KORN's MUNKY Says 'It Was Hard' Not Being Able To Play Shows For Over A Year During Pandemic


Last month, KORN announced a global streaming event, "Korn: Monumental". Scheduled for today (Saturday, April 24), the ticketed immersive concert experience is broadcasting worldwide from the set of the "Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience". Produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, the performance promises to be an unforgettable set from the iconic band, highlighted by rare and sought-after deep cuts and classics from their legendary catalog. Since KORN's latest critically acclaimed album, "The Nothing", never received a proper tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Korn: Monumental" will mark the live debut of select tracks from the new record for fans around the world.

During the "Korn: Monumental" pre-show, hosted by Allison Hagendorf, KORN singer Jonathan Davis stated about the band's decision to hold a livestream concert (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It seemed like everybody was doing it at the time; there were a lot of livestreams. We were kicking back. But we wanted to do something that was really grand and different. It's always been KORN's thing to always push the envelope and do different things — present things in a different way [from] how usually people present things. So we got our team together and came up with this amazing livestream. And it's like nothing I've ever seen for a stream. When we went down there and looked at the site, it's just so big. The music's big, and everything's gonna fall into place and it's really an exciting experience. It's more of an experience than just sitting there watching a band play on a screen."

Elsewhere during the discussion, KORN guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer spoke about how he and his bandmates have spent their coronavirus downtime. He said: "We got a lot of time with our families, which we don't normally get. We're on the road so much that there's a balance that we typically have that we weren't experiencing. So it's, like, 'Okay. I guess it's time to get to know myself and my family and really enjoy those moments with them.' It had its difficulties, because we've been touring for 25 years or more, and just to have the world stop and say, 'You can't do that anymore,' it was hard. That's our creative outlet. For me, it was difficult at first."

"The Nothing" came out in September 2019 via Roadrunner/Elektra. The follow-up to 2016's "The Serenity Of Suffering" was once again produced by Nick Raskulinecz.

Earlier in the week, Davis told Kerrang! magazine that he and his bandmates have used some of the time during the coronavirus crisis to work on new music. "We just got done writing a record," he said, before adding: "The band is in different spots all over the place now, too. I'm in Bakersfield, a couple of guys are in L.A. and a couple of guys are in Nashville. It's like an act of God to get us all together to do anything. We have to plan that all out. I'm sure there are a bazillion other bands with new music to release, too. In the meantime, let's just go out, play live and have some fun."

