It’s a cold, wintery but peaceful Wednesday afternoon in late November, and The Overtones are feeling reflective…
“It’s really wonderful to know that even after all these years, people are still invested, and enjoying what we do,” a thoughtful Jay James tells us as he relaxes alongside his fellow bandmates, backstage at City Hall in Hull where later that evening the awesome foursome will perform to a packed out crowd of devoted fans on the latest stop of their hugely successful Good Times Tour.
“We never take the support of our audience for granted,” an equally attentive Darren chips in. “I mean, when you think of everything that people are going through at the moment, with the cost of living crisis, and the uncertainty surrounding… well pretty much everything, it’s actually amazing that our fans still take the time, and make the effort to come out and see us perform.”
“Life isn’t easy for anybody right now, so we’ve decided that we want to give something back, and spread a little bit of joy this Christmas…”
The Overtones – Christmas Everyday
True to their word, that’s exactly the quartet have done, for as well as entertaining the nation on their 27-date theatre tour, the group made their long-awaited return to radio airwaves earlier this month, with the release of their brand new single ‘Christmas Everyday’ – a feel-good, and uplifting, super inclusive pop track that celebrates the joys of spending time with loved ones at this, the most wonderful time of the year.
Written by American Idol alum David Archuleta, and produced by Julian Hinton and Simon Bloor, the original song pledges support for a very personal cause close to the bands heart, My Diabetes Story – a new platform and community hub setup by Jay and his family following his young son Franklin’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes – an incurable autoimmune disease that affects approximately 400,000 people in the UK – back in August 2022.
As well as pledging to make substantial donations from the proceeds of the single to the fundraising efforts of ‘My Diabetes Story’, in direct support of JDRF and Diabetes UK, the band have also actively promoted Type 1 diabetes fundraisers and charities throughout the course of the Good Times Tour.
It’s been a minute since we last caught up with Mike, Mark, Darren and Jay, so we decided now was the perfect moment to reunite with our favourite vocal harmony group to talk Christmas plans, festive music, life on tour, and how a shock diagnosis has made them closer than ever…
Boys, you’re finally back out on tour! How is life on the road treating you?
Mark: We’re honestly having the best time! During the lockdowns, and the subsequent years after, the one thing we missed the most was performing live and being on stage. We’ve obviously played a lot gigs since then, and appeared at various festivals and events, which have all been amazing, but nothing beats having your own tour!
Darren: There’s been a really special atmosphere at every single one of the shows so far, and we’re honestly just loving being back out there and doing what, we think, we do best.
Mark: That collective high we all get from being on stage together is the best feeling ever! It takes us hours to come back down to earth after each show.
Mike: We hadn’t slept for three about weeks, we feel like we’re all nineteen again (laughs).
You’re now known for your dazzling, and electrifying live performances, so it’s safe to say people really except A LOT when they come along to an Overtones gig! What type of show did you hope to create for fans this time around?
Darren: Our aim this time around was to get people up on their feet and dancing! We obviously like to take our audiences on some sort of journey throughout the course of the show, and night after night there are those really honest moments where we share some personal stories and anecdotes, but on the whole, we just want to make people smile.
Mike: We pride ourselves on being able to create a safe space for people to come along to, where they can be their true, authentic selves. We like to provide our fans with a sense of escapism, and the opportunity to forget all of their troubles, and I honestly think we’ve achieved that with this show because literally two or three songs in, every single person is up on their feet, dancing like no-ones watching, and singing like no-ones listening.
Your supporters are incredibly loyal! How nice has it been to have the opportunity to reconnect with them all again?
Jay: Oh it’s been amazing, it really has! It’s a wonderful situation to be in, where you have loyal supporters of the band coming along to the show that you feel to have a real, genuine connection with. But it’s equally just as wonderful to have what we call ‘The Overtones Virgins’ come along to join in on the fun too!.. I guess I should explain that term shouldn’t I? (laughs). ‘The Overtones Virgins’ are new fans who come to our shows for the first time with no real idea of what we do together on stage, but they leave feeling like they’re now part of our family.
Mark: The Overtones family just gets bigger and bigger every year doesn’t it? It’s great!
Mike: Yeah, our shows are like a one big family affair! We look out into the audience and we see different generations of one family, all enjoying themselves and having the best time together. The songs we perform are timeless, they speak to people of all ages, everyone can enjoy and appreciate them, that’s the beauty in what we do.
You must get such a buzz from seeing such a diverse group of people at your shows…
Mark: A few nights ago we had a little boy in the audience who was celebrating his 10th birthday – how brilliant is that?! 10 years old and for his birthday he wanted to come to an Overtones show?
Jay: We gave him a birthday shoutout, which was great. But the craziest thing was, he was sitting next to this 18 year old guy who has been coming to our shows for years, and when he was 10 we gave him a birthday shoutout too… in fact it transpired that we also brought him on stage, and we sang happy birthday to him as well!
