{"id":2058,"date":"2011-10-09T16:36:33","date_gmt":"2011-10-09T23:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2014-07-30T22:18:35","modified_gmt":"2014-07-31T05:18:35","slug":"five-finger-death-punch-interview-with-zoltan-chris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=2058","title":{"rendered":"Five Finger Death Punch Interview with Zoltan & Chris"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Five Finger Death Punch is the biggest and most exciting show you can find in Metal music right now. They are set to release their third studio album American Capitalist<\/em> which features the popular single \u201cUnder and Over It\u201d and the song \u201cBack For More,\u201d featured in the latest game offered in the Madden franchise. They are about to go out on their Fall headlining \u201cShare the Welt\u201d tour with All That Remains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy spoke with lead guitarist Zoltan Bathory and band newcomer and bassist Chris Kael at X-Fest in Dayton, Ohio. The three discussed the upcoming album and why the band\u2019s music moves a more aggressive crowd. The new album, \u201cAmerican Capitalist\u201d will hit shelves on October 11th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I want to talk about the new record \u201cAmerican Capitalist,\u201d it\u2019s all over the radio but I actually heard \u201cBack For More\u201d for the first time this past week and I think I like it better than the first single. I\u2019m excited. What\u2019s the story behind that one?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan:\u00a0 The interesting thing about that one is, that particular song is on the soundtrack for \u201cMadden 2012,\u201d and we were looking at the record and trying to pick the first single. Basically what we did this time, we kind of wanted to pick something that was not so obvious. There are a couple really nice ballads, a couple really heavy songs, and there\u00a0is potential for many more songs that are singles. This time, we went with something unexpected, we did this with the first single, the album cover, everything. We wanted to shake it up. It\u2019s funny that you mention \u201cBack For More\u201d because we were going \u201cWhich one? Which one? Which one?\u201d will be the first single. We went with \u201cUnder and Over It\u201d because we wanted to wait for Madden to debut \u201cBack for More.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: The new Madden, with the Browns on the front cover.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: Some people love the Browns. I am just saying that is the reason we ended up going with this one because we gave that song to them and we wanted them to debut it. Madden debuted that song and then the single \u201cUnder and Over It\u201d is out there. So you have two songs that are a little bit up-tempo out there and floating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy: Let\u2019s talk football for a minute. The reason I ask this, I live in Cincinnati and am a Bengals season ticket holder and at the games they play \u201cBad Company\u201d constantly so I always think of you at football games. Do you have a partnership with the NFL or do the teams just gravitate toward your songs?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: The interesting thing about our band and the mentality we have and the general overall message. Every time that you listen to music, you usually put in a CD that will put you in a specific mood. If you are depressed, you are going to gravitate to music that will speak to that mood. If you are happy maybe the Beach Boys is what you go to for that kind of music. Every style of music puts you in specific mood, and if you look at Five Finger Death Punch, at least I\u2019d like to think, it\u2019s the kind of music that pumps you up or \u201cLet\u2019s go, let\u2019s take it\u201d kind of mood. Most of our fans are already football fans, soldiers, people that are \u201cLet\u2019s get up and fucking do this.\u201d So it\u2019s kind of like our music resonates with people that are ready to go and pumped up, and it\u2019s just football. It\u2019s every Sunday. It\u2019s not just them but a couple different football teams are playing that song.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I think I heard it in Cleveland as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Zoltan: It\u2019s a pretty common song to play in arenas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: Last night in the UFC fight too. Somebody also waked out to it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: Stan, a former Marine, one of the UFC fighters walks out to it. Jake Ellenberger walks out to it. Kyle Watson walks out to it. In fact, I am friends with these guys.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I know you fight. You have talked about this a lot before. Do you work out to your own music?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Group: YES!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: \u201cUnder It, Over It\u201d that\u2019s a good stomp, you can time it right to the treadmill. It works out real well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: You are the newest member?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: I am the newest member.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: How did you come about being in the band?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: Tell her the story of how you ended up in Vegas. His car broke down while he was heading to LA.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chris: I got to Vegas about ten years ago, went out there to pursue music, did things for quite a while. I heard they were looking for a bassist through friends of theirs. My old friend from high school is actually their drum tech, Saul.\u00a0 He has been working for those guys for a little bit now. I heard they were looking so I kept telling Saul, \u201cGet me an audition, do what you can.\u201d So finally, I had been trying and hadn\u2019t heard anything, went to go see System of a Down at the Palms and was watching those guys on the stage and turned around and looked at the stage and it hit me, \u201cIf you want it, go after it.\u201d So that night I went home and Facebooked Jason Hook, a real brief message, \u201cI\u2019m your guy. Call me. All I need is an audition.\u201d He messaged me back the next day and asked \u201cHow are your vocals?\u201d Other projects I had done before I did lead vocals so I sent him a track from something I had written and was singing on as well. I guess they liked it because I was invited to do the audition. I came in that Saturday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: It\u2019s an interesting thing because when he showed up, it was kind of the audition with the friends of friends, people that we kind of knew. Because you never know what you\u2019re gonna get. You get the crazy person and have to live with him. It\u2019s not just a musical thing that has to click but personally. He walks in, and he is a laid back guy and when I saw his Muay Thai T-shirt, he is a fighter too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I\u2019m scared you all are going to get hurt in the parking lot. Look at him, he\u2019s ready.