Interview: Jason Hook from ‘Five Finger Death Punch’

Five Finger Death Punch have announced they’ll sadly be pulling out from their Australian tour with Black Sabbath, due to the hospitalisation of singer Ivan Moody.

The Las Vegas band who have been touring extensively since the release of their latest album ‘Got Your Six’ in August last year, released a statement on their singer’s hospitalisation:

“He is expected to make a full recovery but it is with deep regret that Five Finger Death Punch will be forced to cancel their appearances in Australia, both with Black Sabbath and as headliners in Sydney and in Melbourne.”

Refunds will be made available for fans who were planning to attend the band’s two headlining shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

Last week we caught up with the band’s guitarist Jason Hook to discuss keeping entertained on the road, advice for starting out in the music industry, and of all things American popstar Hilary Duff.

You’re about to go on an Australian tour [now cancelled] with Black Sabbath, that must be pretty exciting?

Yeah, It is! What’s the weather going to be like when we’re there?

It’s nice. It’s around 30 degrees celsius. April has probably like, my favourite weather. Do you have a city you’re looking forward to seeing over here?

I mean, I’ve been to Australia before and I really like Melbourne. Sydney is pretty cool too.

Yeah, Melbourne’s got a great artsy vibe, lots of cool street art. Bit of a weird question, I hear you used to be the guitarist for Hilary Duff. How different is touring with Five Finger Death Punch compared to touring with Hilary Duff?

I was touring with Hil when she was at the top. It taught me a lot about the industry. I want to say we even came to Australia once. With Death Punch it’s more like a band.

What do you do to keep yourself entertained while you’re traveling?

We basically just do social media. When we were younger, we’d go to bars, but now we try to stay healthy. Yeah, as lame as it we just do a lot of social media (laughs).

You’ve had a pretty successful career as a guitarist, do you have any advice for people starting out in the music industry?

Um, yes I do. I would have to say first and foremost you’ve got to work hard. If you really want something you’ve got to devote every minute of every day thinking about how to get to the next step. There really is no substitute for hard work. People that try to just do it on weekends or after your job, I mean, it has to be your one focus in life. The other thing is that you have to be great at your instrument. There are a lot of good players, but if you’re a great player you’ll stand out.

And then you have to be good with people. People help people they like. And so, I found that the more people that were sort of my friends or acquaintances, and the more people that felt comfortable recommending me, the faster forward I could move, you know? So, it’s good you know, having advanced people skills, to be cool to people, and they will open doors for you.