Transcripts
Highlights from Ronan and David Bowie's Web Chat
How is it going Ronan?
RONAN KEATING: Weather is crap, life's good!
Ronan and David: what are your main musical influences?
RK: David Bowie!
DAVID BOWIE: Brendan Behan and His Ronans. Seriously, Ronan: what are your musical influences?
RK: I'm a bit of an all-rounder. I like music from all sides of the industry, although I'm not too hot on dance music. I like Counting Crows, Alanis Morissette...
DB: Anyone from the old R&B.
RK: Everyone from Otis Redding to Marvin Gaye.
Do you think Boyzone is the Irish Take That or the male version of Spice Girls?
RK: In the beginning we were a boy band, and we never denied that. But, as time went by, people realised that we were more than just a boy band, we wrote our own songs, we created our own destiny in the music industry: especially after 13 Top 3 singles and 3 No. 1 albums. Good question.
DB: I, on the other hand started off as a Girl Band and slowly became who I was today.
DB asks RK: How do you see yourself as a 52-year-old? What kind of person do you think you'll be?
RK: Very similar to the person I am now: but with less hair.
David: what do you think of Boy Bands?
DB: Boys Bands is such a generality. It's like saying: what do you think of Rock Bands. Well, which rock band do you mean? I base my opinion entirely on the music, not on the genre. I immediately come forward with admiration for any artist that concerns himself enough to write his own material, and I happen to be sitting next to one right now. I also understand Ronan writes his own material too!
DB: We must explain (what Ronan and the boys have been doing). Ronan has spent the entire day shoulder to shoulder with alternative comedians. What were you doing there Ronan?
RK: Today, we filmed a video for the new Comic Relief single, which will be released in two weeks. It's a Billy Ocean song called 'When The Going Gets Going, The Tough Go Shopping' (it's actually called When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going).
Are you a BowieNet member yourself Ronan?
RK: Yeah: I log on a lot.
DB: But is it ever BowieNet?
RK: Yes: I think I tripped up on it once.
DB: So, I asked him once if he ever looked at my site, and he asked me: Have you ever looked at our site? We looked steadily at each other, agreed to nod, and both said: "Yes, this morning."
Ronan: what is your golf handicap? Ever played St Andrews? What sort of clubs do you use?
RK: My golf handicap is 18, and I have played St Andrews. It's a beautiful course. I play with Callaway clubs. David: do you golf?
DB: I had one once, but the door fell off.
What do you think of Stella Street? Honoured or insulted?
DB: He does a good Bowie. The script could do with some finessing.
DB to Ronan: Being a Dublin boy: are you into Dublin writers? If so: who are your favourites?
RK: My favourites would be more outside Dublin: Sligo, which was Yeats country. Kavanagh, and also Behan. Are you a fan?
DB: Yeah: I suppose mine tend to be more Dublin orientated. Joyce, Beckett: I'm a major Beckett fan. And Behan.
Ronan: do you paint too?
RK: Yes, I try: just for my own use at home. I won't tell you what that use is! It's kind of abstract. I have one collection that's 4 paintings, and each painting is a strong colour with a letter, and each letter spells LOVE. It's a yellow background with a blue L: a red background with a white O and so on. If you were to buy the four it would obviously spell LOVE, if I was to sell them.
DB: Could we show any on BowieNet?
RK: Yes: for a NICE price!
DB: You DO come from Ireland don't you!
DB: You must get so tired of being asked: What's the Guinness like in Ireland? So, let me ask you: What's the Guinness like in England?
RK: Shit!!! You know: God gave Irish the drink so we wouldn't take over the world.
In TV appearances: how often do you mime?
RK: Never: the music is on tape, but the vocals are always live.
DB: Same here.
DB: Is it your priority to sell records, or to make a contribution to the musical culture, or are they equal?
RK: My priority is to make a contribution to musical culture, but I have to live, so money is important.
DB: How do you feel about MP3?
RK: I think it's a fantastic achievement for our generation, but I think there will always be the need for record stores and record companies.
