You Me At Six

You Me At Six (often styled youmeatsix) is a British rock band from Weybridge, Surrey, formed in 2004. The current line up consists of vocalist Josh Franceschi, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Max Helyer, lead guitarist Chris Miller, bassist Matt Barnes and drummer Dan Flint.
The band rose to fame in 2007 with the success of their debut album, Take Off Your Colours, which included popular singles such as "Save It for the Bedroom", "Finders Keepers" and "Kiss and Tell". The latter two peaked at #33 and #42 respectively in the official UK Singles Chart.They were nominated for "Best British Band" at the 2008 and 2009 Kerrang! Awards, losing both times to metal band, Bullet for My Valentine. The band released their second studio album, titled Hold Me Down on 11 January 2010, which reached #5 on the UK album chart. This album included the popular single "Underdog", which reached #49 on the UK singles chart, and "Liquid Confidence" which was released on 19 April 2010 as the third single from the album.

The video below is a typical band video where the camera is focused on the band, but it also shows them filming the video which I think is effective.



The beginning of the band
Formed in 2004, You Me At Six remained small for around two years. During an interview with Sam Darcy, bassist Matt Barnes said that You Me At Six started out travelling the UK on the Megabus to ensure they got to all of their early gigs. In their early material they incorporated elements of screaming, as expressed in early demos such as "Promise, Promise", "New Jersey", "Noises" and "This Turbulence Is Beautiful". Another early You Me At Six song was called "The Liar and The Lighter", this song was entirely acoustic and showed the bands early versatility with different genres, when taken concomitantly with the screaming on other early songs. Their first release was a four track E.P in 2006 entitled We Know What It's Like To Be Alone.

The video to "The Liar and The Lighter" is below and this was before the band was well known:



They then released a four-track EP at the start of 2007, with the songs "The Rumour", "Gossip", "Noises" and "This Turbulence Is Beautiful". They played many local and smaller venues throughout 2006, such as Backline Studios in Guildford and Facebar in Reading, building large local support, then in 2007 began playing larger venues. One of the first major breakthroughs came for the band when playing to a sold-out show at the Camden Underworld in February 2007, then later with the opening slot of Slam Dunk Festival 2007 (which they later went on to headline in 2009) Their support slot with Paramore at Colchester Arts Centre also drew the attention of major media, such as Kerrang!

Tours
You Me At Six kicked off their year playing a launch show in Kingston — originally intended to be an instore gig at Banquet Records, it was quickly upgraded to the new Hippodrome— in support of their new album Hold Me Down on 11 January. As of February they have played 3 dates, including, also, an HMV instore and an HMV event headline promoting new British music at the Relentless Garage London. They announced that they would be playing several festivals including Punkspring in Japan, the whole Vans Warped Tour; and supported Paramore on all Soundwave dates, as well as on Paramore's tour. They have completed their third sell-out headline tour in support of their second album Hold Me Down. They were joined by Sean Smith and Elissa Franceschi on selected dates. In Belfast, Matt told GiggingNI.com how it was "exciting to see how much you've grown from a year and a half age".

In August 2010 the band will be performing on the main stage at the Leeds and Reading festivals. The band also mentioned during their gigs in Manchester, Leeds, Southampton, Nottingham, Norwich, London, Glasgow and Belfast that they would be re-touring the UK in December 2010. During the Glasgow gig it was also mentioned that there was likely to be an Edinburgh tour date.

On 18 May 2010, You Me At Six visited BBC Radio One's Live Lounge for the second time, presented by Fearne Cotton. Aside from being interviewed they played a version of "Liquid Confidence" and a cover of Ellie Goulding's "Starry Eyed" at Maida Vale, in London live on air. On the 23 May 2010 they played the 'In New Music We Trust' stage at the Radio One Big Weekend in Bangor, North Wales. They were joined onstage by Sean Smith for The Consequence and Aled Phillips on Save it for the bedroom.

In December, You Me At Six will play another UK Headline tour during which they will visit Doncaster, Bournemouth, Manchester, Wolverhampton, London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Belfast. Support will come from Mayday Parade.

Members
Josh Franceschi – lead vocals
Max Helyer – rhythm guitar
Chris Miller – lead guitar
Matt Barnes - bass guitar
Dan Flint - drums

Former members
Joe Phillips – drums (2004–2006)