Overflow, which takes its name from Psalm 23:5, sprang
from their church youth group.
Third Day's Mac Powell, who executive produced A Better
Place, has called Overflow "a young Third Day." The group consists
of five members, all in their early to mid-20s: guitarist and primary
lyricist Mark Breazeale, in many ways the band's spiritual leader;
drummer Will Carter, bassist Josh Cromer, keyboardist Matt Hayes;
and vocalist Tom Pellerin, who also plays rhythm guitar. Four-Tom,
Mark, Will, and Matt -can't recall a time when they didn't know each
other.
"The band formed right before we started high school,"
recalls Tom. First, Tom and Will started playing together. Mark and
Matt came in high school. Josh is the group's most recent addition,
starting as the group's road manager, then joining on bass when the
opportunity arose.
Josh, also a South Carolina native, says his upbringing
parallels the other four band members. There's one significant difference,
though: Josh comes from three generations of carnival concessionaires,
giving him access to a world that's closed to most people.
"It's their own little subculture," Josh says of carny
life. "They know they're kind of excluded from the rest of the world
because a lot of people won't have anything to do with them. It taught
me a lot about not judging, because some of them are the neatest people
in the world."
Overflow met NewSong's Scotty Wilbanks, who wound up
producing the band's album, via email. Scotty played some of the group's
early sessions for Mac Powell, who quickly became a fan as well.
"Their songs really drew me in," Mac says. "For guys
as young as they are to have such great songs and a great sound at
this time in their career, there's some incredible potential here."
"Mac and Scotty were both very influential in shaping
the songs," says Josh, "They helped us find the right melodies and
the right hooks. They showed us what needs to be in a song to make
it great."
"Mac was never pushy about his ideas," says Will, "though
he had every right to be. He was always coming up with great ideas,
but he always wanted us to make our own decisions."
Overflow singer Tom Pellerin vividly remembers a girl
who approached him one night following a concert. She'd had a fight
with her father, who'd committed suicide shortly after their falling
out. Estranged from her mother and sister, the girl literally felt
alone in the world. But something about Overflow's songs drew her
in.
"She just wanted somebody to talk to," Tom recalls.
"Since we're in a band, it's easy for some kids to come to us and
talk. She said one of our songs helped her out and gave her a sense
of hope."
"That's the underlying theme of our CD - a sense of
hope."
That sense is pervasive throughout the Essential Records
debut from the young South Carolina band. It's apparent from the unabashed
exuberance of songs like "Better Place," "Forever," "Gotta Believe
It," and "My Days Are Better." It's obvious in the raucous chords
and cascading pop/rock riffs of "Anything But You," "Don't Run Away,"
and "What's Missing."
During more than three years of touring independently,
Overflow has developed a strong affinity for youth groups, church
camps, and conferences.
"Youth camps, we love doing that," Tom says. "We'll
do activities with them - scavenger hunts, basketball, whatever the
youth minister has going on." The entire band has fond memories of
not only acting as the praise band for worship services, but leading
Bible studies, even serving as counselors. "It's a great opportunity
to witness to people," Tom says.
"We feel called to the Church, whether it be the actual
church establishment or places like youth camps," Josh says. "We know
all bands have different callings in ministry but for the five of
us, being brought up in the church and knowing how important that
was to our development, we want to offer encouragement and stay focused
on the church."
Hear OVERFLOW Music * Overflow Lyrics * Christian
Music Index
photo courtesy of myspace.com/overflowband
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