Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There were millions of people who could've given up on me at any given moment, and they didn't, and so that, to me, it's the world and more.
I truly believe heavy metal has gone south. Too many people are focusing on, will the songs be on the radio, will the shirt be in Hot Topic?
The great thing about being a musician today is that you can explore your creativity in multiple ways without compromising your primary focus.
I've never played instruments. I've always been a singer or a writer, for that matter. But I started playing in bands when I was sixteen years old.
We absolutely thrive on the live setting. Even when we're in the studio, we make sure the songs we create are something we can do live passionately.
We've toured with so many bands, and we've noticed that there are a few of them... Metallica, Rammstein, Tool - those aren't bands, those are events.
My father and mother listened to oldies, from be-bop and swing music to - I hate to admit it, but - Barry Manilow, Fleetwood Mac and the Moody Blues.
My own bandmembers wouldn't return my calls and I lost multiple tour managers, crew members. I can't tell you how many friends stopped talking to me.
Everything that I sing about, especially songs like 'Far From Home' and 'The Bleeding,' I really put 110 percent of myself into it, so it's difficult.
I don't think there will ever be a band that compares to Pantera. In my book, they are the icon metal band of all time. Their catalog speaks for itself.
Bands like Metallica never sat around and said, 'We're speed metal,' or 'We're thrash metal.' If it feels good at the end of the day, to me, that's metal.
Something I will point out to everybody in the world, and I am not afraid to say it: these rap guys about as hard as soft butter. That's all there is to it.
No, I don't spend a lot of time in the studio, man. I truly don't. I'll be in there when I have to. I hate the containment, I can't stand the schedule crap.
Everyone who knows me or has heard rumors or stories or whatever knows that I have a tendency to lose it every now and then. I've never been shy about it either.
The Ghost Machine album was actually written when I was going through spiritual depression, as that was written right after Motograter and just prior to Five Finger Death Punch.
Myself, I usually wait until I get home to write. While we're touring, I try to stay as focused as possible on the moment at hand because I feel like I'll be robbing the fans if I don't.
I just didn't want my legacy to be that of a few others that I don't even have to name, where I was controlled by a substance, or a liquid for that matter. My life is too precious to me.
When you put everything you have into making music, both on and off the stage, it can be very frustrating when the music you work so hard to create is not allowed to see the light of day.
I learned what it was like to not battle myself anymore, which is really difficult to admit, because at the end of the day - and I'm sure anyone can agree with this - you're your own worst enemy.
My job consists of getting on stage and tearing my chest open and letting people into parts of my life that I would prefer to keep to myself. But I also think that's what connects me with a lot of our fans.
There are things that certain people aren't supposed to talk about and they're supposed to keep sheltered and go to psychologists and they try to figure them out on their own. But at the end of the day, we're all human.
For me, I feed off everything, from bad politics to religion to relationships - I mean, just life in general. And, yeah, I'm not necessarily happy with the state of things. And I think that I get to use music as a release.
Hard rock I got into around twelve or thirteen. My uncle introduced me to Scorpions, Great White and everything rock. From there, I expanded out, and I listened to Nuclear Assault, Exodus, Megadeth, King Diamond and Misfits, of course.
The Way Of The Fist' is not quite a Shakespearian depiction of anger and revenge. This song was more my way of releasing all the pent up aggression I felt against some people who wronged me beyond the point of any kind of forgiveness or mercy.
You get to a point where you start realizing that what you've done is amazing and you're proud of it, but there's so much more to accomplish. So many projects get to a certain level and they become content, and that's all that they ever expected or wanted.
I use throat sprays on stage, but most of the throat sprays I was using had alcohol or other carcinogens in them, stuff I wanted to keep away from myself. So I started making a recipe for my own throat spray that was more of a natural approach to everything.
I just got to a point where I was lying to myself constantly, so I had to face up to that. It was a lot of... I don't want to use the words 'self sacrifice,' but that's what it felt like. It was giving up who I thought I was and starting over from scratch and realizing the man that I am was good enough.