“Are you still alive?!” Mathew Tuck screams after playing Fever during their concert at The Riviera.  Like their name, Bullet for My Valentine hits your brain and takes over everything else in your neurological system.  The music of Bullet for My Valentine batters your mind like a Red Bull and there is nothing that will calm you down.  They perform with intense excitement and the crowd reacts to every reaction.  I will be amazed if you attend their concert and don’t either get sucked into the vortex of a mosh pit; cause once you get in, it’s impossible to get out. 

 Reigning from Wales, Bullet For My Valentine has continued to turn heads in every continent they go to. They are a band full of metal enthusiasts who love doing their jobs. Guitarist Padge is a musician who puts in the time to learn his weapon of choice. He studies his inspirations and his instrument twice as hard. He is able to perform scales at a speed that will remind you of Hetfield and Hammet during their …And Justice for All years. Bullet For My Valentine’s new album Fever was released and hit number 3 on the Billboard charts. Speaking with a thick Welch accent and fun attitude, Padge was able pencil in a few minutes for an interview.

Buzz: Welcome to America! Have you guys enjoyed your stay so far from across the pond?

Padge: Yeah, we’ve always enjoyed America. At the same time, we get on the bus and stay on the bus for weeks and weeks. It’s all fun and games and you just enjoy it!

Buzz: I would think that it has to be an enjoyable experience with another guitarist like Tuck. The two of you are phenomenal guitar players. Who were the major guitar players that stood out and made you go “that’s what I want to do for a living?”

Padge: For me, it was the whole grunge thing. That was what did it for me in the beginning. As it’s progressed through the years, bands like Pantera, Metallica and Iron Maiden—Dimebag especially really addressed the playing of the guitar.

Buzz: What was it about bands like Pantera that really peaked your interest in the guitar?

Padge: Just how fast they could play and how precise their playing was. Obviously, grunge had its own take on the guitar, which influenced me at first. But as I tightened-up my playing and started getting precise, I developed a love for those kind of bands and that style of guitar playing.

Buzz: I can definitely tell that you inherited that style in your playing. How long did you have practice for to get to that caliber?

Padge: It was actually when we where recording Scream Aim Fire, our last record, when we were in the studio for two months in Texas. I locked myself away in a bedroom for eight hours a day and really went up and down the neck, and really learning the guitar. Through practicing, I learned how to bend the strings effectively and learned the cool things of the instruments.

Buzz: With your new album Fever, you guys wrote all of your songs differently than your previous records. What was it like working with producer Don Gilmore on the album?

Padge: He was cool. Don’s a nice guy—very metal, great at his job and a great producer. As you said, it was very different with this producer and very strange working with someone else. It took a little bit of time for us to trust Don. But one we go over that hurdle, everything slipped into place and we realized how we could work in everything else. Everything worked out well in the end.

Buzz: Gilmore brought a different style of song writing compared to how you guys used to work. How was Gilmore’s process different than your usual process of song writing?

Padge: This was more of an up-tempo album. You know, fast, thrashing riffs and fast blast beats. On this album, we wanted to take a step back and let the singing do the talking. We kind of just stepped back on the music and we let him do his thing on the vocals and the melodies. He trusted the band with the music, but when it came to the vocals, Don was very outgoing and banned the rest of us from the studio.

Buzz: Was it nice to have the trust from Don with your guitar playing?

Padge: Definitely. There were a couple of times when I was recording solos and I wasn’t sure if we got it. Don assured that we did. I wasn’t sure about it, just because I am a perfectionist myself, but once we trusted him the recording process was very easy.

Buzz: There’s a song on your album called “A Place Where you Belong” where you guys tackle the issues of a fight in a relationship. Unlike other bands, you guys write a song about a person who dies and the couple is never able to come to amends about the fight. Not only do you write the song from a different angle, you’re able to have every instrument compliment the exact emotion. How did the four of you figure out how to express emotion in a diverse and powerful way?

Padge: I think it’s because we’re human. We go through these emotions ourselves.

Buzz: What would be the best piece of advice that you would give any aspiring musician?

Padge: Just do what comes naturally to you. Just do what you think is right and don’t wait for anybody else. Obviously, things could take a while, but if you stick to what you know, I am sure you will see a result.

(All photos by Carl Burke)