BMTH will always have fans who just want the heavy stuff. Do you get a thrill from subverting their expectation and making something they didn't think they'd like?
“I think it’s better to not think about it at all. The aim is to make something that we think is cool and that we haven’t done before. I’ve been in the band for 10 years now and the band’s been going for a long time, and you kind of realise it’s okay to have moments that aren’t for everyone. If every song is trying to appeal to 80-90 per cent of your fanbase, you’re going to end up making a lot of the same stuff. I just think that’s not a good recipe for a long and interesting career. Bands often go through phases, and that’s the same with a lot of bands that I like – there are times where I don’t vibe with certain stuff. Just from a creative point of view we try to keep it interesting, and there was a chance to make some poppier kind of music on this record. If we want to make a song with a big emo chorus, then why not? We’ve been in that world before with songs like Drown, but it feels fresh and it’s exciting for us to make.”
In the band's recent YouTube series, we see you tinkering away on songs in various green rooms and backstage areas around the world. Is that indicative of the creative process as a whole?
“That’s the main reason why it’s taken a lot longer than we thought it would to make this record. Since we started touring again, it’s been quite relentless for us, and I’ve got two children so I’m not willing to put everything second all the time anymore. A lot of the time we’d be touring and we’d go away and write for a few weeks, then we’d go back out on tour. For me, with two kids, that’s not going to work because I’d never see them. I’m away for six weeks touring, so when I come back I’m not going up to Sheffield – I’m not going to leave my house for a few weeks. That’s just me; everyone has their own commitments, and other people in the band have kids as well.
"We’ve been trying to do it more on tour so when we’re away we really are working. We have shows in the evening and all day we’ll be writing; we’ll bring someone to help us work on music which keeps things moving quicker, so we can write all day, then say, ‘Right, we’re gonna go play a show, you sort out that mess we made and tidy up those guitars or whatever.’ We’ve been working with Zakk Cervini – who does more than tidy up guitars – who mixed our last record and has been helping us produce, helps with the writing and is a really good guy to have around. On the last European tour we worked constantly for five weeks, so there’s not much daylight, but it does mean we’re moving the record along – otherwise it would be impossible with the amount of touring we’ve got and trying to be some kind of good dad on the side.”
