UNLIKE most rock bands who emerged in the early noughties, You Me At Six have managed to maintain a steady fanbase and mainstream airplay.

But while on the road touring their most recent album Night People, the band felt like they had lost their way.

“You need to lose something to realise what it meant to you in the first place”, frontman Josh Franceschi explains ahead of the release of their new album VI.

Determined to continue their impressive career trajectory, the band have produced what they believe is the closest thing to a ‘defining’ You Me At Six record.

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“Whether or not fans, peers or critics agree,remains to be seen, but we feel that we made a record that no one else is doing or trying to do.

“In a way we have sort of gone back to what we did in the last two records, which was not trying to make a cohesive body of work.

“Sinners Never Sleep (third album) is a massive pool of different sounds and takes on the classic rock and roll, emo genre that we’ve been put into.

“That’s what made You Me At Six exciting on a record like Sinners.

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“On VI, every song is under one umbrella of the band but they do their own thing and aren’t worried about what the song before was doing. I think that’s what keeps it interesting.”

While touring Night People, each band member was in agreement that the record didn’t take them where they wanted to go ‘creatively’.

Rather taking downtime, they opted to get back in the studio.

“The aspirations we had for the band weren’t being matched with what we were seeing while on the tour.

“Our fans have always been loyal but we felt that we hadn’t delivered.

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“We as a band don’t feel like we delivered the best kind of music that we could have and should have.

“I don’t think we were in the right head space to make a record - I definitely wasn’t.

“When we were on the road Max and Dan were getting behind laptops and building tracks and we just got writing. “We had a reasonably busy summer then we were writing from November to March. It was a pretty quick turnaround.

“None of us felt that we needed any downtime. We were so focused in putting out new music.

“We found being creative was more like downtime because our heads were in the right space.”

While their peers fell by the wayside, You Me At Six found a new confidence in their ability to produce the album they had always wanted to.

“You need to lose something to realise what it meant to you in the first place.

“I felt that I had lost my way on Night People. I felt that there was a lot outside noise.

“It was a difficult time. It was that set back that acted as a set up for this record.

“I really felt that it was clear that I had lost my way but I believe its not over til its over.”

Despite staring down an uncertain future, the friendship between the five musicians from Surrey is what continues to motivate them to make music.

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“The thing we’re most proud of is that we’re still mates. This is bigger than fame or financial gain. I think that’s a draw for some of our fans.

“We’re not harbouring any sort of negativity or fear of people not accepting or liking the new album.

“When you back yourself and you’re proud of something you’ve done, you’ve already achieved the goal and got the victory.

“For us it was making a record that when listening back we’re really happy with it.

“It’s one of the most important things to be proud of your art.

“We’re all susceptible to moving on and finding new sounds and new bands but we have to make music that we’re going to be fans off. New fans and old fans will come and go and that’s the natural progression.”

To top off what is likely to be another massive year for You Me At Six, they will be stopping off at Glasgow Barrowlands in November for a show that is already playing on Josh’s mind.

“We always have a special time when we come to Scotland so we know what we’re getting. If we give it as much passion and energy as you can, you get that tenfold form the audience and Barrowlands is so iconic.”

You Me At Six will play Glasgow Barrowland on November 27.