Kerrang! – June 28, 2019

THE FIRST SONG that

I REMEMBER HEARING

HOTEL

CALIFORNIA

THE EAGLES (1976)

“I spent a few

years of my

early childhood

living in Cyprus,

and most days after school my

mum and dad would pick me

and my sister up and drive us to

the beach. I remember going

down the motorway listening and

singing along to The Eagles a lot.

Sometimes when I hear this song, it’s

almost like I get transported back in

time to being four years of age and

I feel that small again.”

THE SONG THAT REMINDS

ME OF HIGH SCHOOL

THE REAL

SLIM SHADY

EMINEM (2000)

“He was the

first hip-hop

artist I got into.

I was a bit of an

outsider in school, and music was

what separated me from the majority

of my classmates; it was my escape.

I remember The Real Slim Shady

coming out and feeling like it was

poetry in motion listening to Eminem

rap. He helped me understand what

storytelling was, whether it involved

a guitar or not.”

THE SONG I HAD ON MY

MYSPACE PROFILE

BEATING

HEART BABY

HEAD AUTOMATICA

(2004)

“This is one of

those songs

that I wish I had

written. When I first heard it, I was

really into Glassjaw and I remember

recognising that it was Daryl

Palumbo’s voice, and this is the

same guy who always makes me

want to go moshing and crowd-

surfing and jumping around a sweaty

room with my friends. So I was like,

‘Damn, he’s making me want to

dance around my bedroom like a

moron now, too!’”

THE SONG THAT MADE ME

WANT TO BE IN A BAND

WHAT IT IS

TO BURN

FINCH (2002)

“I remember one

of my friend’s

older sisters gave

me this little bag

of mix CDs [that this song was on], a

DVD and some badges, because she

worked for the Drive-Thru Records

street team in England. Fast forward

THE FIRST SONG OF OURS

I HEARD ON THE RADIO

FINDERS KEEPERS

YOU ME AT SIX (2009)

“When this

came on the

radio I was

stunned. My

mum was in the

living room with me and she started

shrieking so my dad came running

in, too. It was a really raw moment –

we all got into a circle and hugged.

I remember thinking, ‘Even if this is

the only time that this ever happens,

then that is really fucking cool.’”

THE SONG I LISTEN TO

WHEN ARSENAL LOSE

JUICY

NOTORIOUS B.I.G.

(1994)

“I still love

football and

support my

team, but I don’t

live and breathe it the same way

I did when I went to every home

game or sat on my couch when

we were getting slapped 6-0 by

Liverpool, making me feel like poo.

Now when we lose, I just listen to

this and it makes me feel good.”

THE ONE SONG I WISH

I HAD WRITTEN

UPTOWN FUNK

MARK RONSON & BRUNO

MARS (2014)

“That song was

so fucking big.

We were touring

when it came

out and every bar, cab, gym and

coffee house would play it. I imagine

the money they made on it was

humongous. You could spend all

that money on loads of cool shit.”

THE SONG I’D like

PLAYED AT MY FUNERAL

CELEBRATION

KOOL & THE

GANG (1980)

“I’d open things

with Machines

by Biffy Clyro,

so we’d get the

tears out early doors, but I also like

the idea of celebrating life rather

than mourning death. You can

mourn and miss somebody until

you’re blue in the face, but it’s not

going to change the fact that they’re

gone. If you celebrate their life, you

keep their spirit alive.”

YOU ME AT SIX’S LATEST ALBUM

vI IS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH

UNDERDOG/AWAL. THE BAND PLAY

2000TREES IN JULY –SEE THE GIG

GUIDE FOR INFORMATION

to 2015 and this guy came up to

the You Me At Six dressing room

at Slam Dunk and he was like, ‘Yo,

Finch heard that you’re a pretty big

fan of the band, so they want to

know if you want to come onstage

and sing What It Is To Burn with

them tonight?’ Only music could

do that and allow for such a weird

and funny journey in life. That

was basically the fulfilment of a

childhood dream.”

THE ONE SONG I CAN’T

LISTEN TO ANYMORE

HEAR YOU ME

JIMMY EAT WORLD

(2001)

“I’d really

struggle to

listen to this

ever again

because internally it makes me

feel devoid of happiness. It has a

private meaning within my circle of

friends from back when we were

all growing up. It’s not because it

isn’t a beautiful song, and I do love

Jimmy Eat World, but I just can’t

listen to it, which is a shame.”

B I R T H.

SCHOOL.

ROCK.

DEATH.

MY FAVOURITE SONG

TO PLAY LIVE

UNDERDOG

YOU ME AT SIX (2010)

“Historically, I’ve always said it’s this.

For whatever reason, people fucking

latched on to this song and really

felt it when we released it. I love

playing it because it embodies the

spirit of the band as well. Even now

as a 28-year-old singing those lyrics,

I don’t feel like I’m too different from

the person who wrote it. I always

feel like I’m swimming upstream.”

YOU ME AT SIX frontman JOSH

FRANCESCHI pinpoints the pivotal

rites-of-passage songs that have helped

mould him into the person he is today...

LIFE IS HEAVY

16 KERRANG!

words:

JAMES HINGLE

PHOTO:

TOM MARTIN