D-Side Story

Alice Wyse Jackson and her date with D-side...

When I was first approached about interviewing top ten chart toppers D-side, the first thing I felt was absolute amazement! I couldn’t believe that I would be interviewing them!

As the time drew nearer and nearer, I felt very nervous! As I went in for the interview, I didn’t quite know what to expect, so as I rode up in the lift all that was running through my head was, ‘please oh please don’t let me go red’! I have an absolutely awful habit of going a cooked lobster shade of red when I become nervous or embarrassed...

Anyway, I’m here to tell you about the interview, so that is what I will do. So here’s how it went…

We came to a floor that was completely covered from ceiling to floor with marble! And on the 3 sofas, there were the boys themselves, basically just chatting on mobiles and ‘hanging out’.

I walked in and they all introduced themselves, although I already knew who they all were, and all of them kissed me! I can tell you this now, I nearly died on the spot, but luckily, I don't think it showed and I managed to keep my ‘lobsterness’ to an absolute minimum.

We all went into the interviewing room and sat down. Dane on my left, Ryan on my right, Shane and Derek opposite me, with Damien on the other side of the table.

I had prepared ten questions prior to the interview, so I got stuck right in and fired off the first question.

When you grew up, did you have any musical influences within your family and friends?
They all had friends who were into music, and all were brought up very close to music.

Damien’s grandmother was very musical and she inspired him. He and his brothers and sisters were brought up singing and dancing all the time, and this is why he was and still is so interested in music.

Ryan especially had a very traditional Irish background. He was brought up learning and loving to Irish dance, and was always performing. He also learnt to play many traditional Irish instruments.

By this time, I had begun to loosen up a bit, and was no longer so nervous. The guys were all incredibly nice, and were very chatty! So I proceeded with my second question

Who did you idolise when you were younger and do you still now?
Although most of the guys idolised different people, they all agreed that Michael Jackson was one of the people who they really admired and respected. Ryan and Shane were definitely the biggest fans of his, and admired him for what he has and is still achieving now. Derek and Dane grew up listening to Jackson Five with all of their friends, and still like to listen to them now and Damien, although they were a bit before his time, really likes the Beatles.

On your website, I noticed on your profiles that only Damien gave his age, and birthday, and the rest of you just gave your birthdays, and not the year or your age. Was this deliberate into trying to appeal to a wider audience?
Now, I can tell you, there was some discussion at this! All of them had not realised that this was the case, an in the end, John (their manager) got called in. After John was told and set off to get it fixed, apparently most magazines gave you a form to fill out, which just wanted your month and date to find your star signs. So, here are their ages once and for all:
Damien – 21
Ryan – 19
Shane – 20
Derek – 19
Dane – 21
So, the answer to the question was no, this was not deliberate, but a complete mistake :)

As children, did you all know that you wanted to be singers?
The all round answer to this was yes. From a very early age, they were all interested in singing and dancing. They all used to show off at all the family parties, and generally sing whenever they got the chance. Shane had his first taste of ‘professional singing’ at age 5, when he was given a Karaoke machine for his birthday, which he used to use to sing to all of his family with. As well as this, him and Derek both went to the Billy Barry stage school in Dublin (the same one as Samantha Mumba went to – who they know).

Were any of you in bands before you became one of the members of D-Side?
All of the guys were in bands previously, before D – Side, however they were not serious and D – Side was the first band that they all really wanted to take further. Shane and Derek knew each other before, and were in a rock band together, when Shane was 15, and Derek was 14. However, they were not really interested in rock, but pop. Ryan was also in a band when he was younger, however, it was more tradition Irish music, playing country songs and playing in Pubs. This was not serious though, and was more something to do in the holidays.

Do any of you play your own instrument, and if so, are you confident enough to play them within the band?
Damien plays the guitar, Ryan also plays the guitar as well as the drums, the banjo, and the mandolin – which he played on the Saturday morning show a few weeks back. Although some of them can play, they prefer to sing and dance on stage, as its more the kind of thing they do within D – Side.

Do you ever plan to write your own songs?
On their album, they have written 6 of the songs, as well as having the first song they ever wrote – ‘Stronger’, go to number 5 in the Irish charts and selling 200’000 copies (It was only released in Ireland.) As well as this, they wrote the B – Side to speechless, and the two B – Side songs to their new single ‘Invisible’ (which is out on 14th July).

When you have free moments, where do you most like to go and why?
The thing they crave when they have days on end of work, is just being able to ‘chill out’ and relax, or, in Shane’s case, sleep! They like to just take a walk out to the shops, and be by themselves for a while. However, if they get a number of days free, they usually book flights and go back to see family and friends in Dublin, Carlow, and Laois. Currently, they are all living together in a house in London, so what they also do in their free days off is catch up on their washing – which, quite surprisingly, they do themselves.

What do you have planned for the upcoming year?
At the moment, they are very busy with promoting their new single, ‘Invisible’, which is out on the 14th July, as well as putting the finishing touches on their album which is being released in October/November. They have also just recently been in the studio rehearsing for their tour with Blue and Liberty X, which is going to be all over the country, as well as in Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and France.

When I asked whether or not they had had broken into Europe yet, they said that they had just been over in Germany, mainly just to get their name known over there. They are going to be very busy this summer, as they have a lot of ‘party in the park’ type gigs all over the U.K, in Birmingham and Scotland, etc. However, at the moment, they ae not really looking beyond the summer.

What do you say to all the people out there who say we don’t need another boy - band?
The first answer from Shane was "you do!" Which under the circumstances is a very good answer! However, the others had their say in it too. They all agreed that if you’re good enough, there is always room for you. They’re not forcing anyone to listen to them, but why shouldn’t they too get a go at their dream? They want people to buy their singles, and ‘invisible’ because they like the song, no matter who sings it.

Finally, when we asked as an extra question, ‘Do you get cross when people class you as a boy - band?’ they said no, and that they are incredibly happy with what they are. They’re a band with boys in it, so why shouldn’t they be classed as one? All in all, they are proud to be what they are!

This is where the official interview ended, however, I did get to spend a bit more time with them, and I can tell you this now, they are really nice! I wasn’t quite sure about them before hand, however, I can officially say now that I am an official fan!!

Thank you to Warner and the D-side management for arranging for Fazed to meet the lads.