You Me At Six are currently on a tour of intimate venues around the UK, despite having just entered the UK Album Charts at Number 3 with their third record, Sinners Never Sleep.
The tour kicked off on Saturday in Preston, and we were there to talk to members Max Helyer and Chris Miller about the new record, the cancelled blink-182 tour and the state of UK rock music.
-Tonight's the first night of the tour. Are you excited to be back?
Hell yeah. It's nice to be back. It's been about 7 months since we've done a tour in the UK, so we want to play some new songs tonight, a few old ones. We're looking forward to it.
-How are you balancing your material for the set, given that Sinners Never Sleep has just come out?
We've got a couple of oldie-oldies. We're only playing four songs off the new album. I think we all feel the same when you see a band who've just got a new CD out, you still want to see the old ones as well.
-You’re playing some smaller cities, like Preston and Middlesbrough, but you're not playing Manchester or Liverpool. Was that a conscious decision?
We did them on the last tour. We wanted to come back to places that we haven't played before, or haven't played for a long time.
-How is it coming to Preston for the first time, with so many people sat outside already in the train?
We spoke to some of them earlier. It's nice when people come that early to chill, but I do feel bad when it's pouring down with rain.
-You were at Enter Shikari last night in Manchester. What did you think of the gig?
It was awesome, man. They had those new strobes, all the mental images, all at once. The CO2 cans were good. They played f****** amazingly.
They're one of the best bands in the UK though, they deserve a lot more recognition. They've got a massive f****** vibe to their band.
-Is that sort of big production something you'd like to do more in the future?
Yeah. On the last tour we brought out a big production, with ramps and lights. This time, even though the shows are still pretty big, it's a smaller tour for us.
We usually play bigger venues. We thought we'd just come back and play the new songs. This is more about us as a band, not what it looks like.
-Do you have a preference between the bigger venues where you can get that level of production, or these smaller, more intimate shows?
It's nice to have a mixture of both. If you keep doing the big venues, then you get into that big-headed world. You come back to doing smaller shows, we've done a few this year. It's nice that we can go from different venue sizes. We'll go there, play and have a good time.
-Mentioning Enter Shikari last night. Do you get much of a chance now to go to shows as fans?
Sometimes. Because we're on tour so much, all the shows we want to see, we're away for. When we're at home, we get to go and see shows. We went to see Jimmy Eat World a couple of months ago, and Foo Fighters. So, we still go to shows as fans, which is nice.
-When you're out on the road, do you still get the chance to have the lifestyle of going out, getting drunk, or do you have to tone it down a bit on tour?
We all know our limit, definitely. We do pretty much have a laugh and drink every night. When someone says they've had enough, or needs a night off to chill, we're sensible about that.
We've grown up. We care more about the show, it's not a holiday at the end of the day. We've come here to do a job, we've got to make sure we're f****** s***-hot. We want people to come back every time and say to all of us "Today was the best show we've ever seen you play.”
-Sinners Never Sleep is looking like it'll do very well in the charts [since the interview it has debuted at Number 3]. Are you pleased with the reaction it's received?
Yeah, it's awesome, and completely unexpected as well. Being a rock band, and being able to actually tour and break into the charts, it's a really good thing to have.
We were originally going to release this in September, but it got pushed back. They said we could either release it in October with the big guns, or we can wait until next year. We said "F*** waiting till next year."
To prove that a band like us can even contend in the charts with all these artists like Adele, Lady Gaga, James Morrison - we're up there, we're fighting them off. It's a privilege to know that all our fans have gone out and bought our CD.
-Are you glad that albums are still selling well, despite a heavy emphasis on downloading and picking songs online?
Yeah. It's crazy. Right now, there are some people who simply can't afford to buy CDs. If the only way you can get it is to download it, at least you're still hearing it.
We were talking with Your Demise last night, about whether they buy CDs, and they were like...we're too poor to buy CDs. If you're a band, you can't buy a CD, because you spend all your money on the touring part. Music's music at the end of the day, it's there to be heard.
-With the amount people are illegally downloading, or not buying albums, is the emphasis on touring to make money?
Well, yeah pretty much. It's going to happen in this day and age - people are going to download.
People would rather come and see a live show than buy a CD. There's literally no money to be made from buying CDs anymore. The main income from bands these days is live shows.
-Shifting back to Sinners Never Sleep, it seems more of a heavier, grittier influence on some of the tracks. Was that what you were aiming for, or just how it naturally came out?
It was just more natural. When we did the last CDs, we were a lot younger. It's a natural progression of us writing musically. You'd be cheap-skating yourself if you just wrote the same record.
We've taken a lot of influence from a lot of bands. I think you can hear it in our music, people like Incubis and Jimmy Eat World. Then, people like Brand New, the heavier stuff. We had a lot more time to sit down and embrace what we were writing, and get in the zone.
-What did Garth Richardson bring to the writing session?
He brought balls, and an old-school vibe. To have him there helping us out was good, just to hear someone else's ideas that we've never worked with before.
It makes it a whole new experience. He was bringing all these people to the table, we were like...this is amazing. We were in LA and really concentrated on the CD. At home you have a lot more distractions, but we really concentrated in the studio to make the best record we could.
-Do you still get moments of being awestruck by what's happening with this band?
Yeah. It could be on massive shows, like Reading Main Stage or something. Well, it doesn't matter what size the show is, even when you're in a random place in the world, like Poland or Australia.
You look out and you're like...wait a minute, I'm f****** two days away from my house, but there's still people who want to come see us play. It's crazy.
