KORN Guitarist Talks Early Challenges: 'We Had Electricity And We Had Each Other'

January 30, 2019

During an appearance on the red carpet of Monday night's (January 28) premiere of the "Mind Over Matter" documentary film in Beverly Hills, California, KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer was asked what challenges he and his bandmates had to face early on in their career.

"There are small challenges on a daily [basis] that can kind of feel like just these big obstacles," he said (see video below). "And you kind of make 'em bigger than they actually are, because once you get around the world and start doing stuff and working, they seem so easy day after day. You get practice at it.

"We grew up in Bakersfield, which there was no… I mean, we had electricity [laughs], and we had each other," he continued. "And thank God for both, 'cause we wouldn't be here today, I don't think, most of us. We had abuse in our families. We all experienced some sort of negative vortex that was gonna either suck us down the wrong hole or we were gonna use it as fuel to get to the next level. Whether it was moving to L.A., which was super scary. Living in a two-bedroom apartment with 14 people. It was crazy. I don't even think that was… The health department should have came in and shut that down. So there was that. There was coming up with rent, coming up with money to eat. And then studio money. And our music was so different. And [people said], 'They're never gonna play this on the radio.' It challenged a lot of people, too, in the industry, as far as what's the new thing. It was just coming out of the '80s hair metal thing, and NIRVANA had broken, and ALICE IN CHAINS — the whole Seattle sound. So I think California was posed to be at the forefront of some creative minds at that time."

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.

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