When metal band Five Finger Death Punch formed, the band members were more like business partners than friends, said drummer Jeremy Spencer.
"We had an idea, and we knew how we were going to achieve it," Spencer said during a phone call from Portland, Ore. "We didn't know each other when we got together. But we knew what we were going to do."
FFDP or 5FDP, as it is known by fans, was conceived by guitarist Zoltan Bathory.
"I heard what Zoltan was doing," said Spencer. "And I liked it. So we joined up and then heard (guitarist) Ivan Moody play."
Bathory and Spencer asked Moody to come to Los Angeles to audition. By that time, bassist Matt Snell had been recruited.
"We jammed together with Ivan and ended up writing a bunch of songs," said Spencer. "We canceled his plane ticket home and made him part of the band."
FFDP's style is more in line with the old-school metal, said Spencer, who cited KISS as the band that made him want to be rock musician. "I like a lot of new metal," he said. "But we didn't want to be just another band. We wanted to focus on songwriting and arrangements. The new stuff that's out there is great, but, personally, if our songs don't have a chorus, then we're done for."
Last year, the band released it's debut "Pre-Emptive Strike" extended play and followed it up with its first full-length CD, "The Way of the Fist."
From that CD, three singles were released to radio — "The Bleeding," "Never Enough" and "Stranger than Fiction."
Both "The Bleeding" and "Never Enough" reached the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock, and "Stranger than Fiction" settled in the Top 20.
"We knew we wanted to get on the radio," said Spencer. "And we were pleasantly surprised at how well the singles did. But we also have a great promotion team that works to get our songs on the radio."
The band is currently on tour, but also thinking of the next CD.
"After the end of this year, we'll go back to studio in the spring and release a new CD in the summer," said Spencer. "In the meanwhile, we've become more than business partners because we were thrown in to a van for the tours. We've finally become friends."
If you go ...
What: Five Finger Death Punch, In this Moment, Bury Your Dead and Another Black Day
Where: Saltair, 12408 Salt Air Drive
When: Sunday, 7 p.m.
How much: $17.50
Phone: 467-8499, 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com