Oliver Sykes, a children's author writing books for kids from low-income and single parent families, does not front Bring Me The Horizon. You're thinking of Oliver Sykes, the guy who fronts Bring Me The Horizon. We'll explain.
In a story published in Metro, author Sykes said he set up his email address when he was 16 years old. That email address is [email protected]. Which wasn't a problem until he got into his college years during 2008, at which point Bring Me The Horizon started to take off and the emails started rolling in.
"Back in 2008, when I was happily living the life of a student, [Bring Me The Horizon] released their second album, Suicide Season," said author Sykes. "Featuring such hits as 'It Was Written In Blood,' 'The Sadness Will Never End,' and 'Sleep with One Eye Open,' I was initially blissfully unaware; I've always been into folk music, loving a bit of Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons.
"But within a week of it hitting the shelves, that changed. My inbox started piling up with messages – predominantly from teenage girls – desperately trying to contact Oli Sykes. I had about 30 or 40 people telling me how much they loved 'me' and 'my album'. I just remember thinking, 'what am I going to do?'"
Author Sykes said one of the most difficult parts of the mistaken identity was receiving emails from fans reaching out about extremely personal experiences.
"Some of them even started off with things like, 'The first time I tried to kill myself," he added.
Author Sykes said he tried to get in contact with Bring Me The Horizon's label Visible Noise and even vocalist Sykes himself, to no avail. Author Sykes said he eventually started replying with a form email pointing fans to the band's website, but of course not everyone believed that they weren't speaking to Bring Me The Horizon's Sykes.
"There were the people who would respond to my messages from the early days with, 'This must be the real Oli Sykes because otherwise, why would you answer?' or, 'I can't believe that you've answered me, and I know you're saying you're not Oli Sykes, but you are. I know you are, in my heart of hearts. And I just want to say thank you so much.'"
Fortunately things chilled out in 2010 when Bring Me The Horizon released There Is A Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It A Secret. Author Sykes said the emails slowed down as fans got more tech-saavy, and eventually the band had their own contact page on their website. To date, Author Sykes and vocalist Sykes have not hung out (to the best of our knowledge).
So all's well that ends well! But boy that must've sucked for a college kid to essentially play secretary for a band he wasn't even a fan of. Read the full editorial here and check out author Sykes' website here.
