Chris Peters of Australia's Heavy magazine recently conducted an interview with frontman Matt Tuck of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On whether he's happy with the response to the band's new studio album, "Gravity": Matt: "Absolutely. Yeah, it's been really good. We knew when we were making it, it was going to be a slightly more divisive album than we've done in the past. We were well aware of that. We were well aware of some people not being onboard with it, but it's been business as usual again. We've had some fantastic reviews, we've had some bad reviews, but that's kind of the way it is. We've had that since 'The Poison'. We took a decision to do something different. It's what we wanted to do. We're more than happy with the response we got to the album and being able to tour the world, still. We are here in Los Angeles tonight, so it's all good, man. Absolutely good." On whether it was a gamble for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE to introduce new elements into their sound: Matt: "No. It's never a gamble; it's just being creative and doing what makes you happy as a songwriter. I think the band's history and success has given the opportunity and the scope to kind of be a little bit more experimental without having to think about whether it's a risk or anything. We're 15, 16 years into our career; this is our sixth album. The band needs to evolve. We've got to do what makes us happy at the end of the day. There's no way we're going to be writing for other people. We've got to do what we want to do and that's how we've done things since day one, really." On showcasing musical advancement while staying true to their roots: Matt: "I think it's just quite obvious. When writing songs in the demo stage, it's very obvious when you've gone too far. I think everything that is on 'Gravity' is everything we've always done in the past. We've just executed it in a far different way and added different elements. The songs are still heavy, they're still dark. The content is what you expect from the band. We just kind of freshened things up. We want every album to be different from each other. Like I said, it's what we've done since day one. We want it to be a standalone record. We don't want it to be an album that could be mistaken for a 2008 release. We want it to be in the here and now and that's what we've done." On the difficulties in trying to recapture their old sound: Matt: "No. It's kind of impossible, you know? If you're a creative person, which me and the boys are, we want to do things which are different from anything we've done in the past. It's kind of pointless revisiting a song formula from 10 years ago because you've know you've got your success then. That doesn't necessarily mean it will work now. You've got to go with what you feel is the right thing to do for you at that point in your musical career. That's the kind of attitude we take with every single writing and recording session." On whether the departures of bassist Jason James and drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas were difficult for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE: Matt: "No, not really. For us, it was in the works for a long time. When it was made official, it was something that was happening anyway and we were dealing with it on the road and behind the scenes. It's never ideal when that kind of situation happens in a band, especially when it's being with people who you've been in a band with for over a decade. It kind of plays on your head a little bit, but I guess everything happens for a reason. We've always got everyone's best individual interest and the band's best interest at heart at all times. We're not the first band in history that has cut a couple of original members, but I think we've proved we're strong enough and the band is strong enough to continue on by doing the tours that we're doing. It's business as usual. We got along great." On whether BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE was ready for the success that their 2005 debut "The Poison" brought: Matt: "I wouldn't say we weren't, but we worked so hard for six, seven years as an unsigned act just playing pubs, but when the opportunity arose, it was like winning the lottery. We were just rolling with it. It all happened in a bit of blur, really. It's a moment we look back on now with incredible pride." On whether the success of "The Poison" made BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE reassess their career goals: Matt: "I don't think so, no. We were all very ambitious and we shot for the stars and I think even on 'The Poison', we were always saying in interviews that we wanted to this for a long time. We want to be one of the biggest metal bands in the world at some point in our career. We were just very ambitious and very motivated and once we had that opportunity, like I said, it was like winning the lottery. We haven't stopped since. The work ethic has always been quite intense, but we know that's what it takes to get somewhere. It's all good." "Gravity" was released in June. The effort was made available through BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's new label home, Search And Destroy, the imprint launched in 2014 by Spinefarm and international artist management company Raw Power Management.
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