Ahead of touring their new album Night People, Chris Miller, guitarist of You Me At Six talks to Exepose Music’s Alex Wingrave about Sabbath and Zepplin influences, recording, touring, and general band-stuff.
Congratulations on the success of Night People – it is a darker tone, so what inspired you writing the record?
In the time we took off before recording Night People, we really had a look at what music we were into – as a band, the five of us individually listen to a lot of different styles of music, so we wanted to bring that together a bit more and take some new influences. We went back a few years and listened to Sabbath and Zeppelin and got into that world and that really helped with a few of the songs on the album. I think really honing in on what we wanted to sound like helped us making this album, it’s all very cohesive. A few of our previous albums have been a bit wishy-washy, using different styles, so we really wanted to immerse ourselves in one style and I think we’ve achieved it.
You should be, it’s a great album! You recorded it in Nashville – what was that like, compared to recording the last two albums (Sinners Never Sleep and Cavalier Youth) in California?
We really wanted a different experience, and Nashville for us was number one priority, because when you think of Nashville, you think of country and blues and a lot of different styles of music that we all really love. It’s the home of music, so to immerse ourselves in that environment for two months was really cool. Instead of going to nightclubs and partying, we found ourselves going to bars and seeing bands. There’s always something going on, and just watching musicians play every night sparked what we were doing.
You’re heading out on tour soon. What song from the new album are you most excited for people to hear?
I’m really excited for people to hear ‘Spell It Out’, because its an epic song with a huge ending, its very theatrical and I think we can do really cool stuff with lighting and stage production, give it a James Bond-y feel. We’ll be playing quite a few of the new songs on the tour.
You’re taking Tonight Alive out on tour, who are a great band; what’s a band you haven’t toured with yet who you’d really love to tour with?
I’d love to tour with Kings of Leon or Muse, or do a proper tour with Blink-182. Hopefully it’s something we’ll get the chance to do in the future.
What upcoming band do you think is going to get big in the industry?
A band who we took out on the last tour called VANT, I think they’re getting a lot of exposure now and they thoroughly deserve it. Their music’s awesome and I’m really excited to see what happens for them.
I’d love to tour with Kings of Leon or Muse
What do you and the band like to do in your downtime?
Even off tour, me and the guys like to meet up three times a week and focus on writing songs. It’s what we truly enjoy and it’s not really a job for us. For me personally, I enjoy skateboarding, mountain biking and gaming.
What’s been your favourite country to tour in?
For me, places like the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, because it’s always awesome to go to somewhere new with a whole new culture and surroundings, where you can explore and do new things.
You guys have been a band for 12 years now – what advice would you give to a band just starting out?
I would always say to really focus on writing five or six songs that you feel are really strong, then go out and play as many shows as you possibly can, sticking to those songs and driving them home. – it doesn’t many how many people there are, if the songs are good, you’ll connect with your audience and start to take it further.
Finally, you’ve got a very dedicated fanbase – what kind of things have surprised you over the years?
We’ve got incredibly dedicated fans – one girl in particular has been to see over 100 of our shows all around the world, which is insane. That’s the most amazing thing, to see people willing to dedicate themselves to spreading the word of our band, and we can’t say much more than thank you, it’s absolutely awesome.
