Holding His Own Stage -- Shane Filan

I had a chance to meet him in Tokyo about 18 years ago but I didn’t feel too well so I stayed home and missed the chance. But last Wednesday…we finally met at a 5-star hotel smack in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. I walked in nervously after dealing with KL traffic (which isn’t for the weak I must say). No, I wasn’t meeting a long lost secret lover. Instead I was meeting a talented Irish man. He was a part of Westlife and for many many girls, the heartthrob of their dreams. I never really thought I’d get a chance to sit with Shane Filan and just talk about how much we love…books. But recently he was in town for a quick showcase of his latest album called Love, Always. The last time Shane released an album it was in 2015 and it was an album full of original songs. This time around it’s a compilation of song covers and originals.

“So Love, Always is basically a collection on mainly famous love song that I wanted to make an album of. I think for the very start of my solo career I knew that I would make this album. I just didn’t know when. So now after 2 original albums I felt like it was time to do it and I wanted to record songs that I’ve wanted to record for a very long time. And it’s really great to finally do it. Obviously there are some original songs on there as well. It’s a nice mix between song writing which I love also recording great songs. Everyone loves to hear great songs. It’s bringing back some memories for people and some new memories for them as well.” Yes! It’s literally like walking down memory lane. It’s familiar yet brand new in ways that will keep your heart warm.

Although I love covers, I can’t help but to wonder why? “I didn’t want to have too many original songs in it because I wanted to make it about the covers and the famous songs but I thought I still wanted to write something. Even if it’s one song or two songs. I ended up doing three so I was very happy with them. “Completely” is probably my favorite out of the three. Just for personal reasons.” Okay, I’m starting to see his eyes shine as he talks about his personal inspiration.

“Story wise it’s very personal to me. It’s a true story about my relationship with my wife. How it started…I was friends with her and then fell in love with her. Vocally it is very vulnerable. It was the day I did the song, I did the demo and I sang it through. We used that vocal. I never re-vocaled it. That song is one of my favorite that I probably have ever written.” Cue the romance! Nothing is more romantic than having a song written to commemorate someone special. So with this, I scoured Shane’s Instagram account in hopes of putting a face to the love of his life.

Instead, I found the love of MY life on his Instagram feed. NASI LEMAK. “It was amazing! I was bowling yesterday with some fans and I asked them what dishes I should try and they said Nasi Lemak so I ordered it and I had it for lunch. It was spicy which was good. Well it’s good for singing…spicy. It wakes up your voice which was very nice so yeah!” Well, I think he’s got a good palate this one, because Nasi Lemak is like getting a hug from a best friend knowing you’ll live a happy life. And uh of course, I’ll be having Nasi Lemak before my best karaoke session…so my singing can be at it’s full potential.

I obviously cannot help but wonder what it’s like to go from a 5-piece boy band (you know it, it’s Westlife) to a solo singer. “It’s been really good. I’m a lot more comfortable now than I was 5 years ago starting out. It was definitely a bit weird and a little bit daunting at the beginning because I was so used to being in a band and it was completely the opposite being on your own. The one good thing was it was singing and I was very comfortable with. It wasn’t like I did something completely different like started acting in. So that was comfortable for me. I learned a lot about myself as a performer, as a songwriter. And a load of different things came to play that I didn’t think I could do. I’m a lot happier and a more confident performer than I was in Westlife. I love Westlife but I learned how to hold a stage on my own which is the biggest thing about a solo performer.”

Just in case you’re wondering, Shane started his solo career in 2013 after Westlife disbanded. “When you’re in a group, you sing just to one side but as a solo performer you have to sing to every side. You have to keep everybody happy. You just become a different type of performer. I’m very happy doing this but I’m very happy doing Westlife too. But it’s definitely very different.”

