You Me At Six's Josh explains moment band decided to split after 20 years

17 February 2024 , 19:46

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You Me At Six's Josh explains moment band decided to split after 20 years

You Me At Six's Josh Franceschi has revealed the moment the band decided they should split.

While most bands decide to part ways due to irreconcilable differences, the frontman admits that's far from the case with the Adrenaline hitmakers. Last month, the group shocked fans when they announced they would be splitting in 2025, following one last tour across the globe to mark their 20th anniversary.

"For us, longevity was always the mission statement," he exclusively told the Mirror. The 33-year-old went on to add: "Getting to 20 years is like us winning the World Cup, that was all we ever wanted. We wanted to be able to be a band and travel the world make music with one another and experience life together.

Last month You Me At Six announced they would be splitting next year

"We always made music for ourselves, hoping people would understand it and us, in that sense when we released it to the world. To see that happen has been pretty mad and ultimately, we've got to a point where we feel like we've offered everything we could with our music. We always said that when we reflect on why Truth Decay felt like an old You Me At Six record, we realised we were leaning into our younger selves to make our favourite band's records, 15 years after we made our first. Everything has been quite full circle and I think it's important in these situations to not get caught up in your own ego."

Josh, who is currently on tour with bandmates Matt Barnes, Max Helyer, Chris Miller and Dan Flint explained the quintet never wanted to be the people standing around in the kitchen at the end of a house party. "We want to go out with a bang," he said, before adding that their fanbase is the "strongest and biggest it's been" for a long time.

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"We want to be remembered as a band that is still our fan's favourite band," he said. He added: "We're all very comfortable with what we've achieved, we've over-achieved, if anything. We're grateful that we're all great friends and in each other's lives." Over-achieved is a mild understatement, with the band releasing eight studio albums, seven have achieved the top ten with Cavalier Youth (2014) and Suckapunch (2021) reaching the top of the Official UK Charts.

The band are currently touring across the UK, which Josh explained was a 'celebration' (Getty Images)

"For a multitude of reasons, it's the right decision for us," he said of their split. Last summer, Josh and the band enjoyed the high of headlining Reading and Leeds Festivals – the largest festival dedicated to music in Europe but he says the band had discussed their split around this time.

"It was actually around that time," he said, before adding: "We were talking about it for about the last year, two years and when Ben Ray came to us about headlining Slam Dunk, we felt this was a sign that our last UK festival should be the festival that was our first ever festival.

"We should start planning the end and giving ourselves enough time to action that and do things the right way." Going out with a bang is certainly something the band is doing, with Josh admitting they never wanted to secretly part ways without a major celebration. "There hasn't been a fight or an argument which has then spearheaded this," he explained, before continuing: "It's all been very calmly discussed and measured."

Josh revealed the truth behind the split and admitted there had been no fallout (PR Supplied)

Josh explained that while in South America, the last place on their bucket list, the band contemplated whether they would split then but this would have meant them "going out the backdoor". Josh praised Ben, admitting that he's not just a manager, promoter or event director, he's an actual friend and they are glad to be able to "tie a ribbon" around their career after headlining Slam Dunk this year.

"Everyone's in a good place," he said, adding: "Everyone's healthy, both physically and mentally, we can just have an awesome year travelling and performing and making the most of it." Although the group have announced their upcoming split, they have a string of UK performances this month and Josh admits that he won't accept any tears from fans. "These shows have nothing to do with all the touring we're doing. It's a tour that we've always had in place."

He went on to explain that these shows are a "celebration" and that fans have "a whole year to mourn" before they disband. The rocker said: "I'm really excited to see our fans again. We've always liked being able to share pivotal moments with our band's career, we always seem to be on tour when it's happening, whether it's album releases. This is my favourite thing to do is to be around the people who have created us and built this whole community around us, I want to be with them, I'm looking forward to it, it's going to be a great string of shows, for sure."

Daniel Bird