Seat At The Table; Episode Four with Overpass.

Driving the Next Wave: An Exclusive Interview with Overpass, the Midlands' Rising Indie Sensation

Hailing from the industrial heartland of the UK's second city, Overpass stand as a beacon of anthemic guitar music resurgence. Their sound, a fusion of timeless charisma reminiscent of Springsteen and the contemporary flair of 2010s UK indie, resonates both locally and internationally. Rising through the ranks of Birmingham's vibrant music scene, Overpass emerged amidst the national pandemic, captivating listeners with their debut single, One Night Lover in Autumn 2020. Since then, they've surged forward, boasting four releases and a triumphant UK headline tour in 2021.

With infectious melodies, crystalline lead lines, and impassioned vocals, Overpass has firmly cemented their place as a formidable presence in the indie music scene. As anticipation mounts for their upcoming performances and releases in 2024, I had the pleasure of chatting with Max from Overpass about their journey, their music, and their highly anticipated performance at The Great Escape.

Can you tell us about how you guys formed as a band and how you came up with the name Overpass?

Yeah, so we kind of all came together through social platforms, and so we kind of know each other through friends of friends. Me and Indie played together when we were like 15 in a few bands and stuff. But then I think when I was in sixth form I put up this story like the classic looking for a guitarist like the whole shebang, can we get this together sort of thing. And then a few of my mates shared it and then we all kind of came together and it was good. We got a few rehearsals and then yeah, we kind of decided the name of the band.

We could tell a story about this but there isn't really an interesting story at all. It's literally just it was a word in a some obscure song we were listening to. It's a bit pretentious but we liked the idea of having a one word band without the "the", we just liked the feel of this. With Overpass we just wanted it to be quiet and laid back, and it was just a relaxed name you know?

What has been your experience with the music scene in England and how has it influenced your sound?

I definitely think there's great scenes all over the country and great little hotspots. Liverpool's music, Glasgow, you know places like Newcastle and it's really nice when we have bands from all these places that are in the same boat. There are some great venues and it's really cool to be able to play in these venues sometimes. It's like you've heard about these venues that you've always wanted to play in and then you do, it's really cool.

I think there are a lot of sounds that influence us, I'd definitely say there's a few bands kicking about and it's wicked seeing ourselves alongside them. There are those bands that are kind of the vibe we're going for, like Wunderhorse for example. It's just wild how they about and the maturity of the song writing and the whole it doesn't have to be too overproduced to like connect, you can just do the classic song. And that's what we want to do. We want to kind of keep it quiet. I don't feel like we're quite good enough to really spice it up and go completely bonkers with it. It's quite inspiring, because you see those guys have done it and made like, completely, just an amazing album. And, that's the amazing thing, it is inspiring and you know, there's loads of things.

We like to do what we do and be kind of relatable you know. It's the simplicity of the set up, you know. But yeah, I definitely think like we've got some really great talented people all over the place. And it's good to learn from people and take like bits of theirs and make it your own.

Can you walk us through the creative process behind your latest EP?

So it wasn't like all done in one time frame, it was kind of spread out. We had like a few of those songs knocking about from like the first year of being a band and writing and stuff, you know, just songs hanging around the back of the drawer. But then we kind of revisited them and we decided on writing a kind of cohesive set, like we'd have to pick like 5 sounds that came together onto this one thing.

There was no kind of art, we would just sit down and write anything we've got, and make it all click together. It was about picking the songs that people could relate to and vibe with , and I think the ones we picked definitely do that. We're really proud of that. Like. I think it's a good start to the band.

Myself and Elliot do a lot of the writing. And it's always good to bounce back and forth with him for ideas. And when the rest of the band hear what we've got and add their parts, and that's always nice too. So that's our sound.

You know, we wouldn't be a band if it was just me or just one person doing everything. We don't want that, we work together otherwise there's no point in being a band. Yeah so, it was really quite easy to be fair, and it just felt right and natural at the time. Yeah, I wonder how the next one's gonna go haha

How do you think your music has evolved since you first started out as a band?

I think it's definitely come on leaps and bounds. Probably down to what we're listening to, and what we're inspired by, what we like and kind of what we want to see ourselves being.

I think you can take a pitch of this and that from everywhere, like, you know, Wunderhorse like I said. We are our own band, but it's always good to have your own little inspirations.

I think it's down to you know, when we first started all this, we quite liked all the indie classics like Artic Monkeys and Wombats and that, and you know there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I think as you get a bit older you want to, you know, try something different and like you get influenced by different things. And I think that's kind of what helps us go into that work. Yeah I think we don't want to just be like pigeonholed as just an indie band. I feel like there's much more for us to tell. Like, I think everyone says it's such a cliche but it's true.