DB: Why are you such a bearer of bad news?
DB: So, how do you feel (and this is a very touchy one) if some kid buys one of your albums, up-loads it and makes it available for free in super high-quality?
RK: Well, he'd be a fool for not making MORE money!
DB: That's the best answer I've heard yet!
What's the link between Bowie and Boyzone? David: were you talking about Ronan and the lads on Looking For Satellites on your last album?
DB: I have to come clean. When I was very very young, there was a comic I used to buy called Boys Own Paper, lovingly called BOP. It was one of the fragments that I threw into 'Satellites'. I was immediately buried under letters telling me that it was one of the hottest new bands in Britain as well, which I must say I was quite delighted with. It's always pleasant to be unwittingly topical. AND it's a great way to make new friends.
David: why not do a cover of a Boyzone song?
DB: Yeah: which one should I do?
Ronan: how old were you when you first got into music?
RK: I was in my first band when I was 13, but I have loved music from a much younger age, from a time I can't even remember.
Tell us a joke.
RK: I've got a joke: Where does Saddam keep his CDs?
DB: I don't know Ronan: where does Saddam keep his CDs?
RK: In a rack.
Ronan: which Bowie song would you like to cover?
RK: Where do I start? Anywhere from Let's Dance to Space Oddity.
David: have you ever seen Boyzone perform live?
DB: No, I've only seen them on the telly and the video, so I'll immediately ask: when are your next shows?
RK: We go on tour in the UK in May. There's not many tickets left. Then Europe in June and Asia in July.
Ronan: so what's it like to be in a car driven by Shane? Is he a mad bastard around Dublin?
RK: Mad bastard is a mild word - but accurate!
David: do you wish you were Ronan's age again?
DB: I wasn't too keen on the mid-forties, but seriously, folks, I have been his age several times.
What was the last gig you both went to?
RK: Brian Kennedy played a charity War Child gig in Dublin last month and I was there.
DB: I was at a gig by a band called Plum for about 10 minutes six weeks ago. They really sucked. That's not a pun.
Ronan: do you like to use chat rooms?
RK: Yes, Boyzone often do it. We have our own site you know, which is www.boyzone.co.uk
DB: But do you ever just go into chatrooms for the fun of it, anonymously?
RK: Yes I do, but I can't tell you which ones! I'm a married man you know! Ha ha ha ha ha!
DB: By the way, I believe congratulations are in order for your forthcoming release: 5 weeks away.
RK: Yes: thank you very much.
DB: Did you want to know if it was a boy or a girl already?
RK: No, we are going to wait.
DB: So, if you think it's a boy, it'll be called Jack, and if it's a girl?
RK: Marie: after my mother.
DB: Have you a supportive family in terms of what you want to do in music?
RK: Absolutely.
DB: Do you have brothers and sisters?
RK: Three brothers and 1 sister. My brother Ciaran is your biggest fan.
DB: How tall is he exactly?
DB: Are any of your brothers or your sister in music?
RK: Only when they drink too much!
RK: So, do you have a big family?
DB: Unfortunately not. I tend to collect friends and make them family. Kind of surrogate.
David, would you like to be in a boy band?
DB: No, I'm quite happy working with Reeves (Gabrels).
DB: Who makes the creative decisions as a band? Is it a band thing or is it a management thing?
RK: The five of us will usually make a lot of the decisions and decide what's in store for our future, then someone in the record company usually changes it!
DB: As you yourself write so prolifically, are you thinking of siphoning some of those songs into an album of your own?
RK: I have written a song for the new Notting Hill project, which is the follow up film to Four Weddings and a Funeral. It is called 'When You Say Nothing At All'.
DB: Do you think Robbie Williams is England's' answer to David Lee Roth? Have you heard of David Lee Roth?
RK: I am yet to see David Lee Roth perform live. And I am yet to see Robbie Williams live, so I'll tell you when I see them both.
If you were both ghosts, who would you like to haunt?
