You Me at Six

AHEAD of next month’s 2011 Sonisphere Festival, You Me At Six frontman Josh Franceschi talks to the Welwyn Hatfield Times about the band’s forthcoming main stage appearance at Knebworth.

THERE is a moment early on in my conversation with Josh Franceschi when the You Me At Six frontman breaks off to chastise his bandmates over some perceived injustice.

“Sorry, how was it my fault?” I hear him say, to which there is an inaudible response.

“What sign? There was a sign? Well why didn’t you tell me there was a sign...?”

From what I can gather, the dispute has something to do with the fact that the band have been pretty much on the road for three days solid, travelling across Europe, and are, quite simply, knackered.

You Me at Six

When the Welwyn Hatfield Times speaks to Josh, the band are in Germany, playing a number of festival slots in Europe before heading back to Blighty for an appearance first at T In The Park in Scotland, then over to Knebworth House for the Sonisphere Festival.

Josh, yawning throughout our conversation (I’m putting it down to tiredness) has been up since the early morning, having been woken by the hotel cleaners after only a few hours sleep (which is how the Do Not Disturb sign debate started).

It might explain why he describes being on tour with his band as just “all right”, or maybe he’s starting to show early signs of classic rockstar posturing, where any consent to enthusiasm or excitement is strictly forbidden.

Or it could be that endless touring and gigging is the norm for You Me At Six.

You Me At Six

Despite no member of the band being older than 21, You Me At Six have been writing recording and playing music since they were in their mid teens.

Before the release of debut album Take Off Your Colours, the group would regularly lug their gear around the country on National Express coaches and trains, having arranged a far-flung gig on MySpace.

Nowadays, while the long-distance travel may only have got worse, the audiences and venues have got undoubtedly better, and the Surrey quintet will be heading to Knebworth House on Saturday, July 9 as veritable veterans of the rock scene.

“We’ve done Reading and Download and those sort of festivals, so we were wondering when Sonisphere would happen,” Josh says.

“We feel we’ve been away for a while, we need to come back with a bang, and the main stage at a festival like Sonisphere is a way to do that.”

Shortly after their Sonisphere appearance, the group will head to Australia for a short tour, before putting the finishing touches to their as-yet-untitled third album.

“We can’t wait for the new material to come out,” says Josh, suddenly energised. “It’s a step up for us.

“I say this to the press all the time, but I genuinely think we could be any kind of band if we wanted to.

“We could be a heavy rock band or we could be more atmospheric, and we choose to be all of those at the same time.”

* You Me At Six play the main Apollo stage at Knebworth on Saturday, July 9.

Also playing that day are Weezer, Sum 41, The Mars Volta, All Time Low, The Sisters of Mercy and headliners Biffy Clyro.

See this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times, out Wednesday, for the chance to win weekend camping tickets to Sonisphere – and a meeting with Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro.