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Interview: Edele Lynch from B*Witched

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Almost two decades before Fifth Harmony told the world they were ‘Worth It’ and Little Mix brewed up a cauldron of ‘Black Magic’, Irish girl-power quartet B*Witched spellbound a generation of teenagers with their quirky charm and addictive melodies. Now the ‘C’est La Vie’ divas have teamed up with Atomic Kitten, S Club 3 and East 17 to bring Australia an epic 90’s reunion tour like no other! We chatted to B*Witched frontwoman Edele Lynch who revealed tour goss, insight behind their rise to fame and the possibility of a collaboration between her famous big brother.

What are you most looking forward to about coming to Australia?  

I’m so looking forward to playing because even though we’ve been to Australia before and we’ve done a couple of TV shows, we’ve never…actually we did one gig, I remember and it wasn’t the best gig in the world. I know something went wrong with the music so I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing for Australian audiences and just having some fun with you guys.

I unfortunately can’t say I’m looking forward to coming and hanging out in Australia for too long because we don’t have a massive amount of time off. I love Australia; it’s just such a great place to be! 

Is there anything in particular you would like to do when you’re down here with the small amount of time you do have off?

I would like to go to Whitehaven where I’ve never been but I don’t think we have the time.

Accompanying B*Witched are three other pop sensations from the 90s and early 2000’s. Have you stayed in touch with any of them throughout the years? 

We tend to kind of bump into each other on the circuit. The only guys we haven’t bumped into actually are East 17 – we don’t know them at all. But S Club Party are usually at some of the gigs we do and same as Atomic Kitten as well. It’s a bit of a reunion. It’s nice to bump into people, really. It takes us back years before.

You know what’s nice about being together? We’re usually really busy so we cross paths really quickly and just give a little wave, whereas we will be together on this tour so it’s just like a big reunion. We’ll get to hang out and actually have some fun together. There are lots of ladies on the tour as well so there will be plenty of girly nights, I think.

Poor East 17 and the blokes from S Club – they’re overruled! 

Poor Bradley (S Club 3) more than anything else! At least East 17 will be travelling together; Brad’s still got a load of girls (laughs).

What can fans expect from these shows? 

They are great shows to come to. We’ve done them over here a few times – the 90’s nostalgia – and what’s brilliant about them is you can expect hit after hit after hit. Who doesn’t want that when you’re at a show? For ourselves as B*Witched, we just get up on the stage and we have loads of fun. We put on a good show and there’s no pressure on us at all because we know everyone’s going to enjoy it. It’s just a really good night. It’s a really good night off for people just to come and have a lot of fun.

Is there one classic B*Witched song from over the years you especially love and never got sick of?

I love Blame It On The Weatherman. I don’t know why, there’s just something about it. It’s such a brilliant song! If we released it today I think it would have the same reaction as it did all those years ago. There’s just something really classic about it. And obviously C’est La Vie is great to play. We basically don’t even have to sing it ‘cause the audience sings it louder than we do (laughs). I also have a newfound love for Jesse Hold On at the moment. I’m not really sure why it makes me feel so great but I just love when it comes on. It’s just really easy going.

B*Witched songs are well recognised from the little inflections in your voice but over the years as your voice has strengthened and matured, have you found you sing the same songs differently?

I suppose we do sound more mature, like the inflections and all are still there – all of what anyone would expect are still there, but we just sound more mature. In my opinion I think everything sounds better now. Sometimes when I listen back to it now I think, “Oh gosh, we were so high-pitched and squeaky at times with the vocals.” Especially now because we are mature, and imagining the same squeaky vocals would probably look weird.

How have you kept your voice in such good condition all these years?

I’m lucky I do have quite a natural singing ability but I think mostly it’s just singing correctly – when you position it correctly in your throat. If you don’t you can get into quite a bit of trouble especially if you’re touring for weeks on end.

Do you find people still expect you to look and act the same from back when you were just a teenager and B*Witched came out onto the scene?  

Yes, it must be weird, I suppose more to ourselves. I didn’t really think about it the first time we came back with the Big Reunion and did one of the gigs. I came out onto the stage and I forgot there wasn’t going to be children watching. It’s like, “Where are the children?” And then, “Oh yeah they’ve grown up.” So yeah, maybe everybody feels slightly the same when we come on the stage, I don’t know. We’re lucky we don’t look massively different to what we did then; like if you actually put ourselves then beside ourselves now, I think we give off the same aura.

I’ve actually seen some tapings of live shows since then and it’s clear you maintain the same spirit and fun on stage.

You know we really do and that’s what it’s all about. Like, if we can’t have fun on stage with each other and the audiences it’s just not much point in being there. I can’t wait! It’s going to be such a great tour and we’re going to have such great fun!

I can imagine reuniting after 12 years must have been both exciting and terrifying. Were there any specific expectations or fears rushing through your mind at the time?

