A Bullet For Pretty Boy | Ready For Press
lectrically charged and intensely passionate, A Bullet for Pretty Boy are right where they need to be: poised to join the ranks of tour mates such as We Came as Romans as one of the fastest growing melodic hardcore acts around. If 2010 belonged to the Romans, then 2011 is already reserved for the meteoric rise of A Bullet for Pretty Boy. Armed with a new record from Artery Recordings entitled Revision: Revise, the sometimes misunderstood misnomer won’t be under your radar for much longer. Guitarist Christian Johnston recently gave us a great profile of what the band is all about as well as clearing up any false rumors as to why the band chose their controversial name. Check out our thoughts on Revision: Revise in our Reviews section.
First off, I know you guys get a lot of grief over the name of your band as it can be construed as blatantly scene and anti-bro but the real meaning behind it is pretty cool. Can you take a second and explain how it was chosen?
Christian Johnston: (Laughs) Yes, we definitely get a lot of grief over our band name. We were in a rush to name our band to enter some battle of the bands. We were searching names on the internet when we ran across “A Bullet for Pretty Boy.” It is a classic movie about Pretty Boy Floyd. We read the summary of the movie and liked the story. It showed how a few decisions could change your entire life. We didn’t really think about the bad things it could be made out to mean. We have had people think up some pretty strange meanings for the name. Some people thought we hated gay people (laughs). We even thought about changing it a few years ago, but we never did. One good thing about our name is that it attracts attention. It isn’t always positive attention but attention nonetheless.
Now that that is out of the way, the first time I heard of you guys and saw you live was while you were on tour with Asking Alexandria. Not only was your music engaging but you openly spoke about your faith from the stage. What kind of reaction do you get from fans on tours such as this when you bring that up?
“Even if the crowd isn’t really into our faith, they usually have respect for our beliefs. We just want kids to feel comfortable to come talk to us.”CJ: We usually get a pretty positive reaction from it. Even if the crowd isn’t really into our faith, they usually have respect for our beliefs. We just want kids to feel comfortable to come talk to us. We would like to share our faith to those who want to hear it, but we would love to talk to kids about anything really.
Has your faith always been something you knew you wanted to share from the stage?
CJ: Ever since this band started, we decided to make faith a very central part of it. Some of us had been in bands where our message wasn’t the most important thing and just felt like we needed to make it about more in this band.
Catch our readers up a bit on the history of A Bullet for Pretty Boy? You seem to be one of those quality bands who has been under the radar for awhile.
CJ: Believe it or not we have been a band for about four years. We were doing it for fun until we decided to record an EP. We decided to take the band more seriously. Some members weren’t ready for that so we had a few line-up changes including the addition of our current front-man Danon Saylor. Danon has been in the band ever since our first release so he feels like an original member. We released our EP in the spring of 2008. Some of our members were still in high school so our touring was limited to school breaks like summer and spring break. The youngins graduated in 2009. We decided to make the band a full time thing. A few months after that we got in touch with Artery Management and started working with them. A few months after that, we were added to the brand new Artery record label. Ever since we got on Artery a lot of awesome things have happened. We have gone on tour with Asking Alexandria, We Came as Romans and Demon Hunter. We have released our first full-length CD. So hopefully we won’t be under the radar for too much longer (laughs).
What do you think it is about you guys that set you apart from similar bands such as We Came as Romans?
CJ: I think we mix some elements and influences in a way that is unique. Just like We Came as Romans have their unique twist on it through their orchestral parts; we have a unique twist with our ambient parts and our fast and thrashy aggressive parts.
Talk to me about Revision: Revise. There are some brutal songs on this record coupled with some very beautiful parts. What does this record mean to you guys and what was it written for?
CJ: It means that we have something that represents our sound as of now. Our EP had been our only release for nearly three years. We have evolved so much as a band since the EP. It is really nice to have something that we are proud of selling and showing people.
It’s cool to see more and more quality bands coming from Artery Recordings but it was always my understanding that it was only a management company. How has Artery been for you guys? Are you still in the market for a label or does Artery take care of all those needs as well?
CJ: The Artery Foundation is well-known for managing bands like The Devil Wears Prada, Attack Attack! and DanceGavinDance. About a year ago Artery created a record label with Razor and Tie. Razor and Tie is known for having Norma Jean, All That Remains, Brand New and even Kidz Bop on their roster. The partnership gives the advantages of big label and small label. We were one of the first bands on the label. So far Artery has been awesome to us. They got us on the Asking Alexandria tour when we didn’t even have a full-length out or even a booking agent. They take care of all of the label stuff and management which is awesome because we can just go to our manager about label stuff instead of going through several people to figure stuff out. They really know what they are doing.
What are some of your favorite tracks off the new record and why? I’ve really been digging “Voices and Vessels”. What does this group of songs mean to you?
CJ: I think everyone in the band has different favorite songs. Personally, I really like “Voices and Vessels,” “Revision:Revise,” and “I Will Destroy the Wisdom of the Wise.” I think they represent everyone in the band’s influences the best.
What is the plan for A Bullet for Pretty Boy once the record comes out?
CJ: Tour Tour Tour! We have a few scheduled and some more in the works. In November and December we are touring with Greeley Estates, Vanna, and Tides of Man which should be awesome! It will be the first time to see legit snow for some of us. Then in January we are hitting the road with Silverstein, Miss May I, Pierce the Veil and The Chariot. We are so excited for that tour. It is such an honor to be able to tour with such amazing bands! Not to mention most of us have been listening to Silverstein ever since their first full-length.
Anything else you’d like to add?
CJ: Check out our tour dates and come hang out with us! We’d love to meet you. 
