Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Five Finger Death Punch - Jeremy Spencer

Five Finger Death Punch is a metal band that has achieved mainstream success on its own terms, self-financing and producing its 2007 debut, The Way of the Fist, and touring relentlessly in support of it for nearly two years. The hard work translated into hit singles at rock radio and a No. 7 debut on the Billboard 200 for its sophomore release, War Is the Answer. About 10 days into the band’s headlining tour of the United States, dubbed the Shock and Raw Tour, with support from Shadows Fall and Otep, drummer Jeremy Spencer checked in with Live-Metal.net’s Greg Maki..

Live-Metal.net: I saw the news yesterday, No. 7 on Billboard with the new album. Congratulations.

Jeremy Spencer: Thanks so much, man. We’re so happy. It’s awesome.

A few years ago, when you were putting together this band, I’m sure you were hoping for success like that, but did you think that kind of mainstream success would be coming for this band?

Well, certainly we always dreamed of that, but we didn’t know exactly if it would. You just never really know. Once we got in the game and released our debut album, I think it sold about 3,000 copies the first week, so we were like, “Wow, there’s a long road ahead of us.” [laughs] So when we got the top seven yesterday, we were like, “Wow.” That’s a great feeling.

What is your take on the title of the album, War Is the Answer? I’ve heard from [guitarist] Zoltan [Bathory] on this one and I was wondering what you make out of it.

Well, I mean, sometimes you have to throw a grenade in the kindergarten. No, I’m kidding.

I’m just kidding. My take is, basically, if you believe in something and it feels right to you, if somebody opposes your beliefs, man, you have to stand up and fight for what you believe in. So war is the answer. I don’t mean necessarily violence, but you just have to stick to what you believe, man. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

So going into this album, the writing and recording of it, as a band what did you want to accomplish and do you feel like you did that?

Basically, we wanted to accomplish the whole package, man. We wanted to have good songwriting that focused on good song structures, good choruses, good lyrics, good melodies. And we also wanted to have a good live show and good merchandise—just the whole package, man. We were fans of bands growing up like Metallica, Iron Maiden, bands like that, that had the whole package. So that was kind of what we wanted to do.

Back when you started working on the first album, it was basically just you and Zoltan. I noticed that on just about every song on this one all five of the band members have songwriting credits. Was it hard for you to sort ease off the reins a little bit and let some other people in or was it fun?

No, it was fun actually, and it was different. We had been touring together for a couple years and we kind of learned—we grew as a band, kind of learned what to do, what not to do. When we came together to do the second record, everything was flowing. So it just kind of happened. It wasn’t hard at all.

It’s a more diverse album than the first one. Is that kind of a product of all the different viewpoints?

Yeah, I think so. And it was just a more mature record. We’ve grown together over the last couple years. We’ve evolved and that’s what came out, and we’re happy with it. It wasn’t contrived or anything. Really, all we were striving for was, we wanted to have a good balance of melody and aggression. We didn’t want to make a record where every song was the same and the listener gets bored after four songs and turns it off. We wanted to take them on a journey. So we think we accomplished that.

I was trying complement what the song needed. I didn’t want to do shredding that was unnecessary just to shred. I wanted to complement what each section needed in the song. So I just tried to make drum parts that were hooks, just like a vocal or a melody.

Almost a year ago now, there was a lineup change in the band. How much of an impact has that had, both in the studio and onstage?

It’s a different dynamic, and I’ve known Jason [Hook] for years. He and I have worked on different projects together, and when it was time to make a change, I knew he’d be the right guy, personality-wise and playing-wise. I certainly think his solos are great. I think he did a great job and he added some great ideas to the record. His dynamic is great. He works great onstage, everyone gets along. It’s great. He’s a great guy and we’re thrilled that he’s with us.

Last year, I saw you guys play the “Bad Company” cover live a couple times, so I was excited to see it make it onto the album. I guess what’s cool about it is it’s kind of an unexpected choice for a band like yours. So how did you get to covering that song?

Well, actually, our old guitar player, Darrell [Roberts], brought that to the table. We were tossing around cover ideas and it’s hard for everyone to agree on one thing. That was so left field that we were like, “Yeah, let’s try it. Why not? Let’s do that.” It’s a cool song. I never really jammed it or anything. I wasn’t a huge fan of it or anything like that, but we just kind of gave it the Death Punch style and went with it, and it turned out to be pretty cool.

Yeah, you’ve really made it your own. To me, it’s almost like if you didn’t know it was a cover song, you would think it’s a Death Punch original.

Yeah, that’s cool and that’s fine with us. We wanted to make it our own because covering songs, why do it the exact same way? They’ve already done it that way and they’re probably gonna do it better because it was them that created it. Why not put your spin on it? Which is what we did.

Earlier when you were talking about the total package, you mentioned the artwork. I really like the artwork and photos on the new album. How important is that to the overall total package, do you think?

