About A Boy
He was the cheeky chappy in Boyzone, the cheery one with the boy next door personality. Then the band broke up and he didn’t know what to do with his life. So Keith Duffy did what nobody expected: he became a well-regarded actor and soap star. As he prepares to make his debut with the acclaimed Druid Theatre company, he speaks frankly about his quest for meaning in life, the controversial break-up of Boyzone in 2000, their successful reunion and Stephen Gately’s tragic death.
Olaf Tyaransen, 16 Nov 2011
Somebody once observed that the worst thing about being famous is that you have to be in a good mood all time.
Well, you do. You do. And I’m lucky in that respect that I generally am in a good mood. I’m a real friendly drunk, I’m a real gobshite! I love everybody so I end up being too fucking nice to people when I’m drunk, and that can get you into trouble as well.
Do you have a motto in life?
Always look for forgiveness before permission.
Druid presents John B. Keane’s Big Maggie, directed by Garry Hynes, at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre (November 11 – 19) and at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin (November 21 – 26). Then on nationwide tour to eight more venues until February 2012. druid.ie.
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Olaf Tyaransen
Latest Articles by Olaf Tyaransen
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With a date at the Olympia Theatre looming in December, and a much anticipated album on the way in the new year, these are crucial times for Sinéad O’Connor. In a remarkable interview, she also discusses her search for a man, the lovers she has known, sex, sex – and more sex. Plus: Ireland of the squinting windows and the Catholic Church...
2011-12-05 - Interview
To some, Liveline presenter Joe Duffy is the nation's unofficial agony uncle, a voice for the disaffected and downtrodden. But the programme’s ‘open mic’ policy has landed it in controversial waters on more than one occasion. As his extremely personal autobiography is published, the host of RTÉ Radio’s No.2 programme accuses Trinity College of elitism, talks about the crusade against head shops, discusses his brother’s addiction and hits out at David McSavage's send-up of Liveline.
2011-11-30 - Interview
Olaf Tyaransen hooks up with Plan B, Warpaint and Chicagoan rap sensation K-Flay at a special Tennessee howdown to celebrate the birthday of a certain Mr. Jack Daniel.
2011-11-23 - Reports
What happens after your opinion-dividing indie band fades away and you find yourself back where you started? For Thrills’ sticksman Ben Carrigan the answer is clear: you reinvent yourself as a sensitive songwriter with aspirations to write for the screen.
2011-10-28 - Interview
His entry into the Presidential race came as a bombshell, throwing many political commentators, as well as the Fine Gael party, into a tailspin. It has also been the catalyst to a surge in support in the opinion polls for Sinn Féin. So who is Martin McGuinness? What is he like as a man? And can a self-confessed former IRA leader convince the Irish peope that he has what it takes to be the President?
2011-10-21 - Interview
At just 30 years of age, Lisa Hannigan has gone from being Damien Rice’s sidekick to establishing herself as one of the most important new artists in contemporary Irish music. With the release of her second album, Passenger, she is set to take the world by storm. But behind the natural beauty is a remarkable woman who is beginning to reveal the depth of her mysteries…
2011-10-19 - Interview
It has been the most dramatic Presidential election ever, with seven candidates finally lining up to go before the electorate. Among them is former Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht Michael D Higgins. So who is the man about whom The Sawdoctors wrote ‘Michael D Rockin In The Dail’? And if he does find favour with the electorate, what kind of presidency can we expect from him?
2011-10-19 - Interview
He is the singer and songwriter with one of America’s most highly rated cult bands. He is also one of the most acclaimed US novelists to have emerged in recent times. But it would be hard to find anyone less driven by ego or a desire for celebrity than Willy Vlautin, frontman with Richmond Fontaine. In fact what he hankers after is the opportunity to slip off into the woods alone – and write.
2011-10-17 - Interview
One of Britain’s leading music journalists Charles Shaar Murray has taken the plunge into fiction. He talks about the challenge of moving from critic to novelist with his explosive debut The Hellhound Sample.
