Entertainment Focus Interviews The Overtones

Feb 13, 2012 by Darren    No Comments    Posted under: Interviews

The following article was published by Entertainment Focus on February 2012.

The Overtones keep going from strength-to-strength and 2011 was their best year yet. Their debut album Good Ol’ Fashioned Love achieved platinum status and was re-released with some additional tracks.

Now the festive season is over, the guys are back to work ahead of the release of their new single Say What I Feel which is released tomorrow.

We caught up with the group to find out what they got up to over Christmas, talk about the new single and find out what they’ll be doing over the course of 2012.

How are you all?

All: Good, good.

What have you been doing?

Timmy: What have we been doing today? We went for a high tea which was really amazing because I’ve never been for a high tea before.

Darren: I didn’t even know it was called that?

Mark: Why’s it called ‘high tea’?

Lachie: Because it’s high up there on the list of things you should do.

T: It’s not served in mugs…

Mike: It’s served with cups that you can’t get your fingers in.

You’re just getting back to work now after Christmas…

L: Yeah, we’ve been back a week. Over Christmas we all went away, all got a bit of sun…

Ma: Nearly all of us…

L: Mark had a long weekend in Brighton and now it’s back into it. 2012…the second album’s coming up, we’ll be going to lots of different countries around the world to release the album, Say What I Feel is out on 6th Feb…

T: It’s all go!

L: Then we’ve got a big old tour coming up at the end of the year so it’s going to be one of those years where in the click of a finger it’ll be Christmas again. It’s good!

Tell us about the single ‘Say What I Feel’. It’s taken from ‘Good Ol’ Fashioned Love: The Platinum Edition’. What’s it all about?

I heard Second Last Chance in a shop in L.A. It was quite exciting.

T: It’s a feel-good song. It’s got a pop/Motown feel to it which is nice for us. It’s got lots of catchy brass and a good hook. Lachie sings a good bit in the middle eight as well. We got to shoot the video in South Africa which was great because we’ve released the album over there. It was such a beautiful place and the fans were like ‘where are you?’ because you just know it’s not London. It was great to take in another country and shoot a video whilst we were out there. We’re in good company because Coldplay shot their video there a week before.

Is this the last single you’ll be releasing from ‘Good Ol’ Fashioned Love’?

Mi: Yes, it’s going to be the last single from this album.

D: Oh, it sounds a bit sad saying that.

Mi: It’s also exciting because we’re moving on to the second album which is a big deal for us.

D: You know what’s weird is that the campaign is coming to end here – listen to me I sound so industry – and it’s just starting in other countries. We’re going abroad and it’s all starting again.

Mi: It’s going to be weird because obviously we’re going to be creating the second album and writing and recording for it, but at the same time we’re going to be promoting the first one overseas. Ultimately we’re still going to be promoting it when we start promoting the second album here.

Ma: That’s going to be interesting because each country is latching on to different songs. Switzerland is going with Gambling Man whilst other places like Second Last Chance so we’ll be pushing that there.

D: L.A. is loving Second Last Chance…

Ma: I heard Second Last Chance in a shop in L.A. It was quite exciting.

D: I think we’re all really excited about the second album. We’ve got lots of ideas and writing sessions have started.

Mi: We’re in that area where there’s lot of anticipation and excitement about what we’re going to come up with. We’re nervous but excited.

Is the plan with the second album to maintain that balance of covers and originals?

Ma: There’ll be more of a balance between originals and covers because we’ve been non-stop songwriting.

T: Our covers go down well but our originals from the first album have also gone down well. It’s great now that we’ve got more confidence now as songwriters.

Mi: It’s nice that we’ve been able to listen to our fans as well. As Timmy says we know what they like and they’ve been very vocal so it’s good for us to know the right way to go.

D: Yeah we’d be silly to turn our back on covers or originals either way. What we’re doing is being appreciated by a lot of people.

Ma: We’re excited about the covers we’re doing because we always put our own little spin on each song that we do and we’ve got a list of maybe 30 songs to choose from.

L: What we found with this album is that because we’ve got a range of voices – from a deep bass to a really high falsetto – the natural sound that comes out of us is a sound that’s a nod to the vocal groups of yesterday. What was really cool about this album was we could write our originals and give them that vintage style but they sat harmoniously alongside Sh-Boom and Why Do Fools Fall In Love. Our fans have really loved that combination so we’re definitely going to respect that.

