Interview w/ Zoltan of FFDP
Just getting off The Family Values tour, and getting ready to hit the road again with Korn and Hell Yeah, Zoltan from Five Finger Death Punch took some time to answer a few questions for us.
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We understand that you originally formed in 2005, what was the reasoning for not making it more public when you first got together? We are very militant with everything we do…and that includes our “strategy”. The right plan, the right preparation--attack and show no mercy. We worked on this relentlessly for 2 years…we were secretly assembling a tank in the shed… It was exciting actually. We knew one day we were going to blast through the garage door, all guns blazing… We wanted an ambush, the element of surprise…we wanted that first impression to be a jawbreaker…we wanted people to say “What the fuck was that!!?” When you got signed to The Firm for both management and your record label, how quickly did things take off? Half of success is choosing the people you associate with, and I tell ya’ we’re far beyond happy to be working with The Firm! They’re an awesome group of people to have in our corner. We had the rocket, they had the launch pad. After the ink hit the paper the countdown started immediately… The Firm is a no-nonsense operation. It takes about 3 months to line up all the cannons, which they did and then they lit the wick – kabooommm – we were headlining the Family Values 2nd stage… we are getting on great tours… getting airplay, getting great reviews… Of course we had to have a kick-ass record and we had to kill live but that’s why they signed us, that’s what we brought to the table… It’s the perfect symbiosis. |
Being that you all come from very musical backgrounds. Is making music something that has always been laid out in front of you? Did you grow up seeing this as a career?
Absolutely. It was the ultimate goal and a life long journey for all of us. I wouldn’t say it was just laid out front of us though. We had to fight for every bit of this. We all achieved some level of success in our previous efforts, those are the notches on the belt you know. But all that work and experience brought us here, to this moment where we have this war machine called “Five Finger Death Punch”. We still have a long stairway to climb, but we are off on a good start… Our first record debuted on the Billboard 200, we’re playing high profile shows… good times
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How does each of your different musical backgrounds mesh with writing music for FFDP? Is there a main songwriter or is it more of a sit down together as a whole band type of thing? With one exception I wrote most of the music on this record, but generally after a song is done we get together and iron out the details, specifically the drums and the dynamics... Sometimes we make some minor adjustments to the arrangement too. Once that’s complete, we track the song. Ivan usually gets a finished tune to write his lyrics to. The song “White Knuckles” was a last minute addition, we wrote that when Darrel joined the band. That one was more of a group effort, based on riffs Darrell came up with. Which song holds the most meaning to each of you? And why? That’s like asking a father which one of his sons he likes the most... We love them all – we don’t have fillers… Which song do you enjoy playing the most live? “The Bleeding” is fun because the first ten rows are singing the whole song. “The Way of the Fist” is like stepping on a garden rake, it definitely activates your dental plan. “A Place to Die” is a face melting shred fest. “White Knuckles” has a nasty breakdown, that’s where the paramedics get their hands full. “Meet The Monster” is like UFC champ Randy Couture pummeling your head for 4 minutes straight… We love to play our *set* - it all makes one whole experience… |
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With so many great songs on your CD, why did you choose The Bleeding as your first single?
There’s something really special about that song… It touches people, even the ones who are not into this kind of music… It’s our lightest song but it’s still a tad too heavy for some of the mainstream stations… However, it’s gaining popularity really fast, so more and more DJ’s are giving it a chance, and once it’s on air, people call in so the stations are keep playing it… It’s our Trojan Horse-- we are hoping that it may open the door for even heavier music… I think the “mainstream” audience is ready for much heavier stuff than they are being exposed too… Metal is coming back.
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Any hint as to what the next single will be? It’s probably too early to think about that, “The Bleeding” hit radio only 3-4 weeks ago, and it’s still steadily climbing. It’s around #30 on the charts right now… There are still so many people who never heard that song… Who are your biggest influences, musically and not musically? I loved the glory days of metal. I grew up on Metallica, Pantera, Accept, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax. Those bands were not obscurely heavy with cookie monster singers nor too sweet and poppy with cheese shopping mall hooks… just perfect metal… Non-musical influences… I devoured pretty much everything on Eastern Philosophy, Buddhism, Hinduism, also I love Japanese folklore especially Miyamoto Musashi samurai stories… oh, and the full body of Carlos Castaneda’s work on Mesoamerican shamanism … |
How do you feel your music influences the fans that love you to death?
