Songs mean more to Shane than money
SHANE FILAN was always tipped as the likeliest member of Westlife to go solo when the band split.
Now a year after the lads went their separate ways, the 34-year-old releases his first single (Everything To Me) this week, has an album lined up for later this year and a tour pencilled in for 2014.
“Everybody reckoned I was always going to go solo, but honestly, I’d never even thought about it until we decided we were splitting,” he admits.
“It was quite scary thinking about going from a successful band like Westlife, selling millions of records and playing in massive arenas, to doing something much smaller.
“But I realised I wanted to carry on singing, and without the band, the only way to do that would be to go solo.
“I didn’t want to do a Westlife-style album. That would’ve been easy.
“I was co-writing with Nick Atkinson and Tom Wilding, two young songwriters. They aren’t that well-known so maybe that worked in our favour because there are no expectations.”
Shane admits Westlife fans might find it difficult to adapt to his new sound.
“These are my songs and they’re personal, so it’s quite different from Westlife,” he says.
“I know there are old fans supporting me, but it’s still a new style people aren’t used to hearing from me, so they have to get used to it.”
Shane was declared bankrupt last year following the collapse of a building company he ran in Ireland with his brother, but he insists he has put his cashflow problems behind him.
“It’s gone now. I’m in a positive place,” he says. “You go through these things and you learn from it, and now I’ve a very different perspective on life.”
In future, he says, he’ll devote more time to caring for his family.
“I want to go to work every day and look after my wife and kids (he and Gillian have been married for 10 years and have three children — Nicole, Shane and Patrick).
“Whatever is meant to be is meant to be, and if I hadn’t gone through all that, then I wouldn’t have these songs — and I’d rather have these songs than the money.”