Original KORN Drummer DAVID SILVERIA Says CORE 10's 'Act Of Valor' Video Was Shot 'Totally Live'

Original KORN drummer David Silveria spoke to BackStage360 about the recently released video for the song "Act Of Valor" from his new band CORE 10.

The clip, which had almost forty thousand views in the first few days after being posted on YouTube, was met with overwhelmingly negative response from KORN fans, many of whom questioned everything from CORE 10's musical direction to the quality of the recording itself.

Silveria stated about the video, which has since been removed without explanation: "Sean [Lenhoff, CORE 10 vocalist] called our friend and asked him if he would come shoot us in a live setting. And he came down to our studio and set up three cameras and we filmed us playing the entire song three times and we did three entire takes all live with all live cameras at the same time and live video, live audio. And he took it to his house and edited it down and he put in some background footage over it. And I think since it's been released, people have mistaked it and thought it was like a full-scale, full-budget record-release video, full-production video, because it ended up looking so good because he used three cameras and he did such a great job on editing. But it's not — it's just us in a rehearsal studio, totally live, no edits, one take. It's basically as stripped down as you can get it. So it's gotten good and negative feedback, but I think it's mostly because people think it's shot so well, it looks like a real video, like we really meant to put out a real video from a record label. And it's not — it's just us playing live in the studio. That's literally done where we rehearse — it's in our rehearsal room."

Silveria is joined in CORE 10 by Lenhoff, Duncan Nisbet on vocals, Chris Dorame on bass, Joe Taback on guitar and Ronnie King on keyboards.

Asked by BackStage360 why CORE 10 opted to have two singers instead of one, Lenhoff said: "Well, it's trying to create your own sound, something original. Duncan had CORE 10 going for a little bit before I got involved. I left the previous band I was in, and he was, like, 'Sean, do you wanna come in and try this? Let's see how it works. Let's try and do a metal/punk rock fusion thing with two singers.' He's very much a high-end, I'm very much a lower-end power singer. And it just ended up blending really well, and it's done nothing but grow from that point."

According to Lenhoff, CORE 10's sound has been described as a fusion of metal, rock and punk. "From doing different styles like that, we've been able to open up for KMFDM, FEAR FACTORY, MISFITS… And that's pretty much some of the heaviest — in FEAR FACTORY — metal you can get, and KMFDM is completely electronica and you know what the MISFITS are," he explained. "And it's gone over really well. So we never wanted to pigeonhole ourselves into one genre. It's so hard to make a living as a band and a musician now, you just take your influencces and you just run with it. Why not create something for everybody but having continuity still in what you're doing?"

Although Lenhoff is perfectly aware CORE 10 is not for everybody, he believes that the band's music will have a lasting impact on those that give it a chance.

"One thing I've heard that I loved was music is supposed to be disruptive," he said. "It disrupts your being — emotionally, physically — it makes you wanna move, it makes you wanna cry. And that's what's highly important. That's kind of where we're at with it. It's gotta affect you.

"If people don't have an opinion about you, whether they hate you [or] love you, then you're dead in the water," he continued. "So they have to love or hate what you do, and as long as you get a reaction, that's all that matters."

Asked how he first got involved with CORE 10, Silveria said: "I've known Sean for about… probably fifteen, twenty years from downtown Huntington Beach days. And he kept sending me MP3s of songs, and the more I listened to it, it was kind of, like, you either love it or hate it. I was kind of conflicted when I first heard it. And I would show it to my wife and said, 'What do you think about this?' 'Cause I didn't really understand it at first. And the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. Now they come over and play, and I come out and my wife is all giddy and excited going, 'I love that song. It's one of the best songs you guys have ever done.' And now I'm just in love with the music. So I'm all in now."

CORE 10's current lineup made its live debut on April 1 at Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, California.