We all have our milestones. First step and first tooth. First report card and first job. First love and first death of a loved one. With exceptions, these are universal human experiences. This is live
Some of us have other milestones. First time playing a show and first tour. First vehicle and first breakdown. First time smoking weed and first time smoking crack.
In an interview with Metal Hammer, Korn axeman James “Munky” Shaffer talks about some of these less universal milestones:
“Our first real tour was with House Of Pain and Biohazard, and we were the opener. House Of Pain really got it, they watched us every night. I remember trying to make it to the very first show in an RV that we bought and it broke down like seven times. We were trying to make it from Huntington Beach to Atlanta, that was the first show.
“We made it there 30 minutes before we were due to play – we passed the venue like three times beforehand because it was such a small club. We took a wrong turn and went into a public park with all these brothers having a picnic in the park pumping NWA or something, and we were like “Oh shit!” like we’d just turned down the wrong street ha ha.
“The rest of the tour it wasn’t that fun.
“That RV ended up burning down and we moved into vans, and I remember [bassist] Fieldy saying ‘I’m not going another mile in these fucking vans until the record company sends a bus,’ then the bus came we got to ride it home.
“It was crazy. I tried to smoke crack for the first time on the first tour – it was horrible.
It burned me, I burned my fingers… I decided then that it wasn’t for me. It was too hard. It was expensive and difficult to find, hence the word crackhead. I don’t recommend it.”
Korn Doesn't Love 'Life Is Peachy': ‘if it weren't for those 3 or 4 songs, we'd be in trouble'
Hear the Crazy Pop Song Jonathan Davis Wrote in High School Before Korn