KORN's JONATHAN DAVIS Says PANTERA's 'Vulgar Display Of Power' Made Him Want To Create Heavy Music

During a recent interview with "A.D. On The Radio", KORN frontman Jonathan Davis was asked how he first got into rock music. "LED ZEPPELIN [through] my aunt," he said (hear audio below). "I [remember] it vividly. I was, like, three or four years old and she would dance around… It was 1974 or something like that, and she would dance around her apartment [to] 'Whole Lotta Love', and that was the first time I heard rock music that I liked. What my stepdad was listening to was more like DOOBIE BROTHERS and that kind of stuff. And then it just grew from there.

"I wasn't really into rock," Davis admitted. "I got into rock… [I discovered] some metal stuff… First, I bought MÖTLEY CRÜE 'Shout At The Devil' [when I was in] seventh grade. So 'Shout At The Devil', when that came out, DIO 'Holy Diver', all that, and then my dad became a born-again Christian and he took it and burned it… I dug the stuff, but I didn't really dig-dig it. I found this band called MINISTRY. And that album that came out was 'Twitch'. It was right after they were doing their new romantic phase. The heavy stuff I listened to was more industrial, like SKINNY PUPPY, old goth stuff like CHRISTIAN DEATH and that kind of stuff. So that was what I was into — the industrial stuff, new romantic stuff, DURAN DURAN, all those bands. And I didn't really get into metal at all.

"The metal record that made me wanna do heavy music was 'Vulgar Display Of Power' by PANTERA. When that came out, I was, like, 'That's so heavy. And the groove…' It spoke to me. 'Cause I like funk, I like rhythms. I was really into New York freestyle music, disco back in the '80s — all that stuff. I was into underground dance music and Chicago Wax Trax and industrial. That was my thing — more underground stuff."

Davis's solo album is tentatively due this spring via Sumerian. The effort is expected to include the song "What It Is", which was released in January.

Davis will embark on a solo tour in early April. The trek, which will run through the end of June, will include a number of European festival appearances.

"What It Is" is included on the soundtrack to a new film called "American Satan", which came out on January 26.

Davis has recorded and toured on his own intermittently over the years. He has composed music for soundtracks, most notably "Queen Of The Damned", and has toured and DJed frequently over the years as his alter ego JDevil.