We caught up with Max and Josh from You Me At Six backstage at the Community Festival in London to talk about their new album IV, upcoming UK tour, festival fashion and er, the Spice Girls.
When and where was your first ever gig?
Josh: I went and saw Linkin Park at Wembley Arena. I was about 11 or 12.
Max: My first gig was the Spice Girls at Wembley Stadium, two definitely became one!
Who’s your favourite Spice Girl?
Max: Baby Spice all the way.
Josh: Scary Spice, I watched Spiceworld over Christmas and Scary does it for me now.
Would you ever make a You Me At Six movie?
Josh: Yeah, if the Spice Girls were in it!
Max: We would need Meatloaf as the bus driver of our tour bus.
What’s your favourite song at the moment?
Josh: The new Drake record just came out so I’m going to go with a song on there called Sandra’s Rose which is my favourite.
Max: Favourite song at the moment for me is Bonjour by Nas.
If you could collaborate with another band/artist past or present, who would it be?
Josh: Drake.
Max: Childish Gambino, also I like Frank Ocean and Pharrell; people like that who are writers and also musicians.
Josh: I would also like to do something with David Grohl too.
You’re releasing your sixth studio album, VI, in October. Can you tell us more about it?
It’s our sixth record and it’s definitely a fun Friday night record. It’s a You Me At Six record where you don’t know where it’s going to take you, and has a flavour of everything. We’ve got very open tastes; we listen to everything and we try and incorporate everything that we like into our music – you have some Friday night pop bangers, upbeat rock, dance and urban sounds.
Are you playing any tracks from the new album today at the festival?
Josh: Yep, we’re playing 3am and Fast Forward.
Which is your favourite song on the new album?
Josh: Mine is a song called IOU.
Max: It’s got a ‘booty drop’ chorus!
So the release of an album means a tour right?
Max: Yep, we’re hitting the road this November and December. The record will have been out for around a month, so we can’t wait to play new and old music for our fans across the UK.
If you could headline one festival in the world which would it be?
Max: Glastonbury.
Josh: Reading, just because of the history we have with it. I have a high school crush with Reading. It’s my first love, so I would love to headline it.
What’s your festival fashion? Describe what you’d wear to a festival…
Josh: Loud, Miami Vice.
Max: Casual, smart in the daytime. We’re wearing Paul Smith at the moment.
Josh: Dr Martins and Levis.
What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen at a festival?
Max: I love it when it’s really raining and people don’t care, and they do the slide on their chest in the mud. That’s what they do in Germany!
Josh: And they score penalties.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Josh: It’s a tight race between this interview and headlining the O2 arena off my face before I broke my ankle and I was on all kinds of pain killers. I felt like I was floating throughout the gig!
Max: Probably getting a number one album on our fourth record, that’s something we’ll always have for life now.
If I wasn’t in You Me At Six I’d be…
Josh: I’d be the creative midfielder at Arsenal football club.
Max: I’d be working for BoohooMAN and I’d be Josh’s agent. Two jobs.
Favourite TV series and film?
Josh: Django and Entourage.
Max: O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Game of Thrones. I only got into it recently.
VI is out in October. Tickets for the UK tour are on sale now. For more information visit: www.youmeatsix.co.uk
