Our fans have loved these songs for a very long time
Boyzlife duo Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy tell MARION McMULLEN how they called a halt to lockdown binge eating and drinking to get back to the music
LIFE in lockdown has not been without its temptations and Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy admit they found themselves raiding the cupboards at their homes at one point and drinking dusty bottles of Bacardi and Pernod that had lain undisturbed for decades.
Brian laughs: “You start to drink and you are drinking bottles that have been there for 20 years. I tried this one bottle that was in the cupboard, took one mouthful and went ‘Urgh, that’s horrible.’ It turned out to be wine vinegar that you use for cooking.”
The friends admit that, like nearly everybody else, they found themselves eating and drinking too much during lockdown, but say wine vinegar will definitely not be on their rider of backstage dressing room requirements when they return to touring. “I think I’ve had my fair share of vinegar,” chuckles Brian.
The Westlife singer and Boyzone star Keith were playing sell-out dates across the country as pop supergroup Boyzlife and also preparing for the release of their debut album when Covid-19 brought everything to a halt.
The album, Strings Attached, was originally planned for a Mother’s Day release and features orchestral versions of hits from the Boyzone and Westlife back catalogues accompanied by the world famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
They released a few tracks from the album, like the single No Matter What, but are delighted fans are finally going to hear the finished product which features orchestral versions of songs like Flying Without Wings, Love Me For A Reason and Unbreakable.
Forty-year-old Brian says: “To take these songs that we have been singing for more than 20 years and re-imagine them with such an incredible live orchestra, it’s been the most exciting album I have ever been involved in.
“When you bring out an album of original songs, you always have that feeling in your stomach where you’re wondering how the fans are going to receive the new songs, this is really different for us as the fans already know these songs. They’ve heard them all before, known them for years, so it’s almost more exciting for us to see what reaction we get from the fans because they’ve obviously been in love with these songs for a long time.”
Keith and Brian spent lockdown working on new material for the next album and have announced a string of major UK tour dates for next year.
Spending time at home has been a novelty for both of them, but it is one that they appreciated.
Keith says: “I’ve not spent so much time at home since I was 18.
I’d not stepped foot in my garden for 10 years. I’d been away so much working and when it came to summer holidays we would normally book Spain or Portugal. But it’s a beautiful garden and I had completely forgotten that. “The first six weeks of lockdown there was binge eating and binge drinking, and then I stopped all that and started working in the garden with my son and we really enjoyed being together. We’d work five hours a day getting the garden ship-shape and then felt we’d earned a few bevvies.
“I would never go back to working the way I did before. We’d all been forced into this lockdown situation, but the experience has strengthened that family bond forever.” Former Coronation Street regular Keith, 45, had six UK number one hits with Boyzone and five number one albums worldwide with sales of more 25 million. Brian enjoyed similar success with Westlife with four number one albums and more than 30 million records sold.
“I first met Keith before Westlife, when my sister was in a production of the musical Annie in Dublin,” remembers Brian. “Keith came down and Boyzone had just broken in the UK and they had massive fans in Ireland.
“My sister had her photograph taken with Keith backstage and I was there with my mum. I must have been about 15 or 16 at the time. Then, when Westlife began, we supported Boyzone on two European tours. We had two tour buses, but Keith spent a lot of time on our bus and we became friends. ”
They say they can both take time off now to work on solo projects, but the growing popularity of Boyzlife means they get to enjoy the chance to sing and tour together.
Keith says: “We’ve got 20 years experience and the shows are full on bells and whistles. We started out playing at a hotel fo 200 to 300 people and now we are playing venues all over the UK.”
The UK tour starts on March 25 and runs until May 16. Go to boyzlife.co for tour and album details.