When we came to see you at the Palladium we noticed there were a variety of ages in the audience. You have a really broad fanbase.

Mi: I think we’re constantly reminding people about, and telling them about, the fact that we have a wide demographic because of the type of music we do and the genre that we sing in. I think people immediately think you’re looking at a 50+ fan and it’s completely not right.

D: There’s 45-year-olds in there too (laughs)

Mi: (laughs) we have three generations of families that come to see us and it’s great to see. It certainly does take a lot of people by surprise.

D: They were rocking out at that gig. The upper circle was shaking!

T: Music should be for everyone and it’s comforting to know that ours is.

It’s rare to find a band like yourselves where a family would go together to see them. Parents don’t really want to take their family to see Rihanna and Lady Gaga because they’re provocative and sexual.

Ma: Just wait until the next tour. We might get all risqué, you never know.

D: Mark’s going to be in his suspenders on the next tour (laughs).

Let’s talk a bit about Twitter. The minute we mentioned we were seeing you today our feed went crazy. How do you find Twitter and do you ever manage to wrestle it from Lachie?

L: Me and Darren do a lot of tweeting.

Mi: And Mark…

T: I think they do tend to fill people’s pages up with, sometimes, nonsense but it’s good to have a bit of nonsense.

L: There are times when you go through a couple of hours of tweets then you look back and it’s all utter rubbish but with a laugh. It’s good to have a laugh with the fans. We let everyone know what we’re up to, what’s coming, where they can get tickets from and then it’s cool to unwind a bit with fans.

Have you considered having your own Twitter channels rather than sharing one?

Ma: What’s a Twitter channel?

D: I don’t think there’s any need at the minute.

Ma: We always sign off with our initials.

T: I think the fans like that because they are getting to know our personalities through the tweets. I’m not on it as often but if I’m on there I’ll have a chat with someone and it’s nice. I like that I’m not on it as often but previously I was never on it at all. It’s new for me and I do enjoy it. It’s nice to have something to say though and when the rest of the guys were away I felt obligated to tweet. I was just talking about tea cakes and boring myself.

Ma: We got to go to Switzerland for a day the other week, as you do, and we tweeted a lovely picture of us and it’s nice keep the fans updated on a daily basis. It’s good to give that back to them because they’re so dedicated.

T: We give them behind-the-scenes stuff as well.

Mi: it’s the nice thing about the Internet in general. You get the opportunity to record a little documentary behind-the-scenes of a video shoot and you get to see what goes on behind-the-scenes. It’s more personal and you won’t necessarily see it on TV.

L: Online stuff is really a lot of what we do. It’s the first interaction between us as a group and our fans. I remember 2 years ago people talking about Twitter and wondering why you’d send a sentence of 144 characters, who cares? Actually it’s become the mainframe of social media. Even though people may not be completely used to it it’s part of the media lexicon.

Ma: You hear about things as soon as they happen on Twitter.

What about the negative side of Twitter though?

Ma: I think some people tend to air their dirty laundry a bit like the Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore thing.

T: You choose whatever you do at whatever consequence. People can say ‘I think you’re fat’ or ‘I think you’re this or that’. We had experiences where people have said negative things…

D: Not often though…

T: It’s not the real world though. It’s there for connection but it’s not a connection you can live your life by.

D: I just say ‘thanks for the support, the album’s out now!’

T: People like Professor Green are very vocal about what they do and don’t like but I think ‘fair enough, you’ve got an opinion’ but equally people can dish it back as well.

L: In the favour of celebrities using social media, in some ways it’s ousting tabloid journalism. Instead of someone creeping into your house to take photos and having to take them to court, you can tell people yourself. It’s good not to spend too much time there but it keeps people in touch, in the loop and you can have a rant.

Ma: With the single coming out we noticed the other day we had Say What I Feel trending. We were in the Top 10 trends.

You’ve got the second album, world promotion and the tour this year. Will you have time to fit anything else in?

T: I think it’s important to spend time with family and friends. When you get a day off you’re so knackered and want to stay in bed but I think you need to keep contact with your family and friends.

Ma: Yeah you need to get the right balance.

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