B*Witched's Edele Lynch: "We were on a treadmill and just kept running and running until everybody started to hit a wall"

“We could never have imagined how crazy it was gonna get,” reveals Edele Lynch.

The singer is casting her mind’s eye to the late ‘90s, when she, along with her twin Keavy, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll dominated radio waves as B*Witched.  Forming in north Dublin in 1996, they enjoyed enviable chart success during their initial stint, with their first four singles, ‘C'est la Vie’, ‘Rollercoaster’, ‘To You I Belong’ and ‘Blame It on the Weatherman’ all shooting to number one in the UK.

“We used to work maybe 17 hours most days, so we were always incredibly tired, not knowing what country we were in or what town we were going to next,” Edele says, reflecting on the whirlwind period.

“I think we handled it really well to a point. We were on a treadmill and just kept running and running until everybody started to hit a wall. I remember doing promo for ‘Blame It on the Weatherman’ alone, because the others were physically ill and couldn't get out of bed.

“To think about it now just seems kind of ridiculous. We had a two-week break within a two or three year period. It's just not enough when you look back, but it's quite hard when you're in demand like that.”

Whilst in the present things mightn’t be as strenuous, B*Witched are by no means slacking off. In August they released their Ripped Jeans EP – the title a nod to the band’s long standing association with denim. This connection, Edele says, began after a few expensive photoshoots failed to do the trick.

“Our producer Ray Hedges saw the photos coming back and was like ‘No, I don't like them. The girls are tomboyish and fun, and all I'm getting here is serious and sexualised stuff.’ So we went back to the drawing board and did some simple shoots in denim and it all came from there. It seemed to make sense and it's been handy for us as a little uniform, you don't have to panic about what to wear.”

The uniforms have been getting a good run out this summer too, with B*Witched playing a flurry of shows around the UK, with more gigs planned further afield. How has the new material been going down with the fans?

“It's interesting with this EP,” she observes. “Often when you put new records out there you don't know how people are going to react. Sometimes you get people going ‘Can you just get to the one we know already?’ But as soon as we started playing these songs, before the EP was even out, people were desperately trying to sing along - even though they didn't actually know the words!”

B*Witched.

It’s no mean feat for long running acts to keep going in an an-ever changing music industry.

“From a personal point of view it feels easier,” Edele admits. "It’s less stressful and we're not under any pressure anymore. We were under a lot of pressure [in the beginning],  especially with the four UK number ones. “It doesn't matter how many people I’m standing in front of, the nerves just don't come.

“The whole streaming thing brings it to more people and it makes it more accessible. On the flip side, I feel like you used to have a bigger relationship with music back then, whereas now it's all very quick. When you had your cd or your vinyl,  you’d just appreciate it and let it run.

Another difference, and potential benefit, of our modern times is the control artists are granted by via newer forms of media, with B*Witched hosting their own podcast.

"In the beginning I was probably nervous every day to a point, but I think that was more to do with what the press were going to say the second you put a foot wrong," she shares.

“Now you have to do a lot yourself. Sometimes that feels like more pressure than I’d like, but then it's nice as well because we can keep our eyes on things.

“I guess what's different is that everybody is the press now with their social media accounts. You hear straight away what they have to say. I'm glad I’m older and a pretty solid human being, so these things don't bother me the way they probably would have.

“I think social media can be that ‘tabloid’ experience for artists now and that must be hard for them, especially the younger ones, so I'm glad social media didn’t really exist back then.”

B*Witched, for the Lynchs at least, is very much a family affair. How does Edele find being in a band with her twin sister?

"It’s like having my best friend having my back throughout my whole entire life, and that didn't change in the band,”the singer shares. “We butted heads probably more than the other two would have because we're sisters. It's a different relationship, siblings and friends are different .

Things weren't always so dandy for the foursome though. B*Witched split in 2002, and didn't reunite until ten years for the ITV2 reality-documentary series The Big Reunion, which featured other pop groups from their era.

“It's weird because and we always got on well years ago,” Edele says of the initial rift. “We were probably too busy and too tired to notice each other more than we would now. We had our we did have our break in the middle we didn't speak to each other for 10 years.

"We did The Big Reunion, and they edited it to be so intense and dramatic and make the issues look way bigger than they ever were. We might have had words with each other, but when you see it in the spotlight of a reality show it looks like it was disastrous .

"When we got back together it was just like riding a bike and  going: ‘Why did we not speak for 10 years?’. Now we're back to speaking each other to probably four or five times a day, you wouldn't even do that in a marriage."

• Listen to Ripped Jeans on Spotify below.