For a long time - when we first started getting a much higher level of attention - I really struggled with feeling like I was letting people down. Because when you do a show, there are, like, a hundred fans waiting to see you afterwards, and sometimes you can't see them.

Olly Alexander

War Time Art

I think the reason I've been so committed to advocacy is because I see so many people in pain.

Use Us Think

My lyrics are about same-sex relationships, because that's who I am. It was important to me that I felt comfortable expressing myself.

Olly Alexander

Relationship Who Use

Justin Tranter is an incredible queer voice in pop music and he's writing for Justin Bieber: it's genius.

Olly Alexander

Music Writing Voice

I like how it presented this contradiction because traditionally gay people have been shut out from the church, so 'Sanctify' was claiming a bit of that back and saying, 'My sexuality is holy.'

Olly Alexander

Yin Use Us

School was like a hostile place. I just hated being at school. I think some people really thrive in that environment. I was a good student, but I just didn't enjoy school. I found it really tough.

Olly Alexander

Men Good Us

When I was younger I thought that if you were famous and successful, it would mean that you just felt happy all the time. That you would become, like, this mystical creature that people just adored. And so you would adore yourself.

Olly Alexander

Time Success Famous

I think the word 'twink' is pejorative. There's something endemic about the gay community where we praise masculinity more than anything else.

Olly Alexander

Word Wink Win

I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder but I definitely had a difficult relationship with food.

Olly Alexander

Relationship Food Wit

Let's let our men be happy, be sad, be trans, be questioning, be bisexual, be non-conforming, be feminine, be masculine!

Olly Alexander

Sad Men T

I'm a real left-winger. I fancy Jeremy Corbyn!

Olly Alexander

Wing Win T

I was a fan of Belle and Sebastian. I didn't really know a lot of their music - I only knew the kind of bigger songs because I had a friend, when I was younger, who was really into them. But I have always really respected Belle and Sebastian for what they are, what they do. Yeah, they're just great.

Olly Alexander

Respect Music Great

If you're making something tangible, whether it's clothing, a song, a piece of art... when you create something that's outside of yourself you take a bit of the pain and it's released, you let it out a little bit. That's my Oprah Winfrey moment.

Olly Alexander

Mom Men Art

What's great about being gay is that you can celebrate all types of sexualities, because we understand that being queer means you might also be gender nonconforming or bi or whatever.

Olly Alexander

Great You Whatever

My mum's super Labour, and my gran. We all love Jeremy Corbyn in the family. Those are very deep roots and I feel like I could never not vote for Labour. Or I could never vote for the Tories because of that.

Olly Alexander

Love Family Vote

I love being alone.

Olly Alexander

Love Alone I Love

You can't have a nuanced debate on Twitter, it's just people shouting.

Olly Alexander

You Wit Us

I just listen to true-crime podcasts, do some weights and pretend I know what I'm doing.

Olly Alexander

Weights Weight Weigh

I think music can be therapeutic and a really positive thing, but that seeing a therapist is the best form of therapy you can get.

Olly Alexander

Positive Music You

The first artist I really loved was Stevie Wonder. That opened the doors to other soul singers like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

Olly Alexander

Love Art Wonder

For a long time - when we first started getting a much higher level of attention - I really struggled with feeling like I was letting people down. Because when you do a show, there are, like, a hundred fans waiting to see you afterwards, and sometimes you can't see them.

Olly Alexander

War Time Art

There was just this stage where I realised that people were listening to what I was saying and I could actually say something I believe in and, like... why wasn't I doing that? It's not because I think I have a responsibility as a pop star or whatever; it's because I think I have a responsibility as a human being.

Olly Alexander

I've done bits of writing for other people but when I'm writing music as Years & Years, I'm using my life and my stories and my experiences. I want it to be authentic and real but also to work as a pop song - I never want to just put in a cheesy line.

Olly Alexander

I've been writing a lot of songs about my personal life and identity. That can be a real healing process.

Olly Alexander

I don't know if there's ever a point where you go, 'Oh, I'm successful now. Look at all this great stuff I've done,' because I don't think it can be tangible in that way.

Olly Alexander

I get trolled. The usual stuff - sometimes it's homophobic, like gay hate.

Olly Alexander

Well, I moved around quite a lot so I was born in Yorkshire and then I moved to Blackpool, which is like North England.

Olly Alexander

We are traumatized by growing up in a world that doesn't really accept us. Obviously, we've made great leaps and bounds, but I think there's a tendency to force a narrative onto queer people that once you come out... you have to be really happy and really successful and proud all the time.

Olly Alexander

Most of the pop videos I've seen that have any male/female interaction are usually centered around a romance - and that's great, I am all for romance. But let's face it, there are a lot of other sexualities and identities that are well-deserving of some shiny pop video love.

Olly Alexander

Everyone has a different definition of what they find sexy, so why do we so often get given one version of what sexy is time and time again?

Olly Alexander

Pop music has a pretty good track record of embracing queer culture.

Olly Alexander

The word queer first started being used in the late 1980s by members of the community who wanted to reclaim something negative and turn it into a positive. It's still a painful word for some, and lots of people don't identify with it. But for me it's a helpful and empowering term that unifies an ever-growing community.

Olly Alexander

I can't play guitar well at all, so I had to learn that.

Olly Alexander

Blackpool is a hilarious place. It's kind of like the Las Vegas of the U.K. It's by the sea and there's a lot of casinos and resorts.

Olly Alexander

If you look at pop stars through the ages, we've had camp, glam popstars from the 80s - your George Michaels and what have you - but then people went back to the closet a bit, and became more homogenised and generic.

Olly Alexander

When I meet gay kids and they know who we are, I remember that's amazing because literally every gay person in every gay story I knew growing up was doomed to die. There weren't any positive gay stories and it's incredible that has changed.

Olly Alexander

So many queer people come out constantly for the rest of their lives, ya know? To the people they work with, to people in taxi cabs. Whatever it is, it isn't the one day.

Olly Alexander

I feel sorry for straight people.

Olly Alexander

I love TLC and Aaliyah and all those early-millennial R&B singers.

Olly Alexander

I would love it if less bands were hetero.

Olly Alexander

When I was a bit younger, I loved Rufus Wainwright - just the fact that he existed.

Olly Alexander

I want to feel sexy with the body I have.

Olly Alexander

Dating shows should exist for people who aren't straight. They're out there, there aren't enough of them. Whether you try and squeeze a format that already works into something else. I don't know.'

Olly Alexander

We can't police the way people express their sexuality.

Olly Alexander

I used to be scared of people thinking I was gay but now I'd be shocked if they didn't.

Olly Alexander

I get a real thrill for being 'overtly queer' in my aesthetic.

Olly Alexander

With anxiety and depression, what's been most helpful to me has been learning a toolbox - a set of skills I can use when I'm in periods of low mood or feel an anxiety attack coming on. When Years & Years took off it felt like I needed that toolbox really quickly.

Olly Alexander

I think there's strength in being honest and open about yourself and your struggles. But it can also be a challenge. This is my life, I live with my own mental health, and that is happening to me every day. I can talk about it from a position of 'Oh, I've done this' but I'm still living that existence.

Olly Alexander

I am obsessed with Matt Healy.

Olly Alexander

I want to do a song with Rihanna - we need to make that work.

Olly Alexander

I hear bands say they don't know what country they are in at times. Now I understand because we sleep at weird times and are always in different places - but I'm not moaning. It's all fun.

Olly Alexander