Harvestors Of Sorrow

They're dark, brooding, super-heavy and downright scary. And Mörat reckons that Californian mob Korn might just be the next big thing...

Korn are unwell. One of the hottest, most crushing bands on the planet, they are sponsored by one of the most lethal drinks in the universe... Jägermeister. The trouble is that European Jäge is about double the strength of the US stuff, and Korn didn't find that out until after they'd knocked back their usual amount.

Vocalist/bagpipe blower Jonathan Davis and drummer David (that's just David) give short answers to questions this morning, and frequently drift away from the subject.

"We're firm believers in the rock and roll attitude," mutters David when I note they're obviously not a straight edge bands (no booze, no drugs, etc). "I can't imagine doing anything else and having this much fun."

During the photo session, a bucket has to be found for bassist Fieldy in case he pukes. We'll make this interview a short one, and fill in the gaps for them, shall we?

The origins of Korn started about seven years ago in Bakersfield, California where they'd tried all different styles before they poached Davis from a band called Sex Art. How did his unusual vocal style (imagine a Rottweiler chewing a bumble bee) develop?

"I had no clue what I was doing - it just came out and people liked it," he shrugs. "It just developed cos I didn't know what the hell to do with my voice."

What about the bagpipes?

"My Grandmother's Scottish and I always wanted to learn how to play them," Davis informs. "When I went to high school they had a band there, and I started taking lessons. They were always bitching at me to play my bagpipes so I just did it."

The only other rock and roll bands that ever used them are AC/DC and comedy horror troupe GWAR...

"GWAR use a sample," dismisses Jon. "I think I'm the only person to pick them up and play them live. People freak the fuck out! I'm a little more nervous about playing over here because in the States no one knows what the fuck they are! Here they're so much more used to it so they pay attention. You've either gotta play it perfect or you suck."

"One night we were in Huntington and I'd been up all night on coke," David stumbles through his hangover, trying to dredge up an anecdote.

"About seven in the morning we went down to the beach to watch the sunrise and the waves, and there was this guy playing bagpipes. He was hitting all kinds of fucked-up notes! I've heard Jon play so many times that I could hear that the guy was just awful!"

Korns' self-titled debut album - already close to going Gold (500,000 copies) in the States - can be a harrowing ride at times. Take last track 'Daddy', an emotional and terrifying look at child abuse, a track so hard that most people I know can't listen to it all the way through.

"I don't really talk about that one," mutters Davis. "That's an intense song. If they can't listen to it, then that's okay. I can't listen to it either. We don't play it live, it's too much."

There is an embarrassing silence. Er, okay, what about 'Faget'?

"When I was at high school I was kind of a nerdy looking kid," Davis begins, hand in front of his mouth, Nail-varnished fingers.

"Cos I wasn't in with the cool crowd with all the jocks I got called a faggot a lot. If you're not in the cool crowd you get picked on, so that song is my revenge song - 'cos now all those jocks who used to call me faggot come to our shows and jump up and down to 'Faget' and I just laugh at them."

It reminds me when you walk into a bar and get shit for having pink hair or different clothes.

"Yeah, that's exactly it," smiles Davis. "It's saying, 'Fuck you' to the stereotypical people. But it all goes in a big circle. You can never get out of a stereotype."

"Yeah," nods David. "By calling them jocks you're stereotyping them. People need to feel like they belong to somewhere, so they have to call everyone something."

So what sort of audience do Korn attract?

"All types," whispers Davis. "We've got a really diverse crowd; we've got metal kids, alternative kids..."

"See, you're stereotyping people!" hoots his side-kick.

"Exactly," Davis concedes, "but that's the only way you can describe them."

"Korn kids!", suggests David. "It doesn't matter to us if there's a kid standing here with no hair and a kid standing here who's got long hair and a kid over there with blonde hair and make-up or whatever. It doesn't matter what they look like as long as they're into it. We wouldn't stereotype our own crowd."

"We get lots of weirdos!" says John proudly. "We had a girl send us a letter with a curse; she cursed us! There's some weird people, really strange people, crazy inbreds, but I like it, it's cool. I like to hang out with them all."

David sips at a dodgy alcoholic cocktail. It's barely midday. "I don't think we're what you'd call normal," he grins.

Mörat Kerrang! November 25th, 1995