Ivan L. Moody

Last updated
Ivan L. Moody
Fiver-Finger-.jpg
Moody performing at Rock on the Range 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.
Background information
Birth nameIvan Lewis Greening
Also known asGhost
Born Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • musician
  • actor
InstrumentsVocals
Labels
Associated acts

Ivan L. Moody (born Ivan Lewis Greening) is the lead vocalist for American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. He had performed for several bands before joining Five Finger Death Punch. As an actor, he also starred in the films Bled as Incubus, and The Devil's Carnival as the hobo clown. He was also known by the pseudonym Ghost during his time with Motograter.

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, and acid rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. The genre's lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.

Five Finger Death Punch American Job Site rock band

Five Finger Death Punch also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Formed in 2005, the band's name comes from kung fu cinema. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, guitarist Zoltan Bathory, guitarist Caleb Andrew Bingham, bassist Matt Snell, and drummer Jeremy Spencer. Bingham was replaced by guitarist Darrell Roberts in 2006, who was then replaced by Jason Hook in 2009. Bassist Matt Snell departed from the band in 2010, and was replaced by Chris Kael in 2011. Spencer then departed the band in 2018 due to re-occurring back issues, and was replaced by Charlie Engen, making Bathory and Moody the only original members of the band.

<i>Bled</i> (film) 2009 horror film

Bled is a 2009 horror film directed by Christopher Hutson and written by Sxv'leithan Essex.

Contents

Early life

Moody was born Ivan Lewis Greening in Denver, Colorado. Growing up, he lived in several smaller cities in the area, including Arvada, Castle Rock, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Northglenn. [1] He said he spent a few summers with his grandmother in La Crosse, Wisconsin. "My grandmother put me in choir when I was about seven years old. I was only in it about two or three years. Music's always been real close to my heart. Like anybody else, there were ups and downs in my life and music just always seemed to be consistent, so it was easy to latch on to. I started singing in bands when I was 16 years old. They used to kick me out of bars after my set was done." [2]

La Crosse, Wisconsin City in Wisconsin, United States

La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's estimated population in 2018 was 51,567. The city forms the core of and is the principal city in the La Crosse Metropolitan Area, which includes all of La Crosse County and Houston County, Minnesota, for a population of 135,298.

Career

Moody moved to Los Angeles in 2001, adopting his mother's maiden name, Moody. In L.A. he joined his first band called Toiz. The band played a few shows around the Los Angeles area in 2002 and made a demo which was not released. The following year, he joined the nu metal band Motograter. They released their self-titled studio album on June 24, 2003. They gained some mainstream success playing the second stage at Ozzfest 2003 and touring with bands like Korn, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, Nothingface, Slipknot, Mushroomhead, and Killswitch Engage. Motograter went on a hiatus in 2005 but played a one-time re-union show in 2006 at the Delicious Rox Festival. Moody also made songs with old roommates and family members, Ryan Morrow (bass), Bill Stonebraker (guitar), and Jim "Dugan" Demongey (drums), calling themselves Black Blood Orchestra.

Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal bands have drawn elements and influences from a variety of musical styles, including multiple genres of heavy metal. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos; the genre is heavily syncopated and based on guitar riffs. Many nu metal guitarists use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to play a heavier sound. DJs are occasionally featured in nu metal to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic backgrounds. Vocal styles in nu metal include singing, rapping, screaming and growling. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.

Motograter is an American heavy metal band formed in Santa Barbara, California in 1995. They are best known for their homemade instrument, the "Motograter", designed with industrial cable and guitar pieces that creates a unique bass sound, and painting themselves in a tribal style body paint for live concerts.

<i>Motograter</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Motograter

Motograter is the debut album released by the nu metal band Motograter on June 24, 2003. Although the album has a total of 22 tracks, half of them are short, static tracks, which are all the names of the tracks reversed. For instance, Eman On is a reversed version of No Name, and a message can clearly be heard in the last 5 seconds. This is the band's only release to feature Ivan "Ghost" Moody as lead vocalist as well as all other band members with the exception of Matt "Nuke" Nunes.

Moody joined the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch and his side project Ghost Machine released their debut self-titled album on July 26, 2005. Ghost Machine released their second album, Hypersensitive , on November 21, 2006. On the same year, Five Finger Death Punch entered the studio to record their debut album at Next Level Studios and Complex Studios in Los Angeles with Steve Bruno and Mike Sarkisyan. The album was produced by guitarist Zoltan Bathory and drummer Jeremy Spencer and was mixed by former Machine Head and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader. Moody also starred in the 2009 horror film Bled , playing the role of Incubus.

