Jeremy Spencer of Five Finger Death Punch
Jeremy Spencer is a force of nature, double-bass, beat-blasting bundle of power and energy who is determined to melt your brain and rock your preconceptions. As the drummer for Five Finger Death Punch, Spencer has been living on the road the past couple of years, rarely seeing his Las Vegas home between stints opening for bands like Korn, Disturbed and Slipknot. As Jeremy puts it, "my long time dream of throwing sharp broken drumsticks at crowds of 15 thousand people a night has been accomplished!!!..." He was kind enough to respond to our questions on the cusp of the band’s new release War Is The Answer.
- Age: Too old to play Ashes as our set opener, but younger than Bill Ward.
- Hometown: The hotbed of music Boonville, Indiana
- Previous Bands: I was in WASP for five minutes once and got fired by Blackie Lawless. How many people can say that?
- Cymbals: Paiste Alpha, Joey Jordison Signature Model ...Weird huh? Haha! Had to steal Joey’s vibe!
- Hardware/Pedals: Gibraltar Rack (the strangest Transformers lookin’ thing ever) and Tama Iron Cobra Pedals.
- Sticks: Hell yeah! "Mr. Roboto", my favorite song! Oh, you mean what kind of sticks I play? Vater 5B Wood Tip. The Jeremy Spencer signature series!
- Drumheads: The only protection I ever use is Evans Heads
What’s the greatest thing going on for the band right now?
Well, we’re not together at the moment as we have down time before we start touring! Just kidding! We have a cool new album coming out Sept. 22nd called War Is The Answer and we’re starting our headlining tour the same day with some great support bands such as: Shadow’s Fall, Otep and 2 Cents!
How would you describe the feel of the new album?
You’ve held a CD before right? It pretty much feels like that! No, seriously it sounds like someone dropping a grenade in a Kindergarten! Full chaos! With a great balance of melody and aggression! A more mature Death Punch record if you will …
How long did it take to track your drum parts?
Why? Should I have spent more time? Are they bad? I think it took four days to record sixteen songs. I try to knock it out as quickly as possible! I prefer hearing everything when it’s done compared to actually recording it. Ha,Ha!
Did you record to a click track?
True metallers don’t use click tracks, that’s why I /absolutely/ use one. Even live … LOL! I’ve found that it really helps everyone if the record is as tight and locked as possible. And for the live show, it’s great because it keeps everything consistent every show!
What do you like most about touring?
The final show! No. I love meeting our fans and hanging out and seeing the world.
Do you play your drum parts onstage exactly the same way that you recorded them?
Live vs. studio are generally two different worlds all together. I always ‘wanna bring a different energy and approach to the live show.
How often do you change heads?
Not very often really. I trigger everything, so it’s not as important to change heads as frequently. I usually change the snare head the most often. Probably every three or four shows.
Do you use the same setup on stage and in the studio?
No, I mix and match drums for the studio for whatever the song requires and have a live set up that’s all decorated with crazy stuff!
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