I think it’s very important because if you have something that people can relate to, kind of like Iron Maiden has their Eddie or whatever, we have our guy. You see that instantly and you know who it is. So I think it’s very important. Zoltan does the artwork and he does all of our merchandise, and he does a great job.

You never know, man. [laughs] That may happen. There’s no plans right now, but maybe one day we’ll get there.

Was the photo shoot where you’re all decked out in the military gear, was that fun to do?

That was fun. We were over in the U.K. when we did that, and it was cool, man. They got out all this gear and painted us up in this makeup and stuff. It was fun, man, and I thought the photos turned out really cool.

You worked with a couple pretty big names on this album, [producer] Kevin Churko and [mixer] Randy Staub. What was it like to work with them? What did they bring to the project?

Kevin is amazing. He’s an up-and-coming guy. He did the Ozzy Black Rain record, he’s doing the new Ozzy. When we got the chance to work with him, it was a great addition because it’s a guy that can look at everything objectively, stand back, process everyone’s ideas and bring it all together. He’s super talented, man. I never want to work with anyone else. I love him. I think he’s great. And Randy’s track record [Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Nickelback] speaks for itself. His mixes are great. So we’re happy, man. It turned out really good.

Last week, the headlining tour, the Shock and Raw Tour, started. How’s it been going so far?

Great. Off and running. Lots of people coming out. Everyone’s having a good time. We’re excited to be back out and we’re gonna be doing it for a while. There’s a second leg coming at the first part of next year of Shock and Raw, so we’re gonna be doing it for a while.

Does it take some time to kind of get your touring legs back and break in the new songs?

It did take a couple shows, but we’ve got it now. It’s happening. [laughs]

When you’re playing new songs live for the first few times, do you find that you sort of learn different things about them, different things that you like or songs that you end up liking more live than you thought you would or anything like that?

Yeah, because you have to figure out how to move to the song. It’s a whole bunch of things that come into play. Sometimes you have change certain parts that may have worked in the studio but don’t work live necessarily or whatever. It’s always kind of a fun experiment.

I’m sure when you’re out there on tour it can get pretty crazy at times. What do you do to kind of keep yourself grounded and healthy, physically and mentally?

Well, you can’t burn the candle at both ends, for sure, every night. There are nights when you have to pick and choose. All of us are on our computers a lot. We try to do some working out if we can. The main thing is just trying to get rest ‘cause you need energy, man. So you’re always taking vitamins, just trying to get as much sleep as you can. Also, I like to watch football personally. That always keeps my attention, but you only get it a couple days a week.

My college team is Nebraska , and my pro team is the Arizona Cardinals.

Oh, it definitely ripped my heart out of my ass. [laughs] I won’t lie there, man. That killed me.

I live in Maryland and I’m a Baltimore Ravens fan, and of course our big rival is the Steelers. So that killed me, too, watching that.

Yeah, I was really hoping that you guys could take ‘em out ‘cause I didn’t want to play the Steelers. [laughs] But that’s OK.

When you’ve got Shadows Fall and Otep—veteran, established bands who are gonna bring their own fans out—and they’re opening for you, does that give you a little extra motivation?

Well, we always try to bring our A game, just because the fans deserve it. We want to do the best we can. The fact that they’re great bands with great songs and a following and a history—I guess naturally you just kind of get fired up to follow ‘em. But they’re great. We’re thrilled to have ‘em out here. Everything’s working out and they’re a lot of fun to watch.

After this leg, you’re heading back over to Europe in November. You did a bunch of touring over there earlier this year. How was that experience?

It was cool. The record didn’t come out in Europe until just a few months ago—the first record.. It had been out here for a couple years, so when we went there, we were like, “I wonder if people are even gonna know anything about us?” We were surprised, man. They were singing the lyrics during the shows and definitely right in the pits getting into it. So we were well received and we’re looking forward to going back. We did Download this summer and that was an awesome experience, almost 50,000 people chanting Five Finger Death Punch even before we started. So it was cool.

Looking back at The Way of the Fist more than two years later, are you as happy with it now as you were when you recorded it? Is there anything you wish you could change?

Absolutely not. I love it. I’m very proud of that record. It was the first thing and it was what helped us get to where we are now. It’s been a fun ride building this thing from the beginning up to where we are now. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Are you looking at another two years on the road for this new album, do you think?

I would imagine we’ll probably be out through the end of next year, for sure.

It looks the next single’s gonna be “Walk Away.” I don’t know when we’ll get to doing the video. Since we’re out here, we may have to just do while we’re out here. I’m not for sure how that’s gonna work, but I think “Walk Away” is the plan for the next single.

I think that’s about all the questions I have for you right now. I’ll be coming out next Friday in Baltimore to your show there.

Just thanks to everyone for buying the new record, War Is the Answer. We’re thrilled that we had a top seven debut. I think it’s important for heavy music. Come out to the shows, we look forward to hanging out with you and that’s pretty much it.