On the recent 400th episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast The Jasta Show, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis spoke about the dramatic ups and downs of his past year, his first solo album (released back in May) and why he believes nu-metal (ushered in by his band with their self-titled debut) will stand as the last time the world witnesses a true upsurge in the widespread popularity of "real rock."
When Jasta inquires, "Can, whatever the big bands that are out now, can that have an impact — having that cosign?" in reference to the smaller groups like Incubus, whose careers were launched when titans like Korn took them on tour, Davis responds, "No, not to the same caliber as like, we could ... I've always said this last batch — Korn, Deftones, Bizkit, all those bands from that time — that was the last guard of that time of the big, real rock bands. That time has come and gone. No one's ever gonna do it like we ever did. No one's ever gonna have that experience. It was larger than life. We were up against pop bands, dude."
Davis laughs, continuing, "I'm not trying to be arrogant or nothing, but it was like ... us against the pop bands, us against the Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, and then we were so embraced by the hip-hop community. When we played The Apollo, Puff Daddy was there, Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, you name it. All the East Coast rappers came and ... it was really embraced by all of them. We did stuff with Dre, stuff with Snoop ... At that time, that crossover — I haven't seen that, and I don't think I'll see it again."
The interview continues into the past and how Davis was more drawn to bands like Ministry, Skinny Puppy and Christian Death rather than the metal that was coming out right before Korn hit it big. "The heaviest thing I listened to and loved was Led Zeppelin," he says, after referring to himself as an "Eighties New Romantic kid." Those influences can be heard in Davis' solo album Black Labyrinth, featuring the single "Basic Needs," for which a video was released last week.
