FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH IN 5 SONGS

ZOLTAN BATHONY RATTLES OFF FIVE FFDP BIGGIES

“THE BLEEDING” (2007)

“When I started the band, I put together the first record, The Way of the Fist. I wrote every riff on that record — well, maybe with one exception. ‘The Bleeding’ was our first hit. It got us on the radio, and at the time we were much heavier than anything else that was being played in America; you had your Nickelbacks and Puddle of Mudds. ‘The Bleeding’ sort of changed things, and different bands started to appear.

“I was working on the song’s music for a long, long time; it took me more than a decade to finally put it together. It’s also the first song that Ivan wrote lyrics to. We didn’t have a record deal or management when we recorded it. Our first album was self-produced, and we paid for it ourselves. But we had this song, and we knew it was special. We knew it would do something for us, and it did. ‘The Bleeding’ was absolutely the door opener for us.”

“BAD COMPANY” (2009)

“To be honest, we didn’t want to record this one. What I mean is, it wasn’t our intention to put it on

our second album. What happened was, we went on tour for our first album, and things blew up. It started out small, but gradually we started connecting with the audience. Our crowds doubled, tripled, quadrupled — thousands of people. Before you knew it, we were a headliner with one album behind us. We didn’t have enough material to fill up a 45-minute set, so we had to add some cover tunes.

“‘Bad Company’ was one of the songs we started covering. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about it; it was more like, “Hey, that would be a good one to do.’ We were playing songs by Pantera and Faith No More to stretch out the shows; at this point, we had to play for over an hour. People started asking us about ‘Bad Company’ — ‘Hey man, that’s a cool song. Can you record it?’ We were getting all these requests. So when we went in to do our second record, we were like, ‘Ah, fuck it. Let’s record it.’ Ivan did an amazing job on it, and people loved it. The whole thing kind of blew up.”

“COMING DOWN” (2011)

“This song was sort of a call to action. The video really emphasizes how it’s about bullying. The idea behind it was about how everybody’s brave on the internet, right? Our human relationships have changed. You can say things online that you would never say to somebody’s face. There’s no accountability. And what happens is, you might really hurt somebody’s feelings. Maybe this person is already on the edge and you pushed them over. I actually know of people — or did know people — who committed suicide because of bullying.

“Ivan carries a red pen with him when he travels. It was given to him by a fan at a meet-and-greet. This kid told him, ‘Ivan, I wrote my suicide note with this pen. I was ready to check out. I had a horrible life, I was bullied, and I didn’t see a way forward. But then I heard that song…’ So he gave Ivan the red pen that he used to write his suicide note. And get this: Last year, the kid came to our show, but he’s an adult now. He finished college and he’s doing great. He said, ‘Do you remember that red pen I gave you guys?’ Ivan ran to his dressing room and came out with the pen — ‘I’ve still got it with me.’ It was amazing to see the kid doing so well now, and to think that a song

could turn things around like that… ”

“WRONG SIDE OF HEAVEN” (2013)

“This is a song I was trying to write for 15 years. It was one of those things I knew could be special, but I needed something to do it justice. I messed around with that lick over and over. One day I went to the studio, and I played it for [producer] Kevin [Churko]. He liked it and said, ‘Oh, yeah. We can turn that into something.’ We worked on it, and then Ivan came up with a great set of lyrics. I think it’s become our most popular song.

“The lyrics are interesting in that they’re ambiguous, but when I heard them I had this idea that basically became the music video. We connected it to an initiative in which we would donate the income from the song to organizations that take care of veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury — TBI. We actually put veterans’ stats in the video — at the time, the VA was a mess. The song got so much attention that actual politicians in Washington had to address the stats. It created a lot of noise and brought a lot of attention to the issue. It’s always interesting when a song becomes more than just a song, when it has the power to do something special.”

“WHEN THE SEASONS CHANGE” (2018)

“I started this one on an acoustic guitar. It was another riff I was playing around with for a long time, but not like 10 or 15 years or anything. One night I was sitting in the studio, and I played it for Ivan. We seem to always write music first and lyrics later. So when I played it for Ivan, he did what he always does: He said, ‘Give me a picture of where you were when you wrote that.’ “That’s how he communicates as a writer. He listens to the music and says, ‘Tell me what you see.’ Once you tell him what’s in your head, he kind of goes, ‘OK,’ and then he goes off to write. He came back a few days later with his lyrics, which sort of took the seeds of what I’d told him. I think that’s one of the reasons why a lot of these songs turn out so powerfully. Because we connect the way we do, with the music and the lyrical content firing in the same direction, we’re able to connect with our fans the same way.”