What’s nu with you?
Videos by American Songwriter
On our end of things, we’ve been brushing up on our nu metal bands: Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, Linkin Park, and of course, Korn. Nu metal as we know it today first emerged in the mid-1990s being heavily syncopated, based on guitar riffs, and featuring angry and/or nihilistic lyrics. (Feeling like a freak on a leash, anyone?). Further, the vocals of nu metal were partially inspired by the Golden age of hip-hop as metal borrowed its more rhythmic way of presenting verses.
The first nu metal album, by most accounts, was Korn’s self-titled debut studio album in 1994. And, speaking of origins, where did Korn get its name? Let’s find out.
Where the band name “Korn” came from.
According to Korn’s lead vocalist and frontman, Jonathan Davis, the name Korn came about rather organically. The band—whose current lineup includes Davis, James “Munky” Shaffer, Brian “Head” Welch, and Ray Luzier—had decided on the name after initial pushback from their manager. Davis recently explained this exchange when asked about the band’s seemingly random logo.
“The Korn logo came about when we were trying to come up with a band name,” Davis explained. “Our manager at the time, Larry, we told him we were gonna call it Korn and he’s like, ‘You can’t name your band Korn.’ So we told him, ‘Well, we’re gonna name it Larry then.’ And he’s like, ‘Fuck you.’ I’m like, ‘It’s gonna be either Larry or Korn, you fuckin’ pick.'”
“I fucking chuckle to this day that my band’s name is Korn. It’s fucking funny!” he continued. “We twisted it, spelled it different with the backward R, and made it kinda spooky, and it worked.”
Ever since then, Davis and crew have refused to change the band name and the band logo, despite many offers from outside experts. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, folks.
More Korn, please.
Korn’s attitude of innovation and its carefree nature has expanded the scope of the metal genre. In addition to consistent releases since their debut—there are currently 14 studio albums in the Korn discography—the band has cultivated a welcoming fan base within metal music.
“Definitely it’s gotten bigger,” Munky said in a recent interview about the popularity of the genre. “I think people have kind of embraced it. And I think this stigma, the taboo of metal bands has kind of gone away for the most part. I think people that aren’t into that music, associate the skulls and the fire [with heavy metal]… And it’s not that. We resonate with this type of music. It makes us feel sort of like a complete person when you have this aggressive music, or whatever you wanna call it. It makes us feel like — I don’t know. It completes our soul, I guess.”
Head then added, “It is a community, though. There’s religion and there’s politics out there, and there’s so much division. And the metal community is so inclusive and united. We just played the other night with Judas Priest and KISS and Korn, and they loved every single band, in Denmark, ’cause they have respect for the metal community and the different styles and whatnot. And that’s not always the case, but the majority [of the time] it is the case. I love that about our community.”
Photo Courtesy of Roadrunner Records
