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Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read cover story, Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes condemned current US President Donald Trump while also speaking out against the divisive nature of modern politics.
The Sheffield band’s new EP ‘Post Human: Survival Horror‘ is a record inspired by the impact of coronavirus, corrupt leaders, world tragedies, race protests, cancel culture and climate change. Explaining the message of the record, Sykes told NME that the band were “trying to get as many people as angry and pissed off as possible so that they join the cause”.
“It feels like we’re on the verge of something, dealing with how our culture is and how we look to destroy people,” said Sykes. “We can become something better than what humans are right now.”
Turning his attention to Donald Trump, Sykes said that his labelling of [anti-fascist union] ANTIFA as a terrorist organisation was “just insane” and “basically admitting that he’s a fascist”. The President also came under fire when discussing the inspiration behind recent single ‘Obey’.
“Lyrically, it’s very much coming from the oppressor saying, ‘Don’t pay too much attention! Get on with your lives and you won’t have too much trouble,” Sykes told NME. “‘If you do kick up a fuss, we’re going to come out and put you right.’ It echoes what [Donald Trump] said throughout the [Black Lives Matter protests], seeming to support right-wing groups. It’s the stuff of nightmares. It’s trying to convey that notion that we are being a bit too submissive.”
Sykes went on to explain how the impact of coronavirus had made so many injustices impossible to ignore and how the political overtones of their new music were inevitable.
“I don’t know shit about politics – not beyond how things make me feel,” Sykes told NME. “We live in a place where the people who aren’t doing anything to help the planet are the ones who are rich, and the people who are putting their lives on the line aren’t making any money. It’s so fucking corrupt and out of shape. You don’t need to know about ‘politics’ to talk about it, because politics affect the whole planet and people’s mental well-being.”
He added: “I obviously can’t connect to right-wing politics, but I can’t connect to left-wing politics either because everything is just so black-and-white. People try to tell you that, ‘You’re this thing’. If I had to make a choice, it would be left, but there’s so much there that doesn’t add up too. It’s always so extreme.”
In our cover interview, as well discussing cancel culture, the state of rock music, recent all-star collaborations and the impact of coronavirus on the world stage, Sykes also explained how getting “sued” by Evanescence led to them working together on the song ‘One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March To Your Death’.
Read our full NME Big Read cover interview with Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes here.
‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ by Bring Me The Horizon is out now. The band will embark on a UK arena tour next year.
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