It was just over two years ago when I first saw Bullet For My Valentine play. Unfortunately at the time, I had not really heard too much from them. I drove 3 hours to their concert with my three friends, one of which was completely obsessed with them. The whole drive there he gushed over how awesome they were and told me everything there was to know about them.

I kept an open mind. While the opening bands played, the mosh pits grew and fans impatiently demanded that B4MV take the stage. I remember vividly that the lights began to dim and the crowd fell silent as the Wales rockers made their way out. As soon as the first chord was plucked, the crowd turned into a rabid fury of insane ADHD monkeys! The crowd swayed, suddenly someone’s feet were by my head, and my little obsessed friend was already at the front of the stage getting crushed. By the end of the eventful night, all I can say is that he was right. I limped out of the pit, smiling, and left the venue a new fan.

If you’re a fan (or want to be) read on while Jason talks with us about the new album, BulletTV, and their experience on Taste of Chaos!

S!: Your diary on your official site hasn’t been updated since Spring 2007, but your MySpace page has since then. Do you feel that MySpace has a bigger impact on reaching fans than an official site these days?

Jason James: Yeah, MySpace is huge, you know?  It’s like we’ve got thousands and thousands and thousands of people on our MySpace , so yeah, I think that’s an amazing way of reaching out to fans! We try and get on there [official site] as much as possible, but it’s hard on the road.  We don’t get much time during the day to sit down and do things like that, you know?  We do have people back home that take care of things for us and help us with it, but yeah…hopefully, we’ll be able to update it soon!

S!: On YouTube, you have BulletTV with comic trailers, music videos and recorded episodes. Who was the genius behind this?

JJ: That was kind of everyones idea. We have these comic reels and episodes of kind of random things. Like, if we go on tour and people are filming us, we put it on there. It is always fun to see how the fans react when they see things backstage and while we’re on the road.

S!: Your new single, “Waking The Demon” just hit the radio on April 7th. Do you believe this single will live up to “Scream Aim Fire”?

JJ: Yeah, I think so.  I think it’s a really strong song!  Personally, I know I’m in the band, but if I was an onlooker on this band, I would think that is is more on the metal side which is what I really like. I think it will reach out to some new fans being a bit more heavy. It is hopefully going to go out really really well.

S!: Of the seven music videos you’ve released, which video was your favorite to work on and why?

JJ: Um…hold on, let me think. They’re all pretty cool! “Waking the Demon” was kinda my favorite, I think, because it was really dark, and it was in the forest at like 2:00 in the morning, it was cold, but it was cool!

S!: You’re just about to finish Rockstar’s Taste Of Chaos Tour. How was the experience for you?

JJ: Everything’s been really really cool!  All of the bands have been great! We’ve really gotten to know who’s in what band and everything, especially with the J-rock bands. But yeah, we’ve hung out with Avenged, we’ve hung out with Atreyu, we have some drinks with them.  I’ve been hopping over to the Japanese bands’ busses and they’ve been giving me sake and getting me really drunk! They [The Underneath] actually got me really really drunk the other night and I passed out in their bus [laughs]. I was like “I’m not gonna drink sake with you guys again!”

S!: Oh! So their tour bus is fixed! I heard it had broke down at one point while on tour.

JJ: Yeah, it’s fixed. Then our bus broke down two days ago too. We were 90 miles outside of Las Vegas and it died. We had been on the bus for like, 13 hours and it broke down. We were all like “NOOOO!!!” But we were lucky because Atreyu picked us up and we all packed into their bus and put our gear in their trailer so it worked out. It was just a bit crowded. [Laughs]

S!: If you could put together your own dream tour, what bands would you include?

JJ: Wow!  Um…Rage Against The Machine, Stuck Mojo, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Slayer…

S!: I understand that the metal scene in Wales is more underground. Since breaking through, what inspiring words can you give to kids who are where you once were?

JJ: You can always hop from town to town around there but we had to go all the way to London. I’m not sure if all youngsters can do that but if you want to get out of it, you’ll have to keep moving! Get out to some bigger scenes like on the weekends and just practice through the week. Play as many shows as you can and get your name out there. Show dedication and be willing to sacrifice everything. Just practice and practice and practice! Get to where the scene is happening because nothing will ever come to that place. [Laughs] We were lucky that we got a break in London. If you want something bad enough and you try hard enough, you’ll get it.

• Official Site: http://www.bulletformyvalentine1.com
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/bulletformyvalentine