Korn: We’re Not a Metal Band
By Scott Munro
March 16, 2017
Korn frontman Jonathan Davis says while he loves the scene, he doesn’t think Korn are a metal band.
He insists he doesn’t like putting labels on musical styles – and calls Korn the “black sheep” of music as their material is so varied.
He tells Full Metal Jackie: “I’ve always had a problem with the term ‘metal.’ We never were that. Just go back to the beginning when Korn started out. We came out of Huntington Beach, California, and they didn’t know what to do with us.
“The first tour we went out on was with Biohazard and House Of Pain. Second one was Sick Of It All, Orange 9mm and us. We played shows with No Doubt, Cadillac Tramps and Pennywise.
“I think that we went out and did all that stuff, and it seems like the metal community took us in. We were like the black sheep – we had no place to really go – and I really appreciate and I love the metal community.
“But as far as us being a metal band, a metal band, to me, is Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. I don’t think Korn does that. I know it’s something we do that’s different. But I love the scene and there’s some passionate people in it. They don’t care. If they don’t like what you’re doing, they’ll let you know it, and I respect that about them and that scene.”
Asked what he would describe Korn as, Davis adds: “I think we’re just heavy rock. I don’t like categories but we’re more of a heavy rock band than just straight metal. But when it comes all down to it, it’s music, and who cares what the hell it is?"