Oli Sykes says Arctic Monkeys have always inspired Bring Me The Horizon because they aren’t afraid to alter their style from one album to the next.
The 31-year-old frontman believes more groups should embrace change in the music industry, and he has praised the band’s lead vocalist Alex Turner – who he went to school with in Sheffield, northern England – for "always" surprising people with his creative decisions.
He said: "They’ve always inspired us because they don’t really care what they’re big for.
"They could always come out with a new album and do the same thing, and it’d be fine. But they always go, ‘You know what, we’re doing this.’ I feel like that’s lacking music at the moment, to be honest.
"You know for a fact that, whatever the next album’s going to be, it’s not going to be the same as the last one.
"I just think that’s so cool. This one’s a bit more of maybe a passion project and it hasn’t got the hits like the last one [2013’s ‘AM’]. I love everything he says and I love how he always pushes that box out and [makes you go], ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe he’s said or done something like that.’ He just always surprises you."
Oli’s comments come after Arctic Monkeys’ latest record, ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, received a mixed reaction from the band’s die-hard fans – and he revealed Bring Me The Horizon’s upcoming sixth studio album will also be "different", but insists supporters should give the record time if they are not big fans "right away".
He said: "It’s always the best stuff you don’t get right away. You’re like, ‘Oh no, this ain’t right, this isn’t them. This isn’t what I know.’ And then after a week or two, or even a month, you realise, ‘Oh this is amazing’, and it’s not that it’s better than the thing that came before, but it’s different."
Oli met Alex backstage at a festival last summer, and he found it "weird" because he was really excited to meet the Arctic Monkeys singer, but didn’t know why because he has known him for years.
Speaking on BBC Radio 1, he added: "Arctic Monkeys are actually one of my favourite bands going, which is really weird cos I went to school and college with them.
"He actually remembered me from school. He was like, ‘Yo, yo, I’ve been waiting for ages to meet you.’ I were like, ‘No way, you remember me.’
"It was really cool because I was like, ‘This is weird, I’m inside fanboying but I shouldn’t be cos I know this guy. I went to school with him.’ "
Oli Sykes: Arctic Monkeys have always inspired Bring Me The Horizon
