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fans would have only been starting secondary school when they attended the band’s first gigs.
‘I’m proud that some of our fans may have been on the entire journey with us,’ he says as if media-trained by Simon Cowell but with the utmost sincerity.
‘We’re lucky that people have gravitated towards our music and shown us the love that they have. Ultimately though, we’ve always written music for ourselves. I look back at our career with nothing but pride and love. Everything that has happened and what we’ve done has shaped who we are today and what our band sounds like now. You Me At Six has only ever really had one mission statement: to write, record and perform the best music that we can, at that moment in time. Night People is where the band has arrived in 2017.’
If all that sounds a little pofaced then Josh recognizes that but can’t help how he feels. He is not, nor are the band, any more as naive as the one which had early hits with innocently-titled songs such as Finders Keepers, Kiss And Tell and Gossip. Their name has equally unassuming orgins, taken from the childish entreaty to meet with friends after tea and simply be teenagers.
But now 12 years on, Josh speaks in front of Select Committees in the House of Commons about the subject of ticket touting and fans being ripped off by secondary selling sites. Many artists have expressed their concerns but few as vocally as he has. ‘There’s not been enough done to educate fans as to which is the right outlets to purchase from,’ he says.
‘I think because of that fans are reacting to the circumstances they’ve been forced to face and buying tickets because they don’t feel they have a choice. It’s not easy when secondary websites pay for advertising on Google searches for events. Governments in Britain and in Ireland can enforce and change legislation and ultimately make a stand. President Obama has just passed legislation in the US banning ‘bots’ [software applications which to buy up perhaps hundreds of tickets]. That should be the first step. They seemed to get a handle [at the Commons Select Committee] on what I was saying but in the future, who knows? I’m positive about it because the more the issue is discussed the more likely it is that some sort of legislation will be enacted.’
From bubblegum punk to speaking to legislators on behalf of gig-goers is indeed a bit of a journey. And all over 12 years.
You Me At Six’s new album Night People is out now on Infectious Music.
‘We’re lucky people have gravitated towards our music and shown us love’