Oliver Sykes

Oliver Sykes
Oliver Sykes in 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Oliver Scott Sykes
Born	(1986-11-20) 20 November 1986 Ashford, Kent, England
Origin	Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Genres	Metalcore, deathcore, electronic
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, fashion designer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums
Years active	2003-present
Labels	RCA, Epitaph, Shock, Visible Noise, Earache, Thirty Days of Night
Associated acts	Bring Me the Horizon, Purple Curto, Womb 2 da Tomb, Olisaurus (Oli Has a Deathwish), Quakebeat

Oliver Scott Sykes (born November 20, 1986), also commonly known as Oli Sykes, is an English singer known for being the lead vocalist of the British metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon.

Early life

Oliver Sykes was born November 20, 1986, in Ashford, Kent. He moved to Australia with his parents Ian and Carol Sykes when he was young, moving between Adelaide and Perth over the course of about five years. He then moved back to the UK at the age of about eight to Stocksbridge in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As a teenager, he attended Stocksbridge High School, the same school where Arctic Monkeys band members Alex Turner, Andy Nicholson, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley attended. He was a year below Turner and Helders.

Sykes has stated that he enjoyed the subjects English and Art while at high school, but was not interested in science or mathematics whatsoever. While at school in 2003 he began crafting together compilation CDs and short tracks under the name Quakebeat. He also played in other bands including mock hip-hop band "Womb 2 Da Tomb" with fellow Bring Me the Horizon member Matt Nicholls and brother Tom Sykes, and metal band "Purple Curto" as drummer/vocalist with schoolfriend Neil Whiteley, under the pseudonym "Olisaurus", which he would later use for releasing solo material.

Music career

Bring Me the Horizon

Main article: Bring Me the Horizon

Bring Me the Horizon was formed in March 2004 after Sykes and all the other founding members, who had all been a part of several local and separately defunct bands were noticed by Thirty Days of Night Records and formed the band while signing them, being the first band ever signed to the label. In the months following their formation Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album, titled Bedroom Sessions, featuring two songs that would be re-recorded for their debut release. The demo featured three tracks: Shed Light / Metal Song, Who Want's Flowers When You're Dead? Nobody. and an instrumental version of Rawwwrr! The group released their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For on 2 October 2004. The EP was recorded in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, recording the drums and bass guitar in the first weekend and then guitars and vocals in the second weekend in the studio. It was re-released on 20 January 2005 through Visible Noise. The re-release of the EP gained the band a significant amount of attention, peaking at 41 on the UK album charts.

In 2006, Bring Me the Horizon released their debut full-length album Count Your Blessings. The album was released in the United Kingdom in October 2006, and in the United States in August 2007. The band's second album, Suicide Season was released in 2008, and saw a departure from the deathcore sound of their debut into a more eclectic sound. Oliver Sykes described the album as "100% different to Count Your Blessings" and that the album sounds "more rock than metal". Suicide Season was followed by their third album, There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret in 2010. During this time he also contributed guest vocals on albums by Admiral's Arms and Deez Nuts. In 2012 he contributed vocals to the Architects song "Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat" from their album, Daybreaker.

Oliver Sykes is not only the lyricist but also has been seen as a large contributor to the song writing process in Bring Me The Horizon. Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him as he mainly draws from personal experience and has likened the band's live performances to being therapeutic. Typically, the band's writing process involves Sykes writing the main structure of the songs and then lead guitarist Lee Malia would individually write the main riff. From this they would collaborate with each other to structure their work better and then to later include the rest of the band in writing the rest of the song. He describes The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die as significant influences on his writing in Bring Me the Horizons early work saying "they’re probably the two bands who’ve influenced our band more than anyone in the world." Whilst citing Pink Floyd and Orange Goblin as a significant influence on his later song writing.

Bring Me the Horizon released their fourth album, Sempiternal, through RCA on April 1, 2013. Again, the album features many new sounds.

Clothing line

In addition to his vocal contributions and songwriting in the band Bring Me the Horizon, Oliver Sykes is also the founder and owner of the alternative multi-million GBP clothing line Drop Dead Clothing. Drop Dead Clothing is one of the most popular alternative clothing and accessories lines in the world, catering for both male and female, and ships worldwide.

Writing

On February 1, 2013 Sykes launched a Kickstarter project to fund a graphic novel created by him and Drop Dead Clothing artist Ben Ashton-Bell, entitled Raised By Raptors. The concept arose from a shirt design made by Ashton-Bell of a Mesoamerican girl wearing a dinosaur skull on her head, which inspired Sykes to further develop the story. With a £15,000 goal, the project exceeded its target within weeks of launching- with a final sum of £39,223.

Controversy

Nottingham incident

While on tour in the UK, allegations were made that Sykes urinated on a female fan after a gig at Nottingham Rock City. He was subsequently charged, but all charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence. Online music zine Drowned in Sound claimed that Bring Me the Horizon were banned from Nottingham Rock City, a claim that turned out to be false when the band subsequently played Nottingham Rock City on 1 December 2007.

Impersonator incident

UK McDonald’s employee David Russell posted on Facebook as Oli Sykes and attempted to murder BMTH fan Maricar Benedicto. Russell lured Benedicto to the UK under the previso that he was Sykes before taking her to a forest near his Northampton home and persuading the 19-year-old to wear a blindfold, saying he had a gift for her. The terrified teenager tried to escape but the 20-year-old McDonald’s worker stabbed her several times, hit her in the face with a log and headbutted her. Miraculously, she survived. Russell received a life sentence for his crimes.

Video with Architects

During a tour, Bring Me the Horizon and Architects filmed a video showing a staged fight between Sykes and Architects' lead singer Sam Carter. The video was uploaded to YouTube and resulted in outraging many Bring Me the Horizon fans, believing it was real. This caused many to send hate mail towards Carter, whom later made it clear in an interview with Kerrang! that the whole thing was a joke, as did Sykes.

Works

Music

Main article: Bring Me the Horizon discography

Demos

• The Bedroom Sessions (2004)

Extended Plays

• This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For (2004)
• Suicide Season: Cut Up (2009)
• The Chill Out Sessions (2012)

Albums

• Count Your Blessings (2006)
• Suicide Season (2008)
• There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)
• Sempiternal (2013)

Guest appearances

• Admiral's Arms - Stories Are Told (2009) - vocals on Dawn of the New Age
• Deez Nuts - This One's For You (2010) - vocals on If You Don't Know, Now You Know
• You Me at Six - Sinners Never Sleep (2011) - vocals on Bite My Tongue
• Architects - Daybreaker (2012) - vocals on Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat

Graphic Novels

• Raised By Raptors (2013-)

External links

• Official Bring Me the Horizon website
• Drop Dead Clothing website