I think everyone has many different favourite bands, like you're playing our music and you're playing Wunderhorse's music for example. You're gonna know that they are both like two different bands, but they're like influenced by one another you know?

What themes or messages do you try to convey through your music?

That's definitely one that is important to us. It's about having the kind of songs that can speak to people quite easily with no kind of beating around the bush, more like a straight forward message so that when you're listening you can be like "Oh I like this, I can relate to this", we don't want to be too obscure with that, we want to bring people together and we want to get people down to our gigs singing the choruses and the songs.

I think that, you know, it's about breaking down barriers and bringing people together and like can make it easy and not kind of push people apart. We just want to have like good songs that people can listen to and like and then when they come and see us live it's just like this big thing.

We'll have a good time and I think that that's something we're really set up for at the minute anyway. I think it's definitely about relating to what you're listening to, for us anyway.

What can fans expect from your upcoming performance at The Great Escape?

New songs, some old songs, and a great big party!!!

Are there any notable influences in your music that you would like to share with your fans?

I think we are definitely influenced in certain areas. Like with song writing, I would definitely say The Streets from Birmingham like lyrics wise. I've heard loads of people say The Streets because it's true. It's like their down to earth kind of lyrics for sure. It's cool like he says the things he experiences and you know, everyone can relate to that. And it makes sense.

Also I've always been a big fan of Bruce, just because he's like, he's number one. He's our champion in kind of writing about everyday life, you know, kind of breaking through like these things things that everyone goes through. It's like no wonder he has such a massive following. So many people feel the same. And what he is looking for what he's thinking about, that's what it's about. There are loads of people and I think, definitely, I think Bruce is a big one and then just kind of classic kind of stuff like the style of Bob Dylan kind of stuff. And then from the modern bands, definitely Wunderhorse.

How has the pandemic affected your ability to perform live and connect with your audience?

To be honest, it didn't affect us at all. Because we started rehearsing like two months before it kicked off and stuff. So we never had to deal with any like interference, we weren't even playing gigs. We had no songs as we had just gotten together. If anything that lockdown was quite valuable to us. It allowed us to write and write a lot of songs. And when we came out we were in search of playing gigs. We played like a set of our stuff you know, it felt quite good to us. Our first gig and it was our own songs we were playing, whereas usually it's like ten covers and one of your own. We were going to do that, but then we played our own stiff and I'm glad we did, it just felt good. It felt nice because it was our own stuff we were putting out there and it was cool because we were just starting off you know?

I can imagine the struggle that the pandemic would put on, like venues and artists, and I'm not in any way saying it was a good thing. It's just for us in that circumstance it was a good thing. So, you know, we were very fortunate, fortunate enough that it didn't really affect us like that, more so that we benefitted from it as a band really.

Do you have any upcoming projects or collaborations that you are particularly excited about?

Yeah for sure. In terms of releases, we've been writing loads and loads and we're just deciding when is the right time to release each one. We've got some good songs around now it feels like we've really honed in on who we are and what we want to sound like and what we want to do. Which is quite exciting. It's just figuring out the right timing for the songs and finding our best foot forward as a band. But there's lots more to come and you can expect a lot more songs soon.

Lastly, what advice do you have for aspiring musicians looking to break into the industry?

I think honestly, it's cliche, but just write and write and write. Just write every day. Have brilliant songs that no one can argue with. And especially write what you want to write about. Don't feel like you have to the right look, or right sound, just do what feels right to you and that can stretch into how you look as a band and like wear what you want to wear.

I think it took us a while to kind of find our feet and I think that's the thing like don't get too caught up on the look of it because you'll find that you just keep going right in and, I'm not saying that we're IT you know, because we're far from it, it's still quite early doors for us but it seems now it's all kind of coming together and the way we dit is just by working on it each day, each week, you know, working hard.

And honestly, looking towards inspiration. It's not bad to look up to people and take things from people and be inspired. I think it's a great thing.

My conversation with Max from Overpass provides insight into the band's journey, influences, and creative process. Hailing from Birmingham, they blend timeless charisma with contemporary flair, showcasing a commitment to authenticity and collaboration. Drawing inspiration from vibrant music scenes across the UK, Overpass weaves infectious melodies and relatable lyrics, resonating with their audiences through their latest EP. As they evolve, their upcoming performance at The Great Escape promises to celebrate their music, with exciting projects on the horizon. Their advice for aspiring musicians emphasises perseverance, authenticity, and drawing inspiration from others while staying true to oneself.

Overall, Overpass stands as a testament to passion, collaboration, and dedication in the pursuit of musical excellence, poised to make. alasting mark on the indie music scene.