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Korn Biography:
In a career marked by a series of firsts, Korn have done it again. Got a problem with that?
They've already revolutionized the heavy genre with their bold, unsettling
music that defies categorization and presented it to their fans with unprecedented multi-media events. Now they've taken their
music to astonishing new heights with SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE, their debut album via a partnership with EMI/Virgin Records.
It's a unique alliance that will enable Korn to be even more innovative in the way their music is presented to their fans,
who constitute one of the most fiercely loyal followings in all of rock 'n roll. Listening to such daring new songs as "Twisted
Transistor," "Politics" and "Love Song," among others, it's clear that Korn--JONATHAN DAVIS, JAMES "MUNKY" SHAFFER, FIELDY
and DAVID SILVERIA--have opened the doors to even more creativity and disarray. And no one does "disarray" like Korn.
"We were sitting there with one less
member, and we decided to check out some other types of producers, experiment, and see what happens," says DAVIS, referring
to the departure of former guitarist Brian "Head" Welch (who left for spiritual reasons), and the band's ensuing decision
to switch things up in the studio following the self-produced release of 2003's Take A Look In The Mirror. "It just came to
the point where we had to reinvent--here we are, the four of us, let's make some music that's different, and music that people
are going to flip the fuck out over. We can go in so many different directions as a band, why be closed-minded?"
Their
decision was anything but closed-minded as Korn--who've already sold over 25 million records worldwide and encapsulated their
body of work on 2004's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1--entered the studio with a team of producers as different as night and day. The
one constant is DAVIS. He handled the majority of the production on the band's last album, and remains a producer on SEE YOU
ON THE OTHER SIDE, joining forces with The Matrix and Atticus Ross. "We knew we wanted to experiment and see what would happen,
but we had no clue it would end up like this," laughs DAVIS. "It really worked out-we may have lost a member, but we gained
another two with Atticus and Matrix."
The result is the most revolutionary Korn album since their debut, a barb-wired,
bastard son of blinding musical fury, dark and twisted lyrical candor, and searing, sociopathic tendencies. It's the culmination
of everything Korn have come to represent musically, morphed with an industrial-strength alter ego that's been suppressed-until
now. SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE is more than the evolution of Korn, it's an evolution of heavy.
"There needs to be something
more," says DAVIS. "A lot of people are doing 'heavy,' and they're doing it great, but we've always been about pushing the
levels and coming up with some new shit. We ushered in a genre of music, and now we're trying to stay ahead of that curve.
This isn't minimalist, old-school Korn--this is a natural progression for us, and we're kicking it up a notch."
Kicking
it up a notch, with pulverizing effect. A hybrid funk and medicating, metallic shimmer radiates from opening track "Twisted
Transistor," steamrolling into the abrasive guitar attack of "Politics," the industrial textures of "Throw Me," and the military
precision of the anthemic "Coming Undone." While "Eaten Up Inside" and "Getting Off" don't stray far from the decimated path
Korn have left in their wake, the true gems are found in their more forward-thrusting manipulations. While DAVIS notes that
"Love Song" is a song sure to impress "all my depressed, goth peeps out there," his delivery is more in the style of David Bowie, than death metal Bauhaus.
"When we listen to what we're doing and look at each other with scared, fucked up feelings in our guts, that's when
we know we wrote something special," says the singer. "That's how we know we're breaking down the boundaries and doing some
new s***, because we're scared about it." Scary might be the best way to describe the epic "Seen It All," which jumps from
a sludgy, dark and droning intro, to purging, soul-shattering depths. Korn have always spoken directly to their fans through
their music, and the new release is no exception. In fact, DAVIS found his co-producers to be the perfect collaborators to free even more of his inner demons.
"I've
written seven albums worth of shit, and I have my style, but I wanted something different, not the typical lyrics that I always
write. I want to come out and say things in a different way, so getting those different people around me, with their different
perspectives and different talents, really helped me a lot. I've always had a problem getting across what I'm trying to say,
because I'm always limited to what I can do within the phrasing and melody of the lyric, but they helped me a lot with that,
without losing our vibe."
For evidence, look to closing track "Tearjerker" where the arrangement is ambient, spacey
and soft, yet the emotional baggage is heavy. "That's just inspired by some f***ing bad times, like when I'm on the road and
I get in a fight with my chick, and I feel like I can't go anywhere or do anything, and I'm so alone that there aren't even
ghosts chilling with me. I know people can relate to that-maybe not in the same way I do, because everybody's not out on the
road, but everyone has shit happen in relationships, or they lose a loved one, and they're like, 'What the f*** am I going
to do?'"
At a more global level, "For No One," rings of adolescent rebellion, but isn't limited by boundaries of age.