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: That shirt was worn by design.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: And I was like, \u201cThis guy is a fighter\u201d and he has a pro record already.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: Not a good one though.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: What is it, 1-0?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chris: 0-1<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: When he walks in, it takes balls to get in the ring. It takes balls. Whoever says otherwise, it is you and the other guy and there is no way out unless you die. So he walks in as a laid back guy and I see the shirt and I ask him, \u201cDo you fight?\u201d He says, \u201cYeah, yeah.\u201d It\u2019s a hobby on the road touring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: So he got a work out partner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: You have to have a laid back guy that you can live with on the bus for 300 days a year. I want some guy who is chilled, nice to people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: Boy did I have him fooled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: No, he sounds awesome. I loved his bass tone. Ivan wasn\u2019t there and we called him, \u201cWe got the guy. We got the guy.\u201d That night we went to dinner with Ivan and Ivan loved him too. It was done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: It was one of those things, it was a good proposition. During the audition, very first song, I felt it. I\u2019m sure they felt it as well. Very first song, right into the chorus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: You just knew.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: Him and Jeremy during the first chorus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: It\u2019s really interesting, musicians know. Some people who are not musicians may not, you have to have connections. It is how bands survive. It is not necessarily about success, not necessarily about music. The first and foremost issue with bands on why they break up is personal, it\u2019s always personal issues. So the bands that never have success and fall out are either about substance abuse issues or personal issues amongst members. So, half of the success is keeping your fucking band together. Therefore, you have to have the right member. He was the right guy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy: Have they played any jokes on you yet?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: Not really. It has been pretty low key. There have been a couple little small things. If I told you, I\u2019d have to kill you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I am excited about the new album. I look forward to seeing you guys on tour. You guys are going to \u00a0be touring again for this album soon right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: The album comes out October 11th<\/sup>. We are really proud of it. It is a really strong album. We are Five Finger Death Punch. We will never try to be something else. We play the music we love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Well you guys have a huge fan base.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: Yeah, but you have to look at it this way. We played the music that we love and then we got signed. We already had a record before we got signed. We are just lucky that a lot of people out there have similar taste. Really that\u2019s how it works. I can\u2019t twist your arm to like me. I can\u2019t give you money and say, \u201cHey, listen to us please.\u201d You are not going to. If I give you a free CD and you don\u2019t like it. Because it is free are you going to listen, no.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I get them every week. I do not listen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: It is pretty much that we are blessed to have so many fans and we are blessed that we love what we do. And that\u2019s what happens. We look at recording as we are the same.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: The new record sounds the same. You are not going to alienate the fans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: We have a bonus CD that has some interesting remixes but those are remixed because they are interesting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I have only heard two hard songs off of it so far. Any ballads? Any \u201cBad Company\u201d?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: Yeah we have a couple, there is a song that is called \u201cI Remember\u201d and it sounds like an 80\u2019s ballad out of the book. All of us listened and thought it was really 80\u2019s but it is such a good song that we have to use it. The fans, we love. The haters, I don\u2019t care what they have to say. Listen \"\"<\/a>to something else. We play for our fans. We know who those guys are. Everybody else, we don\u2019t care. Do whatever, it\u2019s your life, this is ours. Oh yeah, you got your ballads. There is one that\u2019s a ballad and one that is slower and ballad-y. There are no \u201cBad Company\u2019s\u201d but it\u2019s not really a ballad anyway. It is not a song that you could call a typical ballad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: And coming from the outside\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Did you know every song when you auditioned? You were ready?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: No, for the audition I learned three songs. I came in and did those. He gave me a heads up later in the week saying, \u201cYou might want to go ahead and start learning these other ones too.\u201d He gave me the heads up and we got it done. But yeah, the new album\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you like it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris: I really do, coming in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zoltan: We had finished the album by the time we found him. The album was done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Sounds like approval for an official external opinion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Finger Death Punch is the biggest and most exciting show you can find in Metal music right now. They are set to release their third studio album American Capitalist which features the popular single \u201cUnder and Over It\u201d and the song \u201cBack For More,\u201d featured in the latest game offered in the Madden franchise. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[131,1059],"tags":[1219,1216,1220,1215,1214,1217,1590,1626,1221,1622,1222,1218,1223,1627],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2060,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/2060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}