corr values
Advice on love, life and jetlag from The Corrs by Lilledeshan Bose
The Corrs
is one easy-to-hate band. Think about it: Siblings Jim, Sharon, Caroline and
Andrea come from an incredibly good-looking gene pool; they're overwhelmingly
popular (their songs are ubiquitously hummed by colegialas, jeepney drivers, MTV
VJs and lolas in videoke bars); and they're all talented and accomplished
musicians (classically trained by their musician parents).
Except that you can't. Everything about the Corrs -- from
their effervescent pop songs to their charming Irish black hair and green eyes
-- is so dang likeable you can't help thinnking only good thoughts about the
band. Apparently the whole world feels the same way, otherwise The Corrs
wouldn't have sold 25 million records. And contrary to popular belief, their
transformation from small-town Irish band (Jim says he was inspired to form the
Corrs because "the bond within the family gives you a very unique sound. My
sisters were very talented so I felt very strongly that [we had] great
potential.") to being invited to play for the Pope wasn't always a breeze.
After all, it wasn't as if their manager just waved around a
photo of the girls before a music company and immediately got a record deal. To
get to their rockstar status, they've done everything -- from playing before
drunken crowds to camping in front of a record producer's office just to get
heard (yup, this was how they first got signed!). And as Irish luck would have
it, today, the Corrs have four multi-platinum records, numerous number one hits
and have been touring all over the world. In their irresistible interview with
seventeen, The Corrs tell us how they survived the long trek to stardom:
how to survive your family
The Corrs have made their name as a family band, but they
resist pinning labels on each other, like who's "messy" or "affectionate"
(Caroline says Andrea and Sharon are both affectionate) or the "leader" (they
unanimously state that there is no leader -- "we make all the decisions
together," Caroline explains.)
Andrea says, "It's very difficult for us to describe each
other. Each person is pretty complex and has a lot of different elements. And
we're so close to each other all the time -- it's hard to be objective."
But even the tightest cliques get edgy when spending too much
time together, so how do they deal? Caroline says, "We have to give each other
space," while Andrea clarifies, "We don't really fight so much anymore because
when we start we just get bored. But we did so much fighting years ago!" Andrea
adds that sometimes, it was just as simple as pressing the wrong button on the
elevator. "If you're tired those things become very important," she laughs.
"There's also a tendency to pigeonhole your family and say,
you did this when you were six, and you're still doing it [now]!" Andrea says.
"It gets frustrating, because you don't want them to presume [you haven't
changed]." Caroline explains, "But it doesn't make us upset as much as it used
to. We fight about stupid things." Their solution? The Corrs keep a close
relationship with each other so they don't take each other for granted. "You've
got to work at it. You are bonded by your [relationship with each other], but
love and friendship is not guaranteed. It's about mutual respect and being good
to each other," Andrea says.
how
to be successful
No, The Corrs don't have
lucky underwear or carry rabbit's feet pre-concert. They don't do group hugs and
prayers ala Madonna's Truth or Dare documentary. "We find that quite funny,
actually, because it looks really fake," Andrea laughs. Their rituals includes
getting ready together: The girls do their own make-up and hair. they also peek
at the audience beforehand to get a feel of the crowd and "to get excited",
Andrea explains.
surviving heartbreak
Andrea wrote "I Never
Really Loved You Anyway" as a kind of a funny way of getting over heartbreak.
"You write all the list of things you didn't like [about a guy] and think of all
the things that bugged you and gain some pride, in a way. I actually think it's
kind of silly but sometimes silly things work." Listening to and making music
helps as well for the band. "It makes you feel like everyone goes through
[heartbreak] as well. It's romanticizing your tragedy," says Andrea. Caroline
agrees: "Music itself is very powerful. In moments of grief, people find solace
in music."
surviving homesickness
Jim says they make sure
they're home every five or six weeks to keep from getting homesick. "When we
started touring. we worked a lot harder and stayed away for longer periods of
time, and the homesickness was terrible! It's obviously harder on the girls
because they're all in steady relationships." The funny thing is, although they
all live apart in Ireland, they still miss each other when they're not touring!
"If we're off the road for a good bit of time we generally call each other up
and ask what's happening. Kind of weird, isn't it?" Caroline says with a laugh.
surviving youth
When Jim decided he wanted
to form a band with his sisters, he'd already been playing in other bands for a
while. "We were still on school so we didn't even know what we were doing,"
Caroline says. But by then Andrea was already a budding performer: "I loved it
when I did musicals at my school, so I knew that I wanted to be something on the
stage anyway." Andrea, who had a bit part in the movie Evita, says: "I
personally don't like the idea of singer-turned-actress, presuming you can just
step into that role; I think it's almost insulting to the many wonderful actors
that have been doing it for years. But I'd keep my mind open if I really fall in
love with a script and I thought that I could be very good at it."
Andrea's advice to young
people? "Don't worry so much! When you're young, you don't have problems. You
have love, so make the best of it. I think children are too worried these days
-- life is for living!"