Ever since Michael English was a young boy, he always wanted to make it in music. Despite his drive for success and the stellar career he’s carved out for himself, he’s never lost his way and is known for treating fans and friends with kindness. Meeting him at his Kildare home, it’s clear the singer is grateful for how things have panned out. He tells RSVP Country: “I’m doing something that I love and there are countless people around the world doing jobs that they don’t like. I don’t even look at this as a job.” But not everything in the music industry is so positive. Musicians have recalled their negative experiences openly in recent years, including Boyzone, who detailed their lives in a new Sky documentary. Michael worked with the band’s former manager Louis Walsh in the past, but his time with him was far from negative. He says: “If people are talking about you, no matter what they’re saying, it’s good for your career.” Here, chatty, smiley and a great host, the singer explains why he changed management this year, how religion plays a big role in his life and why social media is not for him. Read more: Country music star Michael English shows off his fabulous Kildare home Read more: Michael English talks fresh starts and feeling lucky after changing management You’ve had a hectic year on the road. How are things since we last met you in 2023? Everything is back in full swing and people are really coming out to all of the shows. Things are going well for everyone in the music business and I’m really enjoying it. Is it the same as it was pre-2020 or do you see a change? I think the crowds are bigger, which is surprising. Maybe there aren’t as many venues though. We lost some of the really good venues during the pandemic, but we have some new venues. The amount of young people coming out all over Ireland is phenomenal. That started in the north and it slowly trickled down across the rest of the country. Where has this injection of youth come from? It’s like a hit record, nobody can just find a hit record. You have to have a lot of luck. Once a record is played on the radio then it’s played on another station and then another station, that’s what makes it popular. That’s what has happened in country music with young people. The trickle started going, people realised it was good fun and a few more people were added each time. It was a trend that caught on. There are a lot of young people within the business, not just the lead singers, there are young musicians, crew and promoters. That has helped too. Social media, Instagram and TikTok have also really helped. You can play at a dance now and everyone can see it two seconds after you finish. Is it hard to keep up with social media? I’m not on social media myself. I never was. I’ve got accounts for my business and my team looks after that. Actually, I’m on Snapchat because my nephew lives in China and we like to dote on him a lot, even though he’s 23 now. I like to keep in touch with him. Is having an online presence necessary though, so you don’t get left behind? You definitely have to have an online presence. I’m busy writing music and going to the studio and I prefer to concentrate on that. I’ll let my team look after the social media for me. I joined Facebook in the early days and I found that I was spending an hour on it before I went to sleep and another hour again the following morning. You made a change in personnel last year, bringing in Bryan Buckley to manage you after a decade with Paul Claffey. Nothing has changed that much. I’m still in touch with Paul, who managed me for 10 years, and I do all of his trips overseas. I knew Bryan for a long time, he was running various venues that we perform in. We decided to give it a go and it has been working great. He’s very involved in my diary and my social media. Bryan is very au fait with all of that. I’m very lucky to have my band and my way of touring is very different because I do dances and concert shows in theatres and hotels, but I also perform in churches and cathedrals. They can adapt and do all three styles of show and that’s hugely important. I can do what I do on stage, but you have to have the right people behind you too. Is it more expensive to have a band on the road now than it was last year, two years ago or five years ago? The price of everything has gone up. Even if you go to the cinema, that’s more expensive. The cost of everything, diesel and insurance, is greater. Being on the road is more expensive, so we had to increase the admission fee, and that helped. That’s just a sign of the time. Swipe across below to see the full gallery of images for yourself Playing in churches, are you religious? I grew up playing music in the church and I would have to thank the church for a lot of things. The local clergy were very good to us growing up and when my mother was sick. I love performing in churches, but so do the band and the crew. There’s something special about the church setting, particularly in the autumn when it’s dark outside and the candles are lit. The music becomes suitable to the surroundings because it’s a faith and inspiration show. There’s something very special about the atmosphere it creates. It’s a lovely change from the theatres and concert shows. Out of all the shows we do, the churches sell so quickly and people come back night after night for the same show. I’ve big plans this year for dances, concerts and festivals. The festivals are hugely important. Do you pray? I do. I’ll be honest, I don’t get to mass every Sunday because of the nature of the business. Sometimes I might not get home until 5 or 6am and I could be leaving at 2 or 3pm the following day. It’s hard to get to mass every Sunday. I love walking and it wouldn’t be unusual for me to call into a church here in Naas to light a candle during the week. Being on the road so much, does that take a toll on your physical health? No, not really. I try to stay fit and get enough sleep. I’m a good sleeper, but I’m also an early riser. If I was home at 4am, I would still wake again at 8am. I try to stay in bed on my working days on tour because it’s important to rest my voice. I drink a lot of water and I walk and swim. I’m never ever tired on the way home from a gig. It’s all about balance when you’re on the road. What do you do to switch off on your days off? Music still takes centre stage on my days off. There isn’t a day where I don’t play the piano. Sometimes you could get lost in it and you could be sitting there for two or three hours playing. I love to write music. I love having people over to my