that go into achieving
the dream.
48 KERRANG!
THE K! INTERVIEW
BLOOD, SWEAT
AND TEARS
WE WORKED
OUR ARSES OFF
THIS WAS NEVER GIVEN TO US.
B
ack in 2010, Matt Tuck had
a moment of clarity about
his lot in life. “I’ll be trying
to convince people I’m good
at what I do until the day
I die,” he told Kerrang!. Bullet For My
Valentine were about to release Fever,
the 5K-rated album that would tear its
way into U.S. and UK charts at number
three and five respectively, and propel
the rising Welshmen to the head of the
pack of modern British metal.
Despite the momentum and the major
label clout behind him, Matt asserted, “that
[attitude] comes from being beaten down,
mentally, when I was growing up. It comes
from being told we were shit. I don’t think
that feeling will ever go away.”Present these words to Bullet’s frontman
today and his outlook is more measured,
but the sentiment is one that still clearly
resonates deep within him. “It’s probably
not something I would say today, but
I think there is always a part of me that’s
trying to win over a person that isn’t a fan
of my band,” he concedes. “I think that’s
one of the motivating factors for carrying
on when times are hard. It’s that deep,
inner feeling of wanting to succeed.”
Matt wanted to make something of
himself from an early age. As a young man
growing up in sleepy Bridgend he threw
himself into sports, playing basketball for
the Welsh national team until a fascination
with Metallica, Nirvana and Machine
Head took over. After recalibrating hisWORDS: JAMES MACKINNON PHOTOS: ANDY FORDMATT TUCK
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
PEOPLE DON’T SEE THE