It would not be unfair to say that Years & Years had a pretty stellar year in 2015. The London electropop trio catapulted themselves to the top of the charts with their single ‘King’, which if you (inexplicably) don’t recognise just from the name you bloody well will the moment it hits your earholes:
They played a cracker of a gig at Splendour in the Grass last year, even though some kind of logistical fuckup meant their gear was still in Canada. They’re back to blow that performance outta the water up in Byron Bay this weekend. They’re also playing at the official Brissie pre-party tomorrow night, in what promises to be an excellent affair.
We caught up with frontman Olly Alexander, and he’s mad keen to get onstage and make 2016 even better than last year.
P.TV: Are you prepped to come to Australia and play at Splendour?
Yeah, we’re as prepped as we can be. We’re very excited. We play on Sunday and we’ve got a few shows before then.
P.TV: Your show in 2015 was pretty massive. Reckon you can top it?
Well, actually, we had a bit of a nightmare last year at Splendour. Our gear didn’t actually show up from Canada. We tried to make the best of it – and the show was great. The crowd was so nice. We’re hoping that this year, with our actual equipment, we’ll be able to play much better.
P.TV: What actually ended up happening with that? Whose gear did you use?
We borrowed a MIDI keyboard from… someone. I don’t remember who. We plugged it into Emre’s iPad and used that for a synth. We used a live drum kit that we borrowed from someone else. We had a few things on track we could play. Mikey played a bit of electric bass. And that was that. Opening a show by apologising is never a great start…
P.TV: But it can only get better from there, right?
Exactly.
P.TV: 2015 was obviously a massive year for you guys – obviously ‘King’ was massive for you, you played at Wembley… what has that been like for you?
I think I’m still getting my head around it. It’s sort of one of those things where its like a crazy whirlwind, and its gone by so quickly. It feels like a really long time too, though. Everything in my life has changed. It’s mainly been overwhelmingly a lot of fun – I know that sounds basic, but it’s been kinda wild.
I do mental things, and I spend the whole time remembering that I was playing gigs to like five people about two years ago.
P.TV: Look, I always pull this one out, and it’s sometimes hard to get it out on the spot, but what was the craziest thing that’s happened in this past year?
When our album came out we were doing a heavy two weeks of promo leading up to it, and the weekend it came out we played in four different countries in two days. We landed in Germany to play a festival and as soon as we played we had to get on a chartered plane to Ireland to play another show. As soon as we got on the plane, we heard that our album was definitely going to be number #1.
We were popping champagne on the flight, and… you know that’s when you’ve made it, right? Yeah. We were all so tired and so confused about what timezone we were in, but we took that moment to enjoy it.
P.TV: Do you prefer to play arena/stadium shows or festivals?
It really depends. Festivals are fun, because the atmosphere is great and you get to hang out with the other bands. I really get that excitement. But for a band, you often have your worst shows at festivals – you don’t get a soundcheck and so on. But they’re less pressure.
But at your own show you get to have your own show and production and stage. You get your big confetti cannons. Look, they’re both good.
P.TV: Are you writing any music at the moment?
We finish touring in a month, and we’re going to start writing then. Now, not so much, no.
P.TV: What are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to stuff like Nelly, Monica and Kelly Rowlands. Old Britney tracks. Kind of mainly old R&B stuff.
P.TV: Britney has a new track out today. Someone gave it a spin in the office.
Oh my god, you’re right. I need to give that one some real attention. You need to be in the Britney Zone. That’s exciting.
P.TV: Once you’re done in Australia, where are you off to?
We’re going to Japan to play Fuji Rock. Then we’re going to Canada and America, then we go back home. It’s gonna be pretty wild.
P.TV: Man, we’re looking forward to seeing you.
Yeah for sure. We’ll see you there.
Photo: Years & Years.
