Former KORN Guitarist: 'I Cannot Make Money From Music Anymore'

Jeffrey Easton of Metal Exiles recently conducted an interview with former KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Exiles: It has been three years since "Save Me From Myself" came out. Did you want to take your time with the next record or did you let the books take their course?

Brian: We have been doing a lot of touring, getting my chops up as a frontman, which is what we have been focusing on. Plus, I have had some legal issues I have had to work through as well, so now it is time for something new.

Metal Exiles: I have seen your live show and it seemed to me you are perfectly suited for it. How did you adapt to being a frontman after spending so long as a guitarist in KORN?

Brian: Just continuing to do it every night so I can gain some comfort. Some nights I can get into it, but other nights I feel weird.

Metal Exiles: "Save Me From Myself" is a very caustic record. Do you think it cleansed you of your demons or is the next album still exploring your pre-saved years?

Brian: The new record is stuff I am going through now. I am trying to get the best song, but it does have to be real to me. I cannot write a song just to sell it because I cannot make money from music anymore now anyway. "Paralyzed" talks about a lot of pain like emotional depression, which is not all the time, but I do feel a lot of pain, so I like to talk about it.

Metal Exiles: Emotionally, where did "Paralyzed" come from?

Brian: It's about life being filled with lawsuits, and like I said in my last book, "Stronger", dealing with depression and trying to lead this new life I am living. I am doing it but it is a struggle but it is not the drugs anymore, it's just life.

Metal Exiles: With your legal issues, why are people continuing to come after you?

Brian: I try to do good, and I try to help people, but when you try to do something good, it seems like things follow you just to take you down and discourage you. I think that is what is happening to me. I believe in the karma of if you do good things, that good things will happen to you, but sometimes when you do good, bad will chase you down. I have made some bad decisions, as well as getting into some bad partnerships that I should not have. I am glad that I went through it, because it got rid of my fear of circumstances. I found out because of that I can get through anything, and with God's help, I can get through any battle.

Metal Exiles: "Paralyzed" is very heavy, can we expect more of that when the next album drops? Is this the direction you are heading in?

Brian: I think it will be a little of both heavy, with some awesome melodic songs as well. I cannot leave it slow; it has to be heavy as well. There is a song that I am working on called "Stronger"; it starts slow and it builds to this very intense structure.

Metal Exiles: You said that the first album was lacking in riffs, but I thought it was heavy. What do you think was missing?

Brian: The heavy riffs, like the middle section of "Paralyzed"; I did not do a lot of stuff like that on it. It was good for what it was but I have grown a lot since then and I know what works for me live vocally and a lot of those songs are hard for me to do live. I think on this album we are at a new level with guitar riffs.

Read the entire interview from Metal Exiles.