Mark's Interviews

Big Hit - Issue 11, September 1999 Who do you like better: Britney Spears or Billie? Billie. When was the last time you saw your best friend? Four weeks ago. What's the craziest thing you've ever done? I nearly fell off a boat in Sydney Harbour! Why are you called Westlife? It's a reference to being situated in the west of Ireland. What's your favourite place in the world? Milan. What's your favourite drink? Milk. Whose love interest would you most like to play on Home and Away? Chloe's. What's the most memorable thing a fan has said to you? "Mark, I love you". Have you ever seen an alien? Yes, of course. What three things would you try and save if your house caught on fire? My mum, dad and brother. Have you ever thrown up on a boat? No. Is there anyone you call every day? Yes, my mum. Are you left or right-handed? Right. Have you ever worn a dress? No! How can people tell when you're angry? Smoke come out of my ears. Do you have any tattoos? Nope. Which Friends character would you most like to be? Chandler. Who's the messiest member of Westlife? Bryan. How tall are you? 1.78m. What do you do when you're really bored? Call home

from Cosmopolitan Magazine Issue March 2002 Mark Feehily... on dating, kissing and one-night stands How could a girl impress you on a date? By not asking too many questions! Even on the first date some girls ask questions like, 'Do you have many girlfriends?' I'd rather just relax, have a few drinks and generally get to know them. Do you have sex on a first date? I suppose it would be nicer not to, but if there's an instant attraction there's no point in waiting just for the sake of it. Sometimes it just feels right. When was the last time you had a one-nigth stand? I suppose there have been a few, but I can't remember exactly when. The next day sometimes you feel a bit used, but you're prepared beforehand so you don't get hurt and you soon forget about it anyway. Do you sometimes want to see them again? Of course. I haven't had many one-night stands - we might be in London for a week and I'll meet someone and by the end of the week it's like 'Well I'm not in London till next year, so there's not much we can do about this." Any favourite types of women? I like to go to different places and meet different women. The more I meet the more likely I'll eventually find 'my type'. I love dark hair, tanned skin and the Spanish accent. I love the London accent too - it's very sexy. Which band member is the most popular with women? The grannies go for Bryan because he's that kind of cheeky young fellow and the younger women go for Nicky or Shane. Are you a cheeky chappie or a Mr Nice Guy? It'd be cooler to say a cheeky chappie but I'm more of a nice guy. There can be so much negativity and bitchiness around -I try to spread a bit of happiness to make it easier. I always try not to show it if I'm in a bad mood. Do you have a calming influence on the rest of the band? I hate the stress of an argument and I'd rather solve a problem without having a row. The fact I'm like that rubs off on the other lads. I bring a chilled vibe to the band and calm things down. When was your last drunken night out? Last night as SClub7's album launch party. I felt rotten this morning, even though I got most of it out of my system last night. I had to make myself sick but at least you don't have to sweat it out the next day. I know it's disgusting - sorry! Have you and another member of the band ever kissed the same girl? Ages ago, before Bryan was with Kerry, he kissed this girl in a club and 15 minutes later, I kissed the same girl. Neither of us released until the end of the night when we saw her go straight from one of us to the other! Typed By: Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

In Bed WIth Mark From CDUK Magazine Issue Feb 2002 In Bed With Mark Mornin’, Mark! Mark ‘Life spills his bedtime secrets to James. Ooh, it’s saucy! Mark, tell me about your bed?. I treated myself to a big fat double bed last Christmas. It has four small posts but no canopy over it. It took me ages to choose it. I decided it was best to get my favourite one, whatever the cost. You know, the one thing you really need is a good bed! What’s your snooze get-up? Boxers. Sometimes it’s just nothing, as long as I’m in the privacy of my own company! What colour’s your bedroom? There’s a white rail running along the middle of the wall, with navy blue wallpaper on the bottom and lighter blue on top. My bedding’s blue too. and the floor’s timber. Who’d you most like to snuggle up to in bed? Angelina Jolie. Actually, she’s probably scare me ‘cause she’s into all that blood stuff! I might have to bring a stun gun to bed with me to shut her up if she starts any of that! What’s the last thing you do before you nod off? I go to the kitchen to get a drink of water or orange. What time did you hit the pillow last night? We go to the hotel about 12.30, and I was writing a song ‘cause I had an idea on the plane. I had to get it down, otherwise I’d forget it. It was about 3.30 when I went to bed, but I had to be up at 6.30. Typed By: Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

