The Sheffield metalcore mob, otherwise know as ‘Bring Me The Horizon’, continue to rip up the UK in their own inimitable style, selling out venues all over the country and supporting massive acts like Lostprophets and Killswitch Engage. In 2006 the band became one of the top 100 played acts on MySpace in addition to winning the category for Best British Newcomers at the Kerrang awards. During the summer of 2007, the lads played Download for the second year in a row before heading off for Germany, Belgium, Poland, Holland and Italy to play the European festival circuit. Bring Me The Horizon are without doubt the band to watch out for in 2007 and beyond...

For how long has the band been going, and how did its formation come about?

Curtis: We’ve been going for about three years now. We are all from Yorkshire, and we all come from a similar background. When myself and Lee were at college, we met Mat, put the band together and things went on from there. From almost the first gig we played, our style has been similar to what it is today. When we started we were happy playing the little shows but nowadays we are playing further afield to larger audiences in line-ups with bands like Lostprophets.

Did the fact that you were in the band affect your college work?

Curtis: As soon as things with the band got going, I left college, since then it’s been full time with the band. I’ve never really had any other jobs, not many of us have except for Mat, who was a hairdresser.

Did you have any experience in music before forming the band?

Curtis: Well, I was studying music at college and we had all been in bands before, just shitty little local ones, nothing too amazing.

You are currently signed to the label Visible Noise…

Curtis: Yes. Originally we were with another label but then Julie, from Visible Noise heard about us and signed us up. Since then things have really taken off, we’ve done loads of touring; we’ve toured Europe with other bands and toured the UK with Lostprophets.

What makes you stand out from other bands in the same music genre?

Curtis: Nothing really. We’re not trying to be different; we just want to continue to play the kind of music that we like.

How would you describe your fan base?

Curtis: They are mostly young and sweet, mainly girls but we do have quite a few fans that are guys. Hopefully as we grow older and develop, our fans will stick with us along the way, that would be awesome.
Oli: We just played Download and we did get loads of girls asking for autographs but we also got some much older guys asking us to sign the CD’s and that was something I hadn’t expected.

Do you all currently have girlfriends?

Curtis: Yes. We have all been going out with the same girls for quite a long time before the band got big, so in some ways you could say that our relationships have developed alongside the band.

Have you got any interesting stories to tell us from when you’ve been on tour?

Curtis: What goes on on tour stays on tour. (Laughs).

You really don’t expect me to let you get off that lightly.

Curtis: Oh, okay. We did have a dwarf fan that was crowd surfing at one of our gigs and got stuck so he could not get back up; we had to help him. That was quite funny.
Oli: There was this time when we were on tour, stuck on the M4 in a horrendous traffic jam. We were really bored sitting there listening to a Justin Timberlake album so we decided to get naked and dance around outside the tour bus. There was another tour bus in front of us and we tried to get onto that, but they wouldn’t let us, so we just ran back and forth in the traffic jam, naked, it was really funny. I went up to one woman’s car and pushed my cock up against her window. At first she didn’t realise that I was there, but when she finally saw me, she looked really freaked.

I suppose she would be. It would have been a brilliant photo opportunity.What do you enjoy most about being on tour?

Curtis: Being drunk. The worst thing is being hung-over in the morning! Truthfully, though, the best thing is just being on tour. Whenever we get home after being on the road, we soon get bored. So far we’ve toured England and Ireland, played in Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Germany; basically all over Europe. 

One of your young fans suggested that I ask you if your are happy with the way you look or if there is anything about you bodies that you dislike.

Curtis: I’ve got a massive neck. Oli has burger nipples. Lee has funny ears.

So what do you like about yourselves?

Curtis: We’re sexy.

Okay, well we’ll leave that question for now.

Curtis: Seriously though, we are pretty natural, we dress and style ourselves, we don’t have any external input when it comes to how we look or present ourselves, we just go with the way we feel comfortable.

So you haven’t had to compromise your image or music in order to get signed up?

Oli: Not at all. Our record label trusts us to keep on doing what we’re doing. We just do what we want!
 
How do you foresee the future of the band?

Curtis: Maybe there won’t be a future; maybe we’ll just fade away. Seriously though, I don’t think that will happen as we are all really committed and all put the band first so, with luck, we’ll be here for a long time to come. We are currently writing material for a new album.

Do you write collectively?

Oli: We all have an input. We put our thoughts down, create a riff and take things from there. We all have an equal say in what we do. Lyrically, our songs are about living life to the full. A lot of people waste too much time when there is so much out there. I suppose that’s what the band name is all about, that’s the message really. 

What are your long-term goals?

Oli: World domination. We just want to tour the world. What we have accomplished so far has exceeded all of our expectations. We are just happy to go on playing shows, making music that so many people really like.
Curtis: But we will never be the biggest band on the planet; we are just not that commercial. We don’t have catchy, sing-along type songs.
It’s difficult to think too far ahead. Maybe, in ten years time, my neck will be so big that my head will have fallen off.
Oli: I think I’ll be dead in ten years time, I think I’ll get killed in a freak accident. Otherwise I’ll probably just be fat and bald.

Oli, I heard that you also have a clothing company.

Oli: Yes. That’s right. Its separate from the band, its an alternative fashion. I sell online at www.iheartdropdead.com.

What else do you want us to know?

