“We’re lucky boys,” says Mike Crawshaw, a singer in The Overtones. “We’ve had four top 10 albums, sold a million records and have been all over the world with countless sell-out tours, but it hasn’t been an easy ride. Even though we feel very privileged to have done all this, we have worked really hard along the way to get to this point.”
The five-piece British-Irish doo-wop boy band, who cover classic '50s and '60 tunes, are heading to the Beck Theatre in Hayes next Friday to perform some of their harmonic melodies, including Gambling Man, Love Song and Sh-Boom. 
They have a busy year of touring ahead of them but are appreciating every minute after only finding success by chance after they were discovered singing together by a talent scout while working as painters and decorators at a shop near Oxford Street. 
Mike admits it took almost five years for the band to be noticed after getting lots of doors closed in their faces. 
He says: “It was a weird thing, we did all those jobs to make ends meet, but they just made things a lot sweeter when we actually got it. It just shows what is around the corner if you don’t give up. 
“It was really difficult and a struggle but as a group, we were adamant that we would keep working hard and just continued to believe in each other. 
“We talk about the struggle before we got signed but actually, it wasn’t until we got a deal that we realised the hard work had really started.”
The 36-year-old, who is originally from Bristol, moved to Headstone Lane to pursue a career as a singer after leaving St Brendan’s Sixth Form College in his hometown. 
It wasn’t until he got to the capital that he realised just how tough the music industry was.
He recalls: “It took me by surprise and was a lot more harder and cut-throat than I could ever have imagined. I would travel into London from Harrow and do open mic nights in the clubs, as well as hand out leaflets and work in bars and restaurants just to pay the bills. 
“I met the other guys in the group during those open mic nights in Kentish Town and Soho, after going for drinks and deciding we all sounded good together when singing.
“Living in London has certainly been a different experience. I lived in a house in Harrow for seven years that I shared with about eight other people and loved it there, as we used to have barbecues, so I am looking forward to being back in the borough for this show.”
Mike was a big fan of music as a child but didn’t dream of pursuing it as a career until he was in college.
He says: “I had always enjoyed performing drama in school and studied theatre in college, but at the time it didn’t really seem like a feasible career option and more of a hobby. When I was 18 I hadn’t done much singing and got roped into doing a musical with a friend of mine who needed more boys to help out. I thought I would stand in the background and try and look like I was having a good time but actually got tricked into auditioning and was told I could sing a little bit, so it all went from there.
“The harmonies that I sing in the band are the rubbish ones that don’t resemble anything to do with the song. They are the ones that if you sang it to people they wouldn’t notice but they are actually sat in with the other harmonies and are quite important and also quite difficult to learn. 
“The music that influenced me when I was growing up was the likes of Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Boyz II Men. I remember long car journeys to Cornwall from Bristol as a child and listening to those sorts of songs in the car. They got ingrained in my mind and even years later I’ll sing-a-long to them.”
Mike has plenty of advice for budding artists who are feeling despondent by the struggles of becoming a musician.
He says: “I don’t think it is any secret that this can be quite a hard industry and I think one thing I have learned is to not fall in to the trap of becoming part of it all. We pride ourselves on being nice guys who work hard and are making friends along the way. 
“I was 30 when we were signed so because we were already adults, we already had our own personalities and haven’t become something we’re not. We’re just enjoying the ride as we go along.” 

The Overtones, Beck Theatre, Grange Road, Hayes, UB3 2UE, July 22, 8pm. Details: 020 8561 8371, becktheatre.org.uk

By Rachel Russell