Years & Years' Olly: Everybody is weird, celebrate it and don't be afraid

Years & Years have revealed all three members were targeted by bullies at school.

The band spoke during Radio 1 Newsbeat's week of programmes investigating teen suicide.

"The most interesting people are weird," reckons singer Olly Alexander.

"I was very different, I was from Turkey," says Emre Turkmen. "When I first came [to the UK] I spoke English with an American accent and I was quite small."

"I just went to like a normal comp in Wales," says Olly Alexander.

"It was a good school but it was mainly kind of sports-focused, and for me, a weak, little, gay kid, I can't play sports."

BBC Advice has more help and information if you are affected by bullying.

BBC Advice has more help and information if you are affected by bullying.

Olly says he would retreat to the art rooms to hang out and was "ripe for bullying".

He explains: "I was trying to forge an identity by wearing eyeliner and choker necklaces.

"I'd get picked on and pushed about and called names but by the time I got to 14, 15 it was way better."

Bassist Mikey Goldsworthy is the only Years & Years member that appears to have survived school unscathed.

Listen to the Newsbeat podcast, The Story of Izzy Dix.

"I just think how different school is from even when I was at school," says 25-year-old Olly.

"I didn't have a phone in lessons or anything.

"There wasn't Twitter or Facebook really, at the time it was just starting and I think that's created a whole new set of issues for young people and I think it's really tough being at school in that environment, added to all the normal things of being a teenager."

"It doesn't necessarily stop after you go to school because now Twitter and online it's constant," says Emre.

"And the problem with online is that people behave online in a way that they may not behave in real life because the consequences, they can't actually see in front of them, they can't see how much they might be upsetting someone."

Olly, Emre and Mikey all agree that finding someone supportive to talk to if you're being bullied can be a good first step.

"Don't be afraid to speak out or to contact a support group," says Olly Alexander.

For help with concerns about online bullying, visit BBC Advice.

Emre suggests talking to your friends.

"I saw an interview once with the South Park guys [Trey Parker and Matt Stone]," Emre says.

"He said if he could go back to high school he would go up to the kid in the corner and say, 'Hey, man don't worry, after school ends and stuff you are going to be the one who is going to be way more interesting than any of these people and you're not going to want to fit in at all, you're going to be happy that you were different.'"

"Be weird," agrees Olly. "It's good to be weird.

"Everyone has got weirdness and just celebrate it, bring it out, don't be afraid."

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