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Paul Holbrook interviews the band East 17, who will be coming to Bristol in September

I was asked to conduct an interview with one of my favourite artists of all time, Tony Mortimer of East 17. For the next 24 hours, my nerves really kicked in, but after speaking to Tony who is not only a legend but a genuinely nice guy, the interview flowed quite nicely.

 

 Tony spoke openly about the future of the band, and seems like he is genuinely having a good time and feeling positive about the future of the best boy band of all time, back in our lives as a man band.

 

East 17 begin their comeback tour on 31 August in Brighton and the second night sees them arrive and play at Bristol’s O2 Academy on Thursday 01  September before shooting off all around the country. The comeback tour also features a new line-up with Blair Dreelan replacing Brian Harvey on lead vocals. The band will of course be performing all their classic hits, as well as introducing the crowds to their new song along with their new line-up.

 

As you will see the band seem as excited about a comeback as I am, and hopefully we will see plenty more from the new look East 17. Welcome back boys and the best of luck!

 

I caught up with Tony Mortimer (TM) and Terry Coldwell (TC) as they had lunch in Nandos...

 

Hello Tony, it’s  Paul from Guide2Bristol.

TM: Hello mate, how you doing?

 

Well first things first, I’m a pretty big East 17 fan so I’ll apologise now if I seem a little nervous, but I’m really glad your back!

TM: Nice one so you’re the one. (Laughs) We are glad to be back too.

 

Obviously your back with a new lead singer, can I ask why it’s been decided to come back without Brian?

TM: Well Brian didn’t want to come back, he is busy doing some other stuff, making movies or something like that, but yeah he wasn’t interested in coming back so we decided to carry on without him anyway.

 

Is there any chance of Brian ever coming back and making it a five piece?

TM: Maybe yeah, in the future it could be good, even if it was just for the live shows, the fans would love to see him back on stage with us we know that.

 

You’ve got Blair taking over on lead vocals now, and I must say after seeing him getting interviewed a few times he comes across as a nice bloke with a good attitude.

TM: Yeah he is a good lad, determined. We have been working with him for a year or two and after having a laugh together and recording just the one track, it went really well so we decided to work on an album, but yeah he has got a really good attitude and an amazing voice.

 

Do you think it will be easy enough for Blair to fit into the band, and do you think the East 17 fans will accept him quite easily as Brian’s replacement?

TM: Well the Brian Harvey fans are going to be quite difficult, but this is a fresh start, a new era and Blair has an amazing voice, an unbelievable voice, the range is outstanding, you will see at the live shows just how good he is, and that’s going to be what helps him win over the East 17 fans from back in the day. I’m a baritone and he’s a tenor and that’s what we needed, he fits in perfectly.

 

I’ve been listening to East 17’s greatest hits for the past 10 years and now I’ve listened to the new single and watched the video. And I must say it’s quite different to your older stuff isn’t it?

TM: What do you think of it? What would you say is different?

 

Well I think it’s definitely more “poppy”? And also very catchy. It’s good.

TM: It’s a feel good song, and we were having a laugh with it. We want to raise the positivity around the band, so we wanted a feel-good song to come back with, and we really enjoyed ourselves making the single and especially the video, and I hope it shows. I produced the video and I’m really proud of it.

 

Well you’re all smiling? It definitely all looks positive.

TM: Yeah exactly and that’s what its all about, having a good time, enjoying ourselves and trying to be positive and seeing where it gets us.

 

Has it been easy enough to get the mainstream radio stations to play your new single?

TM: Yeah it’s not been too difficult; the reception to us coming back has been really good? I think now is the right time to come back because all the East 17 fans from back in the day are hitting their late 20’s, early 30’s so we now have fans actually working in the industry which is good for us and makes things a lot easier.

 

Do you think the reception would have been as good if Brian was involved?

TM: Well you know, we wanted to be positive, and that’s why the single is a feel good song, about a holiday romance, we want us coming back to be a positive thing and we are all having a laugh and enjoying ourselves, and overall the reception to us coming back has been really positive.

 

What is the relationship like with Brian at the moment, after being quite strained in the past?

TM: I haven’t spoken to Brian for a few months, but there isn’t any problem, he is out doing his thing and we wish him all the best, and of course Brian is welcome back any time, because the fans would love to hear him singing with us again, but we will have to see what happens, for now we are just having a great time, a giggle, you know.

 

When is the new single released to buy?

TM: The single comes out in September and then the album a few months later. I’ve got all the other guys here would you like to have a chat with any of the others?

 

Sure. Ill have a chat with Terry.

TM: Hello mate. Hang on it’s a bit noisy in nandos.... (Moves away from noise)...Right, go on mate, how’s it going?

 

Hell Terry, I was talking to Tony about how the new single is quite different from the old stuff.....What would you say we can expect from the album, new East 17 or classic East 17?

TC: To be honest it will be a bit of both, probably half and half.

 

So there will be some dance/rap stuff on there?

TC: Yeah defiantly, the album will have some good rap tunes on it, but the thing is getting radio 2 for example to play that sort of music is quite difficult so we will probably be releasing the singles that are a little more applicable to todays music scene, we are defiantly going for a “live” sound, and I think the singles we release will be along those lines.  The new single has been going crazy in Europe, I mean CRAZY. So we are feeling pretty good about it.

 

Are you going to be performing the classics on your comeback tour or just new stuff then?

TC: Definitely all the classics, don’t worry about that, the fans would murder us if we didn’t.

 

One thing I did want to ask as a fan, my favourite East 17 song is “if you ever” with Gabrielle? Do you think there would ever be an opportunity to collaborate with her again?

TC: We would love to, because she has been quiet for a few years so would be good to get her back into things as well. She was a lovely lady so yeah that would be cool to get her involved in the future. We haven’t spoken to her for a few years though, so I’m not sure what she is up to right now.

 

Are there any interesting collaborations on the new album?

TC: No it’s all us, but the second album I think we could maybe think about some collaborations.

 

What are your favourite East 17 songs then?

TC: I’ve got to say “stay another day” that was the song that did the business for us you know, number one for 6 weeks, still gets played at Christmas etc, so it really kept us going. It’s a song we are all really proud of.

 

I thought you would say that to be honest. Do you ever just listen to Classic East 17 tracks yourself?

TC: No. We are performing them all the time, so to listen to them in my spare time would be a bit much.

 

Do you think this is it then, the big come back? The come back that will eventually knock Take That off of their perch?

TC: I hope so. Yeah, that would be awesome. It’s got absolutely hectic over the last 3 months. It’s really taking off in Europe we are flat out and getting some amazing feedback. Its exciting times, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how crazy it has got over the last few months. Its going to be big I think. Yeah.

 

One last question in regards the set list on your live tour. “Someone to love”, “Hold my body tight”, and “If you ever” are my three favourite tracks, will you be performing them all?

TC: “Hold my body” tight and “If you ever” 100%, and funnily enough we were just talking about whether or not to put Someone to love in there, so we will see, but yeah it will be all the classics.

 

I can’t wait. It’s been really good chatting to you, thanks for your time, I know you are probably mega busy.

TC: Listen, if you’re coming to the show in Bristol, then come and catch up with us yeah? Come and have a chat with all the lads.

 

Yeah. That’ll be cool, could do a more in depth interview in person?

TC: Yeah mate, come see us all, will be a good night. Thanks.

 

Well thanks again and I’ll see you all in September. Good luck!

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