I don’t think there’s a uniform effect. Every one of them has a personal connection to the music and through that connection they get something they need at the moment… strength, hope, whatever it is… it’s personal and belongs to the individual. We did notice however, our fans are sticking together. They’re visiting each other, crash at each others houses when following the band… Myspace has a big role in that… it’s not just that we can connect to our fans – but they can connect to each other … they are really a family, a brotherhood… which is really unique and much needed these days.
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What would you like your fans to gain from your music? Any message you're trying to get out there? Believe in yourself. Stay true to your dreams; Always! If you do that throughout life, you simply can not lose. I was just a kid who grew up in the communist regime behind the Iron Curtain. We had no passports, rights, hopes… but I’m here today because I never gave up… I refused to accept the word “impossible”… I refused to lay down and play dead. So the Way of the Fist for me is a manifestation of that stubborn willpower it took to get here… That title is the soundtrack to my life; I had to fight for everything, starting with existence. So the message is: Never retreat, never surrender… How do you spend your free time on the road, stuck on a tour bus for hours and hours at a time? There’s always a lot to do, we’re doing interviews, answering fan mail, managing our Myspace page… |
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Any truck stop stories you care to share?
Once I got left in a truck stop… everybody thought I was in my bunk sleeping… I just got out to get some fresh air so I had no wallet, no cell phone… not a dollar on me... couldn’t even make a phone call… so I called Highway Patrol to intercept the bus and turn them around… They were asking me questions but I didn’t have a clue where the hell I was and were the hell the bus was going… so all I could tell them “it’s a blue bus with a yellow tribal design” which didn’t really help much. I had to ask people at the gas station were I was… and what’s the date (so I could figure where our next show will be) - now you gotta understand I was in two goodie shoes buttf*ck Egypt… I have dreads down to my ankles and I have a heavy east European accent …I’m asking where am I and what day it is… they were looking at me like “Cousin It” just f*cking landed here from out of space!
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Being that you guys headlined the second stage of the FVT sponsored by Guitar Hero, any one a fan of the game (or an addict)? Do you see one of your songs on the next game? Yeah it’s an awesome game! We’d love to see one of our songs in there… Maybe the “Way Of The Fist” or “A Place To Die” would be perfect for the mega expert level… What has been the craziest experience while on the Family Values Tour? We were playing in Hartford Connecticut and before my solo in “The Way of the Fist” Ivan always screams “Zoltan Open The Sky” - and as he was screaming that, a huge I lightning bolt hit and a thunderstorm started! He just looked at me like WHTFCK!? It was pretty funny. The sky did open. Actually, at the same show halfway into our set the paramedics ran up to our tour manager and told him we have to stop playing because there are too many injuries and they’re about to run out of stretchers. Imagine while the paramedics trying to convince them to pull the plug, the tour manager a sound engineer and a couple of roadies are holding on to the barricades around the mixing board because it was shaking so bad as bodies were slamming into it. The pit was like a war zone out there. What are the plans after FVT? We are going back out with Korn and Hellyeah starting the last week of September we’ll be out ‘til the end of October. Beyond that, we don’t know yet… but knowing The Firm, we won’t be sitting around bored dangling our feet… |
If you could put together your version of an ideal tour, who would you include on the bill?
The ultimate festival bill that I would love to see, but will never happen - is: Slayer, Testament, Anthrax, Pantera, Metallica!!! Metallica would be headlining and the other 4 would rotate… maaaaaaan… that would be the bill of the century. I would start it in Dallas, on Dimebag’s birthday, and Pantera would have a different guitarist filling in for every song… people like James Hetfield, Max Cavalera, Ian Scott, Zakk Wylde, Kerry King… that would be huge, and a proper way be respectful toward Dime…
If I could put together an ideal bill to play on? This Korn / Hellyeah tour will be “pretty fu**ing ideal” , but if I could assemble a Christmas list, opening for Metallica would be huge... it would be cool to throw down with Killswitch, Lamb Of God, Disturbed, Rammstein, Slayer… there are too many to mention…
Happen to have any advice out there for aspiring musicians who are trying to keep it metal in their local scene?
To become the champion, you need to have one simple rule… no matter what, you always get up and fight one more round… just concentrate on that next round…
By. Melissa Krpal
