Tell me about the origins of the band; how did The Overtones come to be?
We’ve been signed for five years now, probably six actually, and we formed four or five years before that. We met in London on the open mic night circuit, and we were all just lucky enough to find our lucky break and to find each other from there really. We were all interested in the vocal harmonies of the doo-wop, motown and soul era, and we came together pretty organically. We tried lots of various different routes to success, and we were lucky enough to eventually be found by Warner Music who signed us.
Right, so how did Warner find out about you?
Well, as I say, we were dabbling in the vocal harmony songs of the fifties and sixties; because there were five of us and we had a full range of vocalists – from our bass man Lachie all the way to Darren, who sings falsetto, and obviously all the various voices in between – so we started singing vocal harmony. Around that time we were struggling to make ends meet really, as you do when you’re pursuing your dreams; anything money-making sort of goes down the wayside, really. So two of the guys, Mike and Darren, had some painting and decorating experience, and they set up a painting and decorating company, and on some of their odd jobs we’d all kind of chip in and help out, and on one particular job we were rehearsing on our break and we were overheard by an A&R scout.
She said ‘Yeah, I can definitely do something with you guys’, and we were kind of in disbelief but we took her details and she introduced us to Warner Music, who happened to be looking for an oldschool sort of band at the time. It wasn’t signed on the dotted line there and then, we were given a kind of demo deal so we had to prove our worth and record some tracks for Warner. After about six months of us proving ourselves, they signed us up for a five-album deal.
That’s an amazing story really, maybe more bands should start painting and decorating businesses?
(laughs) Yeah exactly, although I wasn’t very good, being a northerner.
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Who are your biggest personal influences and inspirations?
When I was a kid my family would often go on long holidays to the south of France and we’d have lots of long car journeys, and –whether you like it or not – when you’re a kid on those journeys you end up listening to your parents’ music. Luckily, my parents had pretty good taste in music; my dad, especially, is really into songs from the fifties and sixties and he used to put them on mixtapes that he would play in the car. A lot of the songs we sing now I actually used to listen to as a kid, thanks to my dad, and so I was quite inspired by that era growing up.
So there are four others in the group with you, do you all share similar tastes and influences or is there a fair bit of variation between the different members?
I would say there is quite a bit of variation. We write our own songs as well, but when we record covers obviously we like to put our own stamp on them – you know, maybe give them a bit of a modern touch, or a slightly different influence to the original track. But I would say, between us, the taste ranges from nineties R&B to musical theatre. And, for me personally, as well as the old fifties and sixties stuff, I’m a kid of the eighties so I love my eighties as well. So, between us, I think we’ve got everything covered.
So, as you say, you do covers as well as your own songs; which do you enjoy doing one more than other which is it, and why?
They’re both pretty rewarding. When we do covers, like I say, we like to put our own stamp on old songs, which is quite a creative process; even though it’s the cover of an existing song, the challenge is in making it your own. We cover a lot of really iconic songs – ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’, ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love?’, those types of songs – and with songs like that, you can’t really just do a carbon copy. We pride ourselves in having, I think, the credibility to be able to perform these covers and record them in our own unique style. And then equally, we’re all keen songwriters; before we were signed we were busy writing songs and making demos of our own original material, and we’ve been lucky enough to be able to keep that going.
When we first signed to Warner they weren’t really interested in us doing anything of our own, but we put an original on the table for our first album, a song called ‘Gambling Man’, and it really fitted in with the rest of the tracklisting, and they were pretty impressed with the quality of the writing and they agreed to let us put it on the album. So we’re grateful to them as well that we get to keep writing and recording our own stuff, and hopefully we get better and better at it as the albums progress.
You’re due to go on tour fairly soon; what aspects of performing live and life on the road do you enjoy?
For us, performing is sort of the bloodline of what we do. Touring is, out of everything we do, the thing that connects us to the fans. We’ve got a really loyal fanbase who turn up to every one of our tours, and we’re so grateful to them for keeping us where we are today. So, in that respect, it’s really satisfying to get on the road and have that chemistry with the audience. We like to think of our concerts as one big party; last year, we went on the road with our ‘Christmas with The Overtones’ tour, and it was easily the best tour that we’ve done, so we’re taking that back on the road this Christmas. It’s just a big old party, everyone’s up on their feet from the first song, and it’s that time of year when everyone’s just looking for a good time. So yeah, I can’t wait to get back on the road again and get singing all the Christmas songs again.
