Carmelo Alfano & Sundae Club Bring Decades of Musical History Together on New Single ‘Is This You?’

London musician Carmelo Alfano and Sundae Club have joined forces for ‘Is This You?’, an atmospheric new release bringing together indie, alternative and electronic influences with a story that stretches across decades of musical experience.

For Alfano, music has been part of his life from an early age. His father was a passionate opera enthusiast and amateur tenor who introduced Carmelo to classical music while he was growing up. Those early moments of listening to opera eventually developed into a serious interest in music and performance, leading Alfano to study voice in Modena, Italy, for two years with the teacher of legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

His career has since moved across music, acting and television sound engineering, while his curiosity about technology also saw him become an early pioneer of live music streaming. More than two decades ago, Alfano streamed a live London performance using a dial-up internet service, an event that attracted the attention of Sky News.

But ‘Is This You?’ is also connected to another important part of Alfano’s musical history: Sundae Club.

From Alfano to Sundae Club

Before Sundae Club came together, Colin Crawford was the keyboard player in Carmelo Alfano’s band Alfano. The band supported James Blunt, briefly shared his management and performed at many of London’s well-known music venues.

Crawford later met producer George Shilling at a mutual friend’s Elvis-themed fancy-dress party. The pair connected over their shared passion for music, and when Shilling established a home studio, the two began meeting on Sunday afternoons to experiment with music and recording.

Influenced by the likes of Lemon Jelly and fascinated by vintage instruments, the sessions eventually developed into Sundae Club. Crawford and Shilling adopted the pseudonyms Hamstall Ridware and Dr. C.D. Mille, inspired by the location of the vintage Mellotron factory they had visited.

Their fascination with vintage equipment was more than a creative curiosity. Crawford owns an original Mellotron, an instrument responsible for some of the most recognisable sounds in recorded music.

Sundae Club soon began attracting attention beyond their home studio. Their music was used by GMTV, while the pair secured a publishing deal with Taste Music. Their debut album Technostalgia featured ‘Angels In The Sky’, with vocals from Sam Holmes.

They also co-wrote a track recorded by French Fame Academy winner Nolwenn Leroy for her second album Histoires Naturelles, as well as writing music for ITV UEFA Champions League Weekly.

A Career Full of Unexpected Stories

Alfano’s own journey has been equally unconventional.

In 1993, he sent a demo to Tom Jones, convinced that one of his songs would suit the legendary singer. At the time, music submissions were made on physical cassette tapes, with artists relying on the information written on the cassette cover to be contacted.

Nothing happened for ten years.

Then Alfano received a call from Mark Woodward asking whether he was the Carmelo who had submitted the recording a decade earlier. A song from the original demo had apparently been considered for Tom Jones, but the cassette cover containing Alfano’s contact details had been lost.

The story became one of the many unexpected twists in a career built around persistence and a refusal to give up.

That philosophy continues with ‘Is This You?’, a collaboration that brings together artists with a shared musical history rather than simply being a meeting created for a single release.

The result sits between indie, alternative and electronic music, combining the experience of Alfano with the distinctive creative world of Sundae Club.

With a musical journey that has moved from opera and vocal training in Italy to London’s live music scene, early internet streaming, vintage recording technology and independent releases, ‘Is This You?’ represents another chapter in Carmelo Alfano’s ongoing story.

‘Is This You?’ by Carmelo Alfano & Sundae Club is available to listen to now.