East 17 are back in town

By Fiona Keating on August 29th 2011

One of the most popular boy bands of the 1990s is preparing for a UK tour. They  achieved 18 Top 20 singles and four Top 10 albums, blending  rap and pop in songs such as "House of Love", "Steam" and "Let It Rain". We are of course talking about E17, who are coming to the London O2 Academy Islington this month. I caught up with them during a photo shoot where they shared news of their tour with brand spanking, all-new material.

“I think it’ll be more light-hearted now, it’ll be more fun and nostalgic. It’s not tongue-in-cheek but we’re going to have a laugh as opposed to taking ourselves seriously as a ‘musical force’ now we’re older, it’ll be more of a ‘musical farce’!” joked Tony Mortimer,  who insists he wasn’t responsible for writing all the band’s hits (though modestly admits it was a lot of them).

He added: “The tour will be completely live, with no tapes running, which I find refreshing. We’ll be playing most of the old stuff. We don’t want to be self-indulgent, for instance, ‘yeah this is us playing jazz from the 1920s’ because obviously people won’t want that.”

It’s been 14 years since the band’s last UK chart appearance: Tony Mortimer has studied a Psychology diploma and learned to play drums, Terry Coldwell has lived in Spain where he owned his own club and John Hendy ran his own roofing business. Nevertheless, East 17 - who named themselves after the London area code in which they grew up (that’s Walthamstow, if you’re unfamiliar) – are back with an almost original line-up, welcoming a new lead singer Blair Dreelan. Originally brought in to help produce their album, Blair explained how he became the band’s newest addition:

“I originally knew Terry from back in the day but I was writing and producing for UK artists and the boys contacted me to come and do some tracks for their new record. I suggested we got featured singers in to add some dynamic to it, so initially; I started singing the material as we were writing and recording together. We planned for me to sing the songs and once we got the featured singers involved they would learn it via my voice. About four-to-five tracks in, the boys asked me to join the band.”

Blair’s experience in the music business means he has no concerns over replacing the band’s original singer, Brian Harvey. John, who assures me the band’s outfits will be updated and current without being “mutton dressed as lamb” insisted Blair will give audiences more than they could ever expect from the boy band that dominated early ‘90s British pop:

“I think Blair has got a lot of pressure on him but he’s got big shoulders [laughing] – and yes, literally - to take it. He has a lot to give because he has lots of energy, a good voice, he can dance and he looks good so brings a lot to the table. He’s got a big space to fill as obviously Brian was a major part of the band, but he’s fitting in really well.”

Though die-hard fans will be thrilled to hear the tour will boast a set-list brimming with all the old favourites; ‘It’s Alright’, ‘Let It Rain’, and ‘Around The World’ to name a few, the band guarantee that the new album, which is set to make its way to our ears by August, will also tickle the musical tastebuds of audiences both past and present.

“What we’ve tried to do on the album is to take East 17 from the ‘90s and bring it into 2011,” explained Blair. “The sound hasn’t changed too much – it’s still got that rap and melodic element that East 17 originally had but we’ve changed it slightly and made it more modern.”

John added: “Fans are to expect a lot of new excitement and everyone is 110 percent raring to go. We’ve put in a lot of hard work so the new album is sounding really good. Parts of it are very diverse - it’s not like you put the album on and by the third song it all sounds the same, one has a reggae feel to it, and there’s one that has a The Black Eyed Peas sound. It’s all varied.”

With the promise that the sound of their new material will incorporate elements of what shot them to fame originally, there is of course a new single coming our way, and going by what John told me, I’m sure it’s going to go down a treat! He continued: “The new single is nearly ready but there are just a few tweaks to be made so there’s no release date set yet, but I think our old fans will really like it. When we played it to the record company they were like [in an over-exaggerated American accent] ‘Oh my god, oh my god that’s the one!’ They think everyone’s going to love it.”

“And we haven’t got a clue what the video will be yet,” added Tony. “The story boards aren’t finalised but we’ll be shooting it in the next few weeks. It’ll probably be a load of playboy bunnies that are nothing to do with the song whatsoever, but no, jokes aside, something funny like a Madness video would be good. I’d love to do a video like that.”

It’s evident after such a long break and hard work on a new album that the boys are teeming with excitement to get back on stage and prove they’ve still got it.  And who can blame them? It goes to show their previous achievements have set them with boundless success. Now watch this space!

E17 will be playing at the London O2 Academy Islington on September 8.  www.o2academyislington.co.uk

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