Having won the Kerrang! Award for Best British Band and being about to embark on a big headline tour, are things pretty good in the YMAS camp?
It [the award win]was a shock. We didn’t think we were gonna win it, so when we did it was absolutely amazing for us. We definitely had a few drinks afterwards. We’ve got the UK tour coming up and the album coming out, [after that]we might head back out to America. The key is – get the album out and start touring it.
You’re playing the Guildhall this October as part of a tour leading up to a show at the Brixton Academy. How does it feel to be headlining these bigger shows?
It’s a great venue. We want to go out next year and play a massive tour, doing multiple nights here, there and everywhere, and try and reach every point of the country that we haven’t done previously; just to get out there and play as many shows as possible.
What’s on the You Me At Six rider for the forthcoming tour?
We get a lot of chips and dips: Doritos, Monster Munch, Mini Cheddars, a bit of chocolate, a bit of fruit that no-one ever eats. Obviously beer, cider, vodka, a bit of rum. We’ll quite often have a beer when we come off stage, but the hard stuff is for the end; we get our friends and families [backstage]and have five or six bottles of vodka flying around.
Unfortunately, when Blink-182 rescheduled their tour, you were unable to support them. Are you gutted not to be hanging out with Travis Barker?
Definitely. When I found out about that tour I was so excited. I grew up listening to them and I still love them. They asked us again, but when we looked into it, it didn’t make sense [for us to accept]because it would make us hold back and put things out of cycle for us. It’s a real shame but it’s better to be in control of your own fate rather than relying on another band – what if they reschedule again? We can go out there and we can plan stuff for ourselves… I got to meet [Travis] at Reading and he invited me onstage and I sat next to him and watched him play. That was cool.
You played different kinds of festivals this summer – how does a Sonisphere crowd differ from a T in the Park crowd?
Massively. You only have to look at the lineups. I was surprised at how good the reaction was. We could have gone down dreadfully. We played to a load of people and the response was wicked at Sonisphere, and the next day we played a festival with Bruno Mars, which was kind of strange… T in the Park was absolutely unbelievable though. I think Scotland, as a place to play shows, is always crazy. It rained for us; we haven’t had the best luck with the weather at festivals this year, but that festival was probably the best festival slot we have ever played. Jessie J is playing after us at V Festival. I think it’s cool that we’re the kind of band that can play on the same bill as Slipknot and Metallica and go down well, then go play with Bruno Mars and Jessie J and the reaction’s still great there. It’s a great feeling to have.
Josh, Max and Matt have all got their own clothing ranges – do you row about fashion a lot as a band? Do they pressure you to wear their labels?
No, they’ve never pressured me! They let me have whatever I want, I’ll say “I like that t-shirt – can I have it?” and they’re more than happy to give it. Being creative people, you don’t always want to focus on music. When they’re on tour they can get away from the You Me At Six stuff, and you can really focus your energy on something else, which I think is always key to not going insane on tour.
Are you planning any side projects yourself, maybe Dan Flint aftershave?
That’s quite a good one; I might have to look into that! I’m not sure about aftershave, it’s probably quite expensive and involves scientific experiments. It’s always really important to focus on more than one thing though, because bands do have a shelf life – you never know when this could be over. You’ve got to look at other areas to pursue, and I think that goes for any job that you’re in. It wouldn’t be a clothing company though, but finding other ways to be creative is always a good idea and I will be doing it.
According to the You Me At Six website, the first single you bought was Britney Spears – ‘Baby One More Time’. Do you still have love for Britney?
I have no clue what she’s doing now whatsoever. I bought it because I saw this really hot-looking American girl on the cover of this CD and thought “I’m gonna get that!” Probably never listened to it, but I looked at the picture a lot!
You Me At Six will be playing their part in the Olympic games next year; can you tell us a little about your role as ‘Future Flames Ambassadors’?
Usually when the Olympics come around, they get celebrities to carry the torch, and this year we get people who really deserve some kind of push in their life – they might be good at sport or it could be for something they do in their community. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something amazing, carrying the torch. It’s a once in a lifetime thing for us too!
You Me At Six play Southampton Guildhall on the 13th October and their new album Sinners Never Sleep is released 3rd October.