Darren: That was so crazy! We love hearing about things that go on in the audience throughout the course of the night. We did a show in Southend – shout out to Essex – and I shook this one mans hand, and afterwards my Mum was telling me, she was sitting in front of him, and the guy was 94! We’re so lucky that people of all ages want to come see us – not a lot of artists get that.
Jay: We have this saying that ‘you’re never on your own at an Overtones show’ and it’s so true because so many people have become best mates with other people they’ve met at our shows.
So it’s safe to say you’re having a good time on tour then?
Mark: Oh we are!.. so much so that we almost don’t want it to end.
Well, with that being said, how are you feeling as you approach your final few dates?
Darren: Well, at this point in time, we have 12 shows left, so we’ve still got a bit of way to go, but I guess we are now heading into the home stretch, which I personally have mixed feelings about.
Mark: It’s always a bit of a funny feeling when you reach the halfway point on tour, because on the one hand you’re excited at the thought of going home, and being able to sleep in your own bed again. But then you’re also kind sad that the experience is coming to end. Like Darren said though, we have a dozen or more shows to go, which we’re very excited about and very much looking forward to. And then it’s Christmas…
Talk to us about your new track ‘Christmas Everyday’…
Darren: We’re very proud of this song. It’s warm, it’s fun, it’s Christmassy, and it gives you all the feels when you listen to it.
Mike: It’s gone down really well with audiences on the tour, and it’s become a highlight of the show for me; I’m really enjoying singing it… I know this may sound a little bit big headed, but I think it has the potential to be a future Christmas classic!
Jay: It’s a very authentic song, and utterly liberating to perform live. But I think what I love most about it, is the fact that I believe it sums up where we’re all at, both as individuals and as a group, in the sense that we don’t have to pretend to be anything we’re not anymore, or worry about how we’re being perceived or viewed. We are 100% who we are both onstage and offstage, which I think is really cool… whatever cool means (laughs).
Mark: It’s cool to just be authentic, and to be yourself, I think!
It’s been four years since you last put out a Christmas single. How has your approach to making holiday music changed in that time?
Mark: Whenever we record any new material, we always do our best to make sure it aligns with the style of music we’ve made in the past – so songs that have a retro feel to them, but revitalised with a modern day pop sensibility.
Mike: And then when it comes to our Christmas releases, we always like to throw in a little curve ball. The b-side to ‘Christmas Everyday’ is our live version of ‘Walking In The Air’ from The Snowman, and I honestly think it’s one of the best remakes we’ve ever done! It sounds nothing like the original, the whole vibe and feel to it is the complete opposite to how Aled Jones recorded it – our version is quite dark and dramatic! Darren came up with the idea for us to do it about four years, and I’ll be honest, I was very unsure about whether or not we should touch such a well known Christmas classic. But he was persistent about it, and so semi reluctantly we recorded it, and I’m so glad we did because it’s now actually one of my favourite songs; I really love how we’ve changed it up and put a totally new spin on it.
Darren: It’s important to challenge yourself in all aspects of life, not just in your work. As artists it’s fun to experiment and try something new. If you’re not out of your comfort zone, you’re missing out on reaching your full potential in life.
The songs accompanying music video is an utter joy to watch! Who’s idea was it have all of your family and friends come down and join in on all of the fun?
Darren: It was actually mine, which is funny considering I’m somebody who likes to keep my private life, private (laughs). I put the idea to the boys, and everyone was on the same page and thought it would be a great concept to explore, because at the end of the day, Christmas is about being surrounded by loved ones, and I think that’s what the video portrays. We’re really happy with the end result.
Was it quite surreal bringing your two worlds together, and having so many familiar faces on set?
Darren: Yeah, it was surreal – and total chaos (laughs).
Mike: There was A LOT going on wasn’t there? My dog Molly ate Darren’s daughters, and Jay’s sons lunches… so that was a bit awkward (laughs).
Jay: It was very wholesome, but like the boys have said, it really was just pure chaos on set throughout the entire day!
Mark: Do you know what though, considering it’s the first time we’ve ever directed one of our music videos, and we had all of our families, kids, dogs, and friends to contend with, I think we did a really good job!
What a special moment in time to have captured on film though!
Darren: Yeah that’s very true! It will be really special to look back on in years to come and be reminded of how everyone was in that moment in our lives. I must say, everyone that came down did a really brilliant job – I think the video looks great.
Mark: My other half is usually quite camera shy, but I think once he’d gotten into the swing of things, he secretly loved it!
