“We want to be as big as Foo Fighters and Linkin Park – to break the mainstream, to be a heavy band that you don’t have to be into heavy music to like. That’s our one goal. To be as big as this band can possibly be.” Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes is sat in his dressing room behind the Main Stage at Leeds 2015, a few hours from what feels like a milestone show in the metal bruisers’ career. Sat just below headliners Metallica on the bill, with a new album – the expansive ‘That’s The Spirit’ – to preview in front of a hometown Yorkshire crowd, you’d forgive him and his bandmates for being swallowed by nerves. Instead, Sykes’ mind is trained on even greater glories ahead. “We’ve always been a band that’s never set goals. But right now it doesn’t feel like there’s any limit to where we can go,” he says, calmly. “It does feel like we’re on the brink on something.”
He’s right – when the band eventually tear out onstage at Leeds later, bringing with them a slick, pummelling stage show full of artsy video elements and crowd-pleasing anthems, there’s a sense that this is a band just hitting their stride. A scary thought, as Bring Me The Horizon are already officially A Very Big Deal. Electronics-infused 2013 fourth album ‘Sempiternal’ landed at Number 3 in the UK album charts on release and soon elevated them to arena band status – a triumphant Wembley date in December 2014 was later released on DVD. As the frontman points out, though, it’s success that’s been hard-earned. “We’ve been doing this for over 10 years now and we’ve put the graft in. In the beginning our parents were driving us to some gigs,” he laughs. “Touring every step of the way has made us appreciate all of this way more. Do we want to headline here someday? It would be amazing. We feel like we could do it justice. If we got offered that slot we’d make sure it was one to remember.”
We followed the band from dressing room to stage, hearing from Sykes and keyboard player Jordan Fish about the adrenaline rush of shows, what the future holds and how the haters only spur them on. Watch it below. ‘That’s The Spirit’ is out on September 11.
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