The UK hasn’t had a big boyband since One Direction hung up their mics and went solo in 2016 and with no sign of the fivesome reuniting any time soon, it’s time a new boyband rose to the top of the charts.
That could well be new five-piece Here At Last, who have been building a huge following through their videos on social media. Consisting of Zach Loizou (from London), Tommy Lyon (from Exeter), Pedro Santos (from Portugal), James Thomas (from Leyland) and Ryan Burns (from North Wales), Here At Last is really building momentum, and even more impressively they’re doing it independently.
I caught up with the boys to find out more about their journey so far, discuss their October tour and talk about their cover of Niall Horan’s ‘Heaven’…
How did you guys get together?
Zach: We formed on social media. We were all doing the same thing. We all had singing accounts for us and our personal accounts. None of us grew up together, we all actually grew up very far away from each other, all over the UK, and Pedro’s from Portugal. I think it was just an instinct thing. We got in touch with each other and noticed each other on social media. (We thought) ‘we could do this! This could be something’. I think if you could take me back in time, I honestly just don’t know how it worked out so well that five boys who grew up in completely different places with completely different backgrounds, all got along (so well). It was so easy and the chemistry was there.
Social media has been so integral to your journey so far. Your TikTok in particular has millions of views. How have you leveraged that to launch yourselves?
Tommy: The timing of it was perfect. Me and Pedro started probably late 2019 and then we started early 2020 with the band. We then went into the lockdown and the only thing you could do is go on your phone, really. We had a couple of videos that spread out throughout that lockdown period and from there on, it’s just spiraled. I think we just literally timed it perfectly.
You’re making waves as an independent band and you’re forging your own path. You’ve put out so much music already and your fans are going mad for it. What’s the journey been like so far?
James: It’s been bizarre to say the least. There were some difficult times I think, especially during COVID. When it first hit, we were like ‘we might as well give up’. We recorded 15 videos together and the first lockdown hit and we were like, ‘it was nice meeting you the times that we met up!’ We were lucky. We decided that we had these videos that we recorded just before the first lockdown and we thought we might as well post these just to see how they do. We set up the accounts for Here At Last and we posted these videos. The third one we did got 40 million views. Like Tommy said it was all to do with timing. That all went really well for us with TikTok but we didn’t really have a solid in-person fan base. They were just numbers really at that point because we hadn’t had any proper interaction with them and we hadn’t performed in front of them. The whole time (we as a band) were separate and we weren’t seeing each other. When our page started properly popping off we’d only meet each other three times, if that, so it was it was weird starting a band without really knowing the band. After lockdown ended we thought it was time to move in together because it was working and we didn’t want to get caught again in another lockdown. We moved in together very young. Some of us weren’t even 18 yet when we moved in together and it just kind of went from there. It’s interesting how things fell into place a little bit for us but at the same time, there were a lot of things stacked against us. I think we stuck to our cards a little bit and pushed to the things we knew we were good at and it worked out.
You guys have managed to convert that social media following and that fan base that you’re growing to actual ticket sales, which isn’t a given. There’s artists getting number ones and having top 10 hits, and they can’t sell 100 tickets for a gig. You sold out London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this year. What was that like?
Ryan: We did Shepherds Bush Empire this February gone. However, we had done a few London shows the February previous to that. That was really the first opportunity that we got to really interact with our fans and do shows them. Shepherds Bush definitely was, I think, the biggest moment for us, and the biggest moment that we could share with our fans. It was really special and we couldn’t have done it without them. It was an amazing experience.
Off the back of the show, you’re announcing a new tour today for later this year. What can you tell me about that?
Pedro: So this new tour is gonna happen in October and we’re aiming for five cities. We’ve got London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Bristol. Two of those cities,Glasgow and Birmingham, we haven’t actually toured in yet so it’s going to be very exciting to see what the fans are like in those places. In London, we’re doing Indigo, which is very exciting, likewise with all the other ones as well. We’re just excited to see everyone again, from February to October. We went a whole year without seeing our fans and not doing shows apart from summer festivals. We waited for a whole year but now even like two months feels like too long. Doing Shepherds Bush Empire opened our eyes to be like, ‘Ok, this is exactly where we want to be’. (These shows are) going to be just as exciting as each other. We’re just excited to get back on stage.
You’ve been teasing a cover of Niall Horan’s ‘Heaven’. Why did you decide to put that out?
Zach: It didn’t actually start as an idea for it to go on to Spotify. We recorded it as a YouTube cover in my room upstairs and it turned out to be very, very good. We really like the cover and we thought, ‘do you know what? We’ve not put any covers out before’. A lot of people compare us to One Direction, in terms of us being five British boys. We thought it’d be really cool if we actually then released a cover by one of the members of One Direction, it’s kind of like paying homage to him as well in the sense that he’s a brilliant artist and it’s a brilliant song. We really love the song and we like the cover that we’ve done. We thought (let’s) do something that people wouldn’t expect us to do and that was to put a cover on Spotify. No idea how it’s gonna go but we’re taking a shot with it and we’re gonna see how it does (laughs). We’re very excited about it and we’re very proud of what we did with it and what we accomplished with it.
We haven’t really had a big British boyband since One Direction so those comparisons are understandable. Do they put more pressure on you or are you comfortable in what you’re doing to block the comparisons out?
Pedro: That’s quite a difficult question. A very good question. Obviously, as a band, we’d love to have their bank accounts and we’d love to be them, who wouldn’t? But I think we’re on our own path. Yeah. People can make comparisons, that’s great, but we are doing our own thing so it’s almost like, let’s just see where this takes us. Most of our music, I’d say, is fairly different to what One Direction did at the time and 2023 for actual music itself, God knows what’s coming out next and what fits who and what’s happening with what side of the industry. I think we’re just trying to find our place first, and then see where that takes us.
Aside from new music and the tour, how’s the rest of the year looking?
Tommy: Nothing that we can speak about yet, I suppose. A few things maybe hopefully in the summer, but I’m not sure how much we can say and what’s confirmed and what’s not. Hopefully there’s a few things before October tour. I don’t know about after the October tour…
It’ll be time for a Christmas single or EP…
Zach: Yeah, a Christmas number one and then your set for life.
Here At Last will release their cover of Niall Horan’s ‘Heaven’ on Friday 21st April and their debut EP, ‘EP1’, on 15th August, which can be pre-ordered at https://hereatlast.tmstor.es. The band will embark on a headline UK tour, ‘Happy Your Here’ in October. The dates are:
20th – Glasgow, Stereo
21st – Manchester, O2 Institute3
23rd – Manchester, Academy 2
24th – Bristol, Thekla
25th – London, Indigo at The O2
Tickets go on general sale on Friday 28th April and are sure to sell out fast. They will also be available from O2 Priority pre-sale from the 26th April and a Live Nation pre-sale from the 27th April.
