You Me at Six: Number one with a bullet

Does your No.1 album demonstrate that hard rock is alive and well in the UK at present?

It is alive and well, but it could be doing better. There are bands such as Biffy Clyro and you've got bands such as Muse and new bands such as The 1975 having success. There is a band called Disclosure who play live instruments in their sets and they also have dance music who are also doing really well.
General musician-playing bands are having more success now than they did five to 10 years ago. People have been force fed music so much and it all sounds exactly the same – people have had enough of it. I think in the background where I came from, you don't have success straight away. For us it was hard work. It was getting into a van, getting on a train, four best mates and going up and down the country. You start with 100 people and move on from there. It was our hard-working mentality that really kept us together and made it more enjoyable as well.

Were you surprised when your album went to No.1?

No artist expects to have a No.1. From an artist’s point of view, you can’t expect a No.1. From our side, we’re just very happy for what we achieved as a band to get No.1 takes us to another level and is definitely a highlight of our career.

Are you fans of Biffy Clyro? What is your favourite song/album of theirs?

Yes, I am a fan of Biffy Clyro and have been for years. They used to be known as Scottish rockers and they had albums such as Blackened Sky. I'm a big fan of Only Revolutions.  That's a decent album they've written that will last the test of time and people will think in 10 years time that this is a great record.

Have your music tastes changed through the years, i.e have different bands influenced Cavalier Youth compared to earlier albums?

When we were making Cavalier Youth, I started going backwards listening to music. I started digging through older collections of music. I listened to my dad's music such as Pink Floyd, The Police, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Who etc. My musical taste changes over the years I think. When you are young, you think 'oh, that's not current' but now I'm at an age where I'm just a big music head. I've gone backwards listened to all the music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and all the stuff I disregarded when I was at as secondary school when I was thinking that this music wasn't cool enough for me. You get a bit more mature with age. It's all about, 'does it have a good vocal melody'. If it is good music, I just like it. When I was writing Cavalier Youth, I wanted to have more memorable riffs and a simple guitar progression.

What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t in a band?

I would like to do something with music because I went to music college. Since we’ve had the last month off, I’ve been thinking that I would be interested in engineering and production. I’m trying to get myself trained up in that. The music industry has always had a positive effect on my life.

You also have your own clothes label (Become Antique). How did that come about?

I’m a big fashion guy. I like buying clothes. My friend and I were always talking about setting up a company. We spent a year or two planning it out and then when we got into the business, it was something totally different to do. Our company is that the best stage we’ve ever been at. It’s about fashion and stuff I like wearing. It’s about getting people to a different type of fashion. It is directed at people who are more or less my age (24).

Off the new album what is your favourite song to play live and which one was the hardest to write/record?

Our last single Cold Night, Room to Breathe and Too Young To Feel Old , they're my favourite ones to play live, but the hardest song to record and write was in between Cold Night and a song called Forgive and Forget because they are two different sides of You Me At Six. It shows our grown-up progression. It took us out of our comfort zone. We think we've achieved something new for the band. You can hear the guitar playing on those two songs and they are very different from what went on before

What’s your favourite country to play in and why?

You don’t ever want to upset countries. We love Ireland obviously. It’s a fantastic country to play in and the shows are always special because we don’t get over every time we tour. The kids make it an enjoyable show and we feed off their reaction. Ireland’s up there, Scotland’s up there and so is Australia. It has been a fantastic country for us.

You toured with 30 Seconds to Mars. Would you tour with them again?

If the schedule was right, we would. We are big fans of theirs. If it falls at the right time, who knows.