BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH On New KORN Album: 'The Choruses Are Just Huge'

Jon "Fatguy" Marté of the Alabama radio station WVNA-FM (105.5 FM) conducted an interview with KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch on May 17 at the Rock On The Range festival at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

On how he is feeling about everything at the moment:

Welch: "I know that there's bombs that go off in life, and there'll be more to come in the future, but right now I'm riding this wave of just, 'Man, this is awesome.' Everything is going good. My daughter is doing great. Music's doing great. I'm back with my brothers, who I've been separated from almost ten years… eight years, you know. It's just… Not to sound all positive, you know, but it's just going good right now.

"I've learned how to deal with struggles, and so even when the struggles come, it's not a bad day; it's just, like, tomorrow's better."

On whether it's possible to have positivity in music:

Welch: "You're gonna be able to hear, like in the melodies and in the music, a lot of positive stuff going on with these new KORN songs. But that's me. And a lot of the other guys [in the band] have been going through a lot of positive stuff. But Jonathan [Davis, KORN singer], that poor guy just goes through hell on earth sometimes in his life. And he's been going through a lot of stuff the last couple of years, personally — like he's in a dryer tumbling around in circles; he's getting beat up — and so a lot of that's coming out in the record. He's really good at facing his pain head-on. You know, what's cool is the last… Since 2013, things have been going a lot of better for him, so I'm really glad. Ever since I got back, it seems like everyone's life is just on the right track. Not 'cause of me, obviously — it just turned out like that. But it's really good to see. Jonathan, he gets all of his passionate lyrics about life's circumstances, so he's got a lot to sing about on this album."

On what it feels like to be back on stage with KORN:

Welch: "I played one show so far, two nights ago, and it was just the most amazing, electric, just powerful feeling. I mean, the fan response to, like, just people having fun onstage; there's smiles even sometimes, goofing around. And then, about halfway through the set, I was, like… My body was, like, 'Dude, you haven't played an hour-and-a-half set in ten years.' My legs were starting to get all sore. 'Cause I played with LOVE & DEATH [Welch's other band], too, earlier in the night. So I'm, like, 'You've gotta be like a marathon runner to do this stuff.' So it was really kind of bittersweet. But the sweet was way better than the bitter, so who cares?!"

On KORN's forthcoming album:

Welch: "Dude, you could feel the realness in the music. It's true from inside of all of us, and Jonathan's lyrics and stuff. And the choruses? These are the best choruses. I love big choruses that people can just sing to. Yeah, the choruses are just huge, man. And it's really creepy, like with Jonathan and all this stuff, and me and Munky's [KORN guitarist] stuff. I'm so happy with it. Everyone who still cares is gonna share what we're feeling right now."