FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Drummer: Everyone Gets A Shot, But Only The Strong Survive

On August 3, Tree Riddle of the Flint, Michigan radio station Banana 101.5 Rocks conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer. You can stream the entire chat at this location. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow.

On the inspiration behind the band's new single, "Under And Over It":

"It was pretty much a tongue-in-cheek response to the haters that post stuff online It's just a response, a little back-handed slap to what we deal with daily reading stuff about us and the way people perceive us and things like that. It's all in good fun, I'm really proud of that song and I think that it's cool that we took a song that wasn't a safe radio approach. It's a little heavier than most things that are on the radio, so I'm really stoked about it being out there and being received so well."

On the band's upcoming album, "American Capitalist":

"There are a lot of heavy tracks it's pretty much everything and we didn't really break the mold as far as what we do. We are who we are at this point. There's gonna be some really emotional ballads, there's gonna be brutal heavy stuff, there's gonna be mid-tempo things; this pretty much covers the whole thing I'm excited about it. I think it sounds more mature. It's definitely where we are after all this time together and I'm excited for people to hear it. It's definitely my most difficult record to perform, drum-wise, which is why it's time for me to get busy learning it. I got two months so I'm gonna start today. I actually have to write a drum solo as well for the big tour I'm looking forward to it, though."

On FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's new bassist, Chris Kael:

"He was actually recommended by my drum tech, Saul. They've been good friends for 20 years. They grew up together in Kentucky, where Chris is from Chris has been out here in [Las] Vegas for a couple years and basically he had tried in numerous bands for years, like we all had, and he was close to just being done he went to see some show, I forget what it was and the light turned on like, "What are you doing? Dude, you gotta go for this DEATH PUNCH gig." He e-mailed Jason [Hook, guitar], so we set up an audition for him and he came down and was the best of anyone we auditioned. Instantly right away, I knew it. I looked at Zoltan [Bathory, guitar] and said, 'This is the guy, this is perfect' It just really lined up in our favor."

On working with producer Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE, IN THIS MOMENT) again:

"When I first started working with him, I told him, 'I'll never work with anyone else. You're in here for life.' We pretty much held him hostage, I love working with him he's incredible. He worked under Mutt Lange [DEF LEPPARD, AC/DC] for years, so he learned from the master of production, in my opinion. He's a drummer as well, so he and I really click and it's a pleasure to work with him because he's so talented and so cool. I can't imagine working with anyone else."

On how politics inspire the band's lyrical themes and album titles:

"Zoltan is certainly more into that than I am, I'm always practicing or doing stuff like that. The 'American Capitalist' thing for us is, like, everyone has a dream, everyone wants the good life, and if you work hard you can get there everyone gets a shot but, really, only the strong survive. You can either be the lion or the zebra. We're taking the lion approach; no prisoners."

"Under And Over It" audio stream: