We knew Marilyn Manson would stick up for Satan, but jaws hit the floor when KORN's Jonathan Davis stopped dreaming about sex and went into bat for God. But then, he thinks the man upstairs invented angst rock...

Quite frankly, when you are as hungover as Korn singer Jonathan Davis is right now, the last thing you fancy pondering is the meaning of life. Far higher on your list of priorities is standing up, in order to get to the fridge.

Yet here we are, sitting in a restaurant in the Royal Lancaster Hotel (scene of the apocalyptic Kerrang! Awards only two days previously), preparing to discuss such cerebral concerns as religion, reincarnation and whether or not God has a big white beard. Like the rest of us, Jonathan is still feeling the effects of alcoholic combat shock. A pig has shat in his head.

We nurse glasses of iced Evian water, as Bayswater Road buzzes along relentlessly outside. Beyond it lies Hyde Park. The perfect scene to stare out over, while musing on the Big Questions.

Marilyn Manson's musings on evil have already (dis)graced issue 666. Now, it's time to bring on Planet Rock's good guy...

Were you brought up with any kind of religious beliefs?
"Yeah. The first religion I was brought up in was Presbyterian. I was a little kid. I always believed in God and stuff like that, but I mainly wanted to hang out with all my friends at Sunday School. It wasn't about worshipping or nothing.

"After that, my father became a crazy, non-denominational pentecostal... thing. You know, those crazy people who lay hands on people and they pass out and stuff? He became a holy-roller. Presbyterians have music and sing, but weren't allowed to clap. In the Church Of Christ, they don't believe in music. They sing everything a cappella."

How did you react to people trying to cast the devil out of you?
"I thought it was ridiculous. When I was 16, the priests also made my Dad burn all of my Motley Crue posters and tapes. That sucked! I had to start listening to my tapes when he wasn't around.

"After that, my Mom got married to my stepdad. They wanted to be married in Catholic church, so I had to become Catholic too. My grandmother had to sign some certificates, because they considered me a bastard child because I wasn't with my real father. The certificates said they renounced that marriage and I wasn't a bastard child any more. So, I was baptised Catholic and took my first communion all at one big Easter vigil, during which my parents got married, too. So it was like, 'Wow!'."

So, you've been around...
"Yeah, I've been through all these different religions. Through the mill! I stayed Catholic after that event, and I was working at the mortuary so I got to be around the clergy a lot. That's when I found out that religion in general is really just whack. I totally believe in God and Jesus and all that stuff, but I worship them in my own way. I don't believe in organised religion - I dealt with them hand in hand, and a whole bunch of Catholic priests tried to molest me. Telling me I was gay and I should go home with them and stuff. I was 18, so you couldn't exactly call it child molestation. But if you're gonna wear the cloth, don't do that shit!

"Plus, Catholicism is against so many fucking stupid things, like homosexuals and birth control. It's like, 'Let's all get AIDS and die!'. I don't understand why people who are supposed to be good, loving Christians say all those things. The older I got, the more I started thinking. Religion just tears people apart. People kill each other over it. There's wars over it."

Do you believe in the concept of Heaven and Hell?
"If there wasn't good, there wouldn't be evil. It's an energy force that has to be there. Karma's connected, too - it's all connected. I believe in reincarnation, where your spirit grows like a child does. The first couple of lifetimes, your soul is like a kid. Then your spirit grows, and eventually you cross over to nirvana. I can't fathom billions and gazillions of souls up there. I think God had something in mind. That would explain why so many people have experiences where they feel they've been here before."

How old is your own soul?
"Hell if I know! I think it's pretty old, but I don't know. Don't think it's old-old. I get that dija vu feeling all the time."

That must be easy to get on tour.
"Yeah. Like, 'I'm sure I've sung this song before!'."

But if we can't remember our previous existences, what's the point? How are we supposed to learn anything from life to life?
"I think you just do. It's built-in."

What is your concept of Hell?
"When you get baptised, Catholicism tells you that you're going to Hell. But Hell is what you make it. If you're a bad person and you just suck, you're gonna go to Hell. Hell won't be like fire and damnation - whatever your hell is, you'll be there. (Korn bassist) Fieldy said if he dies and goes to Hell, they're gonna send him to Germany!"

Ever had any supernatural experiences?
"Oh yeah. When I was a kid, I grew up seeing ghosts all the time - they were like translucent white flashes of energy. The older I get, I'm not seeing ghosts as much - which is kind of like the whole Peter Pan thing. But I know there's a force out there. I saw my great-grandmother and great-uncle - my aunt told me they're my guardian angels. She writes books on astrology, and how she astrally projects herself into different planes and houses. It confuses the shit out of me, to be honest. I kind of think she's off her rocker a little bit..."

Do you believe people with stories of dying on operating tables, and seeing light at the end of the tunnel?
"Well, I died when I was a little kid, because I had asthma really bad. My heart stopped, and I didn't see no damn light or hear any music! I'm sure it happens, though - maybe it wasn't my time. I guess I wasn't truly dead."