Curtis: We’re just little kids on tour. We’re not adults, just children. None of us have really grown up and we’re just about to go off to Europe again, on tour, and this time we are going alone. Usually, we have an older guy who comes along to keep an eye on us, see that we are okay, and a tour manager, but this time it’s just us and some friends from school, so it could be a disaster.   

So, do you often get into trouble when you are out and about?

Curtis: We got slapped and tickled last night. We are always getting started on.
Mat: The other night I got started on when somebody mockingly said that I had a good haircut. I replied, “at least its better than yours”, so then things kicked off and he tried beating me up.
Curtis: Sometimes it’s just angry people who attack us personally because they don’t like our band. It’s ridiculous really. 

Who is the shyest member of the band?

Oli: Lee.

Is that right?

Lee: Probably. But when I go on stage, that’s very different, we are there to put on a show. I get totally into it and I become less aware of the crowd.
 
What message, as a band, have you got for your fans?

Oli: Keep it real. Just that really.

Lets talk about your tattoos…

Oli: I started getting work when I was 18. The first design I had has now been covered. At that age I just wanted tattoos, in fact, I had for ages, probably since I was 14 or 15. Obviously at that age, my mum wouldn’t let me have any, even if I could have persuaded anyone to tattoo me. I’m really glad I waited as I’m sure that I would have had more work that I would have later regretted and covered. I’m 20 now so have had quite a bit done in the last two years. Tattoos have always been a part or my life, I’ve always been drawn to them. As a teenager, most of the bands I listened to had tattoos, so they have always been there for me.

The work you have is very colourful. Is there any particular theme behind the designs?

Oli: It’s just about ideas that I have. I just talk to the artist about my ideas and they try and come up with a way to create that idea onto the skin. I am waiting to get some work done by a guy who works at Frith St Tattoos. His name is Xam, his stuff is awesome.

The two sleeves that you have are quite different in terms of style.

Oli: I had my right arm done first. One is more traditional and one is more new school I suppose. But although they are different, I think they work together as well as individually.

Since having your hands and throat done, what kind of reactions do you generally get from the public?

Oli: I have noticed that people stare much more now, some seem to be a bit freaked out, I suppose in some ways it is shocking to some people.

Do you plan to get much more work?

Oli: Definitely. I’m addicted by now. I will probably end up being covered.

Do you enjoy the actual process of getting tattooed or just the end result?

Oli: I can’t truthfully say that I always enjoy the needle but I would never want to get a tattoo without having gone through that process, that’s all part of it. I’m not too sure what I will get on my back yet. I haven’t decided whether it will be one huge piece, we’ll have to see how things go.

You told me that your mother was against you getting tattooed when you were younger. How is she about your tatts now?

Oli: I think she has come to terms with them now. She’s happier with the fact that the band is doing well, so I’m not just stuck at home doing nothing. All of our families are very supportive of the band. Let’s hope things work out for us. In some ways getting heavily tattooed can cause you to opt out of mainstream life, its difficult to get a regular job in a bank if you have visible tattoos, so music had better work out for us.

Are you a fan of the more extreme body mods that are currently in vogue?

Oli: It’s not my thing at all. I have had various piercings but can’t imagine getting implants or anything like that.

So, Lee. Now lets hear about your tatts.

Lee: It was through my love of the band Metallica that I originally became interested in playing guitar. I love the artwork they use and it was this that inspired the Metallica tattoo that I have on my arm. That was my first tatt. Then I got the one on my belly, that’s a message really and band lyrics. The praying hands are about protection but I’m not at all religious. The one on my ankle means, “brothers till death”.

Will you get more work too?

Lee: I will, but I’m not keen on many of the people who are tattooing in England at the moment. I want more work by Alison Manners but unfortunately she has moved over to Australia, so I’m waiting until she makes a trip back over here. Whatever happens, I will get a lot more work.

Okay. So how about you Mat? Is there any particular theme with regard to your tatts?

Mat: Not really. I guess I prefer pretty old school stuff. I’ve got work by a few different artists and intend to get much more. I agree with Lee in that I don’t think there are that many awesome artists in England.

I definitely don’t agree with that. Maybe you just haven’t heard about them yet. How do you research, or source, the artists who tattoo you?

Mat: I check out a lot of people on MySpace, there is so much on there. I actually hate needles, I just love the way the tatts turn out, but I hate getting
them done!

Are you into any other kind of body mods?

Mat: I’ve had a few piercings. I think that scarification is crazy. I just don’t know how anyone could do that, to be honest. It’s just mental, too scary!

Oli Sykes tattoos by, Uncle A, Diego, Alison Manners, Skelly Tom.
Lee Malia’s tattoos by, Alison
Manners, Tiny Miss, Becca, Oli Syko.
Mat Nicholls tattoos by Alison Manners, Diego, Crazy Tacho, Becca, Uncle Allan, and Vargas.

BMTH and Visible Noise are extremely pleased to announce their biggest ever UK tour in November and December 2007.  (See tour dates on the right)
    After playing to a rammed tent of nearly 10,000 hungry metalheads at this year’s Download festival, the Year of the Horizon continued in epic style! The lads headed to conquer the European Summer festival circuit in June/July, followed by their
American album license and massive 10 week US tour in August.
    They return to UK venues in November and December to destroy some of their biggest headline shows to date, including laying waste to the capital with a six-band Black Xmas extravaganza at London Astoria! They can cancel the Astoria demolition team - BMTH will do the job quicker, and sound a damn sight better doing it! BRING ME THE UK!
Tickets will be available from www.myspace.com/bmth and the usual outlets.