FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Drummer Says Playing In Kuwait Was 'Incredible'

Joe Daly of The Nervous Breakdown recently conducted an interview with drummer Jeremy Spencer of Las Vegas metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Nervous Breakdown: You just got back from Kuwait. Tell us about that.

Jeremy: It was incredible. We went to Iraq in 2010, as it's the least we can do to give back to those guys, because they're over there sacrificing their family lives and they don't get a lot of entertainment, so they were stoked when we got there. I love everything about it, minus the twenty-hour flight each way. But once I shook that off, the shows were great and meeting all the troops was really cool. It's something that we'll end up doing again, because we get great feedback and it means a lot to them. It's awfully tough to travel over there, but we like to do it when we can, so maybe we'll be back in another couple years or something.

The Nervous Breakdown: Last time I saw you guys, "American Capitalist" hadn't dropped yet. It eventually entered at number 3, selling 91,000 copies that week. How did that feel?

Jeremy: It was incredible. We were always joking, "Wouldn't it be cool if nobody else released anything that week and we snuck into the No. 1 spot?" But then it almost happened! We lost out to Adele, who's been selling so many records and beating everyone, and then EVANESCENCE came out that week, and they're a pretty popular group, so we ended up in third, but I'll take that. We're extremely humble and grateful. It's weird to see all these pop artists, country artists and R&B artists beneath us on the list, so it was great company in the top ten. We got to do it once and if it happens again, it would be incredible.

The Nervous Breakdown: A lot of readers underestimate how hard it is to be on the road.

Jeremy: Yeah, I imagine a lot of people at the end of their eight-hour work day, they go home and lay down on their couch or whatever, but we get in the bus with each other and ride to the next state. It's a little challenging, because we're older and set in our ways, so after a certain amount of time, the way someone eats their cereal will annoy you. You have to learn how to process things and understand what it really means, and you've got to have a sense of humor, which we all seem to have. There's times when we want to get away from each other, but that's natural. This is great, though. It's like camp and we're little kids in the candy store, having a great time. We have a great opportunity here. Things are going well and I don't want to say that we should be role models, but we're in a position of responsibility and we don't need to be the rock and roll cliché, you know what I mean? I've certainly tried it, and it's fun for awhile, but that's not a smart way to live, or a healthy way to live. I like to be alive man, to enjoy this thing.

The Nervous Breakdown: You've got the expectations that come with success. Does that put a weight on you guys at all?

Jeremy: I noticed that during the making of "American Capitalist", I felt a little pressure because we had just come off two gold records and everyone was watching to see what's the next move. We were really critical on ourselves and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. We released the first single, "Under and Over It", and it was received really well on the radio — top five — and I was a little relieved. Now I just look at it as if we write something that's honest and that we believe in, that's all we can control, because the climate in the music industry changes and tastes change and you just have to stick with whatever you like and if you're into it, that's all that matters. Everything else is a bonus.

Read the entire interview from The Nervous Breakdown.