Andy Howells chats to Mike Crawshaw of The Overtones about the groups intimate gig at St David’s Hall next week.
It may have been six and a half years since The Overtones broke on to the music scene, but they are still as busy as ever. The close harmony group are currently making a fleeting visit to Norway before returning to the UK next week to perform an intimate gig at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on September 2.
The gig is not part of the forthcoming Overtones tour which takes place later in the autumn as Mike Crawshaw of the group explains “St David’s Hall didn’t have the availability for us when we were on tour, We were really keen to get back to Cardiff and perform so we decided to get a one-off gig there. St David’s Hall is one of the more special venues we perform in.”
The Overtones have rebooted many classic hits from yesteryear on five top selling albums as well as performed numerous sell-out performances around the world. A real ‘rags to riches’ story, the group were first discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout whilst working as decorators in a shop near London’s Oxford Street. They were singing Billy Joel’s doo-wop classic The Longest Time during their tea-break. “We were together about four years, doing the pubs and clubs in and around London,” says Mike, “lots of doors closed in our faces and lots of demo discs were returned unopened. We were lucky enough to get our break and then the hard work started, I guess you could call us veterans of the industry now!”
The group have taken a break from releasing an album this year, but The Overtones are showing no sign of slowing down with live performances. “Its been wonderful for us, the live side of things is the front line of what we do,” says Mike, “its all well and good performing on TV, but its not until you have people in front of you and see what a good time they are having that you can bounce off that and really have an appreciation of the impact you’re having on the industry.”
Mike reveals that there will be no shortage of material to perform at their St David’s Hall show, which features support from Welsh X Factor star Jay James. “We always have a nice problem in that we’ve got so many songs to choose from. When you’ve done five albums and all the songs are huge hits from yesteryear it can be quite difficult sometimes condensing it down to an hour and twenty minute show!”
To book seats, visit www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk or call the Box Office on 029 2087 8444