Lindsay Armaou of B*Witched told David Hennessy about the band’s new music, supporting Boyzone for their final shows and her acting career.
B*Witched, made up of twin sisters Keavy and Edele Lynch (sisters of Boyzone’s Shane), Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O’Carroll, burst onto the scene in 1998 with C’est la Vie.
Their debut single would go straight to number one in the UK and Ireland and also chart around the world.
The song would catapult them to stardom and remains one that they are remembered for.
They would follow this with more hits like Rollercoaster, To You I Belong and Blame it on the Weatherman, all going to the number one spot also.
They would also sell 3 million albums.
But the dream came to an end when the band were suddenly dropped by their record label in 2001.
The band had been preparing to release a third album but all of a sudden, they were unsigned. By 2002, B*Witched were no more.
Although at the time Keavy, Edele, Lindsay and Sinead may have thought their pop dream was over, but it would not be the end of the story.
In 2012, the four were approached to take part in The Big Reunion, an ITV series that reunited pop acts of the past for a reunion show. Five, Blue and Atomic Kitten also took part and the show was so successful, it led to a tour.
And it led to much more for B*Witched as 14 years later, they are still together and loving doing what they are doing.
We caught up with Lindsay Armaou to talk about all things B*Witched.
Born in Athens, Greece to a Greek father and an Irish mother, Lindsay moved to Dublin at a very young age.
Keavy, Edele and Sinead first formed a trio called Butterfly Farm but knew they were missing something. The friend recommended Lindsay to them and the rest is history.
In addition to being in the group, Lindsay also has a successful acting career appearing in the film Two Days in the Smoke, Stay Close and The Bombing of Pan Am 103.
You were one of the support acts for Boyzone’s big final dates at the Emirates in June, what was it like to be part of that?
“It was so amazing on so many levels.
“I think to be part of their last couple of shows was so very poignant because we supported them at the very beginning of our career, on our first big shows over in Ireland.
“It feels like a full circle almost for us because we were there with them at the very beginning of our career and then we were there onstage supporting them at the ending of theirs, so it was quite poignant.
“And of course Keavy and Edele are Shane’s sisters so it was quite a family moment for them as well.
“And then, of course, it was just that amazing thing of, ‘We’re playing a stadium’.
“I mean who would have thought almost 30 years later we’d be standing in front of a stadium full of people? That was incredible.
“Really incredible moment.”
You say you supported Boyzone early on in your journey. Speaking about your first rise to fames in the ‘90s which started with C’est la Vie going to number one, was it all a bit of a whirlwind? Was it all very surreal?
“It was a strange one because it was a slow burner for what felt like quite a while.
“I mean we were just so geared up and ready to just hit the ground running.
“We had our record deal, we had a producer on board, we had a manager on board and we were kind of doing all the groundwork.
“We did it for about a year where we were just doing loads of school assemblies in the mornings and then whatever town we were in, we would do the under 18 s nightclub that night up and down the country and then in each town, we’d do the local radio station and do an interview.
“So we really did put the groundwork in.
“And then what happened was when we recorded C’est la Vie, the record company just went crazy.
“They were just like, ‘This is it. This is the first single. We’re ready to go now. All systems go’.
“And from that moment, it was like everything just went up five gears and then of course C’est la Vie was released in the May of ’98 and at the time, of course, with there not being any social media, you didn’t really have that immediate feedback so you didn’t really know how it would do or it was hard to gauge it.
“The only way we could gauge it was from the midweek chart position which gave you an indication as to how the single was doing.
“We did know that the video was being played constantly on MTV and The Box at the time so we did know that there was some sort of interest, and radios had started to pick up on it.
“But when we got that midweek on Wednesday, we were just blown away.
“We were number one on the Wednesday and it was just a really, really surreal moment where you just thought, ‘Am I dreaming? Am I actually dreaming? What do you mean we’re at number one? That just makes no sense’.
“We were hoping for a top 10, or even a top 20, to be honest for the first single but it just surpassed all our expectations.
“It really, really did.
“And then, of course, it did make it to number one by the Sunday.
“All the kids went out and bought it on the Saturday from HMV and Woolworths and all the rest so we were just firmly in that top position by a mile.
“It was incredible.”
Is there a highlight of that whole incredible time? What leaps out when you look back?
“Yeah, it’s dotted with highlights.
“There was one not one specific one.
“One of the highlights was the first time we watched ourselves back on Top of the Pops.
“I just remember sitting in our living room, the four of us because we were living together just outside London at the time, and we were watching Top of the Pops because it was pre-recorded the day before and here we were on a Friday evening waiting for it and then we were watching the whole episode and knowing that we’d recorded it the day before so we knew we were at the number one slot but then when it was us we were watching, we were like, ‘This is so surreal’.
“That was a highlight.
“Another highlight would have been doing our own tour, our own arena tour and getting all creative with that.
“That was a hugely amazing experience.
“We did the Royal Variety Show.
“Then we toured America four times- Another highlight.
“It was just beyond our wildest dreams really, there were so many things dotted along the way and also the people we met just in the industry and just really inspirational people that we got to meet.
“And we did the Brits.
“There’s just so much really, just beyond our wildest dreams.”
You reformed in 2012 so you have now been around for much longer in your second era than your initial five years 1997- 2002, does that feel strange and something you never foresaw? Do you enjoy it more this time around?
“Yeah, it really makes me laugh.
“It really does make me laugh to think that we’ve been together an absolute age now this time compared to the first time around.
“I think we enjoy different aspects in the sense that it’s all very much on our terms now.
“I guess we are more in control of what we do, how we do it and how much time we have to put into it.
