Recently, we spoke with Daniel Flint, the drummer from You Me at Six, as he and the band ready for the release of ‘Sinners Never Sleep’, their third album in four years.
“There are five people in this band, with five different attitudes to everything”
Now, it’s fair to say that the music industry is evolving, for better or for worse. So, it benefits both the fans and the band if an album has a little bit extra: bonus tracks, music videos, maybe an interview. You Me at Six like to work that little bit harder though, and for the special edition of this release, they’ve prepped a DVD documentary entitled ‘Bite My Tongue’. Dan tells us that the film was something that the band had always wanted to do, but for various reasons the project had never come to fruition: “We’ve had people come down and film shows and we’ve recorded interviews two or three times, but it just wasn’t very organised; this time, we knew we were going to LA to record the album, so we turned to the label and told them we wanted to film a documentary.”
That’s not to say that the documentary is a simple “making-of” video though, the band saw the filming as a way to tell their story, in their own words. “It’s a really personal, truthful, in-depth look into what we’ve been doing for the last four or five years and how we feel about it. A lot of our interviews are done by Josh [Franceschi], the lead singer, but there are five people in this band, with five different attitudes to everything.” After a couple of false starts, the group is really proud of what they and the film crew have achieved as a collective. “The director, Tim Matthia, who also directed the video for ‘Loverboy’, did an amazing job, it really looks like a film, we were all blown away by it.” so impressed in fact, that the band released a trailer and held a screening for it.
For Dan though, the documentary was more than just album filler; it was a way for each member to put across their own perspective and a way to clear the air between them. “There were some rough patches, but when you’re on stage, the fans can’t see that, you’re jumping around, looking like you’re having the best time, and we’re not taking it for granted, we’re having an amazing time, but there were some issues.”
Dan views ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ and the accompanying DVD as a real turning point for the band. “This is such a perfect time for the film, because with this album, we’ve changed a lot, both musically and personally. So we want to start afresh. The DVD complements that. This album is far more of a straight-up rock record, you wouldn’t listen to this album and dismiss us as an emo or pop-punk band anymore, we’re now honing in on what we want to sound like.”
You Me at Six’s new direction and more positive outlook could partly be attributed to recording the album in LA with notorious producer Garth Richardson, “I really enjoyed working with Garth. He works in strange ways. He used a bit of a fear factor to get his own way a few times, but that is just because he’s so passionate. When someone comes in with that much experience you have to listen to them.”
‘Sinners Never Sleep’ and ‘Bite My Tongue’ represent a new chapter in the evolution of You Me at Six. Through recording the album and the documentary, the band have exercised their demons and emerged older, wiser, more positive and ready to take on the world together.
For more information visit the official You Me At Six website.
