Jonathan Davis from Korn likes to cut up dead bodies. In fact, he almost made a career out of it. No, he's not an axe murderer or a serial killer, but he's trained as a professional coroner. However, despite his fascination with the deceased, Davis opted for a career in music instead.
One would assume Davis had a strong metal or alternative background, with Korn's aggressive, hard rock groove. However, Davis didn't listen to rock and roll growing up, but was actually a devoted fan of Duran Duran. He admits that they were his favorite band ("I wanted to be all of them. I'd fall over if I ever met them"), and that he began listening to heavier bands later. With Davis enjoying classical music, his tastes seem to always change.
"I hardly listen to heavy bands anymore at all. I'm always searching for a new band, new music. I Like the new Marilyn Manson EP. They're great. Manson are my buddies, I love hanging out with those guys, Every time we go out, we get in trouble."
Davis does admit a decidedly devilish side. "I'm not a troublemaker, but I do things I shouldn't be doing. I hung out with Silverchair at their acoustic Christmas show in California. David and I tried to get 'em drunk, but their parents always busted us. They each travel with one of their parents at all times."
Perhaps his reslessness stems from his hometown roots in Bakersfield. "I used to just go to parties and get into trouble and fights," Davis says, descrobing his adolescent years. "Everybody fights. That's what you do for fun, go beat the shit out of each other. It's a country town with a lot of hicks. Crazy, white trash people."
Bakersfield is just not a pleasent place, according to Davis, who now lives in Long Beach. "It's cool to go back and see my old friends and everything, but I hate that place with a passion. It's just evil there," Davis says. "It's horrible. There's nothing to do there for kids. The only thing you can do is join a gang or get fucked up on drugs, or get into music."
Bakersfield is technically the birthplace of Korn, but they prefer to say they're from Orange County. Korn bandmates Brian "Head" Welcom (guitar) and James "Munkey" Schaffer (guitar) first met Davis at a bar there, where he was playing with his band Sex Art. Davis' connections with bassist Fieldy trace back a long time. They both attended the same junior high school (along with Head) and their fathers also played in the same band. David Silvera, their drummer, dated his sister. When Welch and Schaffer visited their families back in Bakersfield and watched Davis perform, they expressed their interest in having him perform with them.
"It took me about a month to get down [to Orange County] and I finally tried out and that was it. I tried out. We did three songfs the first day and it just felt right, so we became Korn."
Once the limeup was in place and the band firmly entrenched in the Southern California scene, it took them about a year and a half to get signed. Korn has been called many things -- metal, alternative, hardcore, and punk -- but despite the gaggle of genres, nobody seems to agree on which compartment they are classified. Their unique sound frightened many A&R record company reps but eventually the right ears heard the Korn potential and signed them.
"We activelt sought [to get signed]. We had our demo out and we had a manager," Davis says. "He shopped it around and our producer shopped it around. People were scared to touch it. Then finally record companies started talking to us, wanting to sign us, wanting us and we got offers from Atlantic and RCA."
They eventually settled down with the independant record label, Immortal (a subdivision of Epic) because of their full support of the band. "We took a smaller deal and everything worked out great," Davis says.
Epic took the chance; Korn's debut self-titled album finally broke wide open after a year of constant touring. They toured worldwide as the supporting acts for such headliners as Danzig, Megadeth, and Ozzy Osbourne. Although a new Korn album is long overdue, Davis says he is not sick of their first and only one and loves touring - despite the tough times abd temptations that come.
He described a messy habit when Korn first went out on tour with the rap outfit, House of pain. But old habits die hard, even the bad ones. Davis says he misses the crank, but realized that he is better off without it. "It's no big deal. I stayed up for two years straight which is like living through four years. This is the first year I've been clean... you spend half your lifetime sleeping! I wasn't sleeping at all so it seemed like a longer time."
Today, Davis is clean with the exception of alcohol, which he tries to control. But that hasn't been easy, either.
"Well," he asmits, "I had a problem with Jagermeister. I had to have it taken off our rider. I'd walk around and drink a whole big liter bottle every night. Everybody else would be walking around swigging from beer bottles and I'd be doing the same thing walking, around with my Jagermeister. Now I got that off our rider and I just drink Jack and Coke."
Regardless of his personal demos, Davis is still there for the throngs of Korn fans who find him a kindred spirit. He says that he needs a 20-minute "cool-down" after every show or he'll "freak." Fans also approach him, explaining how his music prevented them from taking the easy way out.
"I get a lot of people that come up to me crying, saying they wanted to commit suicide but my song gave them an outlet to get all their aggressions out. It's heavy. I'll sit down and talk to them and try to be as cool as I can to everybody."
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