When Jonathan Davis asks "Don't you hate me?," it's because the feeling is
mutual. On "Life Is Peachy" (Epic), Korn's second album, he hurls
imprecations at betrayals real and imagined, culminating in a violent fantasy
called "Kill You" about his stepmother.
He yells, growls, sneers, whines and sobs through clenched teeth; meanwhile,
the band applies hip-hop's noise aesthetics to a hard-rock lineup. Guitars are
tuned downward until harmony registers as noise; feedback arrives as an
interruption and turns into the beat; riffs thrash, then stop dead as the bottom
drops out.
Korn has learned more than a few tricks from Nine Inch Nails, and it's not
above using invective for simple shock value. But the chip on its shoulder
sounds genuine.
If Korn wasn't so sarcastic about it, they could have titled their second album "Life is Lunacy." Here we have an assembly of twisted souls -- perverts, psychopaths and paranoiacs -- dramatized by the creepy multipersonality soliloquys of singer Jonathan Davis. What emerges is an overload of troubled emotion: thrashy hip-hop, the vocal spasms of Davis and guitarist Head, and a sound that is both grooved and jagged.
HARVEST TIME
KKKK
"Awsome", "Killer", "cool" and "fucking amazing!" are just four of the
expressions used by Machine Head main man Robb Flynn to describe Korn.
Months back, the man shouted his praises to anyone within 10 miles. After a
delay that will probubly only add to the bands cult stature, the UK finally
gets to hear the cause of Flynns frantic fits basically if you like Pantera,
Rage against the machine, prong and/or Nine Inch Nails, then you've already
established common ground with Korn. Their intoxicatingly dark noise takes
cues from all these bands.
It's a damaging combination. From Pantera and Prong, these
californians take the odd riff, and the general aggression. From Rage, they
appear to have learnt the art of great dynamics - to suddenly take the pace
down low, then bring it back up and detonate it in the listners face. See
the blistering 'Faget', where singer jonathan david roars,'All my life who
am I?!'.
His voice overflows with cracked, frustrated emotion, often Lapsing
into uncontrollable screams like a mental ward regular, and this is where the Trent Reznor comparison rears its head. you can almost see the veins throbbing on the man's forehead.
There are personal demons her that wouldn't look out of place in
'The Evil Dead'. Davis, does however, vary his approach, depending on how
psychotic/neurotic/any-thing-ending-in-'otic' he's feeling at the time,
sometimes he tears through a twisted rap, sometimes he adopts a subtile,
aching moan,Other times, he tears through twisted rap, sometimes he adopts a
subtle, aching moan, Other times, he justr shouts his bollocks off. But
whatever he's doing , it sounds painful.
Korn have also injected their own special insanity into the music,
crafting a horribly slazy gutar sound that matches their bleek outlook on
life. At points its hard to tell which is gutar and whitch is a bass.
Sickeningly down-tuned riffs are then hooked with bizarre squeals of guitar
noise, sounding like nothing other than kittens in a microwave. If primus
became deranged serial killers, they might sound like korn 'Blind', the
album's opener, will surely become equivalent to Rage Against the Machine's
signature hit 'Killing in the Name'. Introducing us perfectly to the band's
quirky bruising ways, it's a textbook example of build-and-release rock. A
light hi hat rythm gets rhythmically stabbed by a guitar scrape, before
exploding into one of the year's most bass-heavy riffs. 'Korn'may
occasionally waver below this high standard over the course of it's 65
minutes, but then this is just the beginning. There are five new freaks on
the block.
Everything you need to know about
KORN
Formed: 1993 in hutington beach, California
Previous lp's: none
Biggest Hit: No singles released thus far but the video for blind has
gone down a storm on MTV.
Current line-up
Jonathon Davis (Vocals/Bagpipes), Fieldy (Bass), J Munky Shaffer
(guitar), Brian (guitar/Vocals)david (Drums).
Studio Vibe: The album was recorded at indigo Ranch
Studios, Malibu, Although you'd think it to be frought
with tention on first listen, a bitween-song snippet of
korn having a laugh suggests otherwise.
Cover of LP: A small girl sitting on a swing, with a menacing, Freddy
Krueger-Like figure standing over her, Dodgy
Subject Matter
for LP: Hatred, self-Loathing, angust and paranoia your everyday
common-or-garden head-fucks.
Next Move: Following there recient LA2 (rock club) show with Paw, a
full UK tour is planned for early next year.
KORN 'korn'
(Epic/Immortal EK 66633)
JASON ARNOPP.
Korn, the Urge, Incubus
KKKKK
1997's most hotly anticipated tour couldn't start anywhere better than the
Barrowlands, one of the best rock venues in the country. Tonight there's a
frenzied atmosphere, absolutely pin-sharp sound and a sense of anticipation
that you can almost hold in your hand.
