It wasn’t exactly the Blur vs. Oasis of the ‘00s in the headline-making stakes, but around the turn of the century things got heated between two of Ireland’s biggest acts. It was rock vs. pop, with Ash’s Tim Wheeler opining that he’d like to shoot Louis Walsh and the Downpatrick lot actually going on to publicly burn 300 Westlife CDs.

For the 900th issue that’s in it, Markus Feehily – now flying solo under his full first name and unveiling his first post-Westlife release – is taking a trip down memory lane in the lobby of the Morrison Hotel.
“I remember that well!” he says, leaning back into his very swish leather jacket and breaking into a grin. “Silly fuckers!”
Has he ever cleared the air with Wheeler?
“No, never... Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been like ‘what the fuck is their fucking problem?’ I don’t think they were doing it as publicity, I think they fucking hated us.”
Even more popular than their boy band predecessors Boyzone, Westlife notched up more than 40 million album sales and were the standard-bearers of Irish pop for 14 solid years. So you imagine they got that kind of thing from the “alternative” camp a lot.
“Not really, no,” says Feehily. “I remember that so well because it didn’t really happen that often. A lot of the time you’ll see the biggest stars in world are above that stuff. All that shit. If we ever bump into Bono in Lillie’s, he’ll come over and give you a big hug. He’s chatting away, he’ll have a pint with you. And he’s one of the biggest rock stars in the world.
“Then there’s somebody who never seems quite happy with their position that’s always giving out about something. Obviously, Ash hated us. I liked some of their songs and if that happens it’s a bit of a shame because you can never listen to their songs again the same way.”
It wasn’t all Take That and Boyzone floating a young Feehily’s boat when he was absorbing music in his Sligo bedroom back in the mid ’90s.
“I used to love Blur and Oasis, a lot of Britpop. I liked everything, mostly stemming from a vocal. There could be a big wall built between pop music and all other music... What I find interesting these days is that the biggest pop star in the world will be doing a duet with the biggest rock star in the world. It’s all crossing over. I think production in the pop world has come on so much in that regard.”
He has seen that change over the course of their career. When Westlife arrived in 1999, they discarded the overt cheesiness.
“We came in on the back end of boy bands with their tops off. We were never that, trust me! Look at what Take That wore at the start – boy bands were a different thing. It doesn’t bother me that we weren’t around for that side of it!”
The 34-year-old is ready to retake the stage some 32 months after he left Croke Park with his three former bandmates. He’s already arrived back on the radio with first single ‘Love Is A Drug’, a soul number that has the sweep of a Bond theme.
“Definitely a bit of that,” he nods. “It’s got those big strings. I wrote it with a guy called Steve Anderson, who’s been in the business for a long time. It’s produced by Mojam., these young new producers in London who have worked with Sam Smith. So it’s got quite a modern beat but also an old school, epic, widescreen feel to it.”
It debuted on RTÉ 2fm’s Breakfast Republic... Not The Nicky Byrne Show. A bust-up?
“No, no, not at all! I’m just doing what I was told!”
What he is looking forward to most in his solo career is being his “own boss” and being able to call the shots.
‘I’ve been free to do whatever I want. There’ve been no rulebooks. Though there were no ‘chains’ in Westlife or anything. I loved it. I learnt how to fit into that scenario. Because at the start, I never felt like I fitted into that ‘boy band’, ‘pop star’ thing. I don’t mean musically, I don’t mean I was always cooler than it. I didn’t feel like I looked like a pop star. When I was growing up, I never dreamt about being a pop star, I just dreamt about being a singer.”
Being in the studio this time around has been different to anything he experienced in Westlife.
“The songs are genuinely coming from within me, from experiences that I’ve gone through myself. So when I’m doing the vocals, I’m thinking of the fucker that pissed me off that time! When I sing a Westlife song, it was written by somebody the other side of the world and I don’t even know what it’s about... I’ve also had to really get some balls and say things to strangers I just met that day to work with. To tell them a story I wouldn’t even tell my best mates!”
Lyrically, he says the debut album will be open and honest but not “’Alanis Morissette honest’” in terms of naming names.
In a “really great place” in his life, Feehily has long talked about starting a family one day. Where are we at with that?
“I’m no closer or further away from it. I know for a fact I’d really love to have kids. I am in a relationship but we’re not looking to have kids at the moment. To me, that’s the biggest prize in the world: to be able to have a kid or create a life. It overshadows anything that you could ever do. It’s the most amazing thing ever. Ideally, though, it would happen at a time when you’re ready to commit 100% to something. I’d rather do it when it was the right time and I could completely devote myself to it.”
It's almost a decade since Feehily publicly came out as gay. He remembers it today as a “massive” moment.
“I was never myself until I did come out,” he affirms. “It was that anti-climactic thing where I thought everything was going to change and then a week or two later everybody stopped asking about. So everything for me changed, but nobody else. Everybody else stayed the same. A lot of people before they come out fear that their whole world’s going to fall apart. That they’re going to lose their friends and family. It’s a big part of why people struggle to come to terms with it and struggle to come out. One thing I always try to share with anybody who might be in that situation is that actually, you’d be very surprised at how little changes, if anything changes at all. Apart from your happiness. It changed my life.”
He says he struggles to remember what it was like being a “different person” during that “dark time” when his sexuality weighed heavily.
“It was always there, it was like a big dark cloud. And then being in that situation but trying to be in a happy, smiley boy band...”
Not only did it improve his own life, but Feehily has seen his brave decision have a positive influence on others. Occasionally he will be approached by people who tell him they are gay, not out and panicked. “That breaks my heart,” he sighs. There are positive stories he hears in nightclubs, however, that are powerful enough to bring him to tears.
“I remember one guy told me he was sitting in the living room with his mum – and I think his mum had a bit of an idea he was gay – and they had the paper where it was my coming out story in The Sun. That little moment sparked a conversation. I don’t think she asked him if he was gay, but he asked her what she thought of it and she said ‘ah sure fair play to him!’. He was on the edge of saying something, seized the moment and just fucking blurted it out to her. He told me: ‘Because of your story, I came out to my mum.’ I was in fucking bits! That’s not like meeting someone and giving them an autograph for their sister, or giving someone a pair of tickets for a gig. That’s life changing shit!”
Is he optimistic about the same-sex marriage referendum in May?
“I feel very excited and positive about the fact it could be about to all happen. It’s all well and good if everybody outside the LGBT community are supportive and – I hate the word ‘tolerant’ because what’s there to tolerate? – accepting. Moving forward in a positive way about things. But... The important thing is to actually vote. It’s everyone outside the LGBT community joining in that is the mass support that will push it through.
“One side of it’s love and romance. But the most important thing about this particular vote is that we have equal rights. It’s pretty evident that Ireland has massively changed, which is amazing. We’re now at a point where, to take it to the next stage, people need to voice their support. I have faith. I just hope everyone outside the LGBT community are aware of its importance.”