What does God look like?
"I think He's one big superbeing that has all our personalities. I guess He made us, so we're his children or whatever. I think of Him as a big energy force that could be human if he wanted to be. But I don't believe that stereotypical image of Him with the long, white, flowing beard. And Jesus was born in Jerusalem, so He would have to be Arabian or black. He wouldn't be a blond-haired white boy!"

Have you ever read the Bible?
"Yeah, I have two of them. I've got an old antique one that my girlfriend's father bought her, because he's a devout Catholic. He always said he's praying for our souls, because we've had a kid out of wedlock. Whenever we go out, he introduces me as her husband because he's so embarrassed. That's kinda funny."

What's the Bible all about, then?
"I have no clue, man! I don't understand it. I understand the New Testament with the story of Christ and everything. I don't understand the concept that God moved these people to write this book and it all got changed in translation. I'd like to read the original manuscripts. It has to have gotten twisted, to what certain people wanted it to be."

How will you raise your own son, religiously?
"I've kept him from being baptised Catholic. I want him to grow up and do what he wants to do. When he says, 'I wanna go to church, Dad', I'll back him up and we'll talk about God, but not religion. If he wants to go to church, though, I won't make him go by himself. I'll drop him off and pick him up afterwards!

"He goes to church now, actually, with his grandpa. They show the kids all the cute little pictures of Jesus with lambs and stuff. I guess that's good for a kid, when I think about it."

Do you ever pray?
"I pray all the time. I'm not gonna say 'Screw God' and all that. I owe all this to Him. I mean, I worked my ass off, but I was born with the skill. Hell, yes. I pray to give me the breaks. I'll never know till I die whether He did it all, but I guess that's my belief."

What do you make of the theory that God was an alien?
"I've heard that theory. I could fathom the idea of the world being some crazy alien experiment, or some giant ant farm. But I don't know, man. I think there's something more than that. I can see the theory of relativity, but something had to make it happen. I can't see that we're evolved from fish or monkeys, or anything like that."

What's the meaning of life?
"The meaning of life is to sit here, being hungover! People have been trying to figure it out since existence began. All I know is, when I had a kid and I stared down at him, something happened to me. I thought, 'This is why I'm here - to pass myself on to another little human being'. Somehow, that makes sense to me. You grow up, you have kids, you die, and a piece of you goes on. But I don't know what the true meaning of life is. To me, it seems to be pain and things sucking!

"But watching my kid being born was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. David (Silveria, Korn drummer) just had his little boy last night. And Fieldy has his in another month. We're gonna be a family band!"

The Heavens Gate cult suicides earlier this year: a funny old business all around, eh?
"Psychos! That was bizarre. I tried finding that website, but I couldn't [You can check out a mirror of it here - Mark]. Maybe the FBI shut it down. But all those people, 39 of them, killed themselves to catch a comet - a mothership! I don't know how that guy (Marshal Applewhite) actually warped their minds to do that, to take their lives. They all died in Nikes too, so Nike's stock went up overnight!"

Everyone looked so happy in those 'goodbye' videos they filmed before they killed themselves...
"Yeah! They were just about to take some downers and some vodka. Pass out, and just die! Then there was one guy who stayed around and covered them all up, then killed himself. All so they could catch a lift on a mothership... I guess that goes to show you - we could all be worshipping something which is totally made up." What do you think of Satanism?

"Satanism is cool, too. From what I've learned, from (Marilyn) Manson telling me stuff and reading up on my own, they basically let you do what you want to do. It's not all about evil, death and 'Satan!'. It's about good and evil, being an animal and doing what you're gonna do. I'm not the spokesperson for Satanism, but it's cool and I respect that religion. I just don't like the people who are into the whole 'Hail Satan, I am the Devil!' thing. That's stupid - drinking blood and sacrificing cats, or whatever. No!"

Surely all that 'Do what thou wilt' business wouldn't really work, when it came down to it?
"(Shakes head) Mmm-mmm. It would be total anarchy. It'd be like that movie, 'Heavy Metal', where everyone's killing each other - remember that? It would just suck. It would help the population problem, but... Everyone would be walking around with guns, and if you looked at somebody wrong - pow! That's kinda going on with gangs and stuff, but not in general society."

Do you think any comparisons can be drawn between religous fanatics and avid music fans?
"I guess. Music fans follow bands around and they believe in 'em. I followed Duran Duran around, and I got to meet Simon Le Bon last night and I thought I was gonna faint! You just have teen idols that you look up to. Religious fanatics look up to God and do what they think God would want them to do. But I guess musicians are tangible objects that people can see, touch and meet, whereas religious fanatics are believing in something they can't see, or just feel."

Would God like Korn?
"I think so, yeah. What we do is honest. And if he created everything, that means he created angst!"

"Kerrang!" Issue 666, September 1997.