-Earlier in the year, there was disappointment when the blink-182 tour was cancelled. What were your thoughts on that?
Absolutely gutted. We lost out on three tours in a week, that was one of them. We had one that we didn't announce, but it would've been f****** great. It would've been us going to South America, we've never been there before.
We missed out on three tours, but everything happens for a reason, you know? They asked us to go back on the tour next year, but obviously we can't commit. It's such a long way down the line, we don't know where we're going to be.
We were a bit bummed out, but we've been pretty lucky with our CD entering the charts. Hopefully it'll be the start of a good cycle for us.
-You've been named as Future Flame Ambassadors for the 2012 Olympics. What did that mean to you?
First of all, to be associated with a brand as big as Coca Cola, is huge. Then, secondly, probably the biggest thing to happen to our country in the next however long, in the Olympics.
For us, we'll get to do something important and be role models for people our age. There's a lot of hard work that people do, that goes completely unnoticed.
The youngsters always get criticised as well, they don't get recognised for the really good people that are doing something positive and beneficial for their communities.
It's a privilege to be a part of it. It's going to be great fun. It's the Olympics, it's only going to happen once in our lifetime.
-Looking past the album and this tour, what are your plans?
After this tour, we fly straight out to America to tour with Mayday Parade for about a month. Then we come back and do a little bit of Europe at the end of the year.
Next year, it's a whirlwind again. We go to America. We've got Soundwave in Australia in February. We're hopefully going to come back to the UK to tour in March, then it's the festival cycle.
Lots of stuff in the pipeline, it'll get us back on the road. It's been too f****** long.
Read our review of Sinners Never Sleep right here, and check back tomorrow for a live review of the opening night of the tour.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
You Me At Six are currently on a tour of intimate venues around the UK, despite having just entered the UK Album Charts at Number 3 with their third record, Sinners Never Sleep.
The tour kicked off on Saturday in Preston, and we were there to talk to members Max Helyer and Chris Miller about the new record, the cancelled blink-182 tour and the state of UK rock music.
-Tonight's the first night of the tour. Are you excited to be back?
Hell yeah. It's nice to be back. It's been about 7 months since we've done a tour in the UK, so we want to play some new songs tonight, a few old ones. We're looking forward to it.
-How are you balancing your material for the set, given that Sinners Never Sleep has just come out?
We've got a couple of oldie-oldies. We're only playing four songs off the new album. I think we all feel the same when you see a band who've just got a new CD out, you still want to see the old ones as well.
-You’re playing some smaller cities, like Preston and Middlesbrough, but you're not playing Manchester or Liverpool. Was that a conscious decision?
We did them on the last tour. We wanted to come back to places that we haven't played before, or haven't played for a long time.
-How is it coming to Preston for the first time, with so many people sat outside already in the train?
We spoke to some of them earlier. It's nice when people come that early to chill, but I do feel bad when it's pouring down with rain.
-You were at Enter Shikari last night in Manchester. What did you think of the gig?
It was awesome, man. They had those new strobes, all the mental images, all at once. The CO2 cans were good. They played f****** amazingly.
They're one of the best bands in the UK though, they deserve a lot more recognition. They've got a massive f****** vibe to their band.
-Is that sort of big production something you'd like to do more in the future?
Yeah. On the last tour we brought out a big production, with ramps and lights. This time, even though the shows are still pretty big, it's a smaller tour for us.
We usually play bigger venues. We thought we'd just come back and play the new songs. This is more about us as a band, not what it looks like.
-Do you have a preference between the bigger venues where you can get that level of production, or these smaller, more intimate shows?
It's nice to have a mixture of both. If you keep doing the big venues, then you get into that big-headed world. You come back to doing smaller shows, we've done a few this year. It's nice that we can go from different venue sizes. We'll go there, play and have a good time.
-Mentioning Enter Shikari last night. Do you get much of a chance now to go to shows as fans?
Sometimes. Because we're on tour so much, all the shows we want to see, we're away for. When we're at home, we get to go and see shows. We went to see Jimmy Eat World a couple of months ago, and Foo Fighters. So, we still go to shows as fans, which is nice.
-When you're out on the road, do you still get the chance to have the lifestyle of going out, getting drunk, or do you have to tone it down a bit on tour?
We all know our limit, definitely. We do pretty much have a laugh and drink every night. When someone says they've had enough, or needs a night off to chill, we're sensible about that.
We've grown up. We care more about the show, it's not a holiday at the end of the day. We've come here to do a job, we've got to make sure we're f****** s***-hot. We want people to come back every time and say to all of us "Today was the best show we've ever seen you play.”
-Sinners Never Sleep is looking like it'll do very well in the charts [since the interview it has debuted at Number 3]. Are you pleased with the reaction it's received?
Yeah, it's awesome, and completely unexpected as well. Being a rock band, and being able to actually tour and break into the charts, it's a really good thing to have.
We were originally going to release this in September, but it got pushed back. They said we could either release it in October with the big guns, or we can wait until next year. We said "F*** waiting till next year."
To prove that a band like us can even contend in the charts with all these artists like Adele, Lady Gaga, James Morrison - we're up there, we're fighting them off. It's a privilege to know that all our fans have gone out and bought our CD.
-Are you glad that albums are still selling well, despite a heavy emphasis on downloading and picking songs online?
Yeah. It's crazy. Right now, there are some people who simply can't afford to buy CDs. If the only way you can get it is to download it, at least you're still hearing it.
Tagged in You Me At Six