house, I love to cook and I love to host. I find it relaxing. I have people over all the time. I like to meet up with my friends for a pint downtown. I love horse racing and I love going to the races. I’m not a big gambler, but I’ve a lot of friends within the industry and a lot of them own horses, which makes it interesting. I go to see my dad most days, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Who’s the most famous person you’ve come across in horse racing? I’ve met Zara Tindall, she’s lovely. She’s Princess Anne’s daughter and she’s married to Mike Tindall, who used to play rugby for England. She’s heavily involved in the industry. I saw the Queen every year at Cheltenham, but I didn’t get to meet her. Lots of people from the music world and the film world go to the races. [Filmmaker] Jim Sheridan is a very good friend of mine and we tend to meet up. I’m very lucky to have Naas, Punchestown and The Curragh close to me here in Kildare. There’s a mixture of flat racing and national hunt here on our doorstep. I love a day out at the races. Louis Walsh has been criticised by Boyzone and people online following their recent Sky documentary. You’ve also worked with him in the past, how did you find him? I found that he was great. I knew Louis Walsh’s family before I knew Louis. I got opportunities with him. I was working with Sony and Universal. He wasn’t managing me, but he helped me and my career. I enjoyed that time. However, it’s nothing to do with Louis, but I enjoy my time much better now. Over the last 10 years, since I teamed up with Paul Claffey, we created our own niche and our own sound. We built up a great following during those years. Is it less cut-throat in country music than the mainstream or pop scene? It’s definitely not cut-throat in our scene and I’m not just saying that. I’m friendly with everyone in our scene and the more people that come into it the better for the business as a whole. Young people getting into music only breathes life into the industry. If someone gets a huge crowd, everyone is delighted because that helps everyone. Sometimes people call the country music scene a family of its own and I really believe that. Some of my best friends are in the business. People might call them competitors, certainly not for me. I host music weekends around Ireland and I bring my comrades to perform alongside me and we have a great time. We’re going on a cruise at the end of the month and we hang out together, eat together, drink together and we could end up in the piano bar singing together until 6am. Does that atmosphere make the country scene easier for you after your time in pop and mainstream? I was never in the pop scene anyway. I made a deal with Louis Walsh and whoever else I was with back then that I wasn’t going to change and become a popstar because I’m not a popstar. The Boyzone documentary showed that he did whatever it took to get them into the papers. If people are talking about you, no matter what they’re saying, it’s good for your career. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. They didn’t have an awful lot to talk about with me anyway - I just eat, sleep and drink music. I remember Louis said Boyzone nearly died in a plane crash after they experienced a little tremor on a flight. A lot of people who appeared on The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and other reality shows have criticised them after leaving. In any job in life you have to take what comes with the territory, and that’s the same in music. I don’t dislike any part of the music business, I even enjoy travelling! I love meeting people whether it’s downtown during the week or after one of my shows. Some artists don’t like different aspects of music, but you have to take it and you’re lucky to be in a world that you love. You seem like a very positive person, where does that come from? I am. I’m doing something that I love and there are countless people around the world doing jobs that they don’t like. I don’t even look at this as a job. When I was a child and when I first started performing and recording it was just a dream for me to have a career in music. I still feel the same today. I count myself very lucky to be doing something that I love. Does that give you a nice sense of pride and satisfaction? A lot of the same people come out night after night to see us. If I was playing in Donegal tonight and Galway tomorrow night, a percentage of people could be at both shows. I sometimes look down from the stage and think that girl or that chap was here last night or last week. I never ever take that for granted. You’re doing something right when people are coming back. But it never stops, and you have to keep reinventing the wheel. You always have to keep writing new stuff and stay thinking. The people on the floor looking up at you are the bosses. If they don’t like it there’s no point in doing this. There are lots of songs I love that I would never sing at my shows because you have to remember it’s what the people want. If you ever forget that you might as well give up. Have you had knock-backs in your career? Oh yeah, everybody has. In the music business, the same as any other business, you think something is going to work and then it doesn’t. You have to pick yourself up and go again. I wrote a musical, I wrote it every day for two hours for a whole year. We finished the final dress rehearsal the week before Covid and I lost it. Everything was ready, the set was bought and the tickets were sold, but it just didn’t happen. As well as music, you have a background in dance. Have you ever been approached to do Dancing With The Stars? The people running Dancing With The Stars don’t know me, I don’t know them and they wouldn’t know my background. It wouldn’t be right for me to do it because I compete and I did lessons. I’d have an advantage if I signed up and that wouldn’t be fair on the other contestants. It’s about time we had another country music star on the show! Cliona Hagan did it and Daniel O’Donnell did Strictly Come Dancing on the BBC. I would love to do it. But would it be right? If I did it I could still come last [laughs]. Interview by Mikie O’Loughlin Photography by Anna Groniecka Clothes courtesy of Louis Copeland Menswear, louiscopeland.com Check out michaelenglish.com and @michaelenglishmusic on Instagram for the latest concert dates Read the full interview with Michael English in this issue of RSVP Country - on shelves now. Get the latest country music news, interviews and pictures straight to your phone by joining our exclusive Facebook page - here