Catching up with You Me At Six

Posted: 25 March 2019

All photos credited to Jon Stone

Read time: 5 mins

Back at BBC Music Introducing Live, Marshall managed to grab a few minutes with Chris Miller and Max Helyer from You Me At Six, who had just recorded a live edition of Phil Taggart’s Slacker podcast. We talked about getting started in music, what's next for the band, and of course, amps. Here’s what they had to say.

You’ve been talking with Phil Taggart for his podcast about your career and the wider music industry. What advice would you give to those in the audience asking “how do we do it?”

Max: If you’re hungry and you really want to take music as seriously as we do, I’d say play as much as you can every day. I pick up my guitar every day, get behind my laptop and make music every day. Even when there’s days I don’t want to do it, I still do it. I was describing in the podcast that music is such an even playing field to make, anyone can make something from their bedroom and put it out online, but there’s certain people who are going 150% at it and they’re the ones that are going to succeed.

Did you get mobbed after the podcast recording?

M: We got a little bit mobbed after but it was really nice because people came to hear things they don’t normally hear, so about our journeys and what we’ve gone through. It was nice to talk. Some people only see the stage and us performing but they want to know the goss and what goes on behind closed doors.

Do you miss playing the smaller venues?

C: For us we are in the lucky position where we get to switch it up. We do really well in the UK and Europe and America, but we also travel to Japan and places like that where we do get to play the smaller venues. We get a taste of both worlds and I think its really good for bands to have that, it keeps you grounded and it’s a lot of fun and that comes across to the audience.

What about when someone comes up and asks for an autograph, are you used to that yet?

C: Not really to be honest. For us we are lucky enough to be in a well known band but we can freely walk around the streets and mostly go under the radar, but when someone does come up to you and taps you on the shoulder you suddenly remember and it’s a pretty cool experience.

What does Marshall Amps mean to you?

M: It’s one of the starting foundations of playing guitar, you think people like Jimi Hendrix with a big Marshall stack and it’s iconic. It’s one of the most known guitar brands to this day still and I think they’ve led a lot of people into playing music loud!

C: To go back to the last question the first time I ever owned a stack, proper head and cab it was like ‘oh my god, this is it!’ and that’s Marshall in a nutshell isn’t it?

M: Well even getting in the Marshall studio and getting to try equipment out. For us when we were 17 or 18 and Marshall invited us along and it was like ‘oh my god we’re being invited to Marshall to play and try their amps?!’.

It’s madness because we come from an age of buying broken second-hand gear and trying to get it to work in the early days, then you have Marshall come along and say ‘welcome, come on in’. Marshall over the years have looked after Chris and myself very well. Sometimes we’ll stray away from Marshall but you always find yourself coming back. I always find myself going back to my Bluesbreaker at home and playing through that.

C: For me every session there’s always a JCM800.

M: And a JTM45! They are staple amps and you know what you’re going to get out of them. You think ‘what am I looking for then?’ and when you’ve figured that out you just go straight to Marshall.