FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's JASON HOOK Explains MANDY MOORE Stint

February 19, 2015

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook has teamed up with documentary filmmaker Fran Strine and music manager Jamie Talbot to chronicle the story of world-renowned musicians who are not household names, but are instead the session and backup musicians who have performed at concerts and on countless recordings with huge stars yet remain largely unknown to the public.

The film, called "Hired Gun", goes behind the scenes and explores the personalities and creativity of the best session players and backup musicians in the world, ranging from pianist/harpist Corky Hale, who has played with Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, to rock guitarist John 5 who has played with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson.

A synopsis of the film described these musicians as "a group that possesses uncommon musical ability and an uncanny knack for being able to deliver a great performance time and again."

Hook himself came out of that world before joining FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, doing stints with Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil and Alice Cooper.

Asked by Metal Life about his stint with Moore, Hook said (see video below): "The metal community is dominated by an angry male demographic, and I understand all that, and I love all that. But the truth is I come from a place where I started playing guitar when I was six, and I wasn't angry; I just wanted to learn how to play this instrument. And so when I moved from Canada and moved down to the States, the one agreement that I had with myself was that I'm not gonna work at Starbucks or Home Depot or any of these places; I'm gonna just stick to the plan, which is to survive playing my guitar. If somebody comes up and says, 'You wanna go on a tour playing for [such and such artist]?' I'd be, like, 'Yeah.' And I wasn't thinking about whether it's fashionable, cool or anything like that. All I'm thinking about is here's an opportunity to do what I wanna do, which is play, and learn something. And then it turns into all this, and now everyone knows. But what am I gonna do? I think it's less cool to look back and go, 'What was I thinking?' That's not cool."

Hook told The Pulse Of Radio he understands what it takes to catch a break with a big artist. "I went through years of trying to get gigs myself, and so I really understand what it's like to be the guy reaching out," he said. "And I always admired people that gave me a shot, recognizing that it's an unknown, you don't know if it's… The referrals are easy, when somebody says, 'I've got the perfect guy,' that door has been opened. But for you to open your own doors is very difficult."

"Hired Gun" features interviews with Hook, Cooper, Jason Newsted (METALLICA),Aaron Lewis (STAIND),Richard Patrick (FILTER),former OZZY OSBOURNE bassist Rudy Sarzo, KISS drummer Eric Singer, John 5, CHICKENFOOT drummer Kenny Aronoff, WHITESNAKE guitarist Steve Vai and others.

Strine, who made films about STAIND, Dolly Parton and others, launched an Indiegogo campaign to fully finance the movie.

hiredgunpromo_638

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).