To help announce Q-Ruption, Brian 'Head' Welch of KoRn called in to talk about the Mayhem Festival tour, Korn, his other band Love & Death, publicly speaking about his addictions, and much more.

***Full interview audio at bottom of page***

In the interview, which was taped on Monday, Brian said he is excited for this tour siting that they just wrapped up a run with Avenged Sevenfold in Australia.

Q: Do you get the chance to check out bands a lot while on the road?

Brian: Any chance I get to see a good band, I'm like right there on the stage.  Yeah, I totally enjoy. I like to watch bands.

Except Avenged, you gotta wear ear plugs because they are always blownin' stuff up on stage. You can damage your ears if you are watching them on the side of the stage.

Q: Talking about bands and watching them. With Q-Ruption (Mayhem Fest), what are your thoughts on Ice-T and his band Bodycount on the bill?

Brian: I was like "What?" Isn't that guy on Law & Order or something? It came out of left field. I thought they were gone.  I think they are a fresh edition to the tour. Just to see this guy come out and rock again. It's pretty cool.

Q: Outside of being in Korn and on stage, what types of music do you listen to?

Brian: I listen to all kinds of stuff (looks at phone). I got like hip-hop. Stuff like Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, some R&B stuff. It's a mix of stuff. The only thing I don't listen to is country.

It's like every song sounds the same. They probably say that about metal. Every song has the same ingredients. You know what it is, it's the vocals - they all sound the same. They all got their twangy twangy thing going on.

Q: Turning to Love & Death, I was reading you had self-conscious issues in making the move to lead singer. How did you overcome that?

Brian: It's very true. I was always in awe of vocalist wither it's rock, R&B, or people that hit those high notes. When I left Korn I wanted to do something new. I wanted to train myself. I got a good ear.

Then when I did it. I hit the road and I was like 'I can't hit these notes live.'  So I was very self-conscious. I was always drunk on stage with Korn. So I was like sober, out there in the front running the show.  And I'm like "why did I do this?"

I found out that if you're afraid or anxious to keep doing and that will melt away.

Q: What's next for Love & Death or are you solely concentrating on Korn? 

Brian: The album's been out for awhile and we've been playing some shows with Korn. We're writing to get another album out. But Korn is a touring machine, so if I want a break I won't be able to tour with Love & Death. We're going to see how that's going to be done.

Q: You've been thrust back in to the spotlight of being with Korn. How's that been for you?

Brian: It's really awesome because I didn't see that coming. I signed a deal with Love & Death and I was hitting the road. The big thing is was that I reconciled with them as friends. So we were just talking and they were like "come back."

I told them I would have to say "no" because of Love & Death. They were like 'bring your band on tour.' We just worked it out and the rest is history

Q: You were here in the Capital Region a couple of months back doing your public speaking tour. How's that for you been in the sense of talking about your addictions and overcoming them. What's the experience like for you when you see your story reaches out and touches someone

Brian: Dude, that's better than getting a big paycheck from music. Hearing someone come up to me, I remember at that place this girl came up to me and said she was going to drug rehab tomorrow.

That means more to me than anything. Somebody could OD'ed, what if someone died a couple of weeks later and just me sharing my story help them. It's so rewarding. That's why I do it as much as I can.

The conversation continues with his daughter's taste on music, teaching her to play, and much more. Check out the full interview below.

 

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