Years & Years' Olly Alexander talks ahead of Birmingham show

Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen went to number one with that record and this year’s follow-up, Palo Santo, crashed into the charts at number three and was a hit around the world, including in the USA. The band are on the road for an arena tour and will headline Birmingham Arena tonight.

Olly enjoys being a pop star and his success has helped him to buy his mum a house. For a while, he was also part of British pop’s golden gay couple, with Neil Milan, formerly of Clean Bandit.

His band had a huge number one hit with King, while their debut album Communion was the fastest selling debut that year from a signed British band.

It’s not all rosy, however, and Olly has been trolled on social media for being ‘a public gay man’.

Olly was bullied at school but stuck to his guns and made mainstream music that puts gay sexuality at the heart of it, just like Will Young, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys and Bronski Beat.

“Sometimes seeing a man express themselves in an overtly sexual way, especially a gay man, makes certain conservative people feel a bit uncomfortable. I always wanna keep people a little uncomfortable.

“I’ve been out as a gay guy for nearly 10 years, and I know how that journey of coming to terms with your own identity can be really painful. I wanted to write something that spoke to that experience.”

“In the past, we’ve all been familiar with pop stars coming out in the middle of their careers, or after they’ve become huge and that feels like a heavy narrative to queer people.

“Now it seems to be really changing that artists can be out from the start of their career; and it’s not some sort of sensationalised headline.

“Of course, there are people who still really struggle with being out, and I know some artists think it might damage their career – but I don’t think the tabloids making a splash about sexuality would still happen. I think – I think – we can call that progress.”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however, and Olly suffered from depression for a decade. He had to seek help to turn his life around and found support from an organisation called London Friend. “They’re amazing, but they are over-subscribed, with a tiny office, old chairs, and not a lot of money. When you’re seeing that people aren’t getting the help they should be, there’s an issue there. We’re all in pain and I don’t know if we’re communicating with each other that well.”

Years and Years formed in 2010, after Mikey moved to London from Australia and met Noel Leeman and then later, Emre online. Olly later joined the band as its lead vocalist, after Mikey heard him singing in the shower. The band was originally a five-piece group, with Noel Leeman and Olivier Subria, though Noel and Olivier left in 2013.

In 2014, the group signed a deal to Polydor Records and then released their fourth single, Take Shelter. The song reached number one on the iTunes UK Singles Electronic Chart. The following year, the band won BBC’s Sound of 2015 poll. In the same month, the band’s sixth single, King, was released and it reached number one on the UK singles chart.

Olly has found success overwhelming. After his band played Glastonbury, he was incolosable. “It happens. A falling off a cliff. The pendulum swings.

“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.

“Obviously I realise how ridiculous that sounds. But it wasn’t until our album got to number one that I realised I still believed in it. We’d basically won the lottery. I felt like I’d won the lottery. And at the same time I still felt like the same person I’d always been.”