All of which means that Incubus can't lose, and Korn's youthful labelmates
attack their set to screams from the front rows. It's a brash amalgam of
bad Brains meets RATM, with the added element of deft scratch mixing from
DJ Gavin Koppel. And yes, frontman Brandon Boyd is a heartbreaker, with a
chest like a washboard and a cheesy grin. Stars by the end of the year
definitely.
The Urge are also a welcome surprise. Their brash Fishbone-y ska-funk could
have died on it's arse tonight, but instead it turns Barrowlands into a sea
of leaping bodies, egged on by chirpy frontman Karl, who soon has everybody
screaming their choruses and making devil hand signals. The energy onstage
is frenetic and infectious, the hall brightened by the crisp blasts of
brass of the charming Matt, Bill and Todd. Infinitely better live than on a
record, expect to see them kick-starting festivals throughout Europe this
summer.
Korn come out fighting, their fierce power and anger unrelenting. Watching
them is like being knocked off your feet, the low-end rumble pounding your
chest, the howling vocals seeping through your skull.
Attempting to quantify what it is that makes Korn so special would take
all week. Simply put, the quintet are a phenomenally focussed live unit,
drilled to perfection and led by Fieldy's deliciously looping bass and the
militaristic drumming of David Silveria, surely rock's finest drummer of
the moment. Draped around the rhythm section are the jagged, edgy guitars
of Head barking backing vocals, and super-cool Munky. Four different
characters, Four different points of focus - and that's before you even get
to Jonathan Davis.
Currently, there is no other band who so perfectly capture the mood of
their audience than Korn, and no other rock star more tuned in to the minds
of his followers than Jonathan Davis. It's not hard to see this scrawny,
dreadlocked, self-confessed fuck-up as some kind of Pied Piper, as what
seems like a hundred thousand adoring adolescents chant "All My Life, Who
am I?" In unison with him.
From second song "Blind", Korn are flying all the way. 15 songs, including
a segue of 'Low Rider' into a crushing 'Shoots and Ladders' and of course,
barrowlands erupts when Davis pulls out his bagpipes. But there are just no
low points. The set sweeps form a pummeling 'Good God' and 'Clown', and
pounds relentlessly on via 'Ball Tongue' and 'Fake' to a climatic 'Faget',
Fieldy's bass upright, head's hair flying, Munky lost in it, Jonathan
trembling, groin thumping the mike stand. they miss out 'Proud' - though
it's on the setlist - as David has injured his wrist and there's no encore.
there's no need: by now Korn have said it all.
With Metallica past their peak and Sepultura off the scene, Korn are surely
now poised to be the biggest extreme rock band in the world.
There is no place to hide.
MOST ROCKING MOMENT : 'Good God','Blind','Faget' - you name it, it was in there
Setlist: TWIST, BLIND, CHI, NEED TO, GOOD GOD, CLOWN, BALL TONGUE,
ADIDAS, LOW RIDER, SHOOTS AND LADDERS, NO PLACE TO HIDE, DIVINE,
FAKE, KILL YOU, FAGET
Glasgow Barrowlands
Friday, 24th January
LEAST ROCKING MOMENT : Hardly likely, was it?
BEST ONSTAGE QUOTE : No idle chatter but you can't go much better than the
war cry of "YOU CAN SUCK MY DICK AND FUCKING LIKE IT!"
VERDICT : If you missed this tour, it was probably the biggest mistake of
your year
Korn came together in 1993, in Huntington Beach, California. Now, their Epic/Immortal self-titled debut is winning critical acclaim from the music community. Dark, intense lyrics front this hard-hitting sound. The band is comprised of Jonathan (vox, bagpipes), Fieldy (bass), Brian (guitar), James 'Munk' (guitar), and David (drums).
Be sure to eat your vegatables, son.
Pit: Tell me about the bagpipes - how did you come up with that? Are you of Scottish descent?
Jonathan: I went to a high school that had a pipe band. I started taking lessons at school; then I took private lessons and started competing. I always wanted to learn how to play that instrument, but I never thought I'd play it in a band. Then we wrote this song and thought we'd try it; it just worked.
Pit: How did the band come into being?
Jon: Munk, Fieldy and David had been playing in a band for like the last ten years, and then Brian got in the band. The singer didn't work out. They saw me in Bakersfield, where we all grew up, and asked me to try out. We just clicked. We wrote three songs our first practice. That's how Korn started; two months later we were signed. And here we are.
Pit: What does the name stand for - what does it mean?
