Matt Tuck of Bullet for My Valentine says the touring lifestyle is “not for everyone”: “It takes its toll, both physically and mentally.”

Matt Tuck the Welsh metal band BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE was a guest on a recent episode of Occupy The Void With Xtina and Tim, a new podcast about mental health, music making and survival, hosted by Christina Rowatt And Tim CharlesViolinist and singer of the Australian NE OBLIVISCARIS. You can now listen to the complete 44-minute episode on Spotify. Some of the highlights can be found in the YouTube Clip below.

Tackling the challenges of touring life, Put said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “This lifestyle and what we do as a touring band is not for everyone. We're lucky enough to be a worldwide act, which is a great thing. We've worked really hard to achieve that. But yeah, the traveling, the planning, all of those things take their toll, physically and mentally. It's hard to deal with. We've adapted to it. We've had a career of almost 20 years now, so we know how to deal with it by now. But back in the early days, the first couple of album cycles, it was really hard. The physical side was one thing, but I really struggled with it. [mentally]. It was about adjusting to all that – just the lifestyle of being a successful rock band on tour was like a car crash and a beautiful thing at the same time. It all comes together. It's just hard.”

When asked if the experience had made adjusting to the touring lifestyle easier or if he and his bandmates had had internal discussions about how to deal with it, the BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE The frontman said: “Like I said, we've had a career of almost 20 years now, so we've just learned over time how to deal with certain things and how to adapt in the future so that we don't have as many problems as we used to. And it's just about tempering yourself, managing the lifestyle and not drinking too much. We used to really let it rip and party and just enjoy life and the experiences. I think everyone does that in the early stages of a career.

“If you want to make a career out of it, there comes a point where you have a conversation that says, 'Okay, we need to ease up on this a little bit. We need to take this a little bit more seriously,'” he explained. “If anything, it's for your health and not for your career, because it will get you and ruin you if you're not careful.”

Put also said that BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE has managed to exceed all expectations and become one of the most successful British metal acts of the new millennium. He said: “I couldn’t be prouder of myself, my bandmates and the whole team that BULLET for a very long time. We put everything on it with the risk of no reward, super high risk, potentially no reward. But that's what we were willing to do. We were so excited about the band, about the potential that we had, and we knew it was going to be hard work and a long road, but it's OK. But yeah, we didn't care. We had the experience of traveling the world with our best friends, playing music that you made yourself, in front of people singing along. And that was the reward at that point. It was just about getting to that point, and that was the struggle. But luckily we're still here and we're still going strong, better than ever. We're still writing the best music we've ever produced. And we control everything now, which is great, whereas in the early days you're just told, 'This is what's going on,' and you just hope for the best.”

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE And TRIVIUM recently announced the continental European dates for “The poisoned supremacy” Tour.

“The poisoned supremacy” will start at the end of January 2025 for six shows in the UK, before the two bands together with the support act ORBIT CULTUREhead to mainland Europe for 18 more concerts.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE And TRIVIUM celebrates the 20th anniversary of the “The Poison” And “Superiority” The newly announced shows begin on February 2nd in Düsseldorf and end at the end of the month in Madrid, Spain.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE released the deluxe version of his latest self-titled album in August 2022 via Spine farm/Search and DestroyThis expanded release included four brand new titles, plus “Stitches”a song that was previously only available exclusively in Japan. After the release on CD and digitally, a vinyl pressing was released in November 2022.