Uptones are a live band performing across the French Alps with Après Ski Bands, bringing their high-energy sets to après-ski venues, private events and weddings. We caught up with the band to talk about life on the road, their favourite gigs, musical influences and what makes playing live in the mountains quite unlike anywhere else.
1. For anyone who hasn’t experienced an UpTones gig yet, who are you and what kind of party do you bring?
We absolutely love bringing energy to every show and creating something everyone can enjoy and party to. We’re four musicians who all studied music and have been passionate about different styles from a young age. We love playing everything from rock and pop classics to 90s and 00s bangers, dance anthems, indie favourites and unexpected medleys — even throwing a bit of rap into the mix.
What started as a casual love of playing covers has turned into a genuine profession for all of us, and we’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come.
Expect passion, attention to detail and, most importantly, a whole lot of fun. If you’re lucky, you might even get a behind-the-head guitar solo from Alex!
2. People often associate UpTones with winter and après-ski, but you perform throughout the year. What does a typical year in the life of the band look like?
After the craziness of an Alps tour, the rest of our year is usually packed with weddings, parties and events for some brilliant clients. We all work across different areas of the music industry too, from production and original music to the admin and business side of things — basically anything we can get our hands into!
Our drummer Dom also organises Inglefest, a festival just outside Bristol dedicated to local original music. It brings all of us together every summer and has become a massive part of our year. Once the festival ends, our attention is towards building our next winter show!
3. What is the biggest difference between playing during the summer and performing in a packed Alpine bar in winter?
When you walk into an Alpine bar, you know everyone is ready to go. They’ve had a day on the mountain and they’re there to properly let loose, so there’s an incredible energy from the very first song.
Summer gigs have a different feel — lots of weddings, families, celebrations and big emotional moments — which gives us the chance to bring out another side of the band. In the alps, it can feel like a two hour adrenaline rush, whereas weddings are more about taking people on a journey through the night.
The crowds might be different, but we’ll always bring our A-game to every event we’re part of.
4. What do you love most about returning to the Alps and working with Après Ski Bands each winter?
The crowds. They’re immense every single time and always bring the party. No matter how far we’ve travelled or how tired we might feel beforehand, as soon as we hit that first note, we remember exactly why we’re there. Everyone is so up for it and seems to love live music as much as we do.
And, of course, the mountains never stop being incredible. Everyone assumes we’ve always been big skiers, but that love was only really discovered last season during our stint at The Cavern in Morzine. Now everyone — apart from Dan — is completely obsessed and can’t wait to get back on the slopes this winter.
Après Ski Bands also make touring incredibly easy for us. After working together for several seasons, it genuinely feels like coming back to a community rather than simply another run of gigs. They clearly share the same passion for the scene and for the artists they work with, which makes a huge difference.
5. What is your funniest or most memorable story from an Après Ski Bands tour?
Oh gosh — we’ve been doing this since 2019, so there are probably far too many to tell!
We’ve had everything from getting stuck in the snow and somehow finding it hilarious, to countless ridiculous moments on stage and between gigs. Some of the best stories probably aren’t suitable for print either.
You’ll have to come and ask us in person — we’ve got years’ worth of highlights!
6. Is there a particular venue, crowd or moment that always makes you feel like the winter season has properly started?
Cocorico always feels like the moment the season has properly begun, whichever resort we’re playing in. There’s something about those gigs that immediately puts us back into winter mode.
We debuted a Coldplay medley last season and hearing the reaction — especially everyone singing along to Viva La Vida — was one of those moments where we thought, “Yep, we’re back.”
We can’t wait to hear that again this winter and bring even more new material into the set.
7. After playing together for so long, who keeps everyone organised on tour, and who is most likely to lose something important before a gig?
After basically ten years together, you’d hope we’d have some sort of structure by now!
Dan handles a lot of the organising, from travel and logistics to putting together the setlists, while Dom and Alex take care of a lot of the sound and technical side.
And the amount of times we’ve heard “Where is my…?” from Sophie before a gig is honestly impressive. If we’d started a 50p forgetfulness pot ten years ago, we could probably fund the next tour with it.
8. How do you keep your performances and setlists feeling fresh when you are playing regularly throughout the year?
We’re constantly adding new songs and medleys throughout the year so the show keeps evolving. When we build a setlist, we try to make every gig slightly different and find the right balance for the venue and crowd in front of us.
Even changing the order or putting a familiar song somewhere unexpected can completely change the way a crowd responds and how the energy flows through the set. We’re always looking for that perfect journey from the first song to the last.
9. What’s next for UpTones, and what are you most excited about for the coming winter?
We’ve just finished another amazing summer stint at The Cavern in Morzine, which was brilliant. Seeing the mountains completely transform from white in winter to green in summer is something pretty special.
The next few months will be filled with rehearsals, finishing off the wedding season and getting everything ready for winter … with a few surprises thrown in too.
I think we can safely say, on behalf of nearly all of us, that we can’t wait for the slopes, the views, the crowds and all the new friends we’ll make along the way. More than anything, we’re excited to get back on stage and do it all again.
The Uptones will be back in the mountains this winter, so stay tuned for their upcoming tour dates and where you can catch them live!
And it’s not just après-ski. The Uptones are also available for weddings, private parties and events across the UK, France and Europe. Looking for something a little more intimate? Their acoustic duo, Sapphire Sounds, is perfect for unplugged chalet evenings, wedding drinks receptions and laid-back private events.
Want The Uptones or Sapphire Sounds at your next event? Message us now and let’s make it happen.