RK: David Lee Roth and Robbie Williams.
Ronan, is it important to you personally that Boyzone break America?
RK: Of course it's important for any band to break a territory as large as America. We have not been so lucky, so far, to do so: but we've got the rest of the world who want more, so that's good for us.
DB: Interestingly, over the last 10 years or so, Brit acts have had a really tough time in America. Verve, one of our largest acts only had moderate success, and Oasis seem yet to make a dent at all. Ironically, it's the Spice Girls that they've welcomed with open arms. Do you think the cultural differences are more nationalistic than ever before?
RK: Pop music is happening at the moment in America, more than it ever has been before, and the Americans hate attitudes, which Oasis and The Verve are full of. But, their music is fantastic.
What do you mean? Oasis are HUGE in America!
RK: Are they? Have you ever been to America?
Oasis are NOT huge in America!
RK: Yes they are.
DB: No they aren't.
RK: Are!
DB: Na!
RK: R!
DB: Na!
Is there any truth in recent newspaper reports that you've emigrated from Ireland and gone into tax exile?
RK: No, I have not gone into tax exile: I'm going home tonight.
David, do you have a house in Ireland?
DB: Both Ronan and Bono says for me to use their gaffs anytime I want, so I guess I do.
RK: As long as he pays the rent.
DB: This boy has a serious business head on him.
Ronan, is it true that you want to be Prime Minister of Ireland?
RK: No: President.
DB: Do you knock around with Bono or any of U2?
RK: I know Bono and Larry very well, but I'm a terrible name dropper!
DB: Drop some famous ones then.
RK: Elvis, Roy Orbison.
DB: Let me rephrase that: If you had a fight with Bono, who'd get drunk first?
RK: Me, as long as Bono stays away from the sambuca's and as long as I'm full of Jack Daniels.
Have you ever set fire to your lip with a sambuca?
RK: No, but Bono did!
David, what are you doing in the UK?
DB: I am primarily here to take part in this chat room with Ronan, and of course, in a couple of weeks, I am working with my buddies Placebo at The Brits.
RK: So let's get drunk at The Brits then Dave!
DB: I'm afraid I'd just have to watch now.
RK: Oh well, I'll drink yours.
David: have you ever attended a Beckett play in Dublin?
DB: Yes I have, at The Gate Theatre. Also in New York and also in London. I know for sure I saw Happy Trousers in New York. I think the most astonishing performance I've seen was in NY with Steve Martin and Robin Williams in Waiting for Godot.
What is the meaning of the name Ronan?
RK: It's Irish for baby seal.
DB: Do you feel a Celtic connection or do you find that not part of your life?
RK: No, I'm very proud of where I come from and I'm very interested in the history of Ireland. It's a wonderful, mystical country.
DB: I feel much the same about Bromley.
Tell us a limerick Ronan.
RK: There was an old man from Nantucket,
That kept all his cash in a bucket,
But his daughter named Nan
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket... ahhh?
Any plans to do any live shows over the Internet?
RK: Keep watching this space... we've got a surprise for you shortly.
Ronan, would you like to get into acting?
RK: I've been offered a few movies. I will do one, I'm just waiting for the right one.
The press are talking of a Boyzone split: is this bollocks?
RK: Yes, this is bollix, as we say in Ireland.
Will you change your musical style Ronan?
RK: I will change music style a little, but I won't go anywhere too far from what you are used to listening to with Boyzone.
Ronan, are you an Eastenders fan like David?
RK: I don't watch TV, but I love the movies, so I don't know much about Eastenders, but David's filling me in.
DB: I understand from the chat rooms that Grant is going to fill me in! Shame, he's a good actor. Anyway: I'm going to wait for the Eastenders movie.
DB: Ronan, you're a really good sport, and thanks so much for coming to the chat room. I hope you come again. Ta ta folks.
RK: David: it was a pleasure and an honour. I hope we meet again on the net, or under it! Thanks folks: God Bless!
from www.boyzone.co.uk