Your last release was Good Ol’ Fashion Christmas and before that you released your album Sweet Soul Music, both last year; does the group have any new music in the pipeline and, if so, what can we expect it to sound like?
This year has been really busy for us in terms of concerts; we’ve been flying around the world, doing some cruises, and we’ve gone up and down the country doing various different concerts. We’ve been in the studio a few times and doing a bit writing, there’s definitely stuff bubbling under the surface, but we’re hoping that next year will be the year for a new Overtones album, and a subsequent tour to support that album. What it’ll be like, I couldn’t tell you, but we’ve got a couple of ideas floating about and some strong concepts, so watch this space.
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I guess, as a vocal harmony group, you occupy quite an unusual niche within contemporary popular music – do you see The Overtones as a ‘pop group’, or are you something else?
That’s a tricky one. People have found it quite hard to pigeonhole us in a way; we’ve been called everything from a boyband to an ‘easy listening’ group. In terms of labels, we don’t care what people call us as long as people listen to our music, really. It definitely crosses over, because a lot of the songs we sing are the pop hits of yesteryear, so I guess it could be perceived as ‘pop’ music. I mean it’s popular music at the end of the day and the songs we sing are classics that everybody knows and loves, which is why I think people can really relate to them.
At our concerts we get three generations of fans, mums bringing their daughters and such, and they all know the music; they’ve all heard it, in one form or another, whether it’s like I did, through my dad playing it in the car, or otherwise. Also, I guess that a lot of the songs we’re singing now have a similar feel to what a lot of modern pop music seems to have, if you think about artists like Adele and Meghan Trainor and others with that sort of vibe.
Do you think that cross-generational appeal you mention is something that you could partly attribute the success you’ve had to?
I think we were lucky in that, when we released our debut album, Good Ol’ Fashioned Love, we were kind of the only people doing what we were doing. Like you said, we kind of cornered that niche market. We were surprised by the appeal that first album had, and we were lucky enough to have the amazing opportunity to perform on (ITV’s) Dancing on Ice to support our first album.
We got to sing nine of the tracks from that album on the results show, which was crazy because we weren’t really that well-known at the time, and – I don’t know, maybe fortune was just shining down on us – but that was a massive launchpad for us and, subsequently, our album went platinum. I think it’s a combination of things, isn’t it? It’s the appeal of the music, and then it’s also hard work, but there’s got to be a bit of good luck and good fortune as well.
You said that, as well as the fifties and sixties music, you love your eighties stuff, and I’ve read that you’ve remixed some eighties songs and that you’re a fan of Back to the Future; what is it you love about the eighties, and can we expect any future eighties remixes from you?
In my spare time, not that I have a lot at the moment, I do like to remix eighties tunes. I grew up in the eighties, and it’s just about the nostalgia for me. I love a good corny pop song, and I think there are a lot of those from that decade, as well as probably a fair few bad ones (laughs). I’ve always been interested in music production and remixing, and I’ve done a bit of DJing, so, for me, that’s sort of a way of combining two personal hobbies. I call myself Rescue Rangerz after the eighties cartoon, and I’m always tinkering away, so look out for a new Rescue Rangerz remix coming out sooner or later (laughs).
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There’s definitely a very popular DJ set in that somewhere, nostalgia for the eighties is huge.
Yeah, for sure, I mean I love all those kind of throwback clubnights and all that. I was in Ibiza recently and they had a big eighties night there and it was just amazing. It was a pool party, but they had a massive video wall, and the DJ was mixing up all these classic eighties songs and they were projecting the videos as well, so I was just in eighties heaven! (laughs)
I can imagine, in Ibiza as well! Thanks very much for your time Mark and all the best for the tour.
Thanks, it’s been a pleasure.
words JACOB MIER
The Overtones, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Fri 2 Sept. Tickets: £19.50 – £29.50. Book here.