's a place called Johnny Fox's up in the
mountains that I like to go up for a good old pint of Guinness!"
Once the press call was over, there was plenty of meeting and greeting
for the Boyz to do. Top of the VIP guest list was Irish Prime Minister
Bertie Ahern, who jovially posed for photos with BZ in front of
their huge By Request backdrop. Next to the list were over
a hundred biz visitors over from South East Asia- specially to see
the RDS shoe and meet the Boyz! They'd also brought over th regions
answer to Mariah Carey - and she was particularly excited about
seeing that evening's concert!
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Q.
What are your personal favourites and least favourite from the By
Request album?
Keith: "I think individually we all have songs that are personal
to us, songs that we particularly like. As a group though, there
are also songs that we all agree are big favourites. 'Isn't It A
Wonder' is a song we all agree on, definitely. We went over to Australia
to shoot the video for that record which had a really good vibe."
When all the important BZ mingling was finished, the boys zoomed
over to the RDS at top speed for a music soundcheck, complete with
a fancy police escort! With the Boyz first ever outdoor concert
fast approaching, the weather situation wasn't looking too promising
at this point - as while Stephen and Ronan soundchecked rain was
pouring�
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Q. You've conceived us that you won't
be splitting up just yet, so where are Boyzone heading for the future
�Ronan: " we've just put tickets on sale for a UK tour at
Christmas time. From there we're working on a fourth album, and
maybe a movie next year."
�But the rain definitely wasn't dampening any spirits. The By Request
dancers and musicians were waiting on stage to welcome the boys
- and although the crew had only been apart a couple of days following
the end of the UK tour, there were welcome back hugs going on all
round! And when Ronan disappeared off stage once soundchecking was
over, he managed to sum up the whole day with a very cheery, "This
is what it's about!"
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Q.
We've been hearing about your solo projects. Can you tell us more
about those?
Mikey: "Well, speaking for myself, at the moment I'm in the process
of recording my own solo album, which hopefully I'll be releasing
single from next year�"
Stephen: "I've just recorded a single from the new TV series of
' Watership Down', and I've also recorded one of the voices for
one of the rabbits, which was a nice opportunity for me! They're
going to make the rabbit look me, so that'll be interesting!"
Shane: "I'm being sponsored by Ford Motorsports which obviously
I'm taking very seriously"
Keith: "I'm hoping to be doing some TV work. I've done a bit of
that recently and really enjoyed it. Other than that I'll be having
a bit of a rest."
As the big moment arrived, and Boyzone gathered at the side of
the RDS stage waiting to kick off their biggest live show to date,
the rain, thankfully, was holding off� Despite the freezing May
(?!) temperatures, the RDS was filled to brimming capacity with
small kids, big kids, entire families and VIP guests (including
the Spice girls' Emma as well as members of U2, no less), all buzzing
with excitement�
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Q. With all your solo projects going on,
will three still be time for Boyzone?
Shane: "I think the term solo projects can be confusing, I think
individual projects is a better way of putting it. Boyzone, will
be a tight band for a long time."
The show was definitely, definitely, Boyzone's best ever live performance
- and their home crowd didn't do too badly, either! But if you weren't
there to witness the extravaganza first hand, don't worry! The show
was filmed and will be released as a long form video towards the
end of the year - we'll keep you posted!
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Q.
What do you think of other music that's around at the moment?
Mikey:" I think the 90's has been a period of so many musical styles.
There' so much out there - rock, reggae, rap. It's been a great
time for music. Me personally, I like Radiohead a lot�"
Ronan : " Anything from Oasis, to the Verve, to the latest George
Michael album, the Wallflowers, the New radicals, Like Mikey said,
it's been a great time for music, especially pop music."
Boyzone's 'massive heeds' joined the Boyz on stage at the end of
the show for a massive encore, before the band zoomed off to continue
their celebrations at a grand end of tour party just up the road�
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Great Thanks to Allison at Boyzone Magazine for supplying the material.
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