I grew up listening to Westlife. However, it’s been a while since and the music scene changes every day. “I think it’s great! I think the music scene is at a great place at the moment. There’s a lot of amazing artists and singers and genres. I think nearly every type of music is relevant now. Jazz, rap, boy bands, girl bands, younger kind of pop music. People who have been famous for 20-30 years like Elton John or Ryan Adams or whoever it may be are more popular now. All the bands, U2…they are all on tour, they are playing stadiums. I think everybody wants to go to concerts a lot more. I think people wants to see their act on stage. That’s the most important thing.” And if you’re wondering when you’ll get to see Shane take control of the stage, he promised to be back for a concert in Singapore on March 10^th, 2018.

I think the music scene is in a very healthy place, because it could be very hard to follow all the stream. People go, “Oh music is gonna die.” I don’t think music is dying. I think it’s more accessible to people. I think streaming is an amazing idea because some people don’t want to buy the whole album or maybe they can’t afford it. But whatever it may be, you can have a little bit of everybody’s album on your streaming service. It’s great. I can have access to any songs off any album I want. Technology in the world is going and I think we all just gotta follow it.

And it seems Shane is evolving together with technology. “The Insta-world as they call it...Instagram, Facebook...it’s so crazy. When I look back to when Westlife started…we never had Instagram, we never had Facebook. So it’s a completely different world now. I’m obviously still on Instagram and Facebook, still on social media which is very important to my career. I think every artist has them you have to be on there to not get left behind. People wanna know a bit more about your life. About your personal life and what you like to do. Or whatever it may be. I’m not crazy about being too personal. I think you gotta keep some stuff private. But I think when it comes to my work or when I’m traveling here and there I’d be a little more active cause I like to show people exactly what I’m doing or what I’m eating. Stuff that’s relevant to the country I’m in because every time you come to a place like Malaysia it’s an experience. For me it’s an experience for the fans for me to be here to create new memories. So it’s all kinda positive. But you gotta stay relevant musically and you gotta do what you believe in.”

Lately, music genres are converging and becoming more liquid, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was planning to making some new sounds? “I think I’m not gonna be making music that is suddenly young and contemporary. That’s not my thing. I just wanna sing great songs and hopefully be relevant to my fan base. Not every fan base, just mine. Because if you try to keep every body happy, you might change who you are and it becomes irrelevant very quickly. So stay relevant to the people who wants to listen to you.” I have to say, being strong enough to stay true to yourself isn’t an easy feat. We’ve all seen many artist “selling out” to appeal to the masses and it’s a sad thing to see.

So what who or what music is on Shane Filan’s playlist? “At the moment I just downloaded Justin Timberlake’s album. I like Filthy that’s a pretty great song. My daughter doesn’t like it haha. She can’t understand it at all. Every time we play it, my two boys love it.” At this point, I could see clearly that Shane is definitely a romantic family man! He lit up the moment he talked about his children.

But I listen to a lot of different things. Like Charlie Puth, he has a song out there that go attentions and it was really good. I listen to a lot of upbeat stuff especially when I go to the gym I listen to Eminem. Eminem and Ed Sheeran have a really good song. Ed Sheeran’s really good, I have him on my playlist. Yeah, it changes all the time. I just feel like whatever’s a really good song at the moment.

You’d be surprised at how much Shane does NOT listen to music at home. “I wouldn’t go home tonight or to the hotel and listen to music. I won’t listen to an album. I’ll just relax or read a book or I’ll do something different because I do music so much but if I’m in a car or in the gym, I’ll listen to music.”

And instead, we both agreed that reading seems to be the best option to relax. “I like to read. I’ve started to read a lot recently. I didn’t really do it that much. It was always Netflix or watch TV. But I started to read a lot recently and I find it really relaxing. I get really caught up with the book and I fall asleep like that!” he says while snapping his fingers.

“I’m reading a crime thriller book at the moment. I’m in to that kinda stuff. But it’s really really cool and I’m about halfway through. It’s one of those things like you can’t wait to get on the plane for an hour or two and read. It’s great to have something like that because this music world is going at 99 miles an hour. But I think it’s nice to have something to unwind and I do that as much as I can.”

Personally, I’m more of a biographies and memoirs reader. But I’m willing to give crime thrillers a try! ­­