KORN Bassist Talks STILLWELL Project, Changes In Music Industry

Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon conducted an interview with KORN bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu at a recent Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival stop. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Icon Vs. Icon: I know that you have a solo project in the works. What can you tell us about STILLWELL and any idea on when we might expect it?

Fieldy: I just finished mixing the last song for STILLWELL. I play guitar in this project. That has been a lot of fun for me because I started out as a guitar player. I've got Q Unique on vocals, Ess Spider on bass and I've got Wuv from P.O.D. playing drums. The music is called "street metal." We are actually looking for a deal right now. I am supposed to meet with some people today about that. We are looking for a "different" type of deal to release it. So it is finished. The name of the album is "Surrounded By Liars".

Icon Vs. Icon: Will you be touring in support of that project?

Fieldy: We will probably do something in February because KORN is pretty booked up right now. We are going to Europe after the Mayhem tour, then we are going to Japan. So we will probably take a little time in November and December to chill out because we have been touring non-stop. My plan would be to have STILLWELL open up for KORN. It's easy. People say, "How do you do that?!!" but really an opening band really only plays for 20 to 25 minutes. That is easy! It is fun to go rock out! [laughs]

Icon Vs. Icon: You guys came of age in an era where the big record companies dominated and now the game has totally changed. Being in the music industry as long as you have, are there still surprises?

Fieldy: Yeah, man! It has changed a lot. For us, it is all about touring. The music industry has changed so much, to the point where everybody just burns CDs or it's on your iPod. It is almost like CDs are obsolete. My youngest daughter is eight months old but I think that by the time that she is a teenager I will show her a CD and she will say, "What's that!" [laughs] A good example is STILLWELL. I was talking to my singer Q and said, "Let's put a product out a T-shirt or a doll and you would get the STILLWELL CD for free with it." Today, you just want people to get it the music and hopefully give them a little extra in return.

Icon Vs. Icon: KORN has always been a little ahead of the curve on that in regards to marketing, dating all the way back to the home videos, to the "After School Specials," to the special concert events for album releases and even the launch of Family Values. As a fan, I have always appreciated the time that you take to give so much back.

Fieldy: Thank you. Yeah, we just try to understand where the fans are coming from. You have to think like that instead of being mad about the situation. That is what we always try to do, to be on the fan's side.

Read the entire interview from Icon Vs. Icon.