No, when we returned for the Big Reunion I don’t think any of us knew what to expect. We hadn’t even been in a room with each other for about 6 years – altogether. That was really uncomfortable at first ‘cause we weren’t really sure what it was going to bring. Then in terms of being on stage, I suppose we didn’t really know what to expect ourselves. Although individually we knew we could sing and dance, it was more a concern on whether we were going to get the magic back that made it all work. Funnily enough, even though we did it all as a Big Reunion, the moment when it first made sense was when we stepped on stage together and it all clicked into place. It was like, “That’s why we’re here!” And the magic just automatically came back.

What has it been like working with your sister all these years – both in B*Witched and your duo group Barberellas? Was it difficult choosing who got to sing certain parts?

Well Barbarellas actually was very 50/50 vocally. With B*Witched it was the producer, really, who made the decision on me taking the lead. We were so young at the time we kind of just let it flow the way it went. It wasn’t really my decision and it wasn’t the girls’ either. We weren’t massively involved at the beginning so we kind of just went along with what they were saying. A lot of it had to do with money as well. There wasn’t a huge budget right at the start of B*Witched so the record company and the producer were just making a choice as to who they thought was ready to come over in vocals, I guess. I don’t think we knew, I don’t think we realised it was going to end up the way it was with me being lead. I didn’t actually really agree it was going to end up that way necessarily but it just did.

Well I’ve noticed everyone has had their turns singing more solo sections recently… 

Yeah, ever since we came back with the Big Reunion the girls said they wanted to sing a bit more so they do. They sing a lot more than they used to.

I’ve noticed you are now a mother! Is it especially difficult to juggle that part of your life when you’re on the road?

I’m actually a mother of three, would you believe it or not? Sinead has two. It can be awkward and it can be difficult at times. Mum and dad are actually going to come out and mind the kids when we go to Australia on tour otherwise how would I do it? It can be really difficult juggling it sometimes but I’ve got some incredible friends and family around me just wanting to help. And the kids – when I can and if we’re doing an early enough gig, I like to take them along because they like seeing me on stage.

I’m sure they absolutely love it! 

They do. They don’t care about seeing me on TV but they love seeing me on stage!

Some Aussie fans may not know this but your brother Shane Lynch is from 90’s boyband Boyzone 

You know it still surprises me to this day how many people don’t know that.

Did having a famous brother make it easier or more difficult for B*Witched to rise to fame?  

No, in some ways it made it harder because it’s kind of difficult to get a few people out of a family to be successful as we were. Generally people don’t believe there’s too many people that can do it. It took some eyes off of us and off how serious we were about what we were doing. What we did get from it is that it could be done, that it wasn’t just a dream and that it was a possibility because he was riding high.

Is there any chance of collaborating with him in the future?

You know, it’s so funny. Over the years actually, we’ve spoken about it a couple of times. When we did the Big Reunion Christmas Tour we actually did a Christmas song – Fairytale Of New York and he kind of sang it with us. He was Mad Madam Mim so to speak. That was really nice to sing with him.

Who knows? I would never say never. I would quite like to do something with him and the boys even. I would quite like to do something with Boyzone and B*Witched together even if it’s just a gig ‘cause we’ve not really ever done it.

Is a new B*Witched album on the cards any time soon?

We have the (2014) EP ‘Champagne or Guinness and the collection but we are in talks – actually just this week. The conversations have just started about making new music in the New Year. We are excited and it’s good timing as well. I haven’t realised how long ago the EP was to be honest. When we’re doing a gig we talk about being back in the studio and writing new music and we’re like, “Oh this isn’t new anymore, this was ages ago.” So it would be really good to actually get back in and be genuinely doing something new.

Do you think you will aim to target for young teenagers like previous albums or will it be a more matured and updated version of B*Witched? 

When we go into the studio and we write we kind of just allow it to be a very natural process so we don’t necessarily have this specific science as to what it’s going to be ourselves even. It’s just going to come out the way it’s meant to, I guess. So we haven’t had massive discussions as to how it’s going to unfold but I do know when we get to the writing process it’s all very natural.

Apart from talks of a new album, what does the future hold for B*Witched in the next few years? 

Oh good lord, who knows? If you’d asked me that question 6 years ago I would’ve never even envisioned us being back together and gigging again and writing, so god only knows. We’ll leave it to the stars and see where they take us.

B*Witched 2017 Australian Tour

WED 8 FEB
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
THU 9 FEB
Festival Hall, Melbourne
FRI 10 FEB
170 Russell, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
SAT 11 FEB
Big Top, Sydney
TUE 14 FEB
NEX Wests City, Newcastle
WED 15 FEB
Wrest Point, Hobart
FRI 17 FEB
Jupiter’s Theatre, Gold Coast
SAT 18 FEB
Eatons Hill, Brisbane

Get Tickets HERE