Bullet For My Valentine

MARCH '08

Harder Beat Magazine Online

Aiming High

By Travis Tutwiler

Bullet For My Valentine’s Matt Tuck

“We didn’t want to change; we wanted to keep our identity,” explains Matt Tuck, singer/guitarist of Bullet For My Valentine, on the release of their latest CD, Scream Aim Fire. “We just wanted to evolve naturally and progress rather than change anything.” That formula has worked well, as the latest effort debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts — something that might not have seemed possible only a year ago.

In 2006 Matt began experiencing vocal problems and, in 2007, had to have a tonsillectomy. “Being a vocalist and not being able to sing sucked,” he advises. “On tour everything was fine, but I started noticing different qualities in my voice and stuff. It just declined and declined, but I couldn’t really hear it because we were so busy and getting into bad habits to get through the show. Then it just melted down, you know, and I would open my mouth and nothing would come out. It was a very scary time.” Matt reflects: “It was heartbreaking to think that all the things we had accomplished and worked so hard for, in order to get where we are today, could be over.”

Matt was not alone and had the support of his band mates – drummer, Michael “Moose” Thomas, guitarist Michael “Padge” Paget and bassist Jason “Jay” James. “The band did what they could,” he admits, “but all they could do was be patient, you know? Nobody got negative but there were times where we literally thought it could have been over. It made us appreciate what we’ve achieved, he reveals. “We never actually took what we do for granted anyway, because we love what we do and we’d worked so hard to get where we were. But it made us appreciate what we do even more and how lucky we are to do what we do.”

After months of healing, Matt and BFMV were able to put the finishing touches on Scream Aim Fire. “This album is a lot more personal,” explains Tuck. “There’s one song called ‘Deliver Us From Evil,’ which is the throat song, as I call it. I now feel like pouring my heart out about how I was feeling at the time and what I was going through mentally.”

Bullet For My Valentine - keeping their identity

Another personal track is “Forever And Always,” which Matt describes as “a combination of telling people what I’ve been through and how difficult it was for us. At the same time, no matter how hard it was, there was never a point where we were gonna give up. He adds; “the line, ‘I wanna to stay here forever and always,’ means I don’t want to be anywhere else than on that stage in front of the fans. No matter what it takes, I’ll do what I can to keep doing it.”

BFMV was able to take to a different stage when they recently invited to perform on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, playing “Scream Aim Fire” and “Eye Of The Storm” before a national audience. “It was bizarre, but I think we pulled it off,” Matt states as he reflects on the performance. “It wasn’t the best one ever, but the feedback we’ve received has been very positive. We were very happy to have gotten that show.”

The band is hoping that the new CD and upcoming tours will be as successful as the touring cycle for The Poison, which saw the band open for the likes of Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. “It was a dream come true, you know. We didn’t expect the album (The Poison) to do what it did,” he states. “We hoped it would do well — but never expected it to, but it did. The two years we did the touring cycle for the album was life changing and something we’ll never forget. We learned things about ourselves, our band, how to act on the road, how to pace yourself with health, stuff like that.”

This year looks to be the beginning of a big year for BFMV, who have just embarked on the six-week Taste Of Chaos Tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu, which will make a stop at Nokia in Grand Prairie, on April 1.

So what can one expect for the show? “It’s a short set, about 40 minutes, so it’s a lot more energetic because we can let loose a bit more,” advises Tuck. We’re doing five new songs, three off Poison and one from the EP. After this tour, it’s Australia, Japan, New Zealand and then Europe for the summer festival run, then back to North America in the middle of July through the end of August for headline shows. We’ll definitely be doing a couple of Texas dates,” he adds.

“And to fans —Thank you so much for supporting the band and making shit like this possible… to come into your town.”