EXCLUSIVE! Barclay Beales on Stereo Kicks’ split: ‘I’m gutted and don’t know what’s next but I won’t ever do X Factor again!’

Last week Stereo Kicks fans around all over the country caused squillions of pounds worth of damage as they flooded their homes with tears when it was announced the band was splitting up.

And we were just as heartbroken to find out the biggest boyband (there are eight members, don’t you know?) in X Factor history had decided to go their separate ways.

So, we decided to get the lovely Barclay Beales on the phone to find out just what was going on and what his plans were for the future after the boys perform their final gig at Thorpe Park’s Island Beats.

Hi Barclay, Why did you decide to split?

There’s eight of us in the band and it’s hard to fund without a label backing us. We haven’t got the funds - we come from absolutely everywhere, Devon, Ireland – so it costs a lot to actually even get us together. We released the single Love Me So through our management and they funded that but a label didn’t pick us after it charted at 31.

How did it happen?

We sat down, all of us and the management. The idea was chucked about and after it charted at 31 it became a reality it was going to become impossible for us to do anything else which was a shame. We were 12 in the midweek charts because all the pre-orders went in and our fans started buying it, which was obviously amazing, but we were a bit unfortunate not to get played on national radio so no one really heard the song.

It all came from us, it was literally the last thing any of us wanted. It’s hard and it is a massive shame for all of us. We all kind of saw it coming. There was always the hope and that it would do well and a label would come in and pick us up but we kind of knew that wasn’t the case.

How do you feel about it now?

We’re all just as gutted now and I think we forever will be because there’s that thing of ‘what if?’ When we’re all 60 years old we’re probably going to look back and think ‘what if, what if it had done really well?’ It’s not ideal.

Maybe there’s numerous small things we could blame. The X Factor tag was maybe a contribution, maybe no national radio play so no one really heard the song.

Do you think being such a big band made it difficult?

That’s the thing that everybody’s been saying since day one, even when we started X Factor – the whole controversy of there’s too many. Then we finished fifth on the show so we thought, especially with the acts that were on that year, we proved that eight wasn’t too much but in the real world eight maybe is too much.

Did X Factor mentor Louis Walsh give you any support?

Different judges treat their acts differently. He was good to us on the show, he genuinely did care about us, he cried a lot when we left the show. He could have done a few things better – a few weeks he changed the songs on the Friday so we had to learn a new one for the Saturday but that kept us in.

He wasn’t the best in the world but he definitely wasn’t the worst.

What happens next?

We’ve all got different ambitions now. The band doesn’t work so a few of us want to do solo projects.

Me personally? I have no idea, I’m keeping my options open. I don’t want to jump into anything too quickly, but I know a few of the other lads have got a few things definite which is good.

Would you do X Factor again?

X Factor seems really weird now I’ve gone through it. It feels like we’ve done it and we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve through the show. Would it be worth doing it again for any of us? I don’t think anyone would re-audition for it. If anyone asked me if it’s worth the audition, I would say absolutely. It’s one of the best platforms for any music artist in the UK and further, the experience you’ll gain doing it is just ridiculous.

What would you like to say to your fans?

Thank you so much to everyone that supported us through the X Factor and through the single release. You’ve been absolutely amazing and we couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Barclay from Stereo Kicks was speaking on behalf of ISLAND BEATS – a summer season of awesome music gigs every Friday and Saturday from now until 30 August at THORPE PARK Resort. For more information go to www.THORPEPARK.com/ISLANDBEATS.

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