Issue 7 - Hotmail with Mark Have you ever been thrown out of a hotel? Thrown out, no. Told off, yes. Quite often. Well, all the time basically. All of the time. Every day there’s something. Noise. Fans. When it’s really bad they ring Anto and say ‘Pleeese sort them out....’ Do you know how much money you’ve made? Yeah. Not down to the nearest pound, but I’ve got a fair idea. Close enough anyway. To be honest, it’s not something that’s at the front of my mind, it’s something II have to remember to call up every now and then. I just know at the moment I have enough money to be able to control certain things... What’s the best thing you’ve been able to do outside the band? In the last month, I’ve had the chance to have a proper old fashioned summer because we’ve had a bit of time off and we’ve been in Ireland recording. Everyone else - my mates and brothers - were off too so it felt like I was on a long, hot summer holiday. Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe you can fall for someone at first sight and the relationship has a lot of a potential. But from there you have to work at it, and really try to put in a lot of effort to see if it has what it takes to go all the way to get married and have kids. But you can quite easily meet someone for two minutes and then not be able to get them out of your head for weeks and weeks. What was the last sporting event you saw? I saw the last fifteen minutes of a Liverpool versus Man United match...from my couch! I’d just woken up - that shows what a late sleeper I am! What was your favourite childhood toy? I used to love those little baby walker things, I went crazy in that. It had counters at the front. Obviously, there comes a point where you’re too old for baby-walkers really, but I ignored that and went scooting about just the same. It was like the dodgems. Have you ever collected anything? I collect some things. I have a bag which I throw all my backstage passes into. I have tons of them now - I’ve kept them ever since the first Backstreet laminate in Dublin. Have you ever been in trouble with the law? Yes, for speeding. And going too mad in town. Early in the morning. Outside the Four.....no actually, just for being too giddy in general. Obviously I regret it all now! But I’d have to do a lot more to keep up with the hard men of pop! Do you believe in heaven and hell? Yes, I think there’s an amazing place your soul goes to when you die. I’m Catholic so it’s an important part of my faith. As far as Hell goes, I can’t say I’m too keen on the idea of the punishment side of things. I think your faith should be more about trying to be a good person inside rather than the fear of being punished by Hell if you don’t manage to be the nicest person every time. But I try to be a good boy, just in case! What are the best parties you’ve been to? The Grammys was brilliant, I loved that, everytime you turned around you saw a world-famous superstar! The MTV awards and the AMA’s were good cos I met Miss Mariah Carey. But sometime family parties and parties at home are best. No-one’s worried about what they look like, they’re too busy having a good time! Typed By Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone

