Former Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Jason Hook sat down with Chuck Shute and recalled his days in the band. The rocker mentioned the challenges of the band’s fame and how he got away with it.
“Towards the end of Death Punch it was new for all of us and I had never experienced anything like that, but you get a small taste of what it’s like to really be outnumbered. I remember backstage, there were just more and more people would sneak their way in. Friends of the building owner or the promoter or next-door neighbor of the thing.” he explained. “You couldn’t escape it, not in a bad way but people would just walk into my dressing room and sit down [and say], ‘Hey Jason.’ I’d be texting the tour manager like, ‘Who is this? Who is this guy?'”
He then recalled the challenges of getting recognized in public: “It gets a little kooky and you can’t walk around anywhere close to the venue because we try to go to the mall and stuff and one person says ‘Can I get a photo?’ and then before you know there’s 10 to 12 people lining up and you got to get out of there.”
“For me, that was the first time any of us had sort of experienced that. We’re severely outnumbered and the band is super popular and everybody’s trying to get a piece of it. You got to be mentally built for that,” he added.
When Hook left the band back in February 2020, he took to Instagram to send a message to the people who supported him about his decision. He added that he was ‘issued a gag order’ so he couldn’t say anything. Four years after his departure, the rocker talked about his time with the band.
“I didn’t feel like I was surrounded by anyone who cared about me. I was just sort of, like, ‘Go see if he can play,'” Hook revealed during an interview with Talkin’ Bout Rock. “And then I’m, like, ‘I can’t. I’ve gotta go to the hospital.’ And then everyone left. So, it’s fine. But right after that, we were supposed to go to Europe and start all up again, and I’m just, like… [I thought] ‘I’m not dying this way.’ I’m not trying to be overly dramatic, but I saw what it was. And quality of life is everything.”
Since then, Hook has moved on to a new project called Flat Black. The lineup of the band includes singer Wes Horton, bassist Nick Diltz, and drummer Rob Pierce.