Ghost Machine is a five-piece music group from the United States. The band is also known for featuring two members from Motograter, vocalist Ivan Moody (Ghost), also vocalist for Five Finger Death Punch, and drummer Chris "Crispy" Binns, and John Stevens of The Clay People.

<i>Ghost Machine</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Ghost Machine

Ghost Machine is the self-titled debut album by the five-piece music group Ghost Machine. The album was released on July 26, 2005, via the band's own label Black Blood Records.

<i>Hypersensitive</i> 2006 studio album by Ghost Machine

Hypersensitive is the second album by the five-piece music group Ghost Machine. The album was released on November 21, 2006 via Corporate Punishment Records.

Five Finger Death Punch achieved rapid commercial success: their debut album, The Way of the Fist (2007) has currently sold over 600,000 copies in the United States and spawned three top 10 singles. Their second album, War is the Answer (2009), sold more than 44,000 copies in its first week of release, spawned five top 10 singles and has gone on to sell more than 700,000 copies. Their even more successful third record American Capitalist debuted number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 90,000 copies in its first week. It was the band's third consecutive RIAA-certified Gold record. On July 30, 2013, The Wrong side of Heaven and Righteous side of Hell Volume One was released, selling over 210,000 copies. Roughly four months later, The Wrong Side of Heaven and Righteous Side of Hell Volume Two was released, rising to number 2 on the Billboard 200, and notable for its single, "Battle Born". They have played many major tours and festivals including Korn's Family Values and Bitch We Have a Problem Tours, the Jägermeister Stage (second stage) at Mayhem Festival in 2008 and the main stage at Mayhem Festival in 2010 and 2013. They also performed at Download Festival in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2015, and the Monster Stage (main stage) at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, as well as at Rockfest 2012 in Kansas City.

<i>The Way of the Fist</i> 2007 studio album by Five Finger Death Punch

The Way of the Fist is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch, released on July 31, 2007. The album sold 3,800 copies in its first week of release The Way of the Fist made its Billboard 200 debut on August 18, 2007 at No. 199 and peaked at No. 107. It has been certified gold for selling in excess of 500,000 copies as of April 1, 2010. This is the band's only release with guitarist Darrell Roberts.

<i>American Capitalist</i> 2011 studio album by Five Finger Death Punch

American Capitalist is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch, released on October 11, 2011. It is the band's first album not to feature bassist Matt Snell, as he departed from the band in December 2010. The first single from the album entitled "Under and Over It", was released on July 27, 2011. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 90,000 copies in the first week of release. In September 2012, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with sales of at least 500,000 copies. In 2012, the album won a RadioContraband Rock Radio Award for Album of the Year, and the single "Coming Down" won the award for Song of the Year. As of 2017, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with sales of at least 1,000,000 copies.

Moody was interviewed for the book Full Metal: The 50 Most Influential Heavy Metal Songs of the 1980s and the True Stories Behind Their Lyrics. He discusses the impact of Metallica's “Fade to Black” on him as a lyricist, in a chapter about the song that also examines its social and cultural significance.

Moody co-starred with Shawn Crahan in Darren Lynn Bousman's short horror musical film The Devil's Carnival , which screened in April 2012. [3]

Shawn Crahan American musician

Michael Shawn Crahan, more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician who is one of the two percussionists and co-founder of the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Slipknot. When performing with Slipknot, he is also known as #6. Crahan is the only remaining founding member in Slipknot.

Darren Lynn Bousman American film director and screenwriter

Darren Lynn Bousman is an American film director and screenwriter.

<i>The Devils Carnival</i> 2012 musical horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

The Devil's Carnival is a 2012 musical horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes, Paul Sorvino, Emilie Autumn and Terrance Zdunich. The film marks the second collaboration of Bousman and writer/actor Terrance Zdunich, their previous work being on the unrelated musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera. The film also brings back several of the cast members of Repo!, such as Sorvino, Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley and Nivek Ogre. The Devil's Carnival has Aesop's Fables and other folklore at the core of its story, with the main characters each representing a fable. Flanery's character John represents "Grief and His Due", Evigan's character Merrywood represents "The Dog and Its Reflection", and Lowndes' character Tamara represents "The Scorpion and the Frog", an animal fable that seems to have first emerged in Russia.

