Kerrang! caught up with YMAS frontman Josh Franceschi before the news of their break-up was made public, and he said that they are “all really comfortable” with the decision they’ve made.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a couple of years,” Josh said. “Pretty early on in our career, we became quite obsessed with the idea of longevity. We were like, ‘How can we create our own luck and create a space for ourselves so we can have a sustainable business – and I hate that word – to be able to travel and see the world and do it for as long as possible?’ We gave ourselves a target of 20 years, and next year is 20 years of the band. We’ve got to a bit of a crossroads in our lives now where we all love what You Me At Six is, what it has given us, and what we’ve been able to give with it, but we also feel like we’ve done everything we wanted.”
“We always wanted to go out on our own terms,” he added. “No-one’s in the dark about what’s happening, and that means we can enjoy it more. If we were to rock up to Slam Dunk, and be like, ‘This was our last gig, see you later,’ drop the mic and walk off… I think we’re better than that. And I want people to remember our band as being their band.”
Read this: Tracksuit bottoms, Nando’s and falling off the stage: Life on the road with Josh Franceschi