FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's JEREMY SPENCER On Memphis Onstage Meltdown: 'It Was An Off Night'

June 14, 2015

Hayley Leggs of TotalRock Radio conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer at the 2015 edition of the U.K.'s Download festival, which is being held this weekend in Donington Park. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked about about the rumors that FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was on the verge of splitting up following the band's abbreviated performance last month in Memphis, Spencer said: "It's not a big deal. We were getting ready to go on. It was a festival show, and there were thousands of people there. We were really struggling getting our in-ear monitors figured out and the monitors squared away; we were just having sound problems. We started getting… We started bickering amongst ourselves, kind of fighting, before we went on. And then Ivan [Moody, vocals] maybe took it a little harder than the rest of us. And, you know, he's an emotional guy; you get what you get with him, and that's the same in the songs. If he's pissed off, you're gonna know about it; if he's happy about something, you'll know about that."

He continued: "But the show just… it was an off night, and we were just kind of taking it out in the wrong way on stage towards each other, maybe. And it just… We weren't proud of it. It was one of those things. But, you know, one time in ten years to have an off night and fight amongst family, it happens. The fans certainly didn't deserve to have to be a part of that, and we're not happy about it. We hope we can go there and make it right at some point. But, you know, we are human, and it was one bad night. We certainly apologize, and we hope to make it up to them."

Jeremy added: "We've been together ten years. It's a long relationship. Some days are better than others. Some days we're gonna have fights, man. That's just how it goes."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook recently blamed alcohol and lingering resentment over Spencer's book for the Memphis incident, telling the "Three Sides Of The Coin" webcast that "what happened, in my estimation, was that for whatever reason Ivan decided to get shitfaced drunk — I'm probably not supposed to be talking about this — but he started to lose his temper onstage towards, basically, the rest of us, being the band. And, you know there's only so much of that we can handle... Jeremy decided that he had enough and he got up and left. Well, it's pretty hard to play a concert without the drummer."

Hook promised that, "That's the first time that's ever happened and that will be the last time that's ever happens because we've talked about it quite a bit and that's just unacceptable, and I think everyone understand that it's never to happen again."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory, meanwhile, told The Pulse Of Radio the incident was blown out of proportion online by fans who felt the group was in trouble. "In 10 years, how many shows we've played, I have no idea, but way over 1,000, probably 2,000 shows," he said. "We had one show when things weren't going our way, and from this band that's kind of a surprise... And the first time in history we had one of those and immediately it was like, people were like, 'Omigod, they're breaking up!' Dude, it's one show out of thousands and thousands... It's rock 'n' roll, you know? Shit happens. And we had one of those, and because this band is so well known about being an absolute machine on stage, immediately the rumor was, 'Omigod, I think they're breaking up!'"

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH began a European run on May 30 at the Rockavaria festival in Munich, and will kick off a North American tour with PAPA ROACH on September 4 in Lexington, Kentucky. The group's sixth album, "Got Your Six", comes out August 28.

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