Oliver Sykes

Oliver Sykes

Oliver Sykes at Vainstream Rockfest 2014
Background information
Birth name Oliver Scott Sykes
Also known as Oli Sykes
Born (1986-11-20) 20 November 1986
Ashford, Kent, England
Origin Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation(s) Musician, Clothes Designer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Labels
Associated acts Bring Me the Horizon

Oliver Scott "Oli" Sykes (born 20 November 1986), is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Bring Me the Horizon. He also founded the apparel company Drop Dead Clothing.

Early life

Oliver Sykes was born 20 November 1986 in Ashford, Kent, England. As a baby, he moved to Australia with his parents, Ian and Carol Sykes, moving between Adelaide and Perth during a period of about six years. The family returned to the United Kingdom when Sykes was about eight, settling in Stocksbridge in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As a teenager, he attended Stocksbridge High School.[1]

In 2003, while still in school, he began crafting compilation CDs and short tracks under the name Quakebeat.[2] He also played in the mock hip-hop band "Womb 2 Da Tomb" with his brother Tom Sykes and fellow Bring Me the Horizon member Mat Nicholls, and in metal band "Purple Curto" with Neil Whiteley, as the drummer/vocalist under the pseudonym "Olisaurus", which he would later use when releasing solo material.

Clothing line

In addition to his vocal and song writing contributions in Bring Me the Horizon, Sykes is also the founder and owner of the alternative clothing line Drop Dead Clothing.[3]

Writing

On 1 February 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. With a £15,000 goal, the project exceeded its target within weeks of launching, attaining a final total of £39,223.[4]

Personal life

Since the age of 12, Sykes has suffered from a form of night terrors known as Sleep Paralysis, which is the inability to move during sleep.[5]

Sykes became a vegetarian in 2003 after watching a documentary about animal cruelty online, "When I saw how animals are tortured on factory farms, I couldn't justify being a part of that cruelty." He went on to become one of the faces for PETA, eventually designing charity T-shirts with the slogan "Meat Sucks" via his Drop Dead clothing line.[6] He later became a vegan in 2013. Sykes has been quoted as saying he is an atheist, "I don't believe in God. I was asked to believe in him when I was in this bad place. I couldn't understand why I needed a god or, in my opinion, something that doesn't exist."[7]

After receiving the Album of the Year award at the first Alternative Press Music Awards in 2014, Sykes revealed a history of addiction and abuse of the drug Ketamine. Addressing the crowd, he said "My band wanted to kill me, my parents wanted to kill me, my fucking brother wanted to kill me," and also admitted, "I went to rehab for a month, and you guys were sending me texts and e-mails. When I got out of that rehab, I didn't want to scream anymore, I wanted to sing from the fucking rooftops."[8]

On 12 July 2015 in Tuscany, Italy, Sykes married model and tattoo artist Hannah Pixie Snowdon.[9]

Controversies

Videos with Architects

During a tour in 2008, Bring Me the Horizon and the band Architects filmed two videos. The first showed a fight between Sykes and Architects' lead singer Sam Carter,[10] while the second showed an ambulance with Sykes supposedly inside.[11] The videos were uploaded to YouTube, leading to outrage from many Bring Me the Horizon fans which resulted in hate mail being sent to Carter. However, it was later revealed that the videos were a stunt staged by both bands, and that they are in fact good friends. Sykes said, "All-day events can get boring very fast so we conjured up the first idiotic thing we could think of and made it as unbelievable as possible."[12]

Moshing incident

In June 2013, Sykes and Bring Me the Horizon were sued by the parents of a 12-year-old girl due to injuries received in the mosh pit while watching the band's performance during the Warped Tour 2013. This led to Sykes announcing via Twitter that legally he was no longer able to start any form of moshing activities during his concerts.[13] However, Sykes later stated that the suit had been dropped and that moshing was not going to be banned.[14]

Music

Bring Me the Horizon

Singles

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

Music videos

Year Song Artist Director Type Link
2011 "All I Want" A Day to Remember Drew Russ Performance Video on YouTube
"Bite My Tongue" You Me at Six Tim Mattia Video on YouTube

Graphic novels

References

  1. ↑ Ben Patashnik (28 September 2010). "Inside The Mind of Oliver Sykes". Rock Sound. Freeway Press. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Oliver Sykes bio last.fm
  3. ↑ Rock Sound No. 174 p.63
  4. ↑ "Kickstarter of Raised By Raptors comic". Kickstarter. Oliver Sykes & Ben Ashton-Bell. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  5. ↑ James McMahon, ed. (25 January 2014). "The Untold Story of Kerrang!: Bring Me The Horizon". Kerrang! (London, United Kingdom: Bauer Consumer Media) (1501). ISSN 0262-6624.
  6. ↑ "Kerrang! Oli Sykes joins animal rights campaign". Kerrang.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon Talks "Sempiternal", Movies, and More". ARTISTdirect.
  8. ↑ Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes accepts APMA for Album of the Year with speech about his addiction, YouTube
  9. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (13 July 2015). "Oli Sykes marries his girlfriend". altpress.com. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "OLI SYKES GETS PWNED!!!!!" (Video). YouTube. Emersound. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013. SAM CARTER KICKING THE FU*K OUT OF OLI SYKES! HELL YES!!!!
  11. ↑ "Oli sykes gets taken off in an ambulance !!!" (Video). YouTube. Emersound. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013. finally, there is a god! check it out!!!!
  12. ↑ "BMTH fans send Architects singer death threats" (Report). Kerrang!. Dan. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013. Architects frontman Sam Carter has received death threats from irate Bring Me The Horizon fans...
  13. ↑ "BRING ME THE HORIZON APPARENTLY GETTING SUED BY CONCERT GOER'S PARENTS" (Report). Under the Gun. Kriston McConnell. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013. According to some tweets by Oli Sykes, Bring Me The Horizon are being sued by a 12-year-old girl's parents because she was injured in a mosh pit during the band's performance...
  14. ↑ "UPDATE: BRING ME THE HORIZON NOT GETTING SUED, MOSHING NOT BANNED AT WARPED EITHER" (Report). Under the Gun. Kriston McConnell. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.

See also

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