JAMES 'MUNKY' SHAFFER Credits KORN's Longevity To 'Just Showing Up'

KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer says "showing up" is one of the primary reasons for the band's longevity.

In an interview with 93.5 FM The Beach at this year's Epicenter festival in Marston, North Carolina, Shaffer was asked to explain how KORN has been able to maintain a long and stable career well after the success of their eponymous 1994 debut.

"One of my most important things is you just show up," he said. "If you just show up, now all the guys show up, stuff gets done. If you show up to work, work gets done. I always tell people that, especially young musicians: 'Just show up. Then someone else will show up and someone will have an idea. That idea will manifest into something that's bigger than you ever expected.' I don't know. Part of it is that. Part of it is health and keeping a balance between health and your family. How much time you dedicate to an allocate to each part of your life."

Shaffer was then asked how the members of KORN make touring work considering they are often traveling in small quarters such as a tour bus. "I think having our own space," he said. "When it's time to travel, we get kind of pushed into these tight spaces and I think a lot of bands don't really kind of make it through that point where it's like… If you're going to put five, six guys or girls in a tight space and you're missing home, you're hungry, you're tired, you're going to freak out a little bit and everybody kind of gets on each other's nerves. I think that we've been able to maintain a level of respect through the years. Like, 'Okay, he's bugging out. Obviously, he needs some space. I'm going to respect him and get away from him and let him chill. Get some rest. Get some food. Call home, until people are feeling better. I think that has a lot to do with it."

KORN and ALICE IN CHAINS will embark on an epic co-headline amphitheater tour across North America this summer. UNDEROATH will join as special guest on all dates, with HO99O9 and FEVER 333 opening on select dates. Produced by Live Nation, the 30-city outing will kick off July 18 in Del Valle, Texas at Austin360 Amphitheatre and make stops in Dallas, Nashville, Toronto, Denver and more before wrapping September 4 in Mountain View, California at Shoreline Amphitheatre.

KORN is currently working on material for a new album, tentatively due in the fall. The follow-up to 2016's "The Serenity Of Suffering", which is once again being produced by Nick Raskulinecz, will feature songwriting collaborations with GOLDFINGER's John Feldmann, while BLINK-182's Travis Barker recorded the "temporary drums" on some of the early demos.