Oli Sykes has opened up about why Bring Me The Horizon invite fans to sing with them on stage, saying that the same experience happened to him when he was a teenager.
- READ MORE: Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes on fatherhood and the future: “I feel like a different human being”
The Sheffield metal giants have made a habit out of inviting fans on stage to perform with them at many of their shows over the year – often picking someone from the crowd to come up and sing ‘Antivist’ midway through the set.
Now, in a new interview with SiriusXM, the frontman shared details about why he wants to give fans that opportunity to sing live, revealing that he was given the same experience as a teenager, and it meant the world to him at the time.
In the interview, Sykes recalled going to see Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral For A Friend when he was around 15-years-old, and was given the chance to sing one song with them after their singer fell ill.
“The singer was really sick and he passed out halfway through the show. They all left the stage and came back saying ‘We can’t play,’” he shared. “I don’t know what I was thinking because I was the most shy kid, but I went, ‘I’ll sing’.”
“They were like ‘What? OK…’ and they let me on stage! I sang a song, and it was the greatest moment of my life,” he continued, recalling how he still remembers how people came up to him and praised him afterwards.
“I think I cried after. My mum was waiting outside in the car, and I was like, ‘Mum, I just sang with Funeral For A Friend!’ It was so sick… so if we can do that for another kid, it’s just cool,” he added, quipping: “And I get a break during the show too which is great!”
In the comment section, Funeral For A Friend commented saying that they remembered the moment as “a fun one” where “Oli nailed it”. They also shared that the song he sang with them was ‘The Art Of American Football’ from their 2003 EP ‘Seven Ways to Scream Your Name’.
BMTH kicked off their ‘Ascension Program 2’ North American tour last month, and used the opening night to perform ‘Youtopia’ live for the first time and introduce ‘The House Of Wolves’ back into the setlist.
Sykes and co. have been venturing down memory lane lately too, and recently announced two special shows for Manchester’s Outbreak, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2006 debut album ‘Count Your Blessings’.
They are also releasing a “reactivated” re-recording of ‘Count Your Blessings’ in July – which aims to make the record “sharper, heavier, and more vital than ever” – and recently dropped a video of Sykes recording some deathcore screaming in the studio.
Before then, Bring Me brought their “immersive” L.I.V.E. In São Paulo concert film to cinemas worldwide, held a 48-hour digital broadcast of the movie, released a ravey collab with Illenium called ‘Slave To The Rithim’, and Sykes launched a new live production company, Patient Zero, after debuting some visuals at the Las Vegas Sphere.
Last summer, Oli caught up with NME at Reading and revealed that 12 more songs could be arriving at some point as part of the ‘Director’s Cut’ of ‘…Nex Gen’; however, this could take a while now that he is the father of twins.
“The music will come, but it’s just not the be-all and end-all,” Sykes told us. “We’re realising that we don’t have to put another record out; we just put one out. Most bands would go away for two years, have an actual break. You don’t have to do this, but I want to and I enjoy it. If it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen.”
As for Funeral For A Friend, earlier this year it was confirmed that the hardcore giants will be making an exclusive headline appearance at this year’s 2000Trees, joining the bill alongside Alkaline Trio, Glassjaw, PUP, Sprints, Lambrini Girls, Cancer Bats, Dinosaur Pile-Up, High Vis, Ho99o9, Pinkshift, Superheaven, and more.