Believe In Me

Once the cute l'il one from Boyzone, Stephen Gately has more than proven himself as a solo success. Now he tells Buzzin' why he intends to get even better.

YOU'VE BEEN QUITE ILL RECENTLY. ARE YOU BETTER NOW?

I had a kidney stone and I've been having laser treatment which helps break the stone up; half of it came out about two months ago and the other half came out last week! Then it was straight onto the promotional stuff- recently all I've been doing is getting on and off of planes! It's all been grand though.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW SINGLE 'I BELIEVE'.

It's being used on the soundtrack for the film Billy Elliot. I was inspired to write the song after watching the film. I could relate to the character Terry because when I was at school my parents were very concerned that I study hard for my exams, when all I wanted to do was dance. The movie is a classic movie and the soundtrack is fantastic as well!

IN LIGHT OF RONAN'S SUCCESS, DO YOU FEEL UNDER PRESSURE FOR THE SINGLE TO GO IN AT NUMBER ONE?

If it does well then great, but if it doesn't then I've no hard feelings towards anybody. I'm working quite hard so if it's a success then that's great, but if it's not then it isn't the end of the world. Anyway, to go Top 10 is pretty fantastic.

YOU'VE BEEN AROUND IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR SEVEN YEARS NOW; DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'VE DONE IT ALL?

There are always new directions to go in and everybody should always have hopes and dreams and try to achieve them; that's what I do- every year I take a couple of ideas about things I want to do and I set about fulfilling them. This year, one thing I intended to do was star in a movie and hopefully I'll be making a cameo appearance in the Harry Potter film!

DO YOU HAVE ANY ACTING EXPERIENCE?

I studied acting way before Boyzone and I even directed a play when I was sixteen. So basically I'd like to get back into it slowly but surely- if everything goes to plan.

DOES THIS JOB EVER GET YOU DOWN?

Yeah, it does get you down sometimes, especially if you've been working late nights for a couple of weeks on the trot- then it can become quite tiring and you get a bit cranky. If I'm feeling like that, then I just demand time that I have to rest, take some time off and just chill out.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU'VE LEARNT OVER THE PAST SEVEN YEARS?

Manners cost nothing; rudeness is something I can't stand. It costs nothing to be nice and be nice to people on the way up, because you'll meet them again on the way down.

DO YOU STILL KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR FELLOW 'ZONERS?

Oh of course- we're always on the phone. I spoke to Shane yesterday and Keith a couple of days ago; I'm going to give them all a buzz tomorrow to see if any of them are about in London so we can meet up for dinner and a couple of drinks.

DO YOU MISS WORKING WITH THEM?

I miss working with all the boys, but it's not the end or anything like that- but I miss the company, the laughs and the jokes. . . The playing, messing around!

WHO WERE YOU CLOSEST TO IN BOYZONE?

Probably Keith, Shane and Ronan, I'm close to all of them and Mikey as well, but I'm probably closest to Ronan and Keith.

IS IT TRUE YOU DIDN'T INVITE MIKEY GRAHAM TO YOUR ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY EARLIER THIS YEAR?

I didn't invite any of the guys, because I thought they were all going to be busy; the other guys just turned up and Mikey didn't. But there was no hassle there: we talked about it on the phone and it was just a misunderstanding.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THEIR SOLO CAREERS?

Fantastic, Ronan is just booming out there and it's all going so well for him which I'm really pleased about. Mikey will be releasing his second single soon, so fingers crossed for everybody; I wish all of them the best of luck.

DID YOU ASK ANY OF THE OTHERS FOR ADVICE?

No, I mean we've all done the same thing for about seven years- I don't need advice from any of the guys. I make my own decisions and that's the way it is and it's the same for them- I don't give them any advice, they just draw from their own experiences. We've all just decided to do our own thing for a little bit.

WHOSE OPINION DO YOU VALUE MOST ABOUT YOUR MUSIC?

The public! If I were to win an award chosen by the public it would mean so much to me, rather than an industry award.

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE WORKING WITH BOYZONE TO GOING SOLO?

It is different and the workload is a lot heavier because it's all on the individual now rather than five people: it's not like before where we could split up to do different interviews and every question now is directed at me.

HOW DOES YOUR OWN MUSIC DIFFER TO THAT OF BOYZONE?

Boyzone were all about ballads; with my album everybody expected twelve sweet little ballads, but I didn't want that because I didn't want to do what everybody expected. So I decided to record some uptempo and midtempo stuff, a few ballads and a little bit of R n' B just to give it some variation. The thing with Boyzone was that we always used to have an awful lot of ballads on our albums. I didn't ever get sick of them; I mean they're great and lovely to listen to- but I didn't want people to think I was just trying to release yet another Boyzone album.

WILL YOU EVER MAKE A RETURN TO BOYZONE?

Yeah, it's just a matter of time before we sit down and have a chat about what we're doing. There are loads of bands that are able to do it; no matter what their schedules are they work around them. It's all just a matter of juggling the time.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN MOST?

You should always believe in yourself: when I was younger I always wanted to be successful in the entertainment business- either singing or acting. I was so determined and now I've achieved it. If you really believe in something and you're determined enough, then I think you'll get it.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WANTING TO MAKE IT IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

It's very difficult, because there's a lot of falseness out there; you have to be very careful who you work with and just make sure you have people around you who know what they're doing. It is very difficult, but if people want it they should just go out there and enjoy every day.