"It is very adolescent rebellion, but I still feel that way now," says DAVIS. "People try to label it as 'teen rebellion,'
but I don't think anyone ever really gets over feeling like that. There are times I just want to get in the car and f*** s***
up… Then keep going and f*** more s*** up, just rebel. That's more about America, in general--I'm having a real hard
time with how conservative the United States is. I love it here, but it drives me f***ing nuts! A titty pops out, and the
whole world stops--so what if a child sees a breast, he's sucked on one, for f***'s sake!"
On a lighter note, though
biologically similar, the frontman has other words to describe the rhythmic vocals and effervescent, techno bounce of "Open
Up." "Fieldy gets really funky on his bass with that one--that's a titty-bar song."
You think someone might have a
problem with DAVIS' inspirations, and off-the-cuff choice of words? If so, "Hypocrite" was written with them in mind. "That
was straight from my heart," he says, suppressing a laugh. "That's my jab at organized religion, and the whole movement, in
general--those same fools that are taking our money for God? You see them in titty bars all the time, they're f**ing hypocrites."
And it's all served with a side-order of irony--if you think the chorus to "Hypocrite" sounds a bit like some twisted Broadway romp, you're not wrong. "I'm telling a story, and it's very f***ing
Broadway--I love that s***, it's what I grew up on, and those influences have finally come out. The reason I got into rock
'n' roll was because of the Jesus Christ Superstar. Funny, huh? Of course, when that came out, because it was a rock opera,
they though that was blasphemous."
Blasphemous. The same has been said of Korn, but it hasn't slowed them down one
bit. The scariest part? They seem to only be getting stronger. If Korn's first decade ushered in a new era in heavy music,
brace yourself, because the next decade has been launched with their most unrelenting musical maelstrom to date.
Korn's
cathartic alternative metal sound positioned the group among the most popular and provocative to emerge during the post-grunge
era. Korn began its existence as the Bakersfield, CA-based metal band LAPD, which included guitarists James "Munky" Shaffer
and Brian "Head" Welch, bassist Reginald "Fieldy Snuts" Arvizu, and drummer David Silveria. After issuing an LP, the members of LAPD in 1993 crossed paths with Jonathan Davis, a mortuary science student moonlighting as the lead vocalist for the local group Sexart; they soon asked Davis to join the band, and upon his arrival, the quintet rechristened itself Korn. After signing to Epic's Immortal imprint, they
issued their debut album in late 1994; thanks to a relentless tour schedule that included stints opening for Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Marilyn Manson, and 311, the record slowly but steadily rose the charts, eventually going gold. Its 1996 follow-up, Life Is Peachy, was a more immediate smash, reaching the number three spot on the pop album charts. The following summer, they headlined
Lollapalooza, but were forced to drop off the tour when Shaffer was diagnosed with viral meningitis. While recording their best-selling 1998 LP Follow the Leader, Korn made national headlines
when a student in Zeeland, MI, was suspended for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the group's logo; the school's principal
later declared their music "indecent, vulgar and obscene," prompting the band to issue a cease-and-desist order. Their annual
Family Values tour also started in 1998, featuring a lineup that consisted of Korn collaborators such as Limp Bizkit and Ice Cube and likeminded artists such as Rammstein. The tour was an enormous success, so much so that it continued on with Korn overseeing the lineup for years after. Issues followed in 1999, and in typical Korn fashion they debuted their new single in an episode of South Park. The band toured
behind the album into the next year, but their efforts were cut short by an injury that took out drummer David Silveria. They hired former Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin to help them finish the remaining shows, and took a short rest before joining a summer tour with Metallica, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000, and System of a Down. Silveria also returned amid rumors of leaving the band for a fashion career, but these were merely stemming from some modeling work
he had done before his injury. A short headlining tour followed before the band stepped off the road for a much-deserved rest.
Fieldy released a gangsta rap album and Davis scored the film Queen of the Damned in the meantime, but the band resurfaced as a unit toward the end of 2001 and entered
the studio for their next album. A few shows with Static-X helped iron the wrinkles out of the new material, and by the next
summer they had Untouchables ready for release. Korn did a run of Ozzfest dates in support, and the album was another smash hit. The self-produced Take
a Look in the Mirror arrived in 2003. Billed by the band as a reconsideration of their sound, the album was accompanied by
a tour of smaller venues called "Back to Basics." More touring followed, with dates in Japan and Asia; 2004 also included
Korn's first greatest-hits collection. Welch left the band in 2005, evidently due to his newfound Christian faith. But Korn continued, playing shows that summer as a
quartet and signing an expansive recording and development deal with Virgin. See You on the Other Side was released the following
December. It featured a batch of songs co-written with hitmaking production team the Matrix. Jason Ankeny Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
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