No Matter What CD-ROM Interview Transcript

When the Boyz' No Matter What single was first released in August 1998, two versions of the single were released: a regular one and an enchanced one that contained a videotaped interview from behind the scenes of the video shoot. Those that did not purchase the enhanced version of the single are welcome to simply read the interview here.

RONAN: "Hello everybody, I'm Ronan and welcome to our CD-ROM, and we're here for the video set for our..single, which this is No Matter What. Em, it's a bit noisy here so I hope you can hear me."

STEPHEN: "Andrew Lloyd Webber - well when we first met him, I have to say, eh, he's quite an unusual person, quite em, very nice, very funny, very humourous. It's quite an opporatunity [to work with him]."

(Un-noted question: What's your favorite track on the new album?)

RONAN: "My favorite track on the Where We Belong album is This Is Where I Belong, the title track. It's just one of those songs that, it builds and builds, and towards the end, it just makes the hair stand on the back of your neck - I love it."

STEPHEN: "I've got a few. I like And I, I like Must Have Been High and I'm very proud of two tracks there I wrote myself."

SHANE: "Where Did You Go?. It's this one that Stephen sings, parshly pen-boy him, [--unclear--] him, I think. Just an uplifting song."

MIKEY: (Rather timidly, I might add) "It's track 13, it's called Good Conversation. Reason why - I wrote the song and I also do the lead vocal on it." KEITH: "Track 5, And I, it's called."

(Un-noted question: What kind of music have you been listening to on your walkman lately?)

MIKEY: "Recently I've been listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac, some Bob Dylan."

KEITH: "Madonna's new album, quite a lot. And I still like the Verve's first album."

STEPHEN: "I think the Corrs' new album, Talking Corners, is a great album. I've also been listening to a lot of Mariah Carey."

RONAN: "Crowded House's Greatest Hits is what I'm listening to on my walkman at the moment."

SHANE: "I don't listen to any knind of music on my walkman, because I don't listen to a walkman. If I'm in my house [listening to] my stereo..any bit of reggae."

(Un-noted question: What's your all-time favorite Boyzone song ever?)

RONAN: "My all-time favorite Boyzone song was probably This Is Where I Belong. You see, bands progress as they move along, albums get better and better and you get bored of the old ones and you like the new ones so for the moment definitely This Is Where I Belong."

KEITH: "It's a song called Crying In The Night, and it's a song that was written about, I'd say, three years ago, by Ronan and Stephen for me, for my son. He wasn't born at the time and when I found out my girlfriend was pregnant, the boys wrote the song for Jordan."

STEPHEN: "Em, we filmed Isn't It A Wonder in Australia. It was quite fun, and the song is just a lovely song - it means a lot to us."

MIKEY: "It'd probably be Isn't It A Wonder. Yeah, that would be..I think more..the song is excellent and the video is great but [it was] the..the time when Boyzone changed, it was a, you know, change of path between our first and second album and it was all very exciting for us, you know. It was five lads who had just kinda grown up an awful lot really, you know, in a short space of time.

SHANE: "My all-time favorite Boyzone song would be one we haven't heard in a while, 'cuz, basically I hear them so often that the ones I heard least would be my favorite."

(Un-noted question: What countries have you visited during your time with Boyzone?)

MIKEY: "Well, with our lifestyle we travel a lot. Recently the countries that we have visited would be.."

STEPHEN: "The States."

KEITH: "Denmark, Sweden, Finland."

RONAN: "Hong Kong, Philippines, all over the place, a few countries in Europe, and we just came back from America becaues Keith, he got married in Las Vegas."

SHANE: "I do not send postcards to anybody, nor write letter, nor [send] birthday cards, to nobody, no man."

(Un-noted question: Are you friends with anyone else in the music industry?)

RONAN: "In doing what we do, it's easier to relate to people who are inside the industry, then to the people outside the industry, so we got a lot of friends like Gary Barlow, to Brian Maines, who just [--unclear--] accross the border..[we have] a lot of different friends."

SHANE: "I have a celebrity wife, that any good to ya?"

(Un-noted question: What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever read about yourself?)

STEPHEN: "There's always been rumours about us being splitting up, every year. I mean, we've been together [for] five years, the first year, the second, the third, the fourth and this year, there's always been rumours. But we keep going from strength, from strength to strength, we stand the test of time - I think people are beginning to see that."

RONAN: "The official story is we're very much together. We've got a Greatest Hits coming out, eh, early next year and we're working on our..(thinks) fourth studio album already.

SHANE: "The most ridiculous thing I've ever read about myself was parshly about myself and parshly about Madonna, that supposedly I..turned her down or I refused her to, eh, I dunno, it was a date or what, what happened..it was something like that."

KEITH: (laughing) "Most of the stuff I read is true..and it's all ridiculous!"

(Un-noted question: What's in store for Boyzone for the rest of the year?)

STEPHEN: "What's in store for Boyzone for the rest of the year? Um, we're going to go to the States, hopefully in August. We're going to spend some time there [then] we're going to promote our album, all over Europe and there [the States] too. And, em, we've got a tour coming up in September-October, so we're looking forward to that - it's going to be a laugh!"

MIKEY: "We have now been able to, em, expand on our music and therefore expand on our fanbase..and that's all down to you guys for support and for buying records. So, you're leading us to a nicer place all the time, and I have to say it's great to a part of all this, and we'd just like to say a big thank you."

(More Thank You's:)

SHANE: "Boyzone have been here, five years nearly, three No. 1 albums, eleven No. 1 singles, all I can say then, thank very very much."

KEITH: "We've just released a new album and a new single from that album ("Where We Belong" was re-released in late August 1998 and then included the song "No Matter What") and both have been No. 1 and that means we still have a big audienece and people still want to listen to us, so thanks for that and hopefully we'll be here for as long as you want us to be."

STEPHEN: "I just want to say a big thank you for all the support you've given us in the past, the present, keep it up in the future! And I'm glad you like the new album!"

RONAN: "The three "Where We Belong" albums (?) have reached No. 1 and all our singles are still in the top three all around the world - all thanks to you guys. We don't forget where we come from, thank you very much and we'll see you soon. Enjoy the rest of the CD, God Bless you, bye."