KoRn's Munky on the Boundaries of Songwriting

  James "Munky" Shaffer grew up with fellow guitarist Brian "Head" Welch in Bakersfield, CA. His musical philosophy is more of teamwork as he states here, "It's egotistical when someone pushes everyone aisde and the spotlight comes down on them. It's like the difference between a soloist playing a concerto and an orchestra building up to this huge crescendo."

Munky Shaffer's outgoing every day dude demeanor defies the twisted sneer that adorns many of KoRn's promo photos. Even as "Got The Life's" B-Boy/Goth/rock layers demolish the mainstream radio and MTV competition, Munky has managed to hold on to the band's commitment to staying grounded and in touch with their fans. When speaking with Circus Magazine just days prior to the launch of KoRn's Family Values tour, Munky was pumped up to play for and meet with the band's fans.

Circus (C): What part of the tour excites you the most?

Munky (M): Oh man, that's so easy [to answer]. Our fans are the best in the world. As individuals we are not going to let ourselves get separated from the fans. We just are not those kind of people. We'll always come up with an idea to make our fans relate to us and where we are at. We're just people too, so we could never feel like we are better than people.

C: Is one of those ways www.korntv.com?

M: [Our] KoRn TV [web site] tunes our fans into what we do. We want them to feel a part of it all, because they are. We don't want to be a band that pops up says hello, signs autographs, and leaves. They get to hang out with us, call in and ask questions and that has a lot to do with [what we are trying to do.]

The love is mutual, and it shows in the approximately 35,000 kids that flock to the web site a week. It also shows in the eyes of the fans who picked up a guitar based on Munky's tag team work with Brian "Head" Welch. As Munky tells it, the duo's partnership comes courtesty of the man who got him into the game.

"You know who got me into playing guitar? It was Head who did it for me. I've known him since we were teenagers. I'd go over to his house for lunch because he lived close to our high school. He was always playing guitar."

"One day, I was over at his house and I got him to play and he was really good. He could play all of The Scorpions and Dokken songs. I was like "Yeahhh!!" I even bought my first guitar and amp off of him. After him it was Steve Vai. I've always looked up to him."

"I've been buying all of those old [hard rock] CDs. I even went and saw Ratt. It's cool to see how generations of music influence each other. If we can do for someone what other bands did for us then we did our job."

When posed about the technical side of the band's job, Munky's answer points to a natural way of doing things that defies one plus one equals two thinking.

"We are not so technical. It's hard to pinpoint where it comes from. On this record we came up with a ceratin guitar sound and built rhythms around that. Something simple like a guitar effect had the whole band excited about writing something just for that effect."

"There is no one way that we do it. Dave will have an idea in his head and he'll hum it to me and Head until we get it out right on the guitar, because he's got a drum idea to go behind it."

"Even Jonathan picks up the guitar once in awhile. He wrote that heavy groove part in 'Justin.' It's that heavy groove part that goes Doo-Doo-Dah-Dah-Doo-Doo. That was the first song that we wrote for the record."

"There's no boundaries when we write. It's just about who has an idea. Sometimes we'll try it; sometimes we won't. All five of us sit around and pound it out every day as a band."

"Even if somebody comes up with a riff or a couple of ideas that go together, the other guys will toy around with it until it feels good to them. No one gets offended or their feelings hurt if we tell them something sucks.

C: Is KoRn the perfect band situation?

M: Yeah, when I think about it for a second... I think so. I've met so many other guys who talk about who hates who and how they don't like being in bands with certain people. I don't know why we're like this, we're just like this. Sometimes, I stop and I kick my feet back and I say 'this is incredible.' I'm living my dream. There's days where our days are crazy and filled up with stuff to do but I never take this for granted.

C: Is it a given that you will always be on top of the world?

M: No, things really come and go. I'm happy that we've been able to do it and I know that we'll be able to do it for awhile. I can't say that it's always going to be this good with like the mainstream or whatever, but we have great fans that I think will support us. We are such a creative band that I don't think we'll ever lose it as far as being able to write killer music. We aren't afraid to try things and I think that's one thing that people like about us. Right off the bat, we were always doing something different that was us. This is exactly what we wanted. We really like being in a position where people look up to us. It's not that we have big egos, we just want to get our shit across to the world.

C: Well, music fans are more intelligent than people give them credit for.

M: Oh yeah and that's another reason why I think a lot of people get into us when they hear us. We got where we are with no radio play or big videos. Now, we got it but that's more of because they had to get on our side.

C: Things seem to be so simple for you still... at least as much as they can be...

M: They are. As a matter of fact, I have to go to band practice now. Dave [Silveria, drums] is here to give me a ride. Just tell the people for us that if they like what's gone down so far, then they'll love what's coming next.

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