FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Bassist Hopes His Band Can Follow In Footsteps Of BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael was interviewed on a recent edition of the "Talk Toomey" podcast. You can now listen to the chat using the widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH can follow in the footsteps of bands like KISS, BLACK SABBATH and IRON MAIDEN and become a huge festival- and arena-headlining act:

"Man, we are definitely poised. I mean, that's never something that you would expect or say, 'Oh, yeah, we're gonna be the next BLACK SABBATH.' I mean, fuck, I didn't think I was gonna be in the next DEATH PUNCH, let alone BLACK SABBATH, you know. But, I mean, we are in a position where we've got a ton of fans out there. We sold millions of records at this point. To me, bands like BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN… I mean, that's like… just in my own head, that's unattainable. Those are special bands and I definitely hold them up in high regard on the shelf. Would I like to be there? Fuck yes, I'd like to be there — playing those huge shows and stepping into those shoes and filling 'em. But, yeah, that's something that you really can't ever expect to happen; it just kind of happens. And that's based on the fans. I can't go out there and buy two million records, three million records. That's gotta be on the fans. I can't go out there and spend the money on the tickets to get everybody in there. That's a natural, organic thing that happens. We're good at what we do, a great live band, all great musicians… We put on a great show. We're doing everything we can possible to put on a good show for the fans and get those fans out there. So as long as the fans are out there supporting us, which they have been and we truly appreciate it. They keep on coming in droves and I always hear about us reaching new people. Even at the level that people perceive us being at right now, we're still gaining new fans, you know. So I'm hoping. Fingers crossed. It's not gonna be for lack of hard work, that's for damn sure."

On why FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is still selling a fair amount of records when so many other bands are not:

"I really don't know, honestly. I've wondered that myself. Again, [I'm] one hundred percent appreciative. But I think probably goes into, like… probably our personal connection with the fans. We're all in charge of our own social media outlets, so if you're following me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever, those are all run by us — it's not some P.R. marketing guy sitting in an office running things. That's actual us. So there's certainly a personal connection. And with social networking and the social media stuff these days, you really develop a feel for kind of having a friend in a band, and you always wanna support your friends. That's about the only thing that I can think of that would lend itself to the record sales that we're having, aside from the fact that we're putting out great songs and great records that we're putting a lot of work into. But I think that definitely… the skewed view that, if you… It's like a blurred reality these days, where if you're a friend of somebody on Twitter and Facebook and all that stuff, it's like you actually have a real friend, you know. And that connection is very strong with us. We're very active, very involved, and we do have that kind of connection. And, like I said, I think people just wanna help their friends. And luckily, we've got a lot of friends out there. [Laughs]."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's new album, "Got Your Six", entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 2, selling 119,000 copies in its first week of release. This was the band's third straight No. 2 debut, following both volumes of "The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell" in 2013. "Got Your Six", however, did rack up the band's best single sales week ever, surpassing the 112,000 copies sold of "The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Volume 1", in its first week.

Each of FIVE FINGER's previous albums has been certified gold in the U.S. for sales of 500,000 copies or more.

"Got Your Six" is the band's sixth studio effort and features the top rock single "Jekyll And Hyde".

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is currently on a co-headlining fall tour with PAPA ROACH.