Jon: We had a party in Bakersfield and there were these two homosexual guys talking - they were talking about how they were having sex with each other. One guy was eating the other's butthole and he blew diarrhea all over the other guy's face, and when he opened his mouth he had a corn kernal on his tongue. So, I used to walk around to people who knew the story and say 'corn' to gross them out. It just stuck in my head. I spelled it like a kid would.
Pit: You're from Bakersfield, California. What kind of childhood did you have?
Jon: The normal hell-childhood. It's like out of a Stephen King novel - it's crazy. Nothing to do... Only thing I did was study music, because my dad owned a music store. So I took a lot of lessons. Eventually I learned to play a lot of things.
Pit: You're very impassioned when you're on stage. How do you feel when you're playing live?
Jon: I don't really know; I just get in a state. I don't know what I do. I get to a point where I feel everything - all the pain that I feel inside, all the passion for my songs. I can't remember anything after; I just go for it. The band tells me what's going on after. Haven't you ever gotten that freaked out?
Pit: I have, but not on a regular basis.
Jon: Well, that happens to me every time. There were a couple of shows where I snapped out of it, and I just hated the shows. Things went wrong.
Pit: What do you expect to see in the crowd?
Jon: I usually just see lots of kids going crazy - jumping around in pits. I expect to see the kids having fun.
Pit: Is there a message in your music?
Jon: I guess the only one is to be honest with yourself. I'm tired of seeing hardcore kids acting like they're so tough, so hard, so bad, but they actually have feelings. It's hardest to be yourself. If you've got to be a fake, then who are you trying to fool? I have a lot of problems with all the testosterone.
Pit: Is it hard for you to be honest with yourself?
Jon: It was for a while, but it's not anymore. Now that I have my music I can get all this out. It's like therapy for me.
Pit: You're album has gotten a lot of critical acclaim. How does this affect you?
Jon: I think it's great. I never dreamed it would be like this, but getting good reviews makes it worth it. I had no idea that people would relate to me so much.
Pit: What do you think makes your music different?
Jon: Maybe it's our grooves. That's a good question.
Pit: What do you see as the world's biggest problem right now?
Jon: Us, I guess. The people. The politics. Stuff I don't care to talk about. I hate politics. Everyone should just kill politicians. America is a huge business; they do fucked up shit to us.
Korn know their audience, they know what the 'kids' want and have thus become one of the must
successful hard music acts in recent times. Ironic as Korn consider themselves as just kids. Their
patented street core groove is now influencing hordes of bands around and fast becoming the next
big thing. Korn play Festival Hall on May 8th and Mike Kratochvil spoke recently with dry
humoured bassist Fieldy.
How do you feel about being successful in a place like Australia?
"We didn't even know how it happened...when our record company said you have a gold record in
Australia - we're like, how? We don't even know, then they tell us about how it is doin' on the charts and
we're like, well that's cool - I guess we gotta go there now. I guess it's going to be a different kind of tour
there because I heard we are going to be flying city to city because they are so far apart. Normally we are
on a bus - It's kind of hard to do a tour like that, we did it in Europe before once. You're up at weird hours
and you're always in the airport - it's kind of hard. Maybe they are going to try and make it more
convenient for us but sometimes it's not possible. Where just hurtin' the whole time but luckily it's only ten
days or something."
Korn have got such a distinctive sound that when any bands are influenced by you guys, it really
seems to show. How do you feel about bands having that korny with a k style?
"I hope that the bands continue to come out, there is at least a good handful - people need more music and
more Korn sounding bands to come out. I guess the more powerful we can become and play bigger places
and maybe take over this next kind of music to come out. We have had the rock, the metal and the
alternative - I think we are ready for the next step."
What would you call the next step?
"I'm sure they will make up something."
What would you come up with to describe this kind of style?
"I don't know, I guess the industry comes up with that. But if I had to name a name for it....shit I don't
know. I don't even know."
Come on man, you're the bassist?
"......Heavier metal. I don't know."
You guys aren't shy about showing your hip hop influences - I think you and the drummer really
bring that forth.
"Pretty much I'm the one. I don't even listen to anything heavy - I only listen to hip hop and that's it. I like
MC and The Mad Circle, Ice Cube, West Side Connection. I just got the idea from the type of hip hop
that I listen to that it's kind of heavy and it's kind of like scary sounding. We can use that but make it
heavier without the rap in it - all real instruments. Without taking it over board to where we sound like a rap
band or something."
I mean it can easily get cheesy can't it?
"Yeah, you can totally cheese it out. We got many demos where I've heard some crap and it's a joke. You
have just gotta be able to do it right, Limp Biscuit did it."
Do you guys use a sequencer for all the stuff you do live?
