The frontman of a Ska band from Shooters Hill has gone from living out of a storage unit to travelling the country on the nationwide tour.
Ty and The Dualers started gaining attraction through busking across the streets of Bromley, Canterbury, and Romford.
But while The Dualers’ frontman, Tyber Cranston, would leave the streets with fans chanting, he would use their money to pay for the rent on his garage, desperate to keep a roof over his head.
The band began their career with recordings of their street performances, such as performances of Kiss on the Lips and Don’t Stay Out late, with videos being watched more than seven million times on YouTube.
And now, after more than 15 years of busking in south east London, Ty and The Dualers will be headlining Wembley Arena on May 14.
Ty told the News Shopper: “This is the last gig of the tour – so we’re all pretty excited.
“We’ve been performing at large venues over the last few weeks, but Wembley is definitely our biggest.
“I think the audience can expect to see high energy, uplifting reggae, and ska music.
“My brother, who left the band about 12 years ago, is joining us on stage to perform some songs – this is the first time in more than a decade when we’ve sang together.
“We’ve got a Bob Marley tribute band who are just about as close to Bob Marley as you'll ever get, as well as a fantastic band called The Mooches.
Ty and The Dualers latest album, Voices from the Sun, is set to be released on August 12, and Ty claims the group will be playing four of five songs from the new album.
Ty added: “We've been rehearsing about once a week for the last few weeks now.
“I’d love to play all of our new songs, but obviously people are travelling from all over who will want to listen to our classics.
“It’s literally going to be a roller coaster of emotions.”
For more than 15 years, all the coins that were given to Tyber during his busking performances were used to pay his rent and food.
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Ty explained: “At times, I didn’t even know what my dream was, I was just carrying out the performances.
“But looking back, it feels amazing to see how far I’ve come.
“I think busking is one of the hardest things that you can do, as you’re isolated, on a high-street and people haven’t paid to see you.
“Although it sounds daunting to perform in places like Wembley, I still think busking is probably more daunting.”
Ty believes the most important thing in the music industry is to be “prepared for knockbacks”, as he claims they can often be good, if you chose to learn from them.
He added: “You can find the positive in everything that happens in your life, whether you consider it a negative or not.
“Going on contest shows can get you in the papers the next day, but it’s bubble gum fame - there's not much longevity.
“But I think that if you want music as a career, you have to believe in yourself and your product, and if something goes wrong, find the positivity, and learn from it.
“I mean, realistically, singing is no different to life in general, it's just an extension.
“My story relates to this – it’s all about perseverance and moving on when things go wrong.”
Buy tickets to the Road to Wembley tour here
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