P
erhaps it's asking too much to expect bands to have a conscience and
ambition. Maybe wishing for an interesting musical progression and the
hope that they might actually be quite nice people just isn't `rock and roll'.
As the dismissive tag of "emo" has been stamped across any rock
band with a trendy haircut and skinny black jeans, there has been a quiet,
and civilised uprising about to take us all by surprise, as all the best
revolutions should.
"I guess with a day to look back on it, it's been a pretty insane week,"
admits Josh Franceschi, vocalist for You Me At Six. "To know that we went to
number five in the charts in our first week is kind of a crazy thing for a band
like us to have achieved." That impressive chart position was awarded to
the band's second album Hold Me Down only a few days before our phone
conversation. Josh goes on to boldly state: "I think it's kind of a sign of things
to come in terms of the UK rock scene. There'll be other bands on their way
soon, hopefully, doing the same kind of things as us."
There always appears to be a lull, at least on the surface, in rock music
before an inevitable return, at least in the UK. Certainly You Me At Six see it
that way. "In the last few years there's been a lot of great UK rock bands that
have gone under the radar and I think if a band like us can have the
opportunity to stand up and be counted amongst all the chart music - hip-
hop and r and b and whatever, all that kind of stuff - to breakthrough and
stand alongside Lady GaGa, Florence and the Machine and Vampire
Weekend, all these kind of artists that are huge global successes, that means
hopefully we're opening up the eyes of the industry and making them see
that there's a lot of great bands out there that they don't know about and
they should know about."
It's very easy when you're caught up in the every churning cogs of the
industry machine to give too much credence to the smallest victory. There are
plenty of fantastic rock bands in the UK who are touring constantly and pulling
in a lot of press coverage. It's very easy to forget that, actually, though you
may know their material intimately, able to yell out every word during their
live performances and laugh along with their interview in-jokes, that actually
RestrainingOrder
British youngsters You Me At
Six have a new album Hold Me
Down on the racks and are poised
for an exciting second phase of
their meteoric rise. Yet, they still
take the time out to send some
important advice to all aspiring
young bands out there...
Words: Brad Barrett
54 3pickup

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40Page 41Page 42Page 43Page 44Page 45Page 46Page 47Page 48Page 49Page 50Page 51Page 52Page 53Page 54Page 55Page 56Page 57Page 58Page 59Page 60Page 61Page 62Page 63Page 64Page 65Page 66Page 67Page 68Page 69Page 70Page 71Page 72Page 73Page 74Page 75Page 76 Produced by PageSuite