"Everything is real man, we do everything. There is no effects, there is no nothing - you can get anything out
of a guitar. The only thing we use is an 808 - the drummer uses an 808. It's a low boom and that's
Have you guys ever toured with any hip hop bands?
"Yeah, our first tour that Korn ever did before our record was out was with House Of Pain and when
Grave Diggaz came out, we did a little bit of dates with them. We brought The Far Side on tour with us.
We did a show with Cypress Hill. It was good, we tried to do a tour with Ice Cube but he was doin' a
movie. We are actually going on tour with Snoop Doggy Dog, you know the Lollapalooza tour. It starts in
June."
What sort of people do you see in the audience?
"A bunch of people wearing some Adidas clothes and Head's (guitarist Brian Welch) hair do. I would
pretty much say that's our audience."
It's not just the metal kids that turn out to your shows....
"It was kind of hard for us because when we started out we took a lot of metal tours - we did Megadeth,
Ozzy, Danzig. So to start out with, a lot of our fans were like metal heads, dirt heads or whatever you
wanna call them. And I guess finally we are starting to get a lot of our fans. So either a lot of those fans cut
their hair and changed their clothes or we are winning a lot of new fans. You can tell that the audience is
lookin' a little better because when we were starting out, doing these tours with Megadeth, Ozzy, Metallica
- every metal act you can name, I remember calling my girl friend a couple of times and saying like 'you
should see this crowd.' I don't know man, it was like they were out of the eighties."
So you think metal is something that is kind of eighties?
"Well this is the nineties and it is time to move on. We need to start a new generation, because if you are
living in the eighties you have to make that next step. If you don't you will just die away, you have got to
keep it goin'. Somebody has to take a chance."
To me, fashion has always seemed to be a part of the bands image - do you think you guys would
have had the same success if you had been wearing K-Mart tracksuits in the promo photos?
"I guess to me and the whole band - we always remember like being kids and when you go see a band, it is
important to see an image. I mean you don't wanna go to a concert and see like.....Weezer. When you go
there you want to here the music but you want to look on stage and you want to see an image and a show.
We just all think it's important to have some kind of an image going on. We have always pretty much
dressed the way we dressed, so we just got in the band and dressed this way."
You guys have been setting the trends and fashions.
"Yeah, I think we have made Adidas alot of money."
Speaking of A.D.I.D.A.S, that song has a great video clip going for it. Tell us about how that
came about?
"The director....it was his idea. He just did the Shaq video with the helicopter and he did the West Side
Connection video for them. He has had pretty much all hip hop crap. Then he came to us with his idea, he
knew that John used to work for the morgue in the coroners office and all that crap so...We liked his idea
and we're like - lets do it."
You guys liked being turned into corpses?
"It was fun, the only think that I didn't like too much was being zipped up in that body bag - and I didn't like
putting the contacts in my eyes. I guess the worst part of the video was towards the end of the video when
we were laying on those tables - we had to lay on those tables for about five hoUrs. It f**n sucked man! I
don't really think I would ever have the patience to act."
You guys also have your own home video going around?
"We just wanted to put a kind of video out like that because when we play live, we don't say anything on
the mike or anything. So we are like, when we put a video out we know that kids wanna know what we
are like. We always picture ourselves as kids you know and when I was a kid - I wanted to know all the
inside scoops about a band. So I was like, put a video out and let these people know that we are like not
miserable people walking around. We have a good time."
You guys seem to explore some of your darker sides on the recordings and generally get pretty
worked up. Do you guys find it hard to recreate those emotions in a live environment?
"Yeah, that's why we drink so much. It helps us.....I guess that's part of the deal, it's part of the show. I
mean it's not as emotional as it is like in the studio. Live it's more intense, it's like when you are on stage for
an hour and ten minutes it's like being on a roller coaster for an hour and ten minutes. It's just intense the
whole time, some times I'll be walkin' off stage and I'll be like throwin' up - I 'm throwin' up a couple of
times on stage too. It's just because it's so intense being up there. Sometimes I will be throwin' up before
we play too."
Is there any plans for a remix album in the future, I know you guys have done some remixes on
the singles and a 7".
"Yeah, I think it would be a great idea to remix the whole record. But it would have to be done so phat and
so good. I mean, I've heard some remix records and they didn't impress me at all."
Who would you like to remix your music?
"Um, I guess if I had a choice - I'd wanna give the record to a couple of people and see what they did. But
I think Dre is a good producer to do something like that. And I think the Dust Brothers - everything they
have ever did is so good. Probably just between those two."
"I think kids would total dig it if we put out Life Is Peachy remixed. It's a good possibility. I think I might
make it happen now you mentioned it."
