Korn guitarist Munky on their new album, Limp Bizkit, and his love of Beck, Bowie and Jay-Z

It’s a double bill that had Twitter awash with reminiscences of 90s teenage angst - Korn and Limp Bizkit touring the UK in 2016. Two bands that famously spent a large chunk of their heyday at loggerheads have more recently been keen to put the spat behind them. They’ve played several major European festivals together over the last few years and guitarist James ‘Munky' Shaffer has been quick to reassure fans that the atmosphere is cordial and relaxed. After all of the pre-tour hype about the ‘beef’ from the past, what is the atmosphere like on the tour bus?

Munky: “It’s a lot more chill. There’s not as much mayhem, there’s a lot less drama, which leaves room for more fun. A different kind of fun, less like the debauchery of people doing cocaine off the urinals or whatever. Yeah, our rider has changed - from coke to Diet Coke!”

After such a long career - over twenty years and twelve studio albums - you have a huge back catalogue to draw from. Sharing the bill with Limp Bizkit must mean that the pressure is even higher for you to pull out all of your classic hits. With the new album to promote, does this cause any friction when trying to put together a set list?

M: “We try to mix it a little bit from each record and play some fan favourites. Each one of us has a song that we get tired of playing and it’s like, okay, no problem. It’s about compromise and having the ability within our band to do that. We’ve been brothers for so long.”

The Serenity of Suffering, released Oct 2016, is already a fan favourite as it combines new textures with some of the musical elements that rocketed the band to stardom. How is this material going down at the shows?

M: “Although they feel like old classics, the new songs are really new - the way they’re structured, the chord voicings, stuff like that. After we’re done playing them people are like, ‘wow, that kinda hit us over the head!’ - they’re much heavier live as you can feel every guitar note and drum hit.”

Congratulations on your recent Grammy nomination (Rotting in Vain, lead single from the new album, was nominated for Best Metal Performance). With a couple of wins and a handful of nominations over the years already under your belt, does recognition like this become more or less important?

M: “Thanks, I really appreciate that. When I was younger I was like, ‘I don’t give a fuck about no Grammy, fuck them!’ but now it’s really cool, because we’ve been working so hard, and you’re getting recognised by your colleagues and the people within the industry and the fans as well. I think they’ve seen us have our ups and downs and we’ve persevered through all of that; when most bands and artists don’t make it as long as we have, and kind of fade away. It’s kind of like this underdog band that keeps on fighting.

We’re definitely in a place now where we’re a bit more mature and appreciate it more. We’re a lot more grateful at this point because we’re still working just as hard as we did, but now I think we’re putting a bit more heart into it, and it shows. It shows on the recording end, it shows in the live shows as well. I guess us being a little more involved in the day-to-day workings and business side of things makes us part of it a little bit more. I really feel like we’re in a different place, where we can appreciate it more.”

The new album has really recaptured some of the energy of your early records. I believe you pioneered a new approach to songwriting for Korn: you and fellow guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch writing and recording together in the studio. Was this a case of bringing some ideas you’d been working on separately to the table or did you start from scratch?

M: “We came in stone cold and started writing. Actually Ray was with us as well, so he had a little electronic kit. And none of us had anything written, so we just set up and were like, ‘okay - how about this?’ Chugga chugga chug … haha and were like, ‘okay, you do that and I’ll do this,’ and it really just started from there. And then grew into a monster! About one day into the writing process Head was like, ‘let’s write some songs with the 8-string,’ and I was like, ‘okay, I’m down. Let’s do it.’ So we brought a couple of 8-strings in and wrote three or four demos. We actually tracked them at the studio on the SSL board, so that we could play them for our producer and Jonathan because they hadn’t heard them. They were like, ‘nah, this doesn’t sound like Korn.’ and we were like, ‘yeah, I guess it doesn’t.’ But I think we might release the demos at some point so people can hear it. I mean, we basically transposed the riffs and some of the music and the chords into the 7-string because they were really good - but then some of them didn’t work. They’re cool, definitely something people would like. It’s such a particular sound, you know, it’s just like, ‘wow!’.”

Are you concerned that every Korn tribute band will be expecting you to turn up after Ray and Fieldy dropped in on a tribute gig in Liverpool last weekend?

M: “If we can, we will! The guys had so much fun, I wish I’d been there! People were like, ‘WHAT THE FUCK??’ and then they got up and played songs. Actually there’s one in Brazil that’s always sending me social media and stuff, I should get in touch. To have a band that’s playing your songs that you created, that’s really cool, man. It’s one of those things when you’re a kid you’re like, ‘We’re gonna be so big that there’s gonna be fucking tribute bands for us!’ It’s just one of those little details in your childhood dream …”

… and we’re gonna drop in to one of their gigs and be like GODS! …

M: “… and then we’re going to leave in our helicopter! You know just the stupid shit that you dream of as a kid. But you’ve got to have those dreams for them to come true, you know.

It’s good to be able to give something back. We talk to fans and I always tell people - moments and problems that seem so overwhelming, they’ll end up being your biggest gift because you’ll learn so much from it. They’re like the biggest lessons in life, all of those problems. So once they make it to the other side and endure those things - whatever it might be, emotionally, physically - they’ll learn that it actually was a gift that was given to them in the form of a problem.”

Over the years Korn have absorbed so many influences - hiphop, funk, electronica - into their music. What are you listening to right now so we can have an idea of how Korn might sound in the future?

M: “I’ve been listening to a lot of Jay Z. The last album David Bowie made - so good. The new Puscifer album. Beck’s record, Sea Change - I love that record. Nine Inch Nails, the Ghosts record: the instrumental stuff - I really love listening to that on the airplane. It has a melancholy, and there are no lyrics so you can take a new meaning each time you listen.” So what’s in the pipeline for Korn? M: “I’m really looking forward to doing a proper documentary about the band and where we grew up, and a bit of a storyline. I think fans would be interested in how we met, how the band fell apart and came back together again, and into the career. It’s a really emotionally moving story for us too.



Also I want to try to get a few gigs around the world filmed, with interaction from different fans. Just get them to give some testimonial about what the band means to them - it’s something different for everybody. And there are a couple more things that I can’t talk about just yet …” … so watch this space, monkeys!



Korn play Notthingham Arena with Limp Bizkit tonight (19 December). Check here for ticket information.