Bullet For My Valentine return this week with the release of their new single Temper Temper - the title single from their new album which will be released next year.
We caught up with Padge to chat about the single, the album as well as hitting the road in the UK.
- Temper Temper is your new single and it is released next week so what can fans expect from this new track?
It is slightly different to what we have done before but it is not crazy different. It is an upbeat and almost, dare I say it, a disco feel, but retaining the heavy guitars and the pounding drums and the soaring vocals.
- The tracks is perhaps a little heavier to what we have heard before so why did you decide to take your sound down a slightly different path?
I think it all started when we recorded the last album Fever as things changed a lot from our previous recordings - especially the way that we recorded things.
This took us to a new sound that we have been living with for two or three years now.
With this new record we didn’t want to go back to our original roots we just wanted to continue our progression and we had been vibing off it because we had been living with the Fever album for such a long time.
We just thought we would stick with it and just develop a little bit more I guess.
- The track and the album sees you reunite with producer Don Gilmore - who worked with you on your previous album Fever - so what is it about Don that made you want to work with him again?
I think it was just simply because the way that Fever was accepted by everyone as it went down really well and it did exactly what we wanted it to. So it really was an ‘it it’s not broke don’t fix it’ sort of thing really.
We chose Dan again because we all knew him and he was up for recording the album. We just wanted to bring that we had during the Fever album back.
- How have you found the response to the track so far - it does seem to be going down well?
As with everything on the internet it is mixed but there is definitely some positive vibes coming back. Obviously we cannot please everyone as these days people’s expectations are through the roof before you have even started putting pen to paper.
There has been negative and there has been positive but after four albums and an EP we are use to negative comments on the internet.
We will just have to see how it goes but we are excited and the label is excited and so are the die hard fans. Never judge a book by its cover.
- And this is the title track off the new album Temper Temper, which is due out early next year, so how does this track introduce to the rest of the record?
It is a very safe track off the record and there is nothing too crazy going on or anything mad that we haven’t tried before. It is just a balls out heavy rock song from start to finish and it has a great beat and a really catchy lead line melody line.
So we just thought that it would be a safe track to… especially this year because we actually go into another year before the album is released so we thought it would be a good track to release for now.
- Obviously we haven’t heard the album yet so sound wise how does it compare to previous records?
To be honest I think it is a little bit looser and the recording is a little looser. It was just a lot more relaxed and I think that that will come across in the record.
Everything else is still there as the musicianship hasn’t dropped at all and the songs are still up there.
There are a good few songs on there that people are going to be surprised with and hopefully people are going to love them.
- I have mentioned Don Gilmore already but I was wondering what was his input on this album this time around?
It was a lot less than on Fever. I remember on Fever Don was rushing the music to get into the vocals - but that was where he and Matt really started shining.
They put their heads together and they started coming up with these words and these melodies and it all started getting really interesting. But this time he tended to take a step back and let Matt do his thing.
That was weird but Don has done this a million times before and so he should know best and if he wants to take a step back it is because he trusts Matt to come up with the goods.
- Bearing what you have just said in mind was the band maybe more confident in the studio this time around?
Personally on the last record I would be sat on the stool just playing along and Don would be like ‘we got it, we are good we have got it’ and it was like ‘what? Are we recording yet?’ I was definitely aware of that going in and I am sure that the other boys were.
Maybe we were a little more confident this time because our musicianship has come along very well indeed.
- When Temper Temper is released next year it will almost three years since the release of Fever so was it a conscious decision to leaves quite a gap between the recordings or is it simply the way things have worked out?
I think it just the way things have worked out. It is very difficult for bands not to tour these days as there is not a lot of money in record sales today so for any band touring is a main part of financial aspect.
You get offered a tour right at the end of a cycle and it is like ‘do we stop or do we carry on?’ and if everyone recognises that the record still has got legs then you carry on.
- It was 2005 when you released your debut album The Poison so how do you feel that you have developed as a band, as musicians and as song-writers in that time?
I definitely think that the song writing has come along tenfold. As musicians I think that Matt as a rhythm player is probably one of the best rhythm guitarists that I have ever known and Moose can kick the shit out of his drums and play like a beast.
Jay is an animal as always and, without wanting to blow my own trumpet, I am not too shabby on the guitar.
- 2013 is not only going to bring a new album but also a new tour so how excited are you about getting back out on the road in the UK?
Personally I am very excited because earlier this year I hurt my back and had to go in for back surgery and I could see my world crashing down and I was thinking that I would never be able to do this again.
But fortunately the doctors did an amazing job and I was up and on my feet in two days. I slipped a disk in my lower back but it is all sorted now.
- How do UK crowds compare to those in other countries?
It has been a long time. Most of the time everyone is the same as they are bouncing around and having a good time and shouting and singing but just in different accents.
But in the UK they are wilder I guess. It is always nice for us to play the UK because we have never overplayed the UK and so it is always nice to play shows for the UK fans.
This is where it all started for us and when we first heard fans sing our songs back to us it was really weird. It’s a really nice feeling to play at home, for them and for us.
- You have a huge fan base around the world so for anyone who is reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Thanks for all the support over the years. We have a new record coming out in February and if you guys could pick up a copy that would be great. And come and see us on tour.
- Finally what is next for you?
Christmas is first and then we are going to start gearing up for our cycle of Temper Temper, we start down in Australia.
But we also have a video shoot next week in New York so that is going to be cool as we haven’t done a video in a while.
Bullet For My Valentine’s new single Temper Temper is out now.
Click here to buy Bullet For My Valentine’s new single Temper Temper
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw