British indie rock band You Me At Six have been propelled into one of the most exciting eras of their career since the release of their 6th studio album, VI last month.
Since then, the band have already toured the UK visiting HMV stores for exclusive signings, released two singles alongside music videos, announced a 10-year anniversary tour for their first album Take Off Your Colours as well as a world tour for their new album.
Max still cannot believe how successful their ten-year anniversary celebrations have been especially since it felt as through the preparation was thrown together in a matter of hours.
“We didn’t expect it to be so big! Our management really got on it and we had a tour sorted within 48 hours, which is mental. It was in such high demand and we’re all very humbled and excited by the fact that people still want to come and see this record, as well as our new record.
“It’s a trip down memory lane playing these songs again because we don’t really play them in our set anymore. I think it’s really exciting for us to revisit the songs because it reminds us of the times where we were making, playing and touring in the early days of You Me At Six.
Remembering lead singer Josh Franceschi’s first mention of the anniversary tour on their Night People tour back in 2017, the band were initially unsure about an anniversary celebration.
“I think it really stemmed from that tour. Josh has always been a key advocate of the idea since it’s a landmark for You Me At Six – our first record being 10 years old. There were definitely mixed feelings but when we heard the reaction to the possibility, we wanted to put a few dates up and just go from there.
“We’ve been blown away by the response. Maybe it’s nostalgic and reminds fans of growing up, going to college or university and that was their soundtrack. That’s really exciting and we’re forever humbled by that. We’re excited to be going on tour again and playing some of those songs for the first time as well as the album in its entirety, we’ve never done that as a band before.”
The band just announced their Back Again world tour where they will be visiting the UK and Ireland, Europe and North America. You Me At Six are no strangers to playing further afield and have perfected what it takes to be able to perform anywhere in the world.
“Everyday, the show has to be good and we enjoy every city equally because these people are paying money to come and see our band, so for us we want to make sure they’re getting the best show every time. It’s been a while since we’ve done lots of touring. We didn’t do lots for Night People, so we’re itching and ready to get back out there.”
Considering everywhere that they’ve played, there’s still a few places that really stick out to Max and the band.
“There’s loads of good places in the world and we’ve done our fair share of touring. I always really enjoy going back to LA, it’s a great spot. I love Berlin too, it’s a great city.”
You Me At Six recently released two music videos to coincide their singles, Back Again and 3AM. Working with director Daniel Broadley, Max explained how the band was inspired to include their personalities and creativity in their newest videos:
“The inspiration really came from the energy of our latest album, VI. The vibe of this record was just to have fun and enjoy ourselves. We enjoyed not being tied down to anything and doing what we wanted to do, so I think that bled into the videos.”
Max said that the ideas came straight from the band. Combined with the help from Broadley, they were able to come up with a different type of video they’ve never tried before.
“Both ideas came from iconic scenes in movies. 3AM being inspired by The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio on his night out which we interpreted with Josh’s character. The same happened with Back Again where we paid homage to The Big Lebowski.
“I think keeping that continuous theme and making it feel like a body of work as well as working with the same person for both videos really smashed it. We just brainstormed and then Dan added his creative touch and visualized the whole concept.”
As musicians, You Me At Six are very vocal and passionate about not being pushed into a box or label. Asking Max if they were able to explore and experiment more with their sound than when they first broke into the music scene, this is what he had to say.
“When we first started out, we idolized and tried to mimic our peers but now we’ve developed our own sort of vibe. I don’t think there are many bands that sound like You Me At Six.
“We all listen to so many different styles of music and we want to incorporate that into our own sound. I think as songwriters, you want to challenge yourself and not just stay in your lane. I find if you do that, you become very stagnant and won’t push yourself creatively.
“If it wasn’t for Night People, we wouldn’t have this record. It really was the turning point for our band to try and push ourselves. It really helped because now the door is open to go anywhere. We have taken risks and learnt to throw out the rule book and just make music that makes us happy. Hopefully other people will feel the same way as when we did when making these songs.”
There’s no doubt that You Me At Six has left a massive impact on their fans, especially those who have been with them since the beginning which Max describes as mind blowing.
“You only inspire to be like your idols. Knowing that people look at us in that way is very humbling, because we didn’t expect to still be in a band after 10 years.”