On June 12, 2017, Moody stated during a concert in Tilburg, Netherlands, that it will be his last show with Five Finger Death Punch. The band released a statement saying they would keep moving forward. [4] Moody checked himself into rehab and was replaced for the remaining dates by vocalist Tommy Vext. [5]

Personal life

Moody has a daughter, born in 1998. [2] [1]

Alcoholism

In 2012, Moody revealed that his alcohol problem had nearly got him fired from Five Finger Death Punch. Moody said he would perform drunk and not remember any of it the next day. Moody says that he "felt like a junkie and from that extreme, it takes a lot of effort to go back." [6] Moody references his alcoholism and its battles in the video "I Apologize," [7] where Moody is walking through a graveyard filled with musicians that have died struggling with addiction. In November 2016, Moody cut a concert short in Worcester, claiming that his mother was dying that night. Concertgoers reported that he appeared drunk, and was assisted off the stage. His younger sister told a reporter that their mother was "alive and well". [8] In June 2017, Moody left a Five Finger Death Punch tour for rehab. [9]

Moody was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on February 22, 2014, in Sydney, charged with drunkenly assaulting a female flight attendant on his Qantas flight from Brisbane. The band performed without him in Sydney and Melbourne. [10]

Moody was arrested in April 2015 in Las Vegas for drunken domestic battery against Holly Smith, who was reported as his wife, [11] or as his sometime girlfriend of 17 years. [12] The battery charges were later dropped, but Smith filed a restraining order. [13]

Awards and nominations

Motograter was voted the best band of 2003 by Hit Parader . [14] Five Finger Death Punch has won several awards including The Best New Band award at the 2009 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, the Most Promising Artist award from FMQB’s 2009 year-end Metal poll. They were also nominated for the Best International Newcomer award at 2009 Kerrang! Awards and won the Best Breakthrough Band award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. Best Song for "Lift Me Up" at the 2014 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.

Discography

Motograter

There are also four Motograter demos with Moody on lead vocals, including "Down (2002 Demo), "No Name (2002 Demo), "Red (2002 Demo)", and "Failure (Live 2004)".

Ghost Machine

After Hypersensitive, Ghost Machine started working on a remix album that they had to put on the back burner because of the success of Five Finger Death Punch. Four remixes were released for stream on the band's MySpace music remix page: "God Forbid (Black Cape Remix)", "Vegas Moon (Pete Murray Remix)", "Siesta Loca (Steven's Organic Drum Remix)" and "Burning Bridges (Depression Remix)".

Five Finger Death Punch

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances in other types of album with other performing artists, showing year released and album name.
YearTitleOther performer(s)Album
2012"A Penny for a Tale"N/A The Devil's Carnival

Filmography

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References

  1. 1 2 "TGIvan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch grew up here and still has a love for Colorado". westword.com/. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  2. 1 2 "TGetting friendly with Five Finger Death Punch (2007)". Dabelly.com/. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  3. ↑ "The Devil's Carnival (2012)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  4. ↑ http://www.deadpress.co.uk/71619/news-ivan-moody-calls-tilburg-his-last-show-in-five-finger-death-punch
  5. ↑ http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/drama/ivan-moody-to-sit-out-five-finger-death-punch-european-tour-checks-back-into-rehab
  6. ↑ "Five Finger Spencer thought drugs had killed him – Metal Hammer". Metalhammer.teamrock.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  7. ↑ "Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Digs Own Grave in 'I Apologize' Video". loudwire.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  8. ↑ https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/11/28/five-finger-death-punch-ivan-moody-meltdown/
  9. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7864986/five-finger-death-punch-singer-ivan-moody-rehab-stage-return
  10. ↑ "Five Finger Death Punch singer faces court after "unruly behaviour" on Qantas flight". FasterLouder. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  11. ↑ http://www.tmz.com/2015/08/12/five-finger-death-punch-ivan-moody-beat-wife-divorce/
  12. ↑ https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/police-disclose-arrest-of-five-finger-death-punch-singer-at-vegas-hotel/
  13. ↑ http://www.tmz.com/2015/08/23/five-finger-death-punch-ivan-moody-wife-sister-want-him-rehab/
  14. ↑ "Former MOTOGRATER Frontman Resurfaces In FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH". Roadrunnerreocrds.com. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
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