2011-10-03 - Interview
The word on the street is that RTÉ has a major hit on its hands with the new cookery competition show, MasterChef Ireland. It features two of the country's leading restauranteurs – the fiery Dylan McGrath of Rustic Stone and the genial Nick Munier of Pichet – who adjudicate on the efforts of 16 aspiring culinary stars. It’s a series in which the sparks are guaranteed to fly – and on occasion the tears to flow.
2011-09-16 - Interview
They blew Smashing Pumpkins off-stage and, with a little luck, could have been as big as U2. Now the great lost band of 90s indie rock Whipping Boy are on the reunion trail. From his new home in the depths of Leitrim, frontman Fearghal McKee talks about the group's colourful past and their future ambitions.
2011-09-08 - Interview
Thomas Walsh was the underappreciated genius of Irish rock until his Duckworth Lewis Method hook-up with Neil Hannon put him on the map. One Ivor Novello nomination later, his band Pugwash are signed to a major and he’s receiving fan mail from ELO’s Jeff Lynne. As he gears up for his date at the inaugural Homegrown festival at INEC Killarney, the songwriting wizard talks to Olaf Tyaransen.
2011-08-25 - Interview
Now we’ve got the obligatory primate pun out of the way, it’s time for an exclusive chat with Arctic Monkeys. Installed in a super-trendy London club, frontman Alex Turner and his bandmates discuss the media spotlight, an unlikely friendship with P. Diddy and why, despite their jet-setter lifestyles, these humble Yorkshiremen are just homebirds at heart. Words: Olaf Tyaransen
2011-07-25 - Interview
Tony Fenton is a larger than life figure. One of Ireland’s most experienced and widely liked DJs, he currently occupies the early afternoon slot on Today FM, where he attracts an impressive audience. Behind the mic, he is full of braggadocio – but off-air he is a different character entirely. So what really makes the Northside Dubliner tick?
2011-06-29 - Interview
Despite a series of major label knockbacks, Gemma Hayes has not only survived but established herself as one of the country’s most individual talents. She talks to Olaf Tyaransen about her new album, Let It Break, falling in love, courting Hollywood – and dancing a jig for Ronald Reagan.
2011-06-29 - Interview
Having worked with a host of big names, from The Beatles and Frank Sinatra to O.J. Simpson, Simon Cowell, Jade Goody and, currently, Imogen Thomas, he is one of the best-known PR men in the world, famous for breaking some of the biggest stories in newspaper history – and also for successfully suppressing ones that were ready to dominate the headlines. But behind the high level jousting with the hardened bootboys of the British media (and the decent types too), Max Clifford is a remarkeably straightforward and down to earth working class character, who – as it turns out – loves the life he lives.
2011-06-15 - Interview
Mani's accused him of "stuffing his walllet with Ian Curtis blood money", but Peter Hook is unrepentant about his decision to perform Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures live. Olaf Tyaransen meets the legendary Mancunian as he gears up for two Irish appearances.
2011-06-15 - Interview
In a special interview to coincide with the first visit of President Barack Obama to Ireland, Bono talks about the man who is currently occupying the White House...
2011-06-02 - Interview
After 30 years of hosting the Slane Castle Festival, the aristocrat of Irish rock’n’roll, Lord Henry Mountcharles, shows no sign of losing his enthusiasm for the fray...
2011-06-02 - Interview
A party boy whose conquests included Lindsay Lohan and a Girl Aloud, Calum Best seemed to be following the self-destructive example of father George when he became a fixture on the London social scene. Now in his 30s, the former model says he has turned over a new leaf and made peace with the dad who was never there for him. He talks about orgies, prostitutes, cocaine, his acting ambitions and why he’d desperately like to fall in love.
2011-05-17 - Interview
Not very long ago, Declan O’Rourke looked set for the big time. His fanbase included Paul Weller and he’d just signed to a major label. Global success IMMINENT – but things didn’t QUITE work out that way. Now signed to his own label, he talks about his period in the wilderness and explains why his latest album represents a whole new BEGINNING.
2011-05-12 - Interview
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