Metal Wani editor in chief Owais “Vitek” Nabi recently conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael in Hannover, Germany. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On whether FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was disappointed when the band’s latest album, “Got Your Six”, came in at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart:
“You can’t say that debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard charts is ever disappointing. This is the third [FIVE FINGER] album that debuted at No. 2. Obviously, we were hoping for No. 1, but when you’ve got pop artists that are selling upwards of a million copies, it’s hard to compete with that audience for pop stuff. Obviously, it’s called ‘pop’ for a reason — it’s popular and it has a bigger audience. But we have incredible support. Every album that we’ve had has sold more and more [in its] first week [of release]. [‘Got Your Six’] sold 112,000 copies first week, and fuck, I never thought I’d be able to sell 112,000 copies of anything — period — let alone the first week.”
On FIVE FINGER’s close connection with its fans:
“We have such an intimate relationship with our fans due to social media. We’re all running our own Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff, it’s all actually us that does that. We’re in a time when the mythical rock-star thing is kind of dead. It becomes no longer a fan-musician relationship, it becomes a type of friend relationship. It’s a new age in rock and roll, and we’re very god at keeping that personal connection going.”
On the possibility of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH one day following in the footsteps of bands like METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH and KISS and being able to headline festivals all around the world:
“That’s certainly a goal of ours. You’ve got a lot of bands that are retiring. We’re going out with BLACK SABBATH in Australia coming up here really soon, and those guys are wrapping that thing up. So it’s definitely gonna create an opening for bands like us that have these strong followings, and it’s definitely something that we’re looking forward to. It’s all of our goal to get to that top tier. And, again, we’ve got a huge, supportive fan base; a lot of people are into us, a lot of people are coming out to the shows. So once that void happens and they need somebody to step up and take over that position, by all means, give us a call. We’re ready to roll.”
On whether the much-publicized Memphis onstage meltdown in May made FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH a more solid unit:
“One hundred percent. That definitely showed some cracks that day. As a group of five very strong personalities… brothers, essentially… If you grow up in a home with brothers, you’re gonna fight every now and again, but that’s one of those things that kind of spilled out on stage, which we never wanna happen. Despite what may have been going on that day, we never wanna put that out in front of the fans. Those dudes and girls paid a lot of money to come out and see a show, so that was one very embarrassing day for us. And we decided that’s never, ever gonna happen again — and it shouldn’t have happened in the first goddamn place. But to have that happen, it definitely reinforced the bond that we have, and [it] reminded us of the importance of always being on top of the game.”
Source: Blabbermouth
