Five Finger Death Punch drummer Charlie Engen speaks to the J-Rock Podcast about his introduction to the band and how he earned the nickname ‘The Engine’.
On how he got his nickname “The Engine”:
‘The Engine’ came because it was kind of a play on words and a joke. My last name is Engen [pronounced Eng-enn] but it looked like engine and a lot of people in podcasts and interviews I had done before Death Punch they would say “Oh we’re here with Charlie Engen [prouncing it engine].”
“It’s fitting in that way and then it’s also fitting in the fact that the drummer is kind of the engine, so it’s a pretty fun play on words that I often liked a lot and I thought it was pretty funny. If I’m going to have a nickname then it might as well be something that has some sense to it. (Laughs).”
On how he ended up becoming a drummer:
My Uncle’s were both musicians – one a guitar player and one a drummer – so when I was two I got a drum set for the first time from my one Uncle who is only twelve tears old than me or something like that. He brought me my first kit and I was just attached to it and really I’ve just played my whole life for as long as I can remember.”
“I got real, real heavy into it pretty early on in life. I mean even as early as 5, 6, 7 and stuff I would play a lot and I just carried that through into my older years. In High School I played alot and that’s kind of when my style started to become what it is, the speed and whatever the crazy techniques and stuff.”
“Then I got my masters degree in music, mainly for teaching in case I wanted to become a College teacher and then joined Death Punch after that. So its kind of come through in my entire life at this point.”
On how he ended up joining Five Finger Death Punch:
Longer story short… me and Jeremy [Spencer] were Internet buddies for a while just because he liked my playing and I was well known on the Internet and drum world and such so we stayed in touch. I started talking to the other guys a little bit too and they had hinted at me that something might be coming up for Death Punch related stuff but then it happened quick.”
“I got a phone call from Jeremy a few days before I was going to hang out with the guys [Five Finger Death Punch] in Chicago. They were playing in Chicago and I live in St. Paul so I was going to go and hang out with them and say just Hi and go to a concert.”
“Jeremy was like, ‘How about you learn a few songs, come down and jam and stay with us a few days on the road because I need a drummer for the fall tour and I want you to be the guy.'”
“So I learnt some tunes, went down a few days later and jammed during their sound check time and then just stayed a few days and then hopped on the tour a couple of months later and thats been that.”
“It was definitely crazy. I mean the whole thing itself was crazy too just driving to Chicago, rushing onto the stage because of the sound check time and meeting the guys for the first time. I met all of them for the first time that day and I met Chris [Kael], Zoltan [Bathory] and Ivan [Moody] literally on stage while I was sitting behind the drums for the first time.”
“I was hanging out with Jeremy and Jason [Hook] in their dressing room for a little bit before but I literally said “Hey whats up guys, it’s nice to meet you” and then we played a few tunes – Lift Me Up, Trouble and Coming Down – and then that was it. It’s a lot of fun. It fits my playing style really well. For me it was just a real a natural fit right out from the gate and I think for them [Five Finger Death Punch] as well. I think that they would agree with that.”