I felt like we’d won the lottery. I knew we were a long way from being a success yet – we weren’t that naïve – but if nothing else it was confirmation that Louis Walsh was going to be involved, and as far as we were concerned that was the winning lottery ticket. We’d struck gold – not just the support slot, but having Louis on our side. Even that early on, we just sensed that something was happening. There were too many things going our way. We felt that our winning numbers had come up.
At the time I was working in our local jeans shop, says Kian, called EJ’s Menswear. You can imagine the reaction of the owner, Eamonn Cunningham, when I said, ‘I could do with some decent clothes this weekend. We’re supporting the Backstreet Boys!’ He was very helpful and let us all go round on an evening and try out all this Sonnetti and Firetrap gear, big orange jackets and white jeans. It was so exciting.
So, anyway, we had three days to the Backstreet Boys’ support slot.
Three days!
Luckily, we already had several routines well rehearsed, so it wasn’t as bad as we first thought.
On the day of the show we met the Backstreet Boys and there was absolutely no hint of us acting cool – we were just proper fans all excited to meet them. We got them to sign albums for us and said thanks for offering the slot – they could have said no, they could have asked for a band with a record deal, for example. Plenty of stars do.
The Backstreet Boys loaded up on the Friday night and we were already outside, too excited to stay away. I vividly recall standing at the windows, peering through. There we were, all our faces squashed against the glass, and the Backstreet Boys were inside playing basketball. We couldn’t believe we could actually see them with our own eyes, that’s how famous they were to us.
At that window, looking in, remembers Mark, I was phoning my friends, saying, ‘I can see AJ, he’s got two eight-foot tall security guards walking with him. He looks really small…Oh, now I can see Brian!’
We were such wide-eyed fans. But within a few hours we were chatting to the band and eating with them. It was so weird – but brilliant weird!
The night of the gig came around, says Shane, our little slot came up and we walked on. There were about 6,000 people in the audience. The most we’d ever played in front of before was a few hundred. We did ‘Together Girl Forever’, ‘Everlasting Love’, complete with Graham’s little rap, and ‘Pinball Wizard’ by the Who. It was mental, a real laugh. The crowd were roaring and screaming. They went mental for us because we were an Irish band. They just loved it. I’ll never forget it.
For those shows, we were staying at the Mount Herbert Hotel. It was like a massive B&B. There was the six of us packed into one room. We had no money; our parents were even paying for the room. We literally didn’t have a bean between us.
That first night was Paddy’s night, so we had a few beers. It just seemed too good to be true.
Then one of the Backstreet Boys said, ‘Hey, Mark, we’re going to the pub tomorrow after the show. You should come,’ and we were like, ‘Are you for real?’
So next thing I know, we’re at this club chatting with Howie and Kevin over a pint. It was all a bit of a blur, to be honest with you.
Kian remembers that it was about to get even better: That night at the gig, Louis took me to one side and said, ‘I want to manage you.’
What we hadn’t known was that Louis had been pretty much auditioning us at the show, to see whether he wanted to become our manager or not. He did and we couldn’t believe our ears.
However, there was a catch.
‘I think you have something special, Kian, but I want you to lose the big guy.’
I said, ‘You can’t cut Mark!’ At this point Mark was a big lad – not overweight, he was just a big lad.
‘No, Mark’s amazing. I’m talking about Derek.’
Derek was six foot tall and muscular, in really good shape. I thought he had a good dark look, personally. But Louis still didn’t want six members in the band and, worse still, he said that he didn’t think Derek was suitable. There was no compromise, it had to be just five.
Even though we’d all agreed to go forward knowing someone might get cut, it was still devastating when it came to it. Derek was probably Shane’s best friend in the band at the time, so he was gutted.
It was a big shock, agrees Mark. Even though the group was slowly morphing itself into a professional, ‘real’ band, it was still literally made up of childhood schoolmates. So it was a very strange and difficult situation.
Louis has always been brutally honest. I’ve long since got used to that, but at first the way he spoke about the situation with Derek seemed so harsh to me. I was used to the country life near Sligo and there everyone was very friendly. If you went into the grocer’s and he was grumpy, rather than think, Wanker, you’d think, He must have had a bad night’s sleep. It was all very pure. It wasn’t like Alice in Wonderland, but everyone was really genuine. So then Louis Walsh turned up and started saying things like, ‘You’re a bit fat, and you should get your hair cut,’ it took me back. I wasn’t equipped to deal with that approach. I was never taught how to deal with people speaking to me like that.
I’ve got to point out here that this isn’t just Louis, it’s basically how the record industry operates. It is very direct. I’m jumping ahead of the story a little here, but I remember there was a girl who worked on reception at a record company office and she was morbidly obese. I’d go in and she’d be on the phone saying, ‘Right, Mark’s going to the gym now…’ and I’d feel like saying, ‘Are you going to the fucking gym?’ That’s the nature of the industry and I understand that now – the point was that she wasn’t on TV and she wasn’t the face in a boy band, but at the time I took everything personally.
When Louis said he didn’t think Derek was suitable, it was a major problem.
I was the one who told Derek, says Shane. I felt that I should be the one because he was such a good friend. All the band were there, sitting around, and I said, ‘Louis wants five in the band and he just thinks you’re not suited to the group.’
It is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. It was awful.
Derek was visibly upset, understandably, and walked out the room.
I’m sad to say that we didn’t speak for the longest time after that – not for years. He obviously felt he couldn’t be my friend anymore. It got worse when Westlife went on to be a big success – that must have been tough for Derek to see. I personally would have hated the band, I would have hated Westlife. He probably did for a long time and I don’t blame him.
I hope he doesn’t now. I do chat to him occasionally and see him now and then. I’ve even been out with him a couple of times. But for a long time nobody talked. It was a tough call. Derek is a great guy.
I didn’t say much at all when Shane told him, recounts Mark. I think I went and put my hand on his shoulder at the door. But I’ve spoke to him since and I’ve cleared things up as much as I can. It’s always going to be pretty awkward.
Shane: About two months later, I thought I was next for the chop. Louis had arranged an audition for a man from Sony-BMG. We travelled up to Dublin and had a few beers the night before to settle the nerves. Well, actually, that’s not strictly true. We’d all agreed to go easy in the pubs, but it was a night out in Sligo and you don’t want