Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of screamo and entering the charts with a new sound, Bring Me the Horizon have their sights set high. Saskia Harper caught up with drummer, Mat Nicholls, during a break from their latest headline tour to chat about the new album and his love of Irn-Bru.
The band has been going for over a decade – what do you think has been the key to your success?
I think it’s the fact that we’ve never really settled on a sound, we’ve always written music for ourselves and we’ve just wanted to build on our own sound and see what we could do next. We’re working hard and doing different things to better ourselves as songwriters and artists. We just want to be the best we can be.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqru8BHlYdu/
The tour kicked off on 5 November. How are you adjusting to life on the road?
It’s really good. This is the part we love. I mean, we love writing and recording, but the best bit about being in a band is playing live. We’ve had such a long time off – we played Reading and Leeds Festival, but it was over so quick, we only did a 30-minute set. The shows have been really good, it’s why we do it: we love the buzz of the live shows.
You played the Hydro in November. What were you looking forward to most about playing in Scotland?
Irn-Bru. No, seriously, the first time we ever played in Scotland was at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow and every time we’ve ever been people seem to get a buzz from it. The crowd in Scotland is great, so we were looking forward to playing a good show. The fans are always up for it – it was great!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp9In0VBSwY/
We have to ask, where is your favourite place to play?
Scotland, of course.
Are you just saying that?
Yeah, it’s actually Australia.
A lot of your fans have grown up with you, listening to your music what does it feel like knowing that your music has really shaped a lot of people’s lives?
It’s very humbling. We were kids when we started the band and we’ve grown up in it, too. There are places where fans have been coming to the gigs for 10 years and you remember faces and get to know people. We’d appreciate it if we only had 10 fans, but to be able to say we’ve got quite a few more is awesome for us.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqn9r3OlIDp/
What advice would you give to anyone who is considering a career in music?
Always be yourself, don’t feel pressured into thinking you have to sound a certain way, or play a certain way. Being cool is staying authentic to yourself and having your beliefs and sticking to them. Believe in yourself and don’t let people talk you out of doing what you want to do.
amo is out now, visit www.bmthofficial.com to listen to the new album.
Are you following Source on Twitter and Instagram? Make sure you do to read all the latest interviews.
