FRIENDS

The boys in the bands join up to create a new name in music – and a string-driven album

THE TWO “bad boys” in rival chart-topping Irish bands formed an unlikely friendship that has lasted more than two decades. Boyzone and Westlife, both moulded by manager Louis Walsh, sold out stadiums across the world, with hordes of screaming teenagers following them everywhere.

When Walsh, 67, put the bands together for a tour in 1998, Keith Duffy from Boyzone and Brian Mcfadden fromwestlife hit it off.

“Brian and I were the same type of characters out of both of the bands,” Keith explains.

“We were similar personalities and were the naughty ones, I suppose. We did like to have a drink and we did like to party a little bit and it suited us to hang out together because we were usually the last ones up at the bar.”

“We could save money on the taxi home,” Brian agrees, laughing. “Even from the very first tour we did supporting Boyzone each of the bands had a tour bus but Keith would spend most nights on ours.

“When we had finished the show Keith would be straight on with a bottle of vodka. After that and for the next 20 years we would spend a lot of time together playing golf.

“We spent so much time together socialising we thought why not make this into our job as well?”

And that is exactly what they’ve done. The pair have stepped out on their own, together, forming the familiar-sounding Boyzlife.

Initially a show that was part concert, part walk down showbiz memory lane, it became so popular that they decided to make it official and form a duo. Their debut album, Strings Attached, is a collection of songs from their respective bands’ impressive back catalogues, paired with the incredible sound of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

“We thought that we should pay homage to our 25-year careers before bringing out a new sound,” says Brian. “We wanted to do some kind of nod to the past.

“But what we learned when making this album is the quality of the music we were producing. Between the two bands we have about 20 number ones between us.

“When you take away the production and take them at the basic, raw melody and lyrics we realised how great some of them were. They’re actually timeless when you put them with something like an orchestra. It was really, really hard to choose.”

That wasn’t the only issue they had, though, Keith says.

“We hit a point in rehearsals when we decided who would do which bit of the vocals, but I found it harder after 26 years to learn the lead vocals of my own songs than I did a Westlife song because of the muscle memory. I was used to singing a particular part.”

The pair have more in common than their shared place in Ireland’s musical history and their similar Dublin accents reveal that they actually grew up within five miles of one another. But what was different, was their journey to fame.

“The change from normal life to fame and success was a different

‘20 Number Ones between us’