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Korn Bio

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Band History

KoRn is made of a deep history of bands' breaking up and forming. Here is a brief overview. The setting is Bakersfield, CA, north of Los Angles.

First off, KoRn was formed in 1993 when Sex Art's Jonathan Davis joined forces with LAPD, made of Munky, Fieldy, David, and Brian.

SexArt consisted of 5 people: Jonathan Davis (singer now with KoRn), Ryan (now with Orgy, signed to KoRn's new label, Elementree), Denis (now a music producer), Chaka and Dave (now with the band Juice). When Jonathan left SexArt, Smily replaced him. Now, Smily, Chaka, and Dave make up the band Juice. Then, when SexArt broke up, Dave, Ray Ray, Denis, and Ryan made a band called Supermodel, and their singer was Richard... the former singer of LAPD. LAPD? Who's that, you ask? Read on...

LAPD consisted of Munky, Fieldy, David, Brian, and Richard, whom Jonathan replaced. After Jonathan came in, the band changed their name to KoRn.

When Jonathan worked in the morgue, it was the Kern County Morgue in Cali. The name Korn probably came from that. The logo KoRn was drawn by Jonathan using his left hand.

After KoRn formed, they came out with their first CD in 1994, titled KoRn. The first song, "Blind", was originally done by SexArt. The CD was a instant hit, mixed with punk, metal, and hip hop. Then, in 1996, KoRn made its much anticipated sophomore album: Life Is Peachy. Chino Moreno of the Deftones did a cover of Ice Cube's song Wicked with KoRn on Life Is Peachy.

And from there things went either better or worse depending on how you look at it. Life Is Peachy did pretty good on sales and the fans were pleased for a while. After touring in support of the album, in 1998, Korn went to work on its 3rd album, the highly publicized and commercialized Follow The Leader. MTV promoted it non-stop, and it was greeted with instant money when released. Korn had officially crossed over to the general public.

Just a year later, Korn released its 4th album, Issues on Nov. 16, 1999. MTV again was the main promoter for the album. Old school fans shun the album in fear of its poppish sounds.

Untouchables, the 5th album was released on June 11th of 2002. It made a #2 debut on the Billboard 200.



Jonathan Davis

Jonathan Davis was born on Jan. 18th and grew up in Bakersfield, CA. He and most of the KoRn members went to Highland High. His first band was named Sex Art. "Blind" came from this band. Tapes of Sex Art are really, really hard to get. During his time in school, he worked in a coroner's office doing autopsies. The new "A.D.I.D.A.S." video features him in women's underwear in an autopsy room.

Despite all the rumors, Jonathan is not gay and does not have HIV. The tattoo on his arm saying "HIV" is just a tattoo. The song "Faget" on KoRn is just a song fighting back for all the jocks in school who called him a queer, pussy or something. He was sexually abused as a child not by his "Daddy" but his neighbor, hence "Mr. Roger" in Life is Peachy. He has a great relationship with his dad. Jonathan does not do heorin, although he was on speed for two years. He, and the whole band, do drink some very powerful stuff.

Some other things are: his favorite band is Duran Duran. Jonathan also has a son named NathanHouseman Davis and a girlfriend. He has two bagpipes. One he got from his grandpa, the other he bought on his own.

Head

Well, Brian "Head" Welch is a very good friend of Munky. They went to the same highschool. As for bands, Head was in a band called Ragtyme. Head plays his guitar crouching down because the neck of the 7 string guitar was so wide. When he first got the guitar, he practiced playing with it sitting down. When he went to the band practice one day, he notices that he couldn't get his fingers all the way around the strings standing up. So he crouches over and started forming a habit of playing the way it is today. Oh, and he sang "Lowrider" on Peachy. Plus, he has a daughter named Jennea born during Ozzfest of 1998.

Head uses Ibanez RG7620 7-String guitars. He is also one of the endorsers of Ibanez brand guitars. Here are some Q&A's from Head about guitars.

Plugged In: What first interested you in the 7-string guitar?

Head: The thickness and the fatness of the sound combined with the wide range of notes available. You can write fatter grooves with a 7-string. The 7-string guitar is what Korn is about.

Plugged In: How do you tune your RG7620 guitars?

Head: Down to low A.

Plugged In: What are the advantages of playing a 7-string guitar?

Head: The wider range. You can get more adventurous with the instrument. I think it also makes your hand stronger because of the thickness of the neck.

Plugged In: Could you go back to using a 6-string as your primary instrument now that you are mainly using a 7-string?

Head: No way. We wouldn't sound like Korn without the 7-string.



David

David Silvera is a very shy guy. I've heard that he has 2 tattoos, one is a cheshire cat and the other is a guy with a bolt stuck in his tongue. He is married to Shannon, and they have a baby boy also named David (born on Aug. 22, 97). David is, of course, the drummer of the band.

Munky

Munky, or James Shaffer, grew up in Rosedale, CA. During his childhood, he was always messing around and one night got the end of his left index finger cut off while trying to sneak out of the house. Apparently, he had a three wheeler, and its chain slipped off. He tried to quiet it and slapped it with his hand. His finger got trapped between the chain and the sprocket, and he lost the tip of the finger. He started to play guitar for rehab. Brian and he met in Highschool, where they played songs together and joined the band LAPD together in Hunginton Beach, CA.


Fieldy

Fieldy is theee drunk of the band. He drinks almost constantly. His favorite kind of music is Hip-Hop, and his real name is Reginald Arvizu. He has a baby daughter named Sarina

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