Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Bullet For My Valentine

Bullet for My Valentine’s 2006 release, The Poison, catapulted the band to worldwide fame. Its follow-up, 2008’s Scream Aim Fire, was a stronger, thrashier effort. A main stage slot of the 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival wrapped the touring cycle for that album and the band now is focused on the next record, which is tentatively slated for a February 2010 release and described by band members as having more of a “classic” sound. When the Mayhem Festival rolled through the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va., the Live-Metal.net crew sat down with drummer Michael “Moose” Thomas to talk about the tour, the new album and more.

Greg Maki: It’s toward the end now, but how’s it going on the Mayhem Fest?

Michael “Moose” Thomas: Yeah. I don’t want it to end ‘cause I’m probably having one of the best tours ever, to be honest. I think it’s great.

Slayer, Killswitch. I met Marilyn Manson last night, which was cool.

Really nice. I was expecting something completely different, but he was cool.

I’m done, the guitars are done and the bass is done. We’ve gotta go home, maybe write two more songs. But it’s just vocals now. So I’m doing nothing now after this tour.

No, I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do. I might go to Australia, I’m thinking.

It’s more classic. It’s more like the first stuff we’ve done, like the Poison stuff. But it’s more classic-sounding, so I think we’ve done really well on this new record. It’s got some elements of Scream Aim Fire in there, but it’s much more of a powerful record, I think.

Greg: Is there a reason why you went away from the direction of the last album?

No, we just booked rehearsals and just wrote songs, and then the ones we were happy with we kept and the ones we weren’t were thrown away.

No. No song titles, no album titles. We play a new song every day. It doesn’t even have a name.

Hopefully, February 2010.

Jeff Maki: When you say “more classic-sounding,” could you elaborate on that a little bit more? Is it a combination of your newer material with your older albums? Are you talking about classic metal, rock?

Um, more like classic rock and all our albums kind of mixed into one. Songs on there remind me of really early Ozzy Osbourne stuff. I don’t know. It’s just really big, if you know what I mean. Like old-school classic rock stuff with a hint of metal elements.

Greg: After having success with The Poison, some hit songs on there, for this album and the one before does it feel like there’s any more pressure on you now that people have expectations?

No. I mean, we’re a band, we just take it by day, really, and we never take anything seriously. So for us to be selling millions of records, we just find it hilarious. I mean, there was a little bit of pressure recording Scream Aim Fire because The Poison had done so well, but on this record we’re having fun.

Jeff: Would you say the band is having more success over here in the U.S. or back home?

I think it’s a global thing for us. I think we’re bigger in Europe, but it’s starting to cross over here now, which is good. Australia, it does very good for us, Japan and, like you said, it’s starting to come together here for us very well, also. So it’s good.

Greg: Aside from maybe the size of them, are there big differences in the audiences in different parts of the world?

No, a Bullet show, the fans are pretty much all the same. It could be Japan, Australia, everyone just comes and has a good time. We’re a band that play our instruments live. We don’t mess around or fool anyone with Pro Tools or anything. So everyone comes and has a good time.

America, definitely. I love Australia and Japan and stuff, but I love coming here to tour.

It’s just nice sitting around on a bus. [laughs] The country’s so big and we get to spend a lot of time here, sitting on a bus, and then seeing all the different cities and states is really cool. And the alcohol’s pretty nice here, too.

Jeff: Another question regarding your band’s sound: With the first few albums, some terms were thrown out there like “emo,” “metalcore,” whereas the latest album was more of a metal record. How does the band classify—if at all—your sound? Are you a metal band?

Yeah, metal, heavy rock band. We understand that people have to put us into—I don’t know why they have to do it, but they have to, so whatever. If they call us emo, whatever. What do you do? If we’re metal, we’re metal. It’s stuff we don’t really care about, to be honest. We just want to get on with our career.

Jeff: Anything else you’d like to tell us, about the festival, about the band, anything?

I don’t know. Just that I want people to go out and buy our new album when it comes out since I’m proud of it. That last two are really good, as well. You should go out and buy them if you haven’t got them, too.

Jeff: Are there any new singles or anything due off this record or is this pretty much putting it behind you and going on to the next one from here?

No, this will be the last tour for Scream Aim Fire. In the new year, we will release the new record and then tour that.