BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Frontman: 'We're Kind Of An Easy, Accessible-Style Metal Band'

Music-Photocalypse.net recently conducted an interview with vocalist/guitarist Matt Tuck of Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Music-Photocalypse.net: I've read an interview where you said that you opened the doors to the metal genre, made it more mainstream, and that there would be a bunch of people who wouldn't care if it wasn't for you. Isn't it the essence of metal to go against the stream?

Matt: I don't know, why would you say that?

Music-Photocalypse.net: Well, being a part of this subculture, people are trying to go against the "establishment."

Matt: What's an establishment? Government or something?

Music-Photocalypse.net: In some cases the government, but mostly something that's considered "normal" to the public, let's just say so. Metalheads have a certain dress code and stand out from the crowd. And you're just trying to bring in everyone, which in a way is a good thing, but you know, it's so hard to share your favourite bands with the rest of the world.

Matt: I don't know, I just see it as the more the merrier, why would we limit ourselves to a certain scene. It just seems kind of silly. As a profession to limit our opportunities, it doesn't make sense to me.

Music-Photocalypse.net: So you think that you can stay true to metal and still make it mainstream without going more pop?

Matt: I think we already have. You disagree? If you do, that's fine.

Music-Photocalypse.net: I don't disagree, I'm asking you.

Matt: Yeah, we're in this to make a career out of what we do, we don't want to limit ourselves and close doors and we don't have to. We can be as heavy as fuck, if we wanna be, you know, but as long as we realize what makes people want to listen to our band and we give them that a little bit on an album, then I think it doesn't matter, it's cool.

Music-Photocalypse.net: And you truly believe that you opened the doors to get more people into metal?

Matt: Yeah, we're kind of an easy, accessible-style metal band for people who aren't interested in the genre of hard rock metal music. That we do it a bit more commercial, so then they will listen to us, they'll read our influences affected by bands like METALLICA, MEGADETH or PANTERA. You have a band like METALLICA and a band like PANTERA — it's not the same fucking genre of music. And if we inspire people to go and buy, I don't know, a fucking KILLSWITCH ENGAGE album, who are kind of a melodic metal band as we are, but maybe a notch up on the heaviness, I think, that's a good comparison. And then you go to bands like BLEEDING THROUGH and just experiment and go heavier, it doesn't mean that you can't like BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, because you like BLEEDING THROUGH, it's just silly in my opinion. That's why we opened the doors to help people get into hard rock and metal music.

Read the entire interview from Music-Photocalypse.net.