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If you are watching X-Factor this year, then there is no doubt that you would have heard of man-band, The Reason.  They made it all the way to judges houses this year and I think I can speak for most people when I say that it was a tiny bit shocking when they didn’t get put through to the live shows.  In fact, I thought myself that the boys were a sure choice for one of the live show group slots.  But Simon Cowell decided against them for whatever reason and so The Reason have decided to take matters into their own hands and have just landed a publishing deal with Sony and are about to release their first single – appopriately titled “The Reason”.

I caught up with the X-Factor man band to talk all about what’s going on with guys, what we can expect from their first album, what it’s like working with Simon Cowell, if they have ditched the day tradesmen jobs yet and if they mind being labeled as “gay pinups”.  Hope you enjoy the interview. 

Also – as you know, The Reason will be doing a headline show with John Galea at EQ Live next Monday night, November 15th.  You can grab your tickets for that show over on Ticketweb right now.  You can learn all about the event on Facebook too.  Look out for the guys appearing only in their “birthday” suits for Attitudemagazine which hit’s the stands very shortly…

Well hello boys – welcome to EQ.  We are very excited to be hosting a London showcase for you next Monday. Tell me, what can we expect from a live show featuring The Reason?!
Lots of fun! Great fun and live singing – there won’t be any miming or anything like that! A bit of fun and what people saw on X-Factor is what they are gonna get!

You’ve got a clip of a song called “The Reason” on your official website. Tell me about this song.
“The Reason” is a cover that we are actually releasing by a band called Hoobastankin the states. They had a massive hit with it in America. On YouTube, their version of it had like 15 million views. Basically we loved the song for years and when when we got through to the Judges Houses on X-Factor, we prepared a list of songs to do and one of the songs we chose was “The Reason”– unfortunately we didn’t get to sing it on the show. After we left the show, we found our new management and explained to them the direction we wanted to go – our manager Denise really loved the song too so it just felt like fate because the song is called “The Reason” and were named The Reason.

Sounds like fate to me and it’s meant to be! I hear you’re doing an album of covers and original material – how is it going to sound in the end?
We don’t want to give too much away to start with, but we just signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV – big congrats to us!  Pats on the back! [laughs]  But yeah, what we are going to try to do, we are going to do original songs, but still do some covers with The Reason spin on it, to give people something they can relate to straight away.  Everything will still have our unique spin and our own harmonies to it.

Thereason 
“We don’t mind being gay pinups at all!”

Are you worried that doing cover versions will pigeonhole you as a cabaret type of act at all?
That’s exactly why we are going to be writing original material for our album. We had the idea of putting “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga or our version of Cheryl Cole’s song on the album, but then we thought to ourselves, we really want to do as many original songs as possible for our album – with the covers having our input and unique intricate harmonies on them.

Now obviously you’ve gotten a bit of exposure from X-Factor and I know you’ve been plugging away at this for awhile – why does now seem like the right time to pursue your music? There was a story about how you guys even auditioned in the first season as So Unique in 2004…
It just seems to fit.  Marc was the one that gave us all the call and said – “Look guys, we always meet up a lot and we are all such good friends, our families all know each other and our people always ask us to sing -now is the right time…” so it just felt like it was meant to be.  We went for the first audition and if it worked, it worked and if didn’t – it didn’t.  But the public seemed to like us and the other acts seemed to like us and the judges liked us. It just all seemed right – the harmonies seem to work. It just felt natural this time because we all are such good friends.

What’s the hardest part about being a contestant on X-Factor. I would think that knowing that rejection is going to come for everyone except one person has to be tough. Is it worth it in the end?
The hardest part was waiting around really. We all knew that it could be a no – there was a possibility that you were going to go home. That’s the main thing. It’s just waiting around and not knowing. Getting songs ready and getting them changed at the last minute and things like that – it’s like an emotional roller-coaster. Marc was the one that felt it the most and took the brunt of it.  He was like a yo-yo.  Up-and-down more times than you can know.  But we’d recommend it for anyone.  It’s a good platform. It’s just an experience – we’re older know and we managed to appreciate it a lot more know.  When we first went to X-Factor, we were young and naive and we didn’t take a lot of it in and we didn’t appreciate it enough.

What was it like working with Simon Cowell on the show?
We never got to seem him that much to be honest. Even at Judges Houses, we only saw him twice. What you see is what you get with Simon Cowell, he’s very sincere and honest.  When we were at Bootcamp, he asked us why we wanted to go through to the next stage and said “Why are you here and why you deserve to go through the next stage?”   He actually said himself that he’s in it for the money and wants to make loads of cash [laughs]. What you see with Simon Cowell is exactly what you get – he’s honest.

Who did you get along with the most at Judges Houses and who really did your head in?
We quite got along with everyone really.  We’re quite lovable guys. [laughs].  One Direction are good lads. We love Prines & Rogues, Marlon McKenzie, Treyc – she was a sweetheart.

Were you gutted when Treyc got voted off last week?
Yeah she’s a sensational singer. One of the best on the show.  But as everyone is starting to find out, it’s not just about the vocals, it’s about marketability and quirkiness and what fits at the time. The two french twins that went to Judges Houses too – they were really nice guys – people didn’t get too see as much of them as they should.

You guys are sure spreading yourselves out there and even going after the gay market.  A little birdy told me you even are doing the Naked issue of Attitude.
That’s very true – it will be out on the 16th!  We are also doing GT Magazine. There will be “no dangly bits” on show – it’s all done very tasteful.  You know that was one of our requirements, were not gonna be showing off the goods. [laughs]

Do you mind being labeled as gay pinups?
We don’t mind at all to be honest! [laughs] We were really nervous about the Attitudeshoot, but the people there were really great and made you feel comfortable – the gay gigs we’ve done, they are fantastic crowds and enjoyable gigs – we love the gay crowd!

So I have to ask – have you ditched the day tradesmen jobs now that you have a record deal? Or do friends and family still ring you to come fix all their stuff?
We still do few things here and there to make sure the bills get paid.  But we are hoping to make our millions someday! [laughs]  A lot of it now is working doing promotion, recording and gigs.  The days that we aren’t singing it’s hard to go back to a building site for a few days – it’s like split personality, but that’s the way it goes.  Until the single comes out, we gotta keep working to keep the bills paid!  It keeps us grounded though – it reminds us where we’ve been and where we come from and to learn to not take things for granted.

Do people look at you different know that you’ve been on telly?
Friends and family don’t.   But the thing that really brought it home for us was doing the Nightingales gig in Birmingham – when we were getting noticed just out there doing some shopping, it’s really hits home. You forget how big the X-Factor is and how many people it reaches.

What are you looking forward to most in 2011?
Just being an established band really. We want to be the kind of band that has something for everyone – not just young kids or mums.  We want to make sure our music is good and can’t wait to see all our ugly mugs all out in the shops!  With right now doing both the day jobs and music, it’s one extreme to another, but in the new year – we are gonna concentrate on music and just doing what we love.

Make sure to catch The Reason at EQ Live on November 15thand you can get more acquainted with the Marc, Nathan, Glenn and Scott over on their official website www.thereasonofficial.co.uk or follow them on Twitter!