We caught up with Overpass on Sunday evening as they supported The Amazons on their last night of their UK tour at SWG3 TV Studio. The Birmingham quartet have quickly grown popularity with their classic indie-rock tunes, channelling The Wombats and Catfish & the Bottlemen tracks.
Having played in many of Glasgow’s iconic venues such as King Tuts and East End’s Saint Lukes, we learned about their rise to prominence and the pressures that may come alongside it. We spoke to Max (singer and guitarist), Indie (bassist), Elliot (lead guitarist), and Jake (drummer), to learn about their Overpass journey.
You started in 2020 amid COVID19. How did it all start for Overpass?
Indie: Me and Max were in a band together during Covid, playing covers and stuff like that. We then had a break from that and then decided to make something new. We were all mutual friends being from the West Midlands and into music, and then we came together, literally had one or two practices, then lock down happened and we had to go into self-isolation. It was really weird, but it ended up that we were able to practice a lot more than we would have done anyway.
Jake: We just wanted to play a gig at this time. If we had just done a gig, we would’ve been happy to see where it went. It’s quite mad how we’ve gotten here.
Max: We played our first gig all together a while ago now, but it wasn’t a ‘real’ gig. Everyone was sat down as it was a social distance gig. It wasn’t like people were jumping around and stuff so it was quite intimidating.
Elliot: At the time it was only six to a table in rows. It was like we were playing in a school assembly.
Indie: At one point people did try and stand up but got told off because it just wasn’t allowed at the time.
You’ve had promising headlines from popular magazines such as CLASH and Dork. How does it feel to get this praise? Is there any pressure at all?
Elliot: It was the reason we started. There’s a lot of bands out there who aren’t as interested in gaining a bit of popularity, but it is something that is important to us. When we did start getting mentions from magazines and interviews from others, it did feel special to us.
Max: It felt like we are on the right track.
Indie: We definitely do feel the pressure but it’s no different than the pressure we put on ourselves. So, whenever someone else says that about you, it’s nice that they’re buying into what you’re doing and that they’re believing in you. But obviously it does make you think, “ok, I hope people like what we do”, and then you think about the next steps to take.
You’ve opened for a lot of big artists on a lot of big stages. What was that like?
Max: I remember how nervous we were when we were doing the Inhaler one. We were only opening two shows, but we knew that was the kind of crowd that we would want for or own gigs, the kind of passionate crowd that they have. So, you think you really have to impress that crowd. But now, I think we’ve gotten used to it because we’ve done so many supporting shows.
Elliot: You can’t really beat it to be fair.
Did you receive any words of wisdom from the big acts when on the road with them?
Elliot: It’s more just taking in what they do to be honest. Being on the road with them, you get to see not just how they are live but they’re routine before as well and how they are in the dressing room. You learn a lot from that. You never know how to behave in this job because you never ever see it, the behind the scenes – so, when you get to see that you understand how it’s meant to be. I think you learn a lot from that.
Jake: You learn from their mistakes as well!
What’s the best gig you’ve ever had?
Indie: That’s really hard.
Jake: It’s got to be Birmingham. When we played O2 Institute Birmingham, it was a dream for us all to play that. That was quite an emotional one for us to play as well. We would always say that would be the venue that we would want to play, and we ended up selling it out! I remember just coming off the stage and going “woah”, and I don’t normally get like that after shows. It was pretty cool.
Max: I’m sure they’ll be another one soon.
Is there a process when it comes to writing new material?
Indie: It varies quite a lot, but it would usually be me or Max sitting with the guitar and coming up with some sort of melody and chords. It ends up in voice note form and then we all get together and chose from one of those many recordings we have of ourselves. We then see where we can take it in the practice room. It’s really interesting seeing the EP that we’ve just put out and seeing how the song has evolved to the final produced version. Compared to the first voice notes it’s really cool!
Max: We were in the studio recently and usually it’s only like a verse or a chorus, not a song. The first time we made a full song it was cool to think that’s came from one little moment.
Elliot: You just realise that there is no right way of doing it. It all happens in different ways. The main thing is to keep sticking it out.
Do you have any books or films that help inspire any of the songs?
Max: I don’t think anything like that sticks out. Our lyrics are quite simple and talk about down to earth things. I’m a big believer in if it sounds good, and if the melody is good, I can then try and shoehorn the words that make it sound kind of cool. And that’s how it happens, building the rest of the lyrics from that.
Where can you see yourself this time next year?
Indie: We hope we can go into 2026 with some fresh music. We can’t say too much, but we hope that this time next year people have connected with what we’ve put out and are doing what we love doing – playing big shows!
Max: More songs and more gigs!
This interview was conducted by Jenna Millar and Malinn Welch, the team behind Strath Cordless!
Hi, I’m Jenna! I am currently in my third year studying English and journalism.
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