Q&A: A talk with the Upbeat Beatles
- up2096812
- May 12, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: May 13, 2023
Q: What song originally drew you to The Beatles?
Simon Blight: The first song I ever heard of The Beatles was 'Strawberry Fields Forever' when I was about twelve years old, and it absolutely captivated me.
Colin Yates: I distinctly remember where I was when I heard 'Something' for the first time on the radio and thinking that it was unlikely that I would ever hear a better song.
Q: What originally got you interested in music?
Simon Blight: I started to play guitar and played in school bands. They all seemed to be into Metal and didn't get my Beatles thing, but to me The Beatles seemed so much more colourful, fun and musically had such a wide spectrum, full of incredible harmonic and melodic structure and they seemed to have so much more to say.
James Jordan: I started my career at the age of fifteen performing with pub bands on the drums with my brother playing guitar. We had always loved The Beatles from an early age and we got the opportunity to perform a Beatles quiz in one of our local bars.
Q: When did you join the tribute band scene?
Simon Blight: The tribute scene seemed a great way to earn a living doing what you loved so, after a few years of playing the part of Sting in a Police tribute, I really fancied the idea of playing McCartney in a Beatles show.
Colin Yates: I was a musician, playing anything anywhere but never absolutely confident that I had the right repertoire for the right audience, so getting into the burgeoning tribute world really appealed.
James Jordan: The 2 guys who won that quiz approached us and informed us that they were also musicians and would we be interested in forming a Beatles tribute band. We spent 8 years performing together, firstly around pubs and clubs in the north east of England.
Q: What is it like to be a member of The Upbeat Beatles?
Simon Blight: We have five-year-old kids wearing Beatles T-shirts who know the words and 80-year-olds who saw The Beatles in concert in the 1960s and who say we take them right back to those days. It’s been said that, if you enjoy your job, you’ll never work a day in your life. Although it’s harder work than it appears on the surface, that saying is so true.
James Jordan: Performing with this band is as easy as it was when I first joined 10 years ago. We click really well together on stage as well as off stage. From here we look forward to seeing what the future holds and keeping audiences entertained for many years to come.
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