You Me At Six interview with drummer Dan Flint

You Me At Six are currently rehearsing for the Doncaster gig, eGigs got a chance to have a quick chat with drummer Dan Flint ahead of their next show as part of the 'Hold Me Down Tour'. The band have come a long way since last spoke to them in 2008 when they were just unleashing 'Take Off Your Colours' their debut album which germinated about their success.

The current tour is about to come to an end, how would you say it's gone?
It's gone really well. We had to postpone two of the Edinburgh shows because of the snow. That was a bit disappointing, but we're going back in the new year to do them. We've done Wolverhampton Civic Hall, and then we did Bournemouth last night, and we've got Doncaster tonight. So yeah, so far, it's been going amazingly. The reaction we've had, our playing, everything, it's been amazing, it's been great.

How's life within the band? There were some reports of the band not getting along last year, is it all smoothed over now?
Yeah, now we're fine. It was the first time last year that we'd spent months on end living in each other's pockets. So, it was kind of hard for us, and we had to get through that stage of getting all annoyed with each other. We just had to mature about it, and grow up quite quickly. We're all fine now, we're all good, we're better than ever.

There's a new album on the horizon, how's that going?
It's not finished, we haven't started recording. We've been writing, and we've got about 12 songs, and we've completed around four songs. I think we're going to go off and record it in, maybe, March next year, and actually get it out before the end of next year.

Is there a theme?
There's not really a theme to it. I think it's a bit more of a progression continuing from 'Take Off Your Colours' to 'Hold Me Down', from 'Hold Me Down' to the next one is going to be slightly different, because we're that much older again. I think it's going to be more You Me At Six type songs. We haven't actually recorded anything properly, so we're not 100% sure where we're at with it at the moment, we just have to wait and see.

There's some rumours on the net that you're collaborating with people, any truth in that?
I haven't seen the rumours.

There's rumours of Hayley Williams and Chiddy Bang...
Oh really, there's been talk with our label of us doing something with Chiddy Bang, we're just discussing it, but nothing's confirmed at the moment. The Hayley Williams thing, I haven't got a clus about that. It would be great if it happens but I'm not sure at the moment.

How are you going to be spending Christmas?
Me, and my mum, and my sister are going to Kenya. We're going to go on safari and hang out with the hippos. That should be fun, we've got three days safari-ing, and then chill on a beach by the hotel for the rest of it.

Now you're a rock star is it more difficult to get you Christmas presents?
(laughs) My mum always complains because she doesn't really know what to buy me ever really. She says, "What do I get the person that's got everything that they want?" But, she always comes up with something cool. I find that Christmas these days is all about spending time with your family rather than the presents etc.

You're a drummer, and you've been announced as support for the Blink 182 tour, are you looking forward to that?
I'm kind of freakin' out about that one, to be honest. I actually met Travis Barker at Reading (Festival). He's always been one of my heroes. When I found out we were going on tour with him, it was like a dream come true.

Do you think he'll let you have a go on that rotating drum kit?
I really want to. I'll leave it for the first couple of days and try and make friends with him, and then towards the end of the tour I'm going to ask him if I can have a little spin upside down. I'd love to try it.

They've got some festival appearances lined up will you be joining them on those?
Were not really sure at the moment. This is the first time in a couple of years that we're not going to go to America for the summer. We do want to do all the European festivals, and fingers crossed that we'll be able to get on some of the ones that they're on, that'll be great. Nothing's confirmed yet, I think they're sorting out all the headline acts at the moment and then they'll get to all the smaller bands afterwards. Hopefully we'll be considered.

I saw you at Reading this year on the main stage, how did you enjoy that?
I enjoyed playing at Leeds more because I get really nervous when my family are there. Reading was a great experience but it was almost a relief to have played well in front of our families, but at Leeds I just really enjoyed playing.

In 2008 I interviewed Josh, and he described Reading as a very indie flavoured festival that year. How did you find it this year?
I think our day was one of the best ones. If I was going to go to the festival I probably would have just gone on Sunday. You've got Paramore, Blink, you've got Weezer, you've got all these amazing bands, and I thought it was great, much more punky, definitely the best day. I'm not really a fan of Arcade Fire or Gun N' Roses, but I am a massive fan of the bands on Sunday. I watched Paramore, and because I met Travis Barker during the day, I got invited up on stage to watch him play. I had a massive fan moment, and I was freakin' out like a little kid, I was sitting about two foot behind him whilst he was playing. That was a very surreal experience.

What's been your most memorable gig to date?
I think there's been a few. The first time we played Reading Festival was quite a dream, headlining the London Astoria before they knocked it out was awesome because that was one of the venues we all went to and saw all our favourite bands when we were growing up. The fact we got to headline it was a massive achievement for us. Brixton was also great. One of the first big ones was when we played Give It A Name back in 2008, we were still a very small band then, but we had the most amazing weekend, and it was the point where we realised, "Oh my god, this could actually take off for us. We might actually be able to realise this." That was a turning point in our band's career.

What do you like most about playing live?
I just love playing drums for a start. But then the fact you get to do it in front of a massive crowd, and get to see everyone actually going crazy, there's no feeling like it, it's just such a buzz. I absolutely love it.

When you're on tour, the guitarist, singer, and bass player can practice what do you do about practicing?
I've actually just bought a Roland electric drum kit, and I've had it set up back stage and I just bash away all day long on that. But, this is the first tour I've had that. It used to annoy me a lot, because the only time I got to play was on stage. I remember when we were going on tour I'd get worse at playing drums, it was really annoying. So, I thought I'd buy one of these electric kits and then at least I can bash away back stage and keep my technique up. It's really helped so far.

What are the band's plans for the new year?
Our plans for next year? We're going to finish writing the record, and then go out an record it around March/April time, and then we're thinking about maybe going to Australia after that, and then obviously we've got this Blink 182 tour, and then do loads of festival appearances throughout the summer, and then around September time, thinking about releasing the record. We really want to go out and do a really long UK tour. Sort of about 25-30 dates, but only playing to around 500 capacity venues and take it really small again, and just get around the country, and have some fun. In the UK we usually only get to go on tour of the major cities, and that means it can be done in only a week or a week and a half. We really want to hit up every town we've not played before and make it really long.

Last question, any New Year's resolutions for 2011?
Stop swearing as much I think. (Dan's not sworn once throughout this interview) When I'm thinking about it and trying to be nice I'm good. But then in general with all the band or my friends and that I think I swear too much, so I'm going to try and cut down.

Thanks for your time, I hope you have a good time on tour with Blink, and I hope Travis lets you have a go on that revolving drum kit.
Yeah, me too man. Thanks for your time. Goodbye.

FUTURE GIGS