Issue 4 - In Too Deep? with Mark You're in the world's biggest pop band. How does it feel? I don't know, I'm not in the Backstreet Boys! (laughs) I'm very happy with the level of success Westlife have achieved; it's cool. But y'know, I'm not under any illusions over what we've got and how long it will last. Don't you think Westlife are here to stay? Things always change with time, don't they? It will become less full-on eventually, because people only concentrate on bands while they're at the top of the charts. ‘Uptown Girl’ was named best boy band single ever on MTV before it was even released, but everyone has almost forgotten about great bands like the Jackson 5 and The Osmonds already. Do you like the showbiz world around you? Almost everything in the music industry and celebrity is fake. It can be hard to deal with - but it's easy to see through. I'm a good judge of character and I know when people are talking bull. I don't like to be impolite to people, no matter who they are, but sometimes I'll be listening to someone speak and I'll be thinking "Shut up, willyeh? I don't want to hear this, and I don't want to be talking to you." When was the last time you felt like that? Last night, in our hotel, a woman came up to speak to me. She told me how rich she was and which famous people she knew, and she obviously thought that was what I wanted to hear. She said she was friends with Lulu and Phil Collins, and asked if we'd take 5000 to spend an hour with her daughter. I was totally horrified. She couldn't have been any more wrong about what would impress me. So what does impress you? I just want a good conversation, and a good laugh. When you tell a joke to a fake person their reaction is completely blank. I'm easy to please you know- I mean, I only need two things in my life to make me happy! The first is to be among my friends and family; for example to be in a room full of people who I love and who love me back. People who like Mark Feehily and not Mark from Westlife. The second thing is simply to sing - I love to jam on stage with the band, when someone begins to play one tune and everyone else joins in. We've been doing ‘Mustang Sally’ and old Stevie Wonder songs. And does Westlife showcase your singing talents enough? I love performing in the live show. I've waited all my life to do it, and that side of things is every bit as good as I thought it would be. Sometimes being in a pop band can be frustrating though, you wanted do your very best but, to be honest, few people out with the band itself really care if you can sing or not. Surely the fans wouldn't buy the records if you couldn't sing... I'm not really talking about the fans so much, but it's fair to say some fans are more interested in who you're dating and what your favourite colour is. Then in the pop business - it's not even the music business anymore, but the pop business - people care more that you have the right clothes and the right haircut. Those are sometimes seen as more important things in selling records than giving your best vocal performance. You sound like you're rebelling... In little ways. I'm definitely sick of our clean-cut dressed-up image. I think its silly that looks are so important. My record company has asked me to shave for photoshoots to give a more clean-cut image. And now I don't shave on purpose, because it annoys me. I need to take back a bit of control. But you're living your childhood dream. Doesn't it live up to your expectations? I wouldn't say my dream version was 100% wrong but it wasn't quite right either. Some things I imagined are missing. I thought our lifestyle would be more chilled. But our lives can be too stressful. I prefer things to be calm and harmonious and they never are, are they? Thing have been stressing me out. What have been the most difficult times for you? I was unhappy in the band before Christmas. It came to a boiling point then and although I never went as far as physically walking out, in my head I was really thinking, "honestly, I can't do this anymore." But you didn't leave the band. What changed your mind? At Christmas I sat down and thought about my priorities, and I decided that although Westlife's success is fantastic, I'm not going to let it mess with my head any more. I'm not going to let it get me down every day. It's ridiculous to know your dreams are coming true, and they're making you unhappy. But what can you do to change things? Well, I'm going to suit myself more. I won't let things affect me so badly, I won't allow people and situations to stress me out as much. I'll try to go at my own pace, get myself enough bottle to say no sometimes. I'm going to stand up for myself more, and stop allowing other people to make my life harder. The other lads have strong opinions about things, which you don't often voice. Do you go with the flow because its easier? To be honest, sometimes I do. But I never forget my dream is to be a singer. Sometimes there will be an argument about what colour clothes we should wear, or what the single sleeve looks like, and I don't get involved. I don't see the point because I don't feel strongly enough about it. I'd rather concentrate on singing, thank you very much. And what happens when you do feel strongly about something? People actually do listen to me when I say something because I must feel strongly about something to make the effort. It's like, 'Wow, he spoke!; or 'Look it's moving!' People have a view of you that you are introverted. Is that the case? People think I'm very quiet and shy but I'm not really- like I said, I'm just not showbiz. I was never cut out to be the kind of person who lives this life. I don't want people to know everything I'm doing. I don't want to be in the tabloids like Bryan. I wouldn't handle it to well. Is that a privacy thing or are you too sensitive to be a celeb? It could be that I'm too sensitive to be a celebrity, and it's easier to turn it into a privacy issue. The whole scene is not for me. I'm not cut out for the whole fame thing really. I do play along with it, but it doesn't suit me at all. Typed By Vicky Robinson http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/westlifefanszone