Thursday, 13 March 2008

Korn Interview with Jonathan Davis - January 2008


KORN
Life's Still Peachy
by Craig Ablitt

Musical innovators, fusing metal with a diverse range of genres such as funk and hip hop, creators of the unusual down-tuned seven string guitar sound now aped by many, generators of some of the darkest, heaviest and most aggressive music since Ozzy Osbourne went soft and purveyors of the grimmest, most taboo lyrics courtesy of frontman Jonathan Davis; Korn’s magnetism to a global audience seemed an unlikely feat when they appeared in public conscience fifteen years ago. As parents and guardians became outraged at the band’s – to put it mildly – ‘controversial’ and ‘confrontational’ nature; their children were probably snapping up the band’s latest release.

We won’t bore you with all the details of how they became one of America’s biggest musical exports. To date they’ve shifted over 30 million albums worldwide, Follow The Leader, Life Is Peachy and Issues are considered seminal to the nu-metal movement, their worldwide fanbase is endless, their live shows are scenes to outpourings of aggression and emotion...the sheer magnitude of Korn is a tale familiar to many.

After losing founding member Brian ‘Head’ Welch (who quit the band to find religion in 2005) and long-term drummer David Silveria (who departed to recuperate and spend time with his family), Korn’s popularity remains as fervent as ever, despite an obvious mellowing within the band’s personnel (which will be demonstrated in this interview). 2007 saw the release of their Untitled Album and last month saw them begin a new UK jaunt under the moniker Bitch We Have A Problem Tour, which will see them take in rare theatre and club gigs. We pick up the story with Jonathan Davis literally hours after stepping onto British turf.

“I’m excited about this tour man!” he beams on introduction. “It’s cool to come here and do this and play these smaller venues than we’re used to because arenas can have no vibe whatsoever,” he points out. “Fans can expect to be fucking blown away by these dates too, we’ll be playing a lot of tracks that will please all of our fans; a mixture of the hits and the older songs for the hardcore,” he promises, before adding: “Our UK fans are great and are in this for the long haul, unlike in the States where people get into bands who come and go like fucking nothing. The mentality here is great.”

As expected, the UK jaunt which sees them play outside of Manchester and London for the first time in seven years has seen tickets snapped up in quick time, with a second leg of their visit to the UK set to take place in March. This effect however is not exclusive to just the UK and America; the Bitch We Have A Problem tour will travel to a further seventeen European countries as diverse as Russia and Latvia, not to mention the fact that it will go on for months to come in Asia, Australia, Africa and South America. Although mind-boggling how one band can manage to traverse such radically different cultural climates, Davis sees the reasoning as quite basic.

“Our music is real,” he offers simplistically. “People feel the emotion in it and can relate to a lot of the things we talk about and in the music itself, the energy that’s there enables people to get their aggressions out,” he explains. “It’s the sort of music that touches people on an emotional level, whether it be letting them vent the way they feel or just to be happy at jumping about and rocking out.”

As well as being evidently happy to be back in the UK, Davis also appears more than contented at the results and feedback of the band’s latest long player Untitled Album, arguably Korn’s most experimental album to date with its atmospheric and deep feel, with many critics welcoming the expansion felt in the band’s already diverse musical canon. It is also an album Davis sees as a chance for the band to reinvent themselves and keep them at the cutting edge.

“People seem to be digging these songs which is cool, because with this record we made a conscious decision to change things up a bit in order for us to stay ahead of the curve,” he justifies. “When we put out early albums like Life Is Peachy, everyone just jumped on the bandwagon and it kinda diluted what we did, plus I think there are some amazing songs on there too,” he adds.

This level of experimentation that has crept onto the latest Korn record is understandable then, when Davis reveals to us that he is looking to push his own solo project further this year, which will see him return with a personally hand-picked band to play some UK festival dates this summer. Don’t be expecting another Korn-esque outing however.

“Korn is so heavy and I wanted to do something that was the complete opposite to that with this shit I’m doing,” he outlines. “What I loved about the solo thing was when I was putting it together as I wasn’t even sure what it was going to sound like until all the players in the band got together and now I’m like, ‘wow, this band is fucking great’. It’s a five-piece band that plays some insane shit, which you got to see!”

Juggling all of these projects at once is testament to Davis’ continued commitment to his art and fanbase, a project he doesn’t need to add to his existing workload, especially when he tells us of the ongoing struggle he faces with trying to manage the two most important aspects to his life: Music and his family – a far cry from the image perhaps portrayed through Korn’s aggressive and controversial exterior.

“I find it fucking hard man,” he sighs. “If I ever get time off from a tour or whatever, I’m one hundred percent there with my kids. I’ll wake up with them, fix their breakfast, put them to sleep at night and do as much for them as I can to help their Mom get a break,” he details, revealing a side to him disturbed parents and detractors of the band’s past will be somewhat surprised to hear.

Before ending the interview we get on to the topic of when we can expect Korn’s next album, which will dispel any rumours circulating the internet following the departure the day after our conversation of guitarist James ‘Munky’ Shaffer (who in fact left the tour for personal and family reasons), with Davis promising a new album “when the tour is over and we get time to regroup.” However, fans may have to wait a while for that to happen, as for the first time in their history, Davis feels the time is right for Korn to take a well-earned break, adding: “We’ve been going for like fourteen years straight, so this time we’ll be taking at least six months off to chill and the next album will begin and as soon we’ve had that, because as soon as I get some time off, I’ll be straight home to see my babies!”

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