Korn: Remember Who You Are

What was your mindset before you started working on this album? Was there a feeling that the Korn sound was limiting the band and that you needed to break out and try something new?

Like I was saying before, I’m honored to be in a band that’s not afraid to take chances and to venture out. Some bands, very popular bands ”“ AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica – – – they have a format that really, really works. And they don’t want to venture too far from that. But with Korn, our fan base is so great and so worldwide, it’s great even though some people couldn’t really understand why we were going so far off the deep end on this record but then when they see us live, they come up to us and say, “Wow, I didn’t know if I liked it but now I love it. I saw it live and I understand what’s going on.” It is a different sound but there wasn’t any real mindset, it was just that Jonathan met these producers and it kept growing and we kept embracing and it just kinda grew into this thing. Who knows what the next record will sound like. We’re already talking about getting into a room, doing it again but with different producers, so who knows where that direction will lead us.

But this album also really polarized your fan base. Was there discussion about this when you were recording?

Um, no, we didn’t know what to expect; we just stayed true to what we are and one thing about Korn that’s very true is that we just play whatever we’re feeling at the time ”“ here’s no faking. We don’t try to write a “hit” song; we just write what we’re feeling. There’s no faking it to the fans. They know that we’re real and everything we do is from the heart and soul. There’s no “Oh this band is popular, let’s write a song like that.” Far before dubstep got really popular in the last year or so, Jonathan’s been listening to it and dabbling in it and writing and I think that’s important that we just do, that always surfaces good, you know. I think that’s why Korn has had such a long successful career.

Jon obviously listens to a lot of electronic music on the side. Are the rest of the band members also into EDM?

We all have such different tastes, I think that’s what makes us so unique. I come from a very Zeppelin, progressive rock kind of era, Deep Purple and all these old-school prog bands and I was very into that kind of stuff. And Fieldy’s roots are so different than Munky’s. Munky has a very eclectic Nine Inch Nails to rap to”¦ I mean we come from such different backgrounds, it’s awesome. And Jon’s into everything. I have an instrumental band on the side that I play with and we all do side projects and I think that’s what keeps us alive because when we get together and do Korn it’s a 100 percent Korn, but we all have such different tastes and when you get that chemistry together it makes for good sound.

Tell me about your time with David Lee Roth.

He taught me. I call it the school of rock. He’s one of the best entertainers and frontmen of all rock & roll history. No one really did anything like him and many people liked to copy, but could never get that charisma down and his sound. He taught me a lot about entertainment and showbiz. Before I was just a drummer and he taught me that when people come to see a show, give them a show. You give them a hundred and 10 percent. They don’t care if you’re jetlagged or sick from traveling from country to country. So he taught me a lot in those eight years. Living day to day with David Lee Roth is very different. He’s got a pretty vicious temper [laughs]. When he gets angry you don’t want to be around him, but he can also be the life of the party and the funniest guy you’ve ever met. But I think to be that different, to be that eccentric as a performer and a frontman, you have to be a little weird and out there. You can’t be normal. If you’re normal it’s not going to appeal to most people.