You Me At Six Are Quite The Cavalier Youth

You Me At Six
Past Arts and Comedy Editor
Jess was scenestr National Arts and Comedy editor between 2014 and 2017.

British pop/punk/rockers You Me At Six have topped off a dizzying 12 months with their first ever UK number one album debut with their latest record, ‘Cavalier Youth’.


The Surrey boys have been leading Britain’s rock scene since 2008 when they released their debut album ‘Take Off Your Colours’. Following such an album with 2010s ‘Hold Me Down’ and ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ in 2011, the band is a model of musical development.

Peaking at number three in the official UK album charts, ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ took the band on a wild and unforgettable journey. Josh Franceschi, the singer and songwriter of the group, says that a complete breakdown of their label lead to the bitter vibe of the chart-topping album.

“There was so much going on – we had a complete breakdown with our label, the producer threatened to walk out on making the record three or four times. In the end our old mate came in and recorded it ‘cause it got to the point where me and the guys that were making the record just didn’t gel, and sometimes that happens.

“We had to re-record stuff because the way it had been recorded by the people was dreadful, like we had talking over guitar parts in the studio, and phones going off and doors slamming, all this sort of stuff. It just wasn’t the standard that we set for ourselves.”

Having recorded ‘Sinner Never Sleep’ in party hot spot, LA, and having a bad experience, the boys didn’t have high opinions of Hollywood. But after they met their now producer, Neal Avron, their outlooks changed and they decided to record ‘Cavalier Youth’ in LA as well.



“Sinners was honestly a bit of a disaster, I’m actually surprised we came out with an album. We lived in the center of Hollywood, we were young and wanted to sort of go out an experience the LA nightlife and all that sort of stuff whilst making a record with a team of people that I don’t really know how much the really even cared about making the record.

“We all hated the experience; part of our experience of Los Angeles was like ‘it’s a dump, we’re never going there again’ and then a few years later we met Neal Avron. He basically convinced us. He’s like right, this is what you’ve got to do, you can’t live in Los Angeles, you’ve got to live in the suburbs, you’ve got to live out of town.

“So we took his advice and rented this really cool house up in a different part, in a really beautiful part of Los Angeles. We all lived with each other rather than living in our own apartments. We didn’t really go out, we just focused on making a great record with a great producer, and somehow it just all came together very nicely, without any sort of stress or worry. The end result was something we were very happy with. So it was two different experiences completely.”

Cracking the number one spot in the UK album charts, ‘Cavalier Youth’ shows how much the boys have grown and matured since their experience in LA. Josh says that this album is what they’ve wanted to make for a while, they just needed the right people around them to do it. Though the process of writing the album was unlike how they have worked in the past.



“When we started writing the new record we had no management, no label, no plans really. It was just like we’ll rent this house slash studio in England and we’re like let’s just go for a few weeks at a time, write some songs and if we like it, cool, make a record, and if we don’t, we won’t.

“So we got together and wrote some songs and just decided that this record obviously has to pay homage to what has got us to where we are and what people enjoy about our band, but let’s also try a few different things. Let’s get a producer that’s going to do a different sound for our band. Then we started pre-production with Neal.

“When we actually start recording, the word ‘no’ didn’t exist. There was never a time when I couldn’t try this or that. Where as every other time in our career, we’ve always been told ‘no’ when it came to recording music. I think that made us grow as musicians and grow solo because there was no box and anything you want to try there was no confinement.

“I don’t think we’ve ever written songs like ‘Cold Night’ or ‘Forgive, Forget’ on our other records because we never put that sort of bass and electronics into songs. We sat there with Neal and spent ages putting it together. He kept on keeping us focused and to try new things and I think we’ve definitely better songwriters and better musicians because of him. And obviously we’ve grown up, because of him and two or three years between new releases.”



With their ever-evolving sound and collaborations with friends from heavier bands, You Me At Six have a unique sound that gives them fans from multiple genres. In the future, fans can expect more experimentation from the boys as they continue to learn and grow as musicians.

“‘Sinners Never Sleep’ in its simplest form is basically five guys are trying to figure out what sort of band they actually want to play. We went through a stage where we loved so many types of music and we tried to incorporate these sounds and genres inside music and it sort of ended a bit disconnected.”

“For us ‘Cavalier Youth’ was in our opinion, our rebirth. Our first big record as a band who knew who they were and what they like. And now it’s the next record that will come that has been set up by the record before it. And I don’t think we would have had ‘Cavalier Youth’ if we hadn’t had the experience of ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ and learnt from that.

With infamous sold-old shows at London’s Wembley Arena, the five-piece has already sold-out multiple Australian shows. Known for constant touring and interaction with their fans, catch You Me At Six when they tour down under next month along with Australian rockers, Tonight Alive.

You Me At Six Tour Dates

Fri Sep 5 – Eatons Hill Hotel (Brisbane)
Sat Sep 6 – UNSW Roadhouse (Sydney)
Mon Sep 8 – The Hi-Fi (Melbourne)
Tues Sep 9 – The Hi-Fi (Melbourne)
Wed Sep 10 – The Hi-Fi (Melbourne)
Thurs Sep 11 – HQ (Adelaide)

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