A few years ago, I used to be in a Sligo rock band called Pyromania and one of our biggest local competitors was a group called Fiction. At the time, their was great rivalry between the two groups and it was particularly personal for me because my brother Tom was a member of Fiction. All kinds of messing went on between the two groups. We used to go around taking down their posters and putting up ours in their place. Then they'd tear down ours and put their own back up. It was a really great time in my life. We were always entering local talent competitions and things got really heated between the two outfits when both of us ended up in a final. Well, Fiction won out and we came second.
I mention this today because Fiction are now making waves in rock music and have been negotiating with Sony in the States for a recording deal. They are holding back until they get their sound right, but in the meantime they are pushing ahead with their career by bringing out their own single. Its called Plastic Pop and it went into the shops this weekend, so please go out and buy it. It will give Fiction a great boost and anyway, it's a brilliant single, even if it does slag off boybands. Thats not to say that Fiction dont like what we're doing here in Westlife. Tom and his pals, Carthage Carroll, John Paul Prior and Brian McGowan may not be pure pop fans but they acknowledge that Westlife are good for what we do. Tom plays bass in Fiction and he has even dyed his hair blonde so he is copying off the boybands!
As you know, I celebrated my birthday last weekend at home in Sligo and it turned out to be a great night. I thought it was going to be a quiet evening with my mam and dad, but they had secretly made other plans. They told me they were taking me out to dinner at a restaurant called The Penthouse, but when I walked in the door I was shocked to discover all my close pals were there waiting to surprise me. I went into the dining-room and it was like, BOOM! SURPRISE!
That was the end of a quiet evening. We enjoyed a great meal in The Penthouse and fair play to the staff, they were brilliant. Then we went back to a pal's house where the party continued into the early hours of the morning. It was an unforgettable birthday for me.
After a couple of days off down home, we hopped on a plane to France to do a radio show on Wednesday. Then it was back to Dublin on Thursday to rehearse for our first big tour to Asia. We were down in a place called The Factory going through our routines as we'll be doing 12 songs on the tour. They're our biggest shows to date and it'll be a great experience for the major concerts we're planning after Christmas.
Not many people know this but among the instruments I play is the guitar. I've just picked up a beautiful one from Rock Steady in Dublin and I'll be accompanying the group when we sing More Than Words on the tour. Introducing the guitar is something different and it shows another side to Westlife. I can actually play a load of instruments. Bryan plays guitar as well and Mark can strut his stuff on the piano.
I became interested in the guitar when my brother started playing it. I started messing with it myself and now I can play it no bother.
After the telethon on Friday evening, we hopped on a plane and headed off to Asia. We're going to be away for the next couple of months, living out of suitcases. We're going to the States as well and I'm really looking forward to that as its a great place to shop for clothes. I'm dumping most of my gear before I go there because the clothes in America are something else