You met them first on the Smash Hits Tour andset them on the path to pop stardom. Here, Westside reveal how their success story began..............
So, how did you get together?
Kian: (Take a deep breath.) It all started off in a place called Sligo in the north west of Ireland, when myself, Shane and Mark werein a band called IOU. We put out an independent single and Shane's mother passed it on to Louis Walsh, who manages Boyzone, and we eventually got in touch with him last February. Louis got us a support slot with Backstreet Boys for 2 nights, but he didn't want to manage us because he was so busy with Boyzone. Once he saw us on stage, though, he changed his mind! We had to drop three of the other guys in IOU, they were the 'right vocali- sts', wrong group' if you see what I mean, so we brought in Nicky and Bryan, changed our name to WestSide and took it for there.
Phew! Nicky and Bryan, what were you doing before you joined WestSide?
Bryan:I've been in stage school since I was 4. It was the same one that Mickey Graham went to, and Keavy and Edele from B*Witched. I did some acting when I was younger - I was in this TV programme back in Ireland called Finbarr's Class. Sinead, Edele and Keavy, Paul and Daniel from Mytown were all in it too. Before WestSide, I was in another band called Cartel, which was like an R'n'B version of 911. I also worked in McDonald's for about six months, and I did some security work.
Nicky:I was playing football for Leeds United, which was a dream come true, and I played for Ireland when I was 15 and 16, so I really though I was going to be a professional footballer. Unfor- tunately, I was a goalie, and I just didn't grow wnough so when I got to the end of me contrack I came back and went to school to re-take my exams because I didn't finish them the first time round. Also, my dad was in a cabaret band, so I bought a karaoke machine and me and my dad went round performing at parties. That was the first time I had the chance to perform to the public and I loved it! I always used to sing Boyzone songs, and Bryan used to come down and sing Backstreet Boys songs. The weird thing is that I remember reading about IOU in the paper before I knew them.
What were the rest of you up to before you started in showbiz?
Mark:I was doing my final exams, which I finished in the summer, and since then I've been preparing for the group. I also worked my auntie's photo shop in Dublin for a while, and I delivered pizzas. But then things got too busy, so I stopped to concentrate on WestSide.
Kian:I started playing in rock'n'roll bands when I was about 10! I always wanted to be in a band.
Shane:Yeah, 2 years ago, when Boyzone were really big, I had this idea of myself and Mark getting a boy band together, but Kian wasn't interested because he wanted to rock! He's changed his mind now, though, eh?
What would you be doing now if WestSide hadn't happened?
Nicky:I wanted to be a police officer in Ireland, a garda. I did me garda exams and passed them, so I would have been getting call- ed up to do my traning now.
Shane:I'd be halfway through my accountancy course at college.
Kian: I'd be a bum!
Bryan:I'd be a bigger bum!
Mark:I think I'd be repeating me exams and then deciding what I was going to do.
Did you ever except to get this far?
Shane: We never ever expected to be here in England, perform- ing. Doing the Boyzone tour was amazing, then we did the Smash Hits Tour and the Poll Winners' Party, which was just incredible.
Kian: We haven't even releaseda single, but the reaction we've been getting has been brilliant.
Shane: On the day of the previous Poll Winner's Party in '97, we release an independent single with our last group and played 60 people. Now look at us! It's just incredible!
Nicky: Yes, we're being intervied by Smash Hits and you can't get bigger than Smash Hits!
Are there any downsides?
Kian:We get tired because there are very long days.
Mark: But even when we're tired, we don't really think about it because there's so much to do. We don't have time to be tired.
Bryan: You get up in the morning and you're tired, then you're working, then when you get home, you're like...(starts snoring).
Nicky:I love Calvin Klein boxer shorts by the way! Medium size! (Cheeky git!)
What's been you carrer highlight so far?
Kian:Winning Smash Hits award.(In case you can't remember,they won Best New Tour Act of '98.)
Bryan:We were at the airport when we found out we'd won. We were just walking out the gate anf there were about 50 or 60 girls waiting for us. All of a sudden, Kian's mobile rings and he goes, 'Lads, can I speak to you for a moment? We won the awar- d!' We were jumping and screaming round the airport - people though we were just going mad.
Nicky: Ronan said to us,'Smash Hits is where it all started off for Boyzone, and hopefully it'll happen for us as well. Just work hard and you'll OK.' So we are, and we're keeping our fingers crossed.
What's the best piece of advice that Ronan has given you?
Nicky:He's given us lots of financial advice, and he also told us, 'Be nice to everyone when you're on the way up, then they'll be nice to you on the way down.' All bands have a down side event- ually, so you mustn't get big-headed, just be polite. Not false, but friendly.
How do you all get on ?
Kian:Well, this one week, we were killing ench other because we were getting everything out of our system.
Shane: Nobody's perfect, you know. Everyone argues from time to time, but we're all pulling together. We're still getting to know each other and know what we do and don't like and how far we can push each other.
Mark: We've heard all sorts of stories about group members not talking to each other, but we'll certainly never be like that. What about Bryan's naughtiness? Ah, he's fine - he's just got a bit of a cheeky side. (Bryan smiles.) OK, make that a big cheeky side.
Alot of groups have one member who take charge. Is ther a boss in WestSide?
All: Yeah, me! (Ahem.)
Are any of you planning to get married or have kids in a Boyzone stylee?
Shane:Actually, we're not allowed to. It's written into our contract that we can't get married or have babies for 5 years. We're only young, though, so we've got plenty of time to do all that stuff.
What do you hope the future holds for WestSide?
Mark:Everything!
Nicky:We can't wait to get out first single out...
Shane: And we can't wait to be the biggest group ever!
Mark on Bryan: "He's absolutely mad, and whenever we're down, he brings a smile to everyone's face."
Bryan on Kian: "Kian's the little Romeo of the band. He's a bit of ladies' man..."
Kian on Shane: "He's moody and he's got a short attention span, but not in a bad way. He has no bad points."
Shane on Nicky: "HE's the most stylish fella in the group."
Nicky on Mark: "He's quite reserved, but once you get know him, he's mad in the head!"