Rob caught up with Me Vs Hero to talk about how they came together as a band, plans for the future and much more.

First of all can you give us a brief history of the band such as how you go together and came up with the band name Me Vs Hero?
Sam, Vocals) In about summer 2007, I'd been in a band with our old guitarist Alex, he passed away in 2008, I wrote some songs in my ex girl friends attic, it went from there, spoke to Alex, he liked the stuff, we needed a bass player and drummer, id been best friends with Mike since secondary school, I asked him he'd just finished uni, he asked Olly, he quit uni to join the band. The name, it came from some misheard lyrics from a walls of Jericho song that Alex had heard.

Who would you say your main musical influences are?
My original idea was, I love an album called take this to your grave by fall out boy, Its my favourite pop punk album, I was in a metal band, I wanted to do something like that but with beat downs in it and that's where the style came from so we stuck with it. We like lots of pop punk bands, day to remember, 4 years strong, but we like loads of metal bands like August burns red. You know when your put on the spot and you cant think of what you like, ill get me phone out, Ghost inside, Paramore, basically we want to be Paramore (laughter)
I understand that you have recently added Stephen Jones to the band, how did this come about and how has he settled into the band?
Our old drummer Olly, when your in band for 3 and a half years, what you set out to do musically changes, people drift away, and that's the thing, he wasn't into it any more, he loves music, but he's not into that style any more, he left. It took us a month to find Steve because of guy we know called Shaun who promotes at the Liverpool academy, we've played there a few times, he's a nice guy, he has a flatmate called Steve who was in a band called,My Emergency, we asked him to send a video demo over of him doing can you count suckers, he nailed it. He had to learn ho to use a double kick peddle about a month before we went on tour, every credit to him, he worked hard, sat up every night, neglected his girlfriend, and just learnt the songs over and over again, he got it nailed down, he's a great guy and its like he's always been in the band.

You are currently on tour supporting Skindred, how did this come about and how have the shows been so far, and how have you been going down with the Skindred crowd?
Our manger Mark Walker works for Kilimanjaro, heard there was an opening going and put us forward, I guess it was right place write time. The Skindred crowd, its hard been a pop punk band on metal/reggae metal tour, its good for us to get new fans, its not a crowd we've played to before, it may be hard for the crowd to accept us, I think we've gone down alright. Benji is a nice guy really goes out of his way.

You have also been announced to be playing many festivals this summer from Sonisphere, Hevy, Boardmasters, how does it feel to be part of the festival season again and are you looking forward to certain festivals more than others?
Festival is the best time of year, were doing sonisphere this year, playing the red bull tent there to hopefully 3000 people, that's what I'm most looking forward to, we get to hang out there, Hevy fest is good apart from the wasps, they sting fucking everything they can, they must be the most useless things a going, there the bees angry cousin. Boardmasters should be fun because were big on skateboarding.

Will you be checking out many bands at the festivals?
I've always been a fan of funeral for a friend, there playing Hevy fest, I've met the drummer, so I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of them, I'm a real nerdy fan of There's. The rest have slipped my mind again.

You have shared the stage with many high profile bands such as Elliot Minor, You Me At Six and now Skindred, but what has been your biggest touring highlight so far?
Last night was good getting on stage with Benji, The one that meant a lot to me was supporting New found Glory up in Manchester, I've always been a massive fan and we got to play with just them, it was like being a child again.

Your début album ‘Days That Shape Our Lives’ has been out for a while now, how has it gone down with your fans and the press?
The press have been great, the guy who works for rocksound gave us 10/10, I'm not saying its a 10/10 album at all, but its nice to get that, but because he gave us 10/10 it put us with the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden so he knocked it down to a 9/10, it was a bit harsh. I ain't heard much bad about so all is good.

What would you say your favourite track from the album is and why?
The most meaningful song to me, lost in the ranks, we've never done an acoustic song before and its about our friend passing away. Other than its can you count suckers.

Your latest single is ‘Can You Count Suckers’, the video for it looks a lot of fun with your fans jumping about and the odd fight kicking off, was it as fun to make as it is to watch?
It was the funest 2 days, my dads quiet wealthy, he owns a massive house down where we live, and the two days we booked were the two hottest days of the year, so we built a stage in the back garden and filmed the video there over two days it got mini woods, a field, it was sweltering, its my favourite song as well because the songs about the film the Warriors, it was one of my favourites as a kid , I used watch it when it was on every Christmas, the video is a sort of spoof on the warriors.

In March you released a Charlie Sheen influenced ‘Winning’ T-shirt, how popular has it been with the fans and what is your take on the whole Charlie Sheen craze gripping the world at the moment.
I think he's bloody Hilarious, the t shirt is sold out now and we wont be doing a reprint, we had to time it right, before he does something really crazy, like murders someone. I like watching two and a half men, the other guys in the band don't like it much, I think he's fantastic, he ruins himself but gets paid millions.

What do you have planned for the rest of the year apart from the announced festival slots?
More tours coming up, were in talks with some bigger bands, hopefully they come through, more videos lined up a few in short amount of time. Started writing the second album got few songs into that, its not heavier to speak but got a bit more of an edge to it, bit more harder, faster.

What’s your take on the digital revelation killing off the music business?
I dunno what to say, its a shame really, but things change, I think now bands make more money from touring, Its a bit fucked but it'll bounce back.

Where do you hope to see Me Vs Hero in a year’s time?
Arenas would be nice, selling out bigger venues, keeping going really. I really enjoy it, its hard work but its good.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?
That's a tough one, a Giraffe is tall, you know what they say that Chuck Norris made the giraffe by upper cutting a horse, Maybe a Zebra, because I used to ride horses.

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
Keep checking us out, keep coming to the shows, keep support all the bands you can. Don't settle on the same band discover new bands and thanks.

Interview By Robert Lawrence