FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Drummer Is 'Digging' Music That Has Been Written For Next Album

Kaaos TV conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer prior to the band's June 30 concert at Provinssi in Seinäjoki, Finland. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the progress of the writing sessions for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's next album:

Jeremy: "Well, we just have recently started, so it's kind of in the beginning stages, but I'm digging what I'm hearing so far. It's always fun to see where the band's going and to hear new material and creating new stuff all the time, so we'll see how it goes. Right now, things are turning out well, though. But it's the beginning stages. It's been a few weeks. It's definitely in the infant stages. But, you know, so far so good."

On FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook's recent comment that he had at least three albums' worth of new material ready to be worked on:

Jeremy: "Well, I mean… maybe. There's always ideas being tossed around; somebody's always working on something. I wouldn't say that there's three complete albums ready to go, but there's definitely lots of starter ideas and stuff like that. And the new material so far is… I'm digging it. So we'll see where it goes."

On how involved he is in the FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH songwriting process:

Jeremy: "I'm usually involved in as many aspects of it as possible. Jason or Zo [guitarist Zoltan Bathory] will have a riff, or Jason and I will jam and come up with an idea, or Zo and I, or something like that. But Ivan's [Moody, vocals] usually the last piece of the puzzle; he'll put his lyrics on top of whatever music we create. And he's usually pretty good in solving the puzzle, you know. If he ever gets stuck, then we all kind of chime in and help him here and there, but he's usually pretty solid in that department."

On whether FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's next album will be released through the band's new label, Rise, or if it will be made available via Prospect Park:

Jeremy: "Yeah, we have one final album due on Prospect Park, so as of now, it's scheduled to be released on Prospect Park."

On the legal battle with Prospect Park:

Jeremy: "I really don't even know what's happening with that at this point. So right now, we're just making music and doing what we do, and all that stuff will play itself out."

On how the other members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH are doing their best to help Ivan Moody — who has been struggling with substance abuse — battle "his demons" on tour:

Jeremy: "Well, I've been sober four and a half years, so I don't drink. I'm probably the most boring now. Anytime there's a day off or downtime, I'm by myself in a hotel room just relaxing and recovering, just to get my body recovered to play the show the next day. 'Cause playing a lot of double-bass drumming kind of takes a toll on the body, so I just like to relax and be by myself and chill. I used to really tear it up, though, and do all that partying stuff when we first started, but at some point, you're, like, 'Okay, I can't keep doing this if I want to take this serious,' so I made a decision years ago to stop that.

"We always try to be supportive, and the guys did that for me too when I was getting sober. We're here for each other, and if somebody needs support, we're always there to lend a helping hand and to help people through their tough times. Yeah, we definitely try to not do anything that's gonna put him at risk or do anything that could jeopardize the project. So we're all supportive of each other that way."