Most aspiring bands hope to be discovered by a legendary Hollywood heavyweight. Imagine being discovered and brought to America and shortly afterward starring in your own reality television show — Mrs. Eastwood and Co. — on E! Entertainment. That is exactly what happened to new sensational boy band, Overtone.
Overtone is a six-member South African, a cappella boy band that formed in 2006 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Their lives changed when they were discovered by Clint and Dina Eastwood in 2009 while doing a Queen Tribute show in Cape Town, South Africa.
Band members include Eduard Janse Van Rensburg, Emile Welman, Riaan Weyers, Ernest “Ernie” Bates, Valentino “Tino” Ponsonby and Shane Smit. Although they are an a cappella band, they also play a variety of instruments such as the bass, guitar, drums and piano and can sing in English, Afrikaans and Zulu.
They lived in Carmel, Calif., and recently moved to Hollywood to be closer for work, which is helpful because two of their recent singles, “Nothing Else Matters” and “Rush,” have been released on channel “20 on 20” on Sirus XM Satellite Radio and iTunes. These top hits will soon be released to radio.
“I noticed that the song ‘Nothing Else Matters’ is sung a cappella. It’s amazing that they do not use mu- sic equipment, but just their voices as the beats and melodies … Their music choice is very modern and they have great stage presence,” said Hernan Sanchez, sophomore political science and philosophy double major. “Even though they do some covers, for example Cee Lo’s ‘Forget You,’ a cappella, it is interpreted in their own way.”
All six members of Overtone are in charge of their own social networking. They value fan responses and let their followers know about upcoming projects and concerts.
MR: How would you describe your music?
EB: Our music is a combination of South African beats and sounds mixed with vocal band sounds over the greatest pop tunes ever.
MR: What do you like most about your profession?
EV: The music industry is an unforgiving venture and even if you feel like you are winning you should then work even harder.
MR: Have you always enjoyed the art of music?
SS: Music has always been a passion for me since it runs in the family – Ernie is my uncle. I started singing when I was 17 years old.
MR: How hard does each member push themselves for what they want?
EV: We work hard to reach our dreams even though we don’t have a 9-5 (job). There are long nights and a lot of travel but it’s all part of the journey.
MR: What songs are you most proud of?
SS: We have different types of songs, our songs are about love and what makes you happy, and we focus about feelings as well. “Rush’”and “Color Bind” are the songs I’m most proud of, but the most potential song and with a good meaning has to be “Color Blind.”
MR: Where do you see Overtone in 10 years?
EV: Hopefully, in 10 years time we will still be helping people where we can with the resources we have gathered along the way.
