Bloodsimple (above left) are four lovely young chaps from New York, USA. They play rhythmic, brutal, “fuck-you-I’m-going-to-cave-your-mum’s-face-in” metal. After signing a deal with major record label Warners in 2007, relentless touring ensued, followed by a highly-anticipated sophomore album release in October last year. Now preparing to launch their scathing sonic assault upon the shores of the UK alongside old friends Avenged Sevenfold (above right), we catch up with vocalist Tim Williams for a chat about the band’s progression over the years, horror flicks, Afghanistan and Iraq, and his love of British grub.

Interview by Achal Dhillon

You’re about to tour the UK in support of the new record, Red Harvest, with Avenged Sevenfold – are you looking forward to doing that?
Definitely. We’ve played the UK a couple of times, we’re always pretty excited to get over there. We’re really looking forward to it.

Do you get on with the Avenged Sevenfold boys?
Oh yeah – we did a date with them before at the London Astoria, way back. So we got to know them pretty well. Then we got to do a bunch of festivals with them, so now we’re actually good friends with those guys. Y’know, we’re drinking buddies!

How does the sound of your new album compare with the debut?
It seems, to me, more focused, a ‘more alive’-sounding record. It just breathes better. Heavy, but in a different kind of way. I think it really defines the Bloodsimple sound.

Sounds like you’ve progressed quite a bit – do you feel completely removed from what some people describe as Bloodsimple’s previous incarnation, Vision of Disorder?
I wouldn’t say that. Wherever I go, that name always seems to come up! I don’t think there’s too much of an influence from VOD on this new record, which kinda makes sense – only me and Mike [Kennedy, guitarist] were in VOD. I’d say we’ve moved on.

You managed to get the renowned metal producer Machine to work on this album – how’d that come about?
I’ve known Machine for a long time. We’ve done a bunch of projects together; he even did the demos that led to Bloodsimple getting signed. The guy doesn’t live too far from me, it’s like he’s one of the guys, so we’ve kinda wanted to go along with him for a long time.

Your name’s derived from a term describing the mindset of those stuck in a violent situation for a prolonged period of time – are you a big horror movie fan?
Oh yeah! I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a good horror movie, as long as it’s made right! I like the old kind of horror movies, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare On Elm Street. Recently, I really liked [Rob Zombie’s horror opus] House of a Thousand Corpses and Devil’s Rejects. I like the suspense horror, like the ones that make you scared to go home afterwards. It’s cool to see that horror’s made a big comeback, but kinda disappointing ’cause it’s in a very different style.

You’re getting geared up to fly out over here in a few days time – will your label be flying you over first-class in true rock and roll style?
C’mon! Let’s be serious, this is the music business we’re talking about! We’re lucky enough just to be put on an airplane!

Can you tell us a bit about the Family Values tour you did quite recently? Rumour has it you got the call to play the tour literally the night before it was due to start.
Yeah, that was fun! It was really last-minute and at first we thought “there’s no way we can do that”. But it turned out it was set up really well, it was a really awesome run. It came through New York about halfway through the tour, so we got to see our friends, which was really cool. We got a really awesome tourbus too which always helps! In fact, I don’t think we had one bad show. Each one was phenomenal.

I suppose being added at such short notice you might not have been physically or mentally prepared for such a big tour.
It was actually a lot better than I thought it was gonna be! Each time we played there was a ton of people watching, really enthusiastic. I mean, we were expecting most people to just kinda be standing there, doing nothing, but we found it was just a shitload of kids who just wanted to have a good time, y’know? It was great, we got to meet a bunch of people, loads of kids came down to check us out, it was really awesome. Hopefully this tour will go down as well as that. It was truly a great experience.

Any rock’n’roll stories from the road?
Oh, there’s all sorts of stuff. A bunch of us on Thanksgiving, we just got off tour with Hell Yeah! A bunch of us ended up at [famed metal drummer/producer] Vinnie Paul’s for the holidays, I mean we were actually at his house! There was a ton of food, we just fuckin’ feasted!

How do you usually conduct yourselves on the road? Any pre-show rituals?
Yeah – we listen to really loud music and drink a lot of beer. Every single night before we go on stage. Livin’ the dream. Wherever we go, there’s always free beer and towels – what more do you need? I really can’t wait to get over to the UK. I mean for two whole weeks all I’m gonna do is eat fish and chips and drink some beer!

Are you a big fan of English food?
Oh yeah, I like English breakfast, fish and chips. You’ve got killer Indian food over there too, so I’m looking forward to that. You can’t go wrong, really.

Where do you see yourselves after touring for this album?
We’ve got lots more touring to do. We don’t want to be boring and follow the whole “album-tour” pattern, we want to be a little smarter than that. In between we’re gonna remix one of the songs, Dead Man Walking, and shoot a video for that, which is the next hurdle. Then, believe or not, after that we’re gonna try to put together a small, one-week tour of Afghanistan and Iraq!

You’re joking!
Not joking at all. Mike’s brother is in the military, that’s what kinda gave us the idea. We’re just gonna see if we can pull it off, y’know, nothing crazy. Although the military will hopefully fly us around in the helicopters which will be pretty cool! We’ll probably come back to Europe and the UK after that to do some festivals in the summer.

What do you think of the number of old bands reforming these days; do you think they can retain their credibility, or is it just some con to get people to pay to see old has-beens?
I think in a lot of cases it’s inevitable. VOD’s reformed a few times for some one-off shows. It’s mainly cos we’re all bro’s and we like doing it, but at the same time there’s a lot of public demand for VOD. We got a live DVD coming out soon, so it’s likely we’ll do a couple of shows for that. It’d be a shame to let it go, and we’re not gonna, but I think it’s important not to beat a dead horse at the same time. So it’s just going to be a couple of shows, nothing too major. Kinda like Led Zeppelin. Led Zep can do whatever they wanna do, cos they’re Led Zeppelin. Not too sure about the Spice Girls though…

Who’s the hardest band in metal, and why?
There’s one band who, I think, represent every meaning of the word 'hard' – they’re from Long Island, NY, and they’re called Disciplinary Action. They were a hardcore band, back in the day when hardcore was hardcore. These guys were the scariest four people to ever get on stage! They put out a couple of 7-inches I think, but when they got on stage…Man, these guys just lived and breathed hard. Four beefed-up, skin-headed fucking nut jobs!

What did you get for Christmas?
I got a free lift ticket to the mountains, so I could go snowboarding. I’m a snowboarding fanatic. I got this funny thing from my sister, it’s an aftershave called “Really-Ripped-Abs”. It really works, I’ve been using every day to get my abs tightened up for every show!

Did you give any presents to the rest of the band?
The band? Fuck those guys!

Did you make any resolutions for the new year?
My resolutions never work. Fuck that shit man. As far as I’m concerned, it’s another day, another year. Another day closer to death! Just get out there, live life, work, love, eat, drink, snowboard and play music. That’s it man.

What will 2008 bring for the world?
I hope in the US we elect a new President, I mean I hope we get a good one. For Bloodsimple, it’s just more touring, hopefully we’ll get to do another record. That’s all that really matters man.