LINKS:

fivefingerdeathpunch.com

myspace.com/ffdp

Sourcing the idea for their band’s name from Tarantino’s Kill Bill, this gang of five metal pugilists ended up reflecting the spirit of the film in more ways than one. Just like Tarantino’s latest creation, their music is at times uncompromisingly ruthless and brutal, and at others, remarkably beautiful and insightful. What’s more, being a thoroughly modern band, Five Finger Death Punch are not afraid to introduce to metal the eclectic and open approach which now dominates other forms of modern art, by taking on a variety of canonic genres and shaking them all up in an evocative and convincing mixture of styles. On their debut album, The Way of The Fist, growling vocal leads are contrasted with reflective, almost tender passages, soaring guitar solos are juxtaposed with nu-metal grooves, and symphonic passages interlock with thrash riffing. Released less than a year ago, it instantly stirred some action on the international metal scene, debuting in the Billboard Top 200 and hitting the #3 position on Billboard's New Artist/Heetseekers chart.

Touring with Korn, HellYeah, and Trivium in 2007 has added to the band’s already commendable credentials, and their participation in this summer’s Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour alongside Slipknot, Disturbed, Machine Head and Mastadon in July will no doubt help recruit a brand-new army of fans. Fans, however, is not something this band has ever been short of – an impressive MySpace following of devoted die-hard supporters who call themselves the Knuckleheads has helped sell over 100,000 records to date. Which, when you listen to the album, is not surprising at all. Just like the bride in the film who killed Bill with a “five-finger death punch”, the band bearing the same name is, too, equipped with everything necessary for success on their chosen path - speed, strength, agility, determination, stamina, timing, technique, and plenty of elements of surprise.

The band’s drummer, Jeremy Spencer, answered some questions for Crusher earlier this week, taking time from his schedule just before the band is due to hit the road with Disturbed later on this month.

ALISSA ORDABAI: Your band's music mixes a variety of styles: nu-metal, thrash, groove, hard rock, and it even has symphonic-sounding passages. What fuels your desire to explore and experiment with different genres?

JEREMY SPENCER: To me there are two kinds of music: good and bad. Whether a song has a particular flavor and another song has a different flavor is fine as long as it comes from a place that's real. We just try to create from a place that feels right to us.

AO: A web site dedicated to your band (www.5fdp.net) claims that its name defines its approach to the heavy metal industry. Is this so? And if it is, what alarms you the most about the current state of the industry these days?

JS: I think our approach is honest and unapologetic. We make music that we want to hear. In terms of today's record business, we can't control the industry. There are fewer record stores that are still standing today. I think it's very sad. Everything is just so processed and served up with a click of the mouse these days. I hope it recovers, but either way we will continue to do what we're doing.

AO: What do you think are the biggest challenges heavy metal musicians have to grapple with today?

JS: I think getting a song on the radio is tough if you're a metal band. We've been fortunate that our single, The Bleeding, has been really well received. It was tough at first to get radio to play it because it's aggressive music, but fortunately people have gotten past that. We're not about selling out by any means, but we definitely want to take metal to the masses again. I'm glad that we're getting to the point where we can play more great metal songs for more people, and I hope that trend continues.

AO: Five Finger Death Punch has been on the road with a number of big acts, Korn and HellYeah among them. Do you guys adopt anything from the approach of the other bands you are touring with, either consciously or perhaps unconsciously?

JS: When you tour with great bands like the ones you just mentioned, you learn a lot. They've developed the live show so well. You can see how they work the crowd and what works for them. It forces you to bring your "A" game every night.

AO: You have recorded a drum loop collection entitled The Drums from Hell: Hellacious Double Bass CD. What practical purpose does this CD serve to musicians?

JS: If you’re a guitarist or bassist who writes and records songs, but might not have a drummer or a studio available, you can put in the loop CD and have drum track instantly with the click of a mouse. I created Drums From Hell because there weren't any metal loop CDs out there, especially with lots of double bass stuff. I wanted to create something that might actually inspire someone to want to write and record. You can get the CD at www.drumsfromhell.com

AO: The band's MySpace following is pretty impressive. Do you think that the way people get into music these days is different from when you were a kid?

JS: Definitely. When I was a kid there was no internet. Nowadays, you can record a song, put it on MySpace and expose your band to thousands of people instantly. I think it's a great marketing tool. We definitely generated a lot of attention because of MySpace.

AO: How do your fans differ from how you related to music when you were growing up?

JS: The only difference I see is today our fans tattoo our logos on their bodies, haha! I would've never done that when I was growing up.

AO: Does the band have plans to release a new album any time soon?

JS: Not anytime soon. We just recorded some new material that might end up on a new album or maybe a soundtrack, who knows. We're still going to push The Way of The Fist for a while and expose it to as many new people as possible. Then we'll see where we are in terms of a new album.

(With new tour dates comes brand new music from Five Finger Death Punch. FFDP have announced the upcoming release of a bonus song called “Never Enough.” The song is available for free download exclusively to fans who have already bought their debut album, The Way of the Fist. To execute this giveaway, fans can go to fivefingerdeathpunch.com/bonus put their CD in the computer and there they will be able to download the song for free. )

AO: What goals were you setting for yourselves as a band when you were just starting out?

JS: We just wanted to make music that we wanted to hear and to put together a live show that has lots of infectious energy. We grew up on bands like old Metallica, etc., who had great focused albums and a great live show. They had the whole package. We wanted to do the same thing.

AO: Where do you see yourselves as a band in 10 years time?

JS: Hopefully still making music that we like and that people want to hear. With the music business these days, who really knows what will be happening ten years from now.

AO: FFDP is taking part in the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour this summer. What do you expect to accomplish by this?

JS: We expect to introduce ourselves to as many new people as possible and reconnect with all of our existing fans and friends! It should be a great time sharing the stage with some of today's greatest bands!