Neil from Clean Bandit: “It’s always quite intense when Olly and I reunite”
By Nick Bond
They may be in two of the hottest pop/dance acts riding the UK charts in 2015, but don’t expect boyfriends Olly Alexander and Neil Amin-Smith to turn their relationship into a musical union anytime soon.
Clean Bandit- who have scored four top five hits in the past year, including the worldwide smash Rather Be – took to the Cock O’Can stage at Camp Bestival over the weekend and, while not on stage, Neil spoke up about his relationship with his other half, Years and Years frontman Olly. As the pair are both in successful touring acts, Neil admitted it was increasingly difficult to find the time to see each other.
“Olly and I are romantic with each other, we have to because we don’t see each other very much so when we are reunited it’s always quite intense. It was Olly’s birthday recently and he was going to be in New York arriving at his hotel so I arranged for a really nice bunch of flowers to be waiting for him,” he said.
The pair have been happily upfront about their relationship in recent months, posing together on social media and even doing the odd interview together.
“I think it’s good to share,” Neil said in a joint interview with Olly backstage at Wireless last month. “It’s important for people to see that you can be happy as a couple, and a young gay couple.
“I think I would have loved to have seen one [growing up].”
While Olly did previously lend his vocals to a version of Clean Bandit’s hit Stronger, don’t expect to hear him fronting another Clean Bandit song anytime soon:
“I don’t think we will work together as Clean Bandit and Years and Years. It’s good to keep it separate, there are so many other pressures within a band that it would muddy the waters a bit.”
Meanwhile, Olly himself recently offered some welcome advice on how people should treat gay men.