Mike: It’s the first time we’ve had all of our family, friends, and dogs join us at work, so it really could have gone one of two ways couldn’t it? (Laughs). We’ve been really fortunate in our career to make some really fantastic music videos. Back in the day, when we were signed to a major label, our team had these huge budgets to play around with, so they’d send us off to LA or somewhere exotic and we’d have these amazing, once in a lifetimes experiences that none of us will ever forget. But honestly filming the video for ‘Christmas Everyday’ was probably my favourite experience ever making a music video because of how special it was to be surrounded by all of the people we love.
Jay: As well has having our families onset, we also invited a lot of people from the Type 1 diabetes community to come along, which was gorgeous. To give people the opportunity to experience being in a music video was really cool, and something we all got a real buzz from. The single pledges support for a cause very close to my heart, and will hopefully raise awareness of ‘My Diabetes Story’, a new platform my family and I have launched following my sons diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes last year.
The Overtones – Christmas Everyday (Official Music Video)
Franklin was just 3 years of age when he was diagnosed. A year on, how’s he doing Jay?
Jay: He’s doing really well thank you; he’s an absolute superhero! Even though he’s the kid, and we’re the ‘adults’, he’s the one that constantly reminds us that type 1 diabetes doesn’t define who he is. He’s just this little bundle of joy that’s always so full of wonder and excitement. It’s utterly inspiring for me as a Dad to see my child thrive despite the challenges he faces. He’s amazing.
What have the last 12 months been like for you and your family?
Jay: It’s been a tricky year for our family, I can’t lie. In the beginning, we felt quite isolated and lonely because we suddenly found ourselves having to manoeuvre our way through this new way of life with little to no understanding of what we were really dealing with. It was scary, and it was tough, but we fought our way through it.
Diabetes is a condition we’ve all heard of, but seem to know very little about…
Jay: You’re absolutely right – and up until a year ago, I was the same! It’s a fairly relentless and savage condition. Thankfully it can be managed and treated, but make no mistake, without insulin it is life threatening. We need to inject our son between 10 and 11 times a day with insulin in order to keep him alive. It doesn’t matter what day it is, what occasion it might be, or what he has going on, he has to have that insulin. It’s relentless. That being said, I do think it’s important to note that despite its challenges, you can lead a good life with type 1, you just have to keep on top of your levels and manage your insulin.
You launched ‘My Diabetes Story’ on World Diabetes Day back in November, what can you tell us about the platform?
Jay: ‘My Diabetes Story’ is an online community where people can go to share their stories to help, support, and connect with other people going through the same thing. Receiving any kind of diagnosis can be a very scary and isolating experience. Like I’ve already said, my family and I knew almost nothing about diabetes when Franklin was first diagnosed, but the kindness of strangers online saved us. Just hearing about other peoples experiences made us feel less alone, and like everything was going to be okay.
What do you hope to achieve, as a community, moving forward?
Jay: I’m hopeful that ‘My Diabetes Story’ will encourage people who have been effected by the condition to seek support and talk about how they’re feeling. I also want to build a solid community of Diabetes Warriors and Type 1 Avengers, so that my son and other little boys and girls like him will know, and see, that they’re not alone. The ultimate goal though, is to try to find a cure, and I really hope that in Franklin’s lifetime we will see that happen. I’m so grateful to the boys for getting behind me, and supporting me this past year – having them in my corner means everything to me.
With Christmas Day less than two weeks away, how do you each plan on spending the holidays this year?
Mark: For me, Christmas will always be a family affair, so I’ll most definitely be spending it with loved ones. Like a lot of families, Christmas is the only time of year I get to see some of my relatives, so it’s really special when we all get together… and enjoy a few sherries (laughs).
Darren: My baby girl is 2 now, so she’s starting to understand what’s going on, and is really excited! I’ve bought her lots of presents already, so she’s going to be very busy on Christmas morning (laughs). We’ve just moved into a new house as well, so I’m super happy that we’ll be spending our first Christmas together there, it’s going to be great.
Jay: I have a 10-year-old, and a 4-year-old, so like Darren, there’s a lot of excitement going on in my house right now, and I can’t wait to get back and join in on all of the fun. We’re very, very fortune to do the job we do, and we love it don’t get me wrong, but there is a downside to touring and being so busy, and that’s that we’re away from home a lot of the time. So to know that we have a little bit of a break coming up over Christmas is something we’re all really happy about.
Mike: We’ll be spending some time at my wife’s sisters, which will be wonderful. For me, the magic of Christmas has increased massively since my son was born. He’s 3 now and very much aware of what Christmas is all about, so it’s brilliant to see him be so excited in the run up to the big day. I know kids love presents, but Max seems to love being able to spend time with everyone, just as much if not more than opening all of his gifts, which makes me really happy because that’s what this time of year is all about, being with loved ones, and I’m happy that he knows and understands, that at such a young age.
‘Christmas Everyday’ is available to download / stream now