They’re the biggest pop punk band in the UK and a huge headline tour of their home country with US buddies We The Kings proves the pulling power of You Me At Six.
We’ve been bigging up the boys for some time now and after last year’s interview with Josh we’re turning our attention to the band’s axe heroes.
rushonrock‘s Tom Walsh chewed the fat with Max and Chris as the band continue to tear up stages across the world. rushonrock: You’re riding high on the back of a sold-out UK tour – how does it feel to be doing a tour of this magnitude?
Max: It’s mad, I mean we’re all just so stoked to be back in the UK because our last tour was not since last March (2009) and it’s nice to know kids still want to come out and see us. Last year was a really busy year for us and we did a lot of stuff internationally, to come back and see that our true fans still want to see us is great. It’s been wicked.
rushonrock: Do you think with a tour of this size there’s an added pressure to perform?
Chris: Yeah definitely.
Max: I love the added pressure myself it adds something to the vibe of the show. When kids are really hyped up you have to make sure you put on a really good show. It creates a buzz and a level that you have to tell yourself “right, I’m not going to let myself down here”. When kids are coming here expecting a good show you want them to leave knowing that they’ve just watched one of the best You Me At Six performances. I met a kid who’d seen us 30 times and she said that Manchester (12/03/2010) was the best show she’d ever seen us play. That’s what you want to hear. If you don’t put on a good show the kids won’t come back.
rushonrock: Your new album ‘Hold Me Down’ has catapulted you to massive success. Did you ever think you’d reach this point?
Chris: Not at all, it’s mad. We started this band just to party, play gigs and have a laugh really. It started getting more serious and we started to get more into our instruments. We’re really enjoying the ride, it’s been a crazy four years.
rushonrock: With the amount of pop punk bands around at the moment do you think this genre has hit saturation point and what would you say sets you apart from the rest?
Max: When we started out the whole pop punk scene wasn’t around and everyone was into metal. We wanted to set ourselves apart and write music similar to bands we loved like The Starting Line and New Found Glory. We had a heavier side to us at first but then we found our roots and played the music we wanted to. I think if the genre becomes saturated not many people are going to know what’s coming out and whose going to be the next big thing in pop punk. I think metal is going to come back in a big way, it’s a cycle I think.
rushonrock: People may say you’re is a part of a genre that is a passing craze. Do you think your band has the longevity to last 10 or 15 years in the future?
Chris: I think we honestly do. I see our first album as a pop punk CD, it was pop punk and I think we got pigeon-holed for that album. The second album (Hold Me Down) is essentially just a rock album and shows a lot of maturity. It certainly has more balls than any other album that is out there at the moment. I think we can survive.
Max: I think because we started so long ago (2004) and constantly toured, we were the first band from our area that toured abroad. We’ve tried to build up a name for ourselves by just touring all the time and people would watch us and enjoy what we are trying to do. Hold Me Down drew influences from bands we really love like Incubus, Jimmy Eat World and The Starting Line whereas with our first album Take Off Your Colours was more along the lines of All Time Low and Paramore.
rushonrock: In 2007 when you were first coming to the forefront there was an article in NME that said “You Me At Six have managed to achieve a sound that it took Brand New two albums and a nervous breakdown to achieve.” What are your thoughts on that?
Max: I remember that quote because I’m a huge Brand New and Glassjaw fan. I found it a bit weird as it was just after we’d released Take Off Your Colours and it didn’t really make sense. I appreciate being compared to those bands but it shows that a journalist hasn’t read up or listened to our band properly it sounded like slack journalism. These are two bands that I love and it just looks like they haven’t done their research properly. Our first album was more like Four Year Strong and All Time Low compared to Brand New and Glassjaw although I’d say our new album is more like those bands.
rushonrock: How’s your relationship with We The Kings?
Chris: They’re awesome. We’ve had so much fun on this tour, we’ve been partying basically every night.
Max: They’re just great guys to be around, they’re a great band, they’re proper tight, they’re genuine people and they like to hang out and have a good time. Although they’re s**t at football so we batter them every time we play them (laughs). Travis (Clark, We The Kings lead singer) rinsed us at a gig in Sheffield and said we were s**t at football so this is my own personal pay back (laughs).
rushonrock: How has your material been received in the US and is your relationship with We The Kings important to your success in the US?
Max: It’s good. We were speaking to We The Kings in the pub the other day and they were saying how much they’d like to take us out on tour in the US. It’s harder because we want to grow organically over there like we have in the UK. We’ve done Warped Tour and SXSW over there and we’ve tried to build a reputation and grow organically. I don’t think it’s the right time for us to take America just yet, I think we need to perhaps do another tour with We The Kings or someone else before we could try it out on our own.
rushonrock: What band do you aspire to be in the next 10 to 15 years?
Chris: Probably Incubus or Jimmy Eat World.
Max: They’re two bands that we thrive on. All members of the band listen to their stuff. We played Soundwave (Australian festival) and we got to see Jimmy Eat World and I’ve never been jumping up and down so much in my life. When we got told we were going to be playing a couple of shows with them it was like a dream come true. We saw Jimmy Eat World and we were like “that’s what we want to do, that’s who we want to be.”