Interviews : Five Finger Death Punch (Jeremy Spencer) – 21/05/2009

Five Finger Death Punch maybe unfamiliar to many in Australia’s underground metal scene, yet their increasing record sales with mainstream audiences across the globe have dubbed them a new force to be reckoned with in the metal world.

Having toured with such big name acts as Lamb of God, Slipknot, Korn and Disturbed, their reputation has grown bigger and better every year.

Metal Obsession recently had the chance to speak with Jeremy Spencer about the bands first Australian tour, and the bands upcoming new album “War is the Answer”.

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MetalObession.net: Hi Jeremy, how are you?

Jeremy Spencer: I’m great, how are you?

MO: Not too bad.

JS: It’s a great sunny day here in Las Vegas.

MO: It’s overcast and foggy here in Melbourne this morning.

JS: I’m sorry.

MO Are you looking forward to the upcoming Australian tour?

JS: Absolutely. We’ve always wanted to play there and now we finally get the opportunity and we’re very excited. We have to take care of a few things before we get there but we’ll see you soon. We’re looking forward to it.

MO: What part of the tour are you looking forward to the most?

JS: I’ve always wanted to visit Australia, it’s always looked interesting to me seeing it on TV and stuff, and we also want to expose ourselves to brand new fans that may or may not have heard of us before, but we’re just excited to tour the whole world.

MO: What can Australian audiences expect from a 5FDP show?

JS: We are sincere, we’re energetic and we interact with the fans, we feed off the fans, the fans feed off us and it turns into one big energy ball of mayhem. We’ve seen people on stretchers getting carried out of there.

Our fans are pretty insane. We’re looking forward to the pit and having a great time.

MO: 5FDP were relatively unheard of in Australia up until the announcement of the tour. For those who have not previously heard of 5FDP, give a brief background of how 5FDP started.

JS: It started back in February ’05, I actually heard some of Zoltan’s demos and I really liked what I heard and we got together and started working on a few ideas. We started tracking the record before we even had a band. We had no deal, no band, nothing.

We just started tracking it, and then we got the other guys in, Ivan came in to audition for the band and we loved what he did so much that we cancelled his plane ticket and put him in the studio the following Monday. We basically held him hostage! And then we finished the record on our own and put up a couple of songs on our MySpace page, and it generated a lot of attention from a lot of people who like our sound and it caught the attention of a representative of our record label who came down to see one of our shows. They then put up a showcase for us and we were signed. We then went on tour with Korn on the Family Values tour after that and it just escalated from there.

MO: While we’re on the subject of MySpace, the first time I heard 5FDP was on Myspace. Do you think 5FDP would have progressed as far as it had if it wasn’t for Myspace, or even for the Internet?

JS: It’s hard to say, but certainly that’s how we got our start, so probably not. We put our songs up there and a lot of people started coming on board that were very interested in the band and people liked what they were hearing.

I think it’s a vital part. If you do it right, I wouldn’t rush anything, I wouldn’t put up demos or anything like that. We had a finished record and we put those songs up on MySpace. I think it can help bands tremendously, it worked for us.

MO: You’re currently working on your second album as we speak.

JS: Yes we are. We’re almost done with it, we’re scheduled for mixing in early June, so we’re very excited about it.

MO: The tentative title I heard is going to be “War is the Answer”.

JS: “War is the Answer”.

MO: Will Logan Mader be mixing and mastering this record?

JS: Actually no, we’re working with Randy Staub for this record. He’s done some great work. He worked on Metallica’s Black album, he’s worked with Nickelback. We think he’s amazing.

MO: Will you be playing some songs from “War is the Answer” at your Australian shows?

JS: I believe we will. We haven’t decided which ones just yet, we haven’t tested the material live, but we’ll figure it out and we’ll definitely be playing some songs off that.

MO: The song “Never Enough”, is one that many people can relate to, anyone who has had to deal with difficult people. Were the lyrics inspired by personal experiences?

JS: Ivan did write the lyrics, he generally writes about personal experiences so I’d say so. It’s a relatable topic, and something that he was feeling at the time. I would say yes.

MO: Are most of 5FDP’s lyrics inspired by personal experiences and philosophies?

JS: Yeah. Ivan writes the lyrics, and he always writes from the heart, what’s going on in his head and his life at the time.

MO: I heard through the Internet grapevine that Ivan will be appearing in an upcoming horror movie.

JS: Yeah, I think it’s already out on DVD and it’s called “Bled”. He played this monster, this crazy monster man, they had him in the make-up chair for six hours a day. He did a good job. I think it’s already available.

MO: What’s in store for 5FDP after the Australian tour?

JS: We’re coming back to the US for a week or two for pre-production for our headlining tour this fall. We will have a bit of time off and then we’ll jump into the American tour for the rest of the year to promote “War is the Answer”.

MO: Any last comments for the Australian fans?

JS: We’re looking forward to getting down there and hanging out with everyone, come check us out at the shows and see check out what a Death Punch show is all about and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone and having a good time.

MO: Thank you for taking the time for the interview.

JS: Thank you for taking the time for talking to me, I appreciate it.

MO:Looking forward to see you guys live in August!

JS: Cool, yeah it’s going to be fun.

Band: Five Finger Death Punch
Date: 21/05/2009
Origin: Los Angeles, United States
www.myspace.com/ffdp

Interviewer: Megan Masters
Interviewee: Jeremy Spencer (Drums)

Make sure to check Five Finger Death Punch on their first Australian tour this August.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – Australian Tour, August 2009
Thu 13th Aug – BRISBANE, Club 299
Fri 14th Aug – SYDNEY, The Metro (L/All Ages)
Sat 15th Aug – MELBOURNE, The Hi-Fi Bar

Tickets on sale now through Ticketek.com.au