Zoltan Bathory Talks Ivan Moody’s Sobriety
Five Finger Death Punch has had a very chaotic past year between making a new album and handling the legal issues with their former record label, Prospect Park, but the most important moment for the band has been lead singer Ivan Moody getting treatment for his issues with alcohol.
Guitarist Zoltan Bathory opened up about this to Beasley Media’s Meltdown from WRIF, and touched on how the sudden death of Chris Cornell affected him and led to him seeking treatment:
“Everybody knows we had a little bit of a rocky road in the last couple of years, and he’s looking at all those bands and all the musicians that are no longer here, and that’s kind of how he came to get sober, you know? By saying, ‘Hey, man. You know what? I don’t wanna go that way.’ So, in many ways, actually, as weird as that sounds, because that tragedy, basically, what happened sort of reminded him, ‘You know what? You have a lot to look forward [to], and you need to address it now before it’s too late.’ And he did, and he’s sober now — completely sober — and he seems to be happy.”
Bathory has been sober throughout all of the ups and downs of FFDP’s excess and recalls a moment that raised a red flag:
“There was a moment when Nikki Sixx, and we’re talking about Nikki Sixx here, coming over to our camp and said, ‘Guys…what the hell are you doing. When Nikki Sixx tells you you’re out of your fricking mind, there’s definitely something wrong.”
Well, if anyone could define crazy band behavior, it’s Nikki Sixx
FFDP’s latest album And Justice For None is out now, with special bundles available at FiveFingerDeathPunch.com.
To listen to this interview in its entirety, go to WRIF.com.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
