James ‘Munky’ Shaffer recently sat down with Revolver for an interview and reflected positively on the band’s heavy partying and experimental phase.
When asked to discuss the time when Korn released their album ‘Follow the Leader’ 25 years ago, especially considering it’s been 30 years since the band was formed, and how significant this album was for Korn’s success, the guitarist replied:
“I remember us being in party mode. There was no worrying about tomorrow. We were living in the moment, which is what everybody should do. I don’t think you should live in excess like we did, but we had a lot fun. We experimented a lot on that album, too, and that paid off.”
Creative Freedom For Korn’s Third Album
Shaffer went on to explain why they could take some creative risks with that third album:
“After releasing two albums that did fairly well, we felt we had a little bit of wiggle room [to experiment]. And the label let us do that. Financially, we had more money to go buy equipment.”
Jonathan Davis Reflecting On ‘Follow The Leader’
‘Follow the Leader’ is known as the album that brought Korn and nu-metal, as well as heavy metal, into mainstream popularity. It’s their top-selling album, with over 7 million copies sold in the U.S. and another 7 million worldwide. In an interview for the book ‘Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal,’ Jonathan Davis noted the following about their influences and intentions in the record:
“We were listening to tons of rap, but we also liked bands like Pantera and Sepultura, and as we evolved, I think we learned to mix those two styles better. Plus, I always wanted to make music that had lots of melody. We got that into the first two records, but ‘Follow the Leader’ was where we were able to really emphasize the hooks.”
While recording the album, Korn, along with members from Deftones and Limp Bizkit, spent over $60,000 on alcohol, not counting their spending on drugs. Brian Welch, in an interview with Metal Hammer, described this time as a period of intense partying and excessive alcohol consumption. He noted that although it was fun, it marked the start of many personal issues. Davis became sober following the release of the album.
