You Me At Six guitarist Max Helyer believes British bands are on the verge of launching a “new wave” of internationally popular rock music.
The band from Surrey – still on a high after their fourth album Cavalier Youth hit number one in the UK album chart – believe the mood is ripe for a host of new British rock bands to make a name for themselves on the world stage.
Helyer tells Total Guitar: “Bands like Muse and Biffy Clyro really hold the torch for UK rock acts. It’s like, ‘If they can do it, why can’t others?’ If you look at the best rock acts of all time, a fucking lot of them are from the UK, and it’s about time there was a new wave internationally.”
Having topped the chart with Cavalier Youth, the band’s main objective has been met. But Helyer insists they won’t stop there. He says: “There have been a few targets with this record and number one with Cavalier Youth was the first benchmark, but I’m not going to turn into Billy Big Bollocks because we’ve done it.
“We want to show why we’re worthy of being where we are today – that we’re not just a small rock band from Surrey any more. We’ve been doing this for eight years.”
Fellow axeman Chris Miller says the record has left the band with a feeling of vindication. He says: “It’s showing people that you can’t ignore us any more.
“I like being the underdog, though. I like seeing idiots walk around with huge egos after being on TV and they’ll go play to 500 people. Then it’s like, ‘Ah, well, we’re just going to do Wembley. See you in a bit’.”
