{"id":28180,"date":"2015-10-07T07:30:19","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T20:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=28180"},"modified":"2015-10-08T20:40:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T09:40:13","slug":"chris-kael-of-five-finger-death-punch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/10\/chris-kael-of-five-finger-death-punch\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cThis is our sixth record in, Five Finger Death Punch has become a well-oiled machine and we do the things that we do and do them very well, everything is gelling in the sense that everybody writes together and all the ideas are bounced off one another, so pretty much a continuation of the process really.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has grown exponentially in a breathtakingly short amount of time \u2013\u00a015 consecutive Top 10 Hits,\u00a03 #1 Hits and 5 Gold albums.\u00a0\u00a0With the release of their 2-volumes in 2013, the band had continuous new content with which they outsold the majority of bands in their genre, selling\u00a01.5 million albums\u00a0over the past 2 years in North America alone, and the highly-anticipated 6th album from\u00a0FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, entitled\u00a0GOT YOUR SIX, is out now.<\/p>\n

In the middle of a five week tour of The U.S we caught up with Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch to fill us in on the creation of the band\u2019s newest album \u2018Got Your Six\u2019, touring, fanboy moments, and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

The new album has just been released and debuted at number three here in Australia which is killer, so \u2018Got Your Six\u2019 is the title, and I know it\u2019s the old adage of someone having your back, but can you give us a bit of background behind why this was the naming of the album and what it represents for the band?<\/strong>
\nYou know we\u2019ve always had a strong military support and got your six is a military term like you said for someone having your back, imagine you\u2019re flying in a plane formation and the face of a clock, at twelve o\u2019clock is the person behind you and at six is the person behind you that has your back and is kind of looking out for you. We always have a lot of fans reaching out and telling us that our music has helped them get through various struggles that they\u2019ve been going through and I always say that we may have been the soundtrack but it\u2019s them that got them through those various struggles. At the end of the day the fans have always been there for us, we\u2019ve been there for them and we\u2019ve got their six and they\u2019ve got ours and that\u2019s basically where the album title came from.<\/p>\n

These songs are heavy, catchy and sound like they were written to be played live. Was there a specific catalyst or inspiration behind what became these songs and the end result?<\/strong>
\n100% these songs were written with the intent to be played live, that\u2019s the idea that we had with thus record going into the writing process. You know, we\u2019ve got a lot of great songs in the sense of \u2018Coming Down\u2019, \u2018Remember Everything\u2019 and kinda slower anthemic type stuff, and we were listening to our set and were like man we really want to get more stuff in there like \u2018Under and Over It\u2019 and \u2018Lift me Up\u2019 just kind of four on the floor stompers, and that\u2019s what we came up with on \u2018Got Your Six\u2019 that was the intent and I think we nailed it.<\/p>\n

Did you set out to do anything differently when making this album compared to previous releases?<\/strong>
\nThis is our sixth record in, Five Finger Death Punch has become a well-oiled machine and we do the things that we do and do them very well, everything is gelling in the sense that everybody writes together and all the ideas are bounced off one another, so pretty much a continuation of the process really. We did try some new things on this record, like for instance the first single \u2018Jekyll and Hyde\u2019 the verses in that were literally taken from a voicemail message that Ivan left Jason Hook, Jason took it right off the voicemail, put it in the computer, loaded it in, then got it lined up so it would fit in time and we thought that was interesting, and it fir the song, but yeah, straight off the answering machine message straight on the album.<\/p>\n

You worked with Kevin Churko\u00a0 once again on the album, what does he bring to the band that allows him to keep getting the call up to produce your albums?<\/strong>
\nWith Kevin he\u2019s worked with us on the last five records so he\u2019s certainly become an integral part of the Death Punch sound and the Death Punch studio vibe, he\u2019s great at taking five very strong personalities and having those five personalities with all different ideas and having them work all together, he\u2019s great at lighting fires they need to be lit and putting out fires when they need quenched. So he\u2019s kind of the referee and is able to kind of get everything in line and make Death Punch do what it does best which is write songs as evident by the stuff on \u2018Got Your Six\u2019.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re mentioned that you\u2019re currently out on tour, is the new stuff slotting in and going down well?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, right now we\u2019re doing two new songs, we\u2019re doing the title track \u2018Got Your Six\u2019 and we\u2019re also doing \u2018Jekyll and Hyde\u2019 which is the first single off the record, so we\u2019ve got those two worked in there now with plans of adding a few more as the tour progresses and as we continue to go across the world with this new record and the tour in support of this new record.<\/p>\n

