Purple Revolver caught up with Me VS Hero at Nottingham Rock City during their support tour with Skindred in April.
We crammed into their tiny dressing room after their set for a natter about life on the road, the reception they’ve been getting from the Skindred kindred and their upcoming third annual appearance at Sonisphere Festival in July.
The boys were understandably very excitable when we met and adrenalin was still riding high as they cracked open some beers to chill out after their pumping set. The Me Vs Hero music is essentially pure pop-punk and the lads playfully described themselves as “happy hardcore – but not the dance kind”. They admitted to being as surprised as we were to find themselves playing support to the metal-reggae Skindred but have been enjoying touring with them who they describe as among the best ever bunch of guys they’ve toured with, and getting back on the road in front of new crowds. They were fairly pleased with the reception they’d received in Nottingham though were quick to assure us that when we come to one of their own shows we’d see a different spectacle altogether with far more bounce from the audience than we’d seen that night. Judging by the energy they put into set we saw we had no doubts that when in front of their own devout following the atmosphere turns rapturous.
Noticeable achievements of the band include having played the Slam Dunk Festival three years running (now four) and fulfilling a similar hat trick this year with Sonisphere. Although since our interview they were drafted in to play Slamdunk yet again due to a late cancellation, at the time we met Sonisphere was the first big festival they were due to have coming up this summer, (followed by the Hevy Festival and Boardmasters – both in August) and they couldn’t wait to hit the stage at Knebworth once more. A moment of humility seeps into the otherwise jovial dressing room as Sam, the lead vocalist, tells us that as such a small band, they feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to play festivals as high profile as Sonisphere and Slam Dunk time and time again.
Our chat reverts to Knebworth once again and it seems the guys are in it for the long haul and will be camping all weekend before playing on the Redbull Stage on the Sunday. They told us they’d be making a beeline to the main stage on the Friday night to catch Metallica, with other must-sees being fellow pop-punk bands Four Year Strong and All Time Low. This year has shown a noticeable increase in the number of bands within this genre (which Mike, the band’s chatty bass player, tries admirably to convince us is all down to the success of Me Vs Hero with the Sonisphere crowds over the years!).
For all their fans desperate for new material having just completed two tours back to back (on which they said occupy their hours with films, box-sets and Beer Pong) they’ve been struggling with finding the time to focus on writing new stuff but are hoping to have some fresh tunes out towards the end of this year or early next year. The next six months for the band will be full of gigs and festivals along with a hope to be able to push their bouncy pop-punk out further afield into Europe.