There are many outlets for mental health these days, (God knows we need it), but there are some that are standard and some that don’t quite stick to the status quo. Writing and performing music is one of those outlets that will always sit outside of the box, and Bullet For My Valentine’s drummer Jason Bowld knows just how turbulent the creative process can be. Many fans will shy away from the topic of the Welsh metalcore quartet’s previous album Gravity, saddened that the anger and venom they craved and were accustomed to just wasn’t there for them to latch onto. The band’s self-titled and seventh studio release though, Bullet for my Valentine, is the emotionally explosive record that the world needed after such a blood boiling couple of years.
Sat hunched over the recorder with a hot cup of tea on this chilly November afternoon in London’s Eventim Apollo though, the smile on Jason’s face screams anything other than anger and betrayal on the album’s release day. Pride and excitement emanate from his pores as he’s asked what kind of journey sparked the resurrection of this ferocious sound on Bullet for my Valentine.
“It all happened organically, there was no sort of plan. You don’t know until you start writing, because Gravity started with us wanting it to be a really heavy album, but we just couldn’t do it. We didn’t have the riffs at the time. That’s why we went in a different direction this time around. ‘Knives’ was one of the first songs we wrote, and in those first writing sessions we accumulated seven songs, three of which survived. It only takes one song for you to go ‘wow, this is cool.’ ‘Knives’ was that one, and then Matt being the singer, he directs the sound of the band, because he’s the man, he’s Mr. Bullet. It’s important for him to have a vision that he believes in so we can all deliver on stage. I think everyone writes better with no pressure, so it’s good to write without restrictions, and we just got addicted to writing the heavier stuff again.”
Translating songs into a live setting though can be easier said than done, and the worry of how the new tunes will be received in the sticky and humid venue air is a thought that plagues the mind of even the most seasoned musician. The tracks on the statement-making self-titled release however, have been hitting it out of the park.
“‘Shatters’ been the best one. It becomes very apparent when you play the songs live which decisions were the right ones in terms of direction. We suspected this was going to be cool live, and thankfully everyone just goes nuts for it. It’s also forced us to reorder the set, so it’s been quite challenging with the setlist because we’ve got seven albums, and they’re all almost different genres just because of the time the music came out. ‘Scream Aim Fire’ is 10 years old now, and trying to mix that with ‘Under Again’ from Gravity, and then trying to mix that with ‘Rainbow Veins’ and then ‘Knives’ and ‘Parasite’, is a real skill to craft the set and make it flow. It took us three nights to get that right.”
‘Knives’ is one of those songs that Jason believes could possibly remain in the setlist forever, with ‘Parasite’s throat-punching capabilities as an opener following close behind in the thought process. Adding and removing songs from a seven LP catalogue is not easy, so much so that a Bullet For My Valentine full album play-through could be on the cards in the future, just to give each and every song off the record the chance they deserve. “I’m sure that’ll be possible because this current production has a strong thread of imagery with the vibe of the album running through the whole campaign so perfectly.”
As well as getting to hit the stage again on their headline tour across the UK, Jason and the team were recently treated to a nine course meal at Master Chef winner Simon Wood’s restaurant on their stopover in Manchester. But what does the drummer of one of the biggest metalcore bands in the world order at such a fancy outlet? “Fish and chips. You think I’m joking, but it was small and done in a really peculiar way. Simon Wood is actually a metal fan. It was just an incredible experience to have those different vibes with eating food, because on the road most of us will have a plate of food, chomp it down, and then maybe go and have a snack 20 minutes later. God, this is turning into a fucking food programme. But it’s interesting that I felt more full than if I’d eaten a Sunday roast at the end of it.”
What kind of diets are to be consumed on the road isn’t often a thought that runs through the mind of a 14-year-old kid whilst they’re daydreaming about playing Wembley Arena though, inconvenient are the little everyday details of tour life. Whilst drumming wasn’t the first career aspiration Jason had, the creative subjects at school were still the gateway to what would eventually become his lifeblood, resulting in stints behind the kit for bands like Pitchshifter, This is Menace, Killing Joke, and AxeWound. “I wanted to be an illustrator when I was really young, and then I wanted to be a horror makeup effects artist. As it happened though, I got to middle school and I met a friend who was a drummer. I just got hooked on it, then more school work went out the window and it was the classic story of it being a bit of rebellion against mum and dad.”
The conversation turns to the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and the oh-so-delusional excitement of becoming an adult, especially in a world where Covid and the chances of isolation are around every corner. After the saddening loss of people in the rock and metal community like game-changing journalist Malcolm Dome, on top of the coronavirus horror stories from the past two years, it really does make you hold those you love closer and treat strangers with a little bit more care. But apart from that though, some valuable life lessons Jason has learnt about himself thanks to this new world we live in, is to be less selfish, to look after people more, and to genuinely engage and care about people. “You have to believe in yourself, because your personality is what you want to be. If you said, ‘I want to be the best journalist ever,’ that’s who you are. The only thing stopping you are emotions and external interferences. But it’s really important to show empathy to other people as well, isn’t it? Because the mental health thing is huge, and there’s a lot of people out there who you might think are normal on the outside, that they’re problem free. But there’s maybe nine out of ten people that’ve got something going on. It’s just understanding people, because humans need three things to be happy; food, shelter, and connection. Connections been robbed from us these past few years, and it certainly shows with what’s happening now as people have missed that connection so much. It’s damaging to keep your distance from people. My daughter had Covid about a month ago, and she’s only 11. She’s alright thankfully, but she had really nasty symptoms and couldn’t have a cuddle for 10 days. She was really emotional after that week, it was horrible.”