I have to ask, when do you think we might see you back in Australia, any plans?<\/strong>
\nWe have everything mapped out but nothing is set in stone just yet, the plan is to come to Australia next year. I don\u2019t know who with, don\u2019t know exactly when, but we will be in Australia next year.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been here before, now besides the shows, what\u2019s your favourite thing to do here in Australia?<\/strong>
\nOh my gosh, there\u2019s so many things, the last time we did the Soundwave festival I had a great day off in Perth, that one really sticks out, had a nice day on the beach and had a hotel there with a nice ocean view, so Perth really sticks out. I enjoyed the vibe of Melbourne and going out and doing all tourist things and in Sydney when we had a couple of days off there, that\u2019s basically what I do end up going out and doing the whole tourist thing while I\u2019m there and just checking out all the different sites. Being in this band gives you a chance to see the world so I\u2019m definitely taking every advantage to see all the sites in any place we\u2019re able to tour.<\/p>\n

You’ve now been a part of Five Finger Death Punch for four years, but in that time there\u2019s been four albums which is almost unheard of for a band, in this time has this frequency helped to really create the bond that you guys have?<\/strong>
\nI think so, I\u2019m one of those real calm, easy to work with kind of guys\u00a0 and in every job I\u2019ve ever had I\u2019ve seen myself as like the glue so I\u2019m the guy that\u2019s always smooth and there\u2019s no drama with me, so yeah I guess that\u2019s kind of helped the vibe a little bit *laughs*<\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve noticed about yourself and the band is that you\u2019re all fans of music and get as excited as fans, so what for you has been your ultimate fanboy moment you\u2019ve been able to achieve by being in Five Finger Death Punch?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* I actually have, the last European tour that we did we were out with Judas Priest and every single night, Rob Halford he\u2019s a fan of rock and metal just like we are, he\u2019s always on the side of the stage watching us play and there was one night when we were in the back, we did the song called \u2018Remember Everything\u2019 it\u2019s an acoustic piece we do in the live set, so me, Zoltan and Jeremy were standing back behind the curtain and Rob Halford comes up and was like \u2018Hey man, I hate to be that guy, but can I get a selfie with you?\u2019 I was like oh my god, never in my life did I think I\u2019d grow up to be not only playing with Rob Halford but that Rob Halford would want to take a selfie with me *laughs* that was certainly a fanboy moment.<\/p>\n

Well Rob is truly one of the nicest guys I\u2019ve ever had the chance to interview, an absolute gentleman\u2026<\/strong>
\n100% and that\u2019s another thing too, we talk about being fans of rock and metal, there was one festival we were playing and I walked in around noon going into catering and Rob had a piece of paper in front of him, I walked over and said \u2018Hey man, whatcha doin?\u2019 he was going\u00a0 through and circling all the bands he was going to check out on the festival that day, so spent a lot of time that day bouncing around and checking out bands with Rob Halford, we were pretty much into the same bands and wanted to see the same shows, so pretty much a whole afternoon watching rock and heavy metal with Rob Halford.<\/p>\n

What has being in Five Finger Death Punch allowed you to do as a musician that you may not have been able to do previously?<\/strong>
\nReach a huge audience, that\u2019s the thing, the structure is still the same, still playing bass, still singing background vocals, still writing songs but something about this band has reached a huge, huge audience, I mean we go all around the world, sell out places everywhere, like you said number 3 in Australia, number 2 here in The States, that\u2019s just a couple of chart numbers coming off the top of my head, this album has been very well received by people all around the world so that the voice and the platform we have with this band is something brand new. We\u2019ve been able to do a lot of good things too, like for instance for the last album \u2018The Wrong Side of Heaven\u2019 we actually did a charity campaign called 5FDP4VETS<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 and raised a quarter of a million dollars for veterans suffering with PTSD and dealing with homelessness, so that\u2019s something as a musician I haven\u2019t had a chance to do and that\u2019s to have that huge audience, that huge platform that can help out and kind of positively help people around the world. It\u2019s a new day in rock and roll, particularly with us we enjoy helping them, we have a huge supportive audience that is also into our charitable aspects as well and we appreciate that.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let’s predict the future so finish this sentence for me, in 2016, Five Finger Death Punch will…<\/strong>
\nContinue to tour the world and positively affect lives as we do so.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Las Vegas, NV, USA<\/p>\n

Band Members:<\/strong> Zoltan Bathory \u2013 rhythm guitar, Jeremy Spencer \u2013 drums, Ivan Moody \u2013 lead vocals, \u00a0Jason Hook \u2013 lead guitar, backing vocals, Chris Kael \u2013 bass, backing vocals<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Got Your Six (Out Now \u2013 Sony Music Australia)<\/p>\n

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