KORN Guitarist BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH: 'There's No Drama Anymore'

John Parks of Legendary Rock Interviews recently conducted an interview with KORN guitarist and LOVE & DEATH frontman Brian "Head" Welch. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Legendary Rock Interviews: You've been pulling double shifts playing with KORN and opening up shows with LOVE & DEATH where you're touring all over the world. You're talking to me right now from a hotel room. Does your mind ever flash back to the differences between what you and KORN might have been doing 15 years ago on the road and the fact that you're Skyping with your daughter from your room now??

Welch: Yeah, it's crazy! I mean, back then I was just up to no good, up to no good at all, to the point where I really just ended up sick. Not necessarily sick in the sense of throwing up but just feeling sick and ill every night, towards the end of every night on tour back in the day. Now I really feel like we are having a better experience overall. It's such a contrast from how it used to be; it's a total 180.

Legendary Rock Interviews: All of the things that are involved with touring beyond the time you are on stage can be draining and the old demons can come in just from monotony or boredom. How are you staying sane out there?

Welch: I've found a lot of peace just working on music and staying busy with both of these bands. [laughs] I know what you mean, though — the demons can definitely creep in, and they still do, but now instead of getting drunk for, like, a week binge, I will find myself on a sugar binge for, like, five days. I got sick from eating sugar, like crazy, almost eating disorder levels of consuming sugar. [laughs] Then I fell into this dark depression because it made me feel all horrible; sugar makes me feel depressed, for some reason, after I eat it. It's a chemical thing, it's not like I'm being some whiny crybaby, it's just chemically, for my make-up or whatever, sugar makes me feel really horrible. I don't know if the grind on the road is just the loneliness or just the wear-and-tear on your emotions but all of the factors that make you think and feel normal can get clouded when you're on the road, even when drugs and alcohol are out of the equation. It happens to everybody, but you just get through it and it makes the moments onstage that much more rewarding.

Legendary Rock Interviews: A lot of people are much more into the idea or receptive to the idea of KORN now that you are returning to the band. All respect to those guys but some people have questioned the motives. To be semi blunt, are you guys really all connected as brothers again or is this simply a great, calculated business move?

Welch: You know, everyone's human. Everyone has mixed motives inside of themselves — me too — but I'm telling you, hanging out with these guys, connecting with them, working with them again and just seeing our lives happen... I've known these guys my whole life, but I'm seeing these guys lives again and a couple of them, their kids are hanging around and it's all about family, which is huge. What we were talking about earlier, the win-win situation, that's just it, it's all win because we get to hang out, all of us, all of our families, some of which we haven't seen in years. I think it helps the whole KORN family with me coming back, but I think it also helps what I'm doing with LOVE & DEATH. Everyone's happy in every way with the end result no matter whether the beginning motives for one person might have been for KORN first and friendship second. I don't know. I don't think that's the case, but even if it was, it is still a great situation for me.

Legendary Rock Interviews: So much attention has been placed on how you have changed in the years since you left KORN, but do you think sometimes people tend to overlook that your bandmates have evolved or changed in those years also?

Welch: Yeah, dude, and they really have — every single one of them. The only one I can't really speak on, 'cause I haven't hung out with him, is our old drummer, David [Silveria], but I wish nothing but the very best for him also. I am telling you, I am stoked to be telling you, that ever since I've been working with the KORN guys again, it has been amazing. Everyone's positive, everyone gets along, there's no drama anymore, and it's such a change that at first I was tripping out. [laughs] You're right, though — everyone talks about me, but all of those guys have evolved in their own way and people forget about that.

Read the entire interview at Legendary Rock Interviews.