Music
Collabro talk tour, Britain’s Got Talent and dreams of the West End
Britain’s Got Talent 2014 winners, Collabro, are touring the UK this month, with fellow BGT star Lucy Kay joining them as support.
Ahead of their live shows, Matthew Pagan talked to tmBlog about the tour, dressing room rituals and setting their sights on the West End.
Read the full interview below…
What’s been the best experience you’ve had since Britain’s Got Talent ?
There has been so many but one that really stands out is Brighton Pride, where we performed in front of 50,000 people. To have that many people sing Let It Go (Frozen) back to us was just incredible. We performed at Windsor Castle in front of Prince Andrew, Fergie, Prince Harry and Jonny Wilkinson. We also performed at the Queen’s Theatre.
Do you have any dressing room rituals while on tour?
Before we go on stage we all put our hands in the middle and shout ‘one, two, three, COLLABRO’ as our good luck charm. We will always warm up together and have a bit of a team talk. We get on so well, we are always supportive of each other.
And what’s on your dressing room playlist right now?
Leading up to a show, we do Acapella and make up harmonies together before we go on stage. If there is a piano, Jamie will sit down and play too. We are however big fans of pop. We like Ed Sheeran, who we think is amazing. One Direction, too. There are quite a few artists we love at the moment.
What do you do to keep yourself busy when not on the road?
We all go to the gym. We will also often meet up outside of Collabro and go for a meal or drinks. I like to go out and see a show. Whether it’s with Collabro or not, we always spend time with each other.
So what can the audience expect from your headline tour?
An all-round massive show. It’s all about songs from the first album and special addition, with a couple of surprises. We’ve also got Philippa Hannah opening for us and of course Lucy Kay, which is going to be such a laugh. Lucy is just one of the lads really, and you’ll see that with the banter between us on stage.
What’s your favourite song to perform live?
Personally my favourite song to perform live is Anthem from Chess. With it being such a big song and all about your country, it’s a big number. We stand there and sing it really proudly.
Will Lucy Kay be taking you out in Glasgow and Edinburgh whilst on tour for a proper Scottish night out?
Oh god, I hope so. But probably not, there isn’t going to be room for that carry on.
What are you most looking forward to about going back to perform in Scotland?
We’ve done a few gigs in Scotland and everyone is just so nice. We’ve had such good support, especially on social media. We are just really looking forward to performing there.
With your musical theatre style, would you ever like to do a residency in the West End and Broadway?
Yes definitely, we want Collabro to last as long as we can, but obviously all good things do come to end eventually, but we would all love to do West End or Broadway.
Which is your favourite West End Show you’ve seen?
My favourite show at the minute is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; our vocal arranger Richard John works on this show. Robert Lindsay is incredible. Collectively though, I would say Les Misérables.
In the future, who would you most like to collaborate with?
Mine personally would be a guy call Ramin Karimloo. He’s insane. He performed in the 25th Anniversary of Les Misérables as Enjolras.
Finally following the tour, what plans have you got for the rest of the year?
We have a book coming out called Collabro: Our Story on 5 March, it’s about us growing up as individuals and how we got together as a band, and our journey. We have a new album released 1 June and we’ll be back on Britain’s Got Talent to perform in May. Plus, we will be heading to Japan, Australia and America in 2015! Exciting times ahead!
Collabro’s 2015 tour kicks off today at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, with dates including Plymouth Pavillions (6 February), The Brighton Centre (13 February), The Lowry, Salford Quays (2 March) and New Theatre Oxford (6 March).