“We’re all mums so we do have to work around our families a lot as well but we just love the stage work so we love going out and doing shows and gigs and being creative.
“And then every now and again, we’ll go back in the studio and we’ll record some new material as well and that keeps things fresh for us as well.
“And also it’s great for the fans to see that we’re still creating.
“And every now and again they’ll get a surprise of a new song and it keeps them happy as well.
“So yeah, it’s really important to balance all those different aspects of the job but I guess we just feel very blessed and very lucky that we’re still here doing the thing that we love to do.
“Back in the day it was a different level.
“It was crazy.
“We had a huge record company machine behind us and we were working from dawn till dusk, 14, 16 hour days and travelling from one country to another, one day here and the next day there and sometimes two or three countries in one day I do seem to remember and it was very, very full on at the time.
“It was like we were kind of made believe, ‘You’ve got to ride this wave’.
“And they were right, ‘We’ve got to ride this wave. It’s here, get on the wave and go with it and go for it’.
“And we really did and we really took hold and just went with it and gave it our absolute all and worked really, really hard so in some ways, I think it’s because of that that we’re still able to do this even now today.
“So yeah, feel very blessed.”
You mentioned new music there and you have been working on some new stuff, isn’t that right?
“Constantly.
“We’re constantly in the background going, ‘What can we do next?’
“We’ve got a new single out at the moment.
“It’s called Firefly and it’s available on Spotify and Apple Music.
“We did a video as well for it.
“We shot a video and that’s available to see on our YouTube channel and also you can go onto our website and there’s lots of things that you can sign up for there as well so there’s lots of things going on.
“And then of course we do our shows and our festivals and we do headline shows now as well at cathedrals around the UK and we come over to Ireland as well.
“We do quite a lot of festivals there.
“We’re over in Belfast in a couple of weeks actually but we just keep going and we just keep enjoying it and enjoying each other as well.”
C’est la Vie went to number one in the UK, Ireland and more countries around the world in 1998 which means we are just a couple of years off it being 30 years, isn’t that hard to believe?
“I know, I don’t like to think of the number.
“It is crazy.
“It’s crazy that people still love the song and still want to hear it.
“When we perform it live, it is incredible the reaction that it still gets.
“It really is because we’ll do a 45 to an hour set most gigs and most shows that we do and most of the material goes down really well but when that song comes on- we do it at the end- the whole energy just shifts in the venue.
“Everyone’s energy just goes up about 10 notches.
“They just love it and we love playing it because of the reaction that it gets and it’s just a real moment so yeah, it’s incredible.”
Yourself, the Lynch sisters and Sinead O’Carroll all knew each other from knocking around Dublin and rather than being manufactured by any company or guru, you joined together and went from there. Do you think that is a big reason for your longevity? You weren’t thrown together but came together through a shared passion..
“100%, yeah,
“I look around now at some of the other bands that were around in the 90s and their lineups change and people dip in and out of the bands and I think one of the fundamental things about us was that we gelled first as people.
“We found each other and then we went and found management and then we went and found a producer and then we went and got a record deal so we weren’t put together by the outside in, we actually created it from the inside out and I do think that that has made a difference for us.
“I definitely do.
“I think we were probably one of the only bands of the 90s that did that actually if I look back.
“I definitely think that sets us apart in some way for sure.”
Was it always going to be music for you? Did you never think of anything else?
“I actually applied for a business degree at Trinity which I got into.
“I guess I just didn’t know what area of music I wanted to get into and there wasn’t as much available in terms of courses about pop music and production and that kind of thing at the time.
“I didn’t want to do classical music which was available at Trinity as well and other places, of course.
“But I therefore I just thought, ‘Well, I’ll just do a business degree and then in the background, I’ll work on my music’.
“But that was always my thing though.
“The music was always my thing.
“But then I deferred my place at Trinity and then got a record deal with the girls so I never actually went.
“That was quite a fork in the road.
“That was a huge fork in the road because I remember making the decision and thinking, ‘Do I pass up this amazing opportunity over here where I can go and study at Trinity College and get a business degree or do I pass up this opportunity over here where we’ve got a record deal and a real shot at having a career in the music industry?’
“But it didn’t take long.
“I made the decision pretty easily in the end, it was always going to be music.
“So yeah, no regrets.”
In addition to your music, you have also been acting. You have a number of credits including Netflix’s Stay Close and The Smoke, is that something you enjoy and want to do more of?
“Well I’ve kind of been dipping in and out of it for the last few years.
“The odd role will come up and I’ll kind of dive into that.
“I think things have been quite busy with B*Witched more recently so there hasn’t been as much availability for me to be involved in acting but I would love to pick up on that a little bit and do a few more really, really interesting and juicy roles.
“The last one I did was I had a part in The Bombing of Pan Am on Netflix and BBC which was an amazing experience.
“I got to do a really intense scene with Patrick J Adams from Suits.
“He was amazing to work with and it was a really, really great experience actually.
“It was a scene where I’m one of the parents of the young women who got killed on the plane and she’s very emotional and she’s challenging him in a press conference scenario.
“It was great, a great experience.
“But yeah, I’d love to get my teeth into some more acting, definitely.”
We were talking about you being part of Boyzone’s special final shows but there is no talk of a farewell for B*Witched. You’ll be around for a long time yet, right?
“I think we’ll be around for as long as people want to come and see us perform to be honest.
“As I say we feel very blessed that we can just carry on doing this job as long as we want really and we just enjoy ourselves.”
Lindsay was speaking on behalf of Zingo Bingo, who offer retro, nostalgic and music-themed bingo rooms.
