Article
August 23, 2010
Rock and Rollers!.
LONDON, Monday 23rd August 2010: Five vintage music loving painters and decorators have landed the job of their dreams by signing a record deal with Warner Music after an extraordinarily lucky ‘break’. They now hope to hang up their paint splattered overalls for a brush with fame.
A talent scout from the record company that propelled many of music’s most popular artists to superstardom overheard the decorating team singing during a tea break whilst working off Oxford Street in London’s West End. Impressed by the performance they were invited to try out in front of executives from the label and were rewarded with a deal.
A year ago, old-school vocal group The Overtones formed painting and decorating company ‘Classical Interiors UK Ltd’ so that they could earn money and rehearse together at the same time. The new deal could now make all that history and take their nostalgic sounding doo-wop songs to the top of the charts.
The big break has lead to them recording their debut album entitled ‘Good Ol Fashioned Love’ due for release on October 18th. The album showcases a series of both original pop songs and classic 50’s and 60’s covers. The first single Gambling Man will be released on October 11th and was written by the boys themselves.
The Overtones are Mark Franks (33 from Manchester), Lachie Chapman (29 from Sydney), Mike Crawshaw (30 from Bristol), Darren Everest (29 from Essex) and Timmy Matley (28 from County Cork).
Lead singer Timmy is still getting to terms with it all; “We have gone from our painting rags to musical riches. One minute we are trying to make ends meet wallpapering, the next we are signing a record deal with Warners – it’s a dream come true.”
Darren Everest, the falsetto vocalist of the group added: “We only started the painting and decorating as a way to make a bit of cash and have a chance to rehearse at the same time. We never dreamed that would be the way we would get spotted by a label.”
Conrad Withey, President of Warner Music Entertainment, said “The Overtones are the find of the year. I’ve described the boys as the Take That of Doo-Wop, which sets a pretty high bar but they are up to it both in terms of talent and looks. With the current vogue for 50s and 60s music and all things vintage this is perfect timing for the album and the start of their recording career.”
Kunita Hoole, who employed the boys to re-decorate the offices at Golly Slater said, “It’s amazing to think that one minute the boys were decorating my office and now they are going to be launched into pop stardom! I’m so pleased for them; they are such lovely, hard working guys so I know they will make it big!”
Lending their smooth vocal harmonies to classic repertoire and nostalgic sounding original songs, ‘The Overtones’ are the freshest ‘man’ band on the block. They trace their musical heritage all the way back to the vocal harmony groups of the 30’s and 40’s like The Ink Spots, the stars of the doo-wop explosion of the late 50s and 60s including The Drifters, The Platters & Dion and The Belmonts right through to the recent performers like Billy Joel & Michael Buble.