Mouthing off on The Voice

Bressie’s stint as a judge on RTÉ’s talent show has raised his profile and helped his own career as a singer, says Ed Power

NIALL Breslin, aka Bressie, didn’t know what to expect. “I’d never been on television before,” says the stubbly rocker-turned-judge of RTÉ’s The Voice. “When I was offered the job, my fear was I’d be expected to have a go at people, just to make headlines. I was assured this wasn’t the case.”

Bressie was a spiky presence, a straight-shooter who often disagreed with the panel. He sparred with Kian Egan, of Westlife. A graduate of the rough-and-tumble live circuit, Bressie, a Mullingar native was from a different world, and it showed. “We were having a bit of craic,” says Bressie. “Over the series, we grew to like each other. At the end of it, we got on really well. The initial response in the media was that we were sniping at one another. I have to say, watching later, it didn’t look that way to me. We were simply being honest. You have to say what you think”

Though they have little in common professionally, Bressie respects Egan. They’re both music lovers. “He can play guitar. He’s a pretty awesome player, actually. He knows what he is, what kind of band he was singing in. People assume that, just because you’re in a certain group, you’ll be this way or that way. In reality, things aren’t like that,” he says.

Bressie seemed to take The Voice in his stride, his outsized personality a perfect fit for television. He is surprised by this assessment. He says he lacked confidence early on. Under the hot studio lights, he was often in a cold sweat.

“Doing the live shows, especially, it was nerve-wracking in the extreme,” he says. “You have to be careful what you say. Sometimes, there will be something in your head that you want to get out there and you have to censor it. It might not come out the right way. Other people might get the wrong idea. It’s tricky. ”

Thanks to The Voice, Bressie has never been more famous. When he’s in Ireland, he is recognised. People ask for his photograph. The gossip pages speculate about his love life. He’s an a-lister.

As an artist, the outlook is murkier. Two years ago, he broke up his band, The Blizzards, feeling the project had reached an impasse. Relocating to London, he sought to reinvent himself as a pop singer and behind-the-scenes writer for hire (with the 19 publishing company, created by Spice Girls’ svengali Simon Fuller). However, his debut solo LP, Colourblind Stereo, divided fans and received a pasting from critics.

“With gigs, you definitely noticed a change in the audience after The Voice,” he says. “I haven’t released anything, album-wise, since the show. It’s hard to tell if there is a shift in terms of my audience. When I started on The Voice, nobody had a clue who I was. It could have backfired badly on the producers. Luckily, they gave me a chance, time to develop.”

Bressie has no regrets pursuing a pop direction post-Blizzards. He’s an eclectic consumer of music. Why shouldn’t he go where his interests take him? To do otherwise would be dishonest. “I was open about doing a pop album. I’m a pop fan,” he says. “I’m a big fan of 1980s synth music. That was the sort of record I wanted to make. When I look at my iPod, there’s all sorts of stuff on it.”

Now that his 1980s obsession is out of the way, he won’t be going back there again. His next album will, he says, be completely different. Across the country, you can almost hear his fans sighing with relief. “I’m working on a second record and it sounds nothing like my first one,” he says. “Why should I have to be stuck in a genre? I don’t think you should let other people define who you are.”

Why a solo career at all? The Blizzards seemed to be doing well, with two chart-topping albums and a following whose loyalty occasionally verged on hysterical. Fair enough, they hadn’t managed to break the UK. But this is true of most Irish bands. The group could hardly be countered a failure. Had they continued, they might be where The Coronas are today.

“It reached a point where we had to stop,” he says. “We were playing the same venues over and over. It was getting difficult. We weren’t making enough money. The other guys had kids and that was the priority for them, understandably.

“If we’d had the money and time, it would have been great to make a really good third record. We needed to develop. I’m not saying we’ll never work together again. But it seemed like a good time to finish.”

* Bressie plays Indiependence Festival, Deer Farm, Mitchelstown, tonight