Category Archives: Music

The Hives- The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons

Music

The worst part about The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is that it took 11 years to come out. Most bands aren’t together for that long and a gap in a discography that big makes you wonder if the band has called it quits but they didn’t tell anybody. Thankfully The Hives are forever and the wait was well worth it.

Swedish Punk is what The Hives are and what they deliver. Half an hour of power albums. Two to three-minute-long tracks stuffed with some of the catchiest riffs, often non-sensical lyrics, bombastic drum and bass, and loud and proud chanting and sing-along choruses.

Breaking out in the US in the early 2000s, The Hives had a few hit songs but never truly went mainstream here. They’ve developed a solid foundation of fans here but are much more popular in Europe. In the last decade, they’ve toured a lot–opening for large acts like Pink and Maroon 5 for stadium tours-but headline clubs and theaters. They consistently deliver high-energy and fun live shows for the entire career. I doubt you’d find anyone who wasn’t impressed by their live act even if they don’t like this genre of music. They also put out a few singles and played a few of the songs on this album live over the years. It just took whatever reason for them to finally go to the studio and record.

But enough with the past. There’s a certain comfort and joy that comes with a Hives album and Fitzsimmons is arguably one of their best. I loved their last LP, Lex Hives, and thought it’d be tough to beat. You’d never guess the gap in time was this long by listening to Fitzsimmons. Their highest energy and creativity can be found here, they haven’t lost a single step. I listen to this album from start to finish, which is pretty rare for me. In fact, this album contains two of my all-time favorite songs from any band: Smoke & Mirrors and Crash Into The Weekend. It is impossible to stay still when these vibrations come out of the speakers. These tracks are sandwiched between two other bangers, Stick Up and Two Kinds of Trouble (and The Way The Story Goes and The Bomb) which makes for a hell of a stretch of jumping and high kicks around your house, car, and possibly place of employment. All of the songs they released as singles are great and that’s only the public bite of what’s on offer. I urge everyone to give this a full spin. Even the song I like the least, What Did I Ever Do To You?, has its merits that won me over (mainly the final quarter that sports a bombastic horn section).

The best part of this album is that it is a The Hives album. They simply deliver to their fans what they want. That’s a bad thing if you don’t like The Hives because none of these 12 tracks will change your mind about them. But that makes you weird and you can go kick rocks. The rest of us will be smiling and sweating all over each other.

The World’s First World Wide Web World Tour with The Hives

Daaaaaamn!, Music
1-23-2021

I think this picture I took says it all about The Hives.

A few months ago the band announced they would be steaming 6 shows in January, each one for a different city around the world. You could buy a ticket for every show if you wanted to, they wisely didn’t geolock them (they played from their home, Sweden).

Fans got to vote for a few songs to be played, they had a hotline to all into and overall it was really great. Even in a warehouse with a few crew members they put on a Hives worthy show through the internet. It was surprisingly fun! The picture broke up a few times with some bad artifacting but the audio was fine for the entire show. It was shot with one camera which was actually a great idea as it made it feel really intimate. The camera operator was basically moving around and through the band the whole time so it felt like I was there and Pelle was talking directly to me.

The only problem was-as always for The Hives-the show was too short! About an hour of sweat and swag. With so many great songs they could go forever but hey, a great way to spend $15 bucks. Solid set list and they played 2 rare/new/unreleased songs, Stick Up and Paint A Picture. Stick Up has been around for a while and is my favorite. Nick Arson’s guitar tone is killer, the riffs are dirty and it’s got the mind tickling moments of the trademark Hives bounce. It’s also like 2:30 long so it flies at you like a smack to the face.

More bands should do this.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Music

Could anyone else but Quentin Tarantino come up with this movie? Could anyone else but Quentin Tarantino get away with it?

Once Upon a Time….in Hollywood has a long story to tell and it takes its time to tell it. Just like the era that this movie takes place in (1969), OUTH is shot and presented like it’s from that time. Slower paced, slower editing, long lingering takes. With a runtime of two hours and forty minutes, there were a few times where I wondered what I was watching. There’s no hand-holding in scenes that are seemingly put in random order, very much like “a day in the life of” composition following around (mostly) two men falling out of favor in Hollywood’s most important industry. But at the end–as Quentin usually does–he leaves you realizing you watched a lot more substance than you first thought you did.

Rick Dalton’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) acting career is dissolving in front of him. A mainstay in Western movies for years, the genre is dying out. He finds himself being left out of work, faced with the “demeaning” prospect of going to Italy to make Spaghetti Westerns. His long time stuntman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is in the same boat. When Rick doesn’t get work, neither does he. The two go back years and working so close together, they’ve become good friends. In order to help Cliff out, Rick has hired him as his personal assistant.

While there are parts where I felt like the movie meanders, even in those scenes, Quentin’s ability to write great dialog is there to keep it interesting. The movie is by far at its best when DiCaprio and Pitt share screen time. They have fantastic chemistry and their relationship that is put through the wringer because of the condition of their respective careers is the strongest part of the story and is what holds it together

Rick almost loses his mind when he can no longer deny that his career might be ending. The obvious threat is the lack of income and that rears its ugly head in an extra painful way when Rick has to tell Cliff he can’t keep him employed for much longer. What mostly scares RIck is being an actor is his entire self-worth. He loves the attention and the praise when he’s recognized for his work.

Cliff has appeared on screen all the time too…but no one knows when it’s him. That’s a big part of the job, the audience isn’t supposed to recognize when the stuntman steps into the role. It’s a pretty thankless job. For Cliff, it’s not the audience connection he loves, it’s the people he works with. They know what he does and how hard he works. It’s this job that’s given him his best friend, Rick. Being left behind in Hollywood is just as painful for him.

One of the best scenes–the one that brought me fully into the movie–is where Rick is on set of a new Western production. He managed to land the part of the villain and he’s nervous about it. He turns to drinking way too much–another layer of self-sabotage–as he panics about proving to everyone that he’s still relevant. His co-star, Trudi Fraser, is a child actor who ends up being a major factor in changing his life. At first, he sees her as a threat. She’s going full method acting for this role. She’s dead serious about acting. This is her profession. This is serious this is her life. Trudi has the confidence and drive that Rick has lost. She might be a child (huge props to Julia Butters, she’s an amazing actor-she literally goes to toe with Leonardo DiCaprio) but she’s the competition. The new, new guard. They talk for a while and she reassures him it’ll be all okay. He struggles in one scene and then crushes it another. Trudi, proud as can be, compliments his work. Rick gets validation from a peer. She might be ten but she’s right, it’ll be okay. He just has to keep moving.

Something similar happens to Cliff with worse results when he goes off on an adventure of his own, finding himself on a ranch that’s been taken over by hippies (of the Charles Manson follower kind). The ranch belongs to an old colleague, one he worked with on the cowboy series Rick was on for years. It turns out the connection he had with this man was only important to himself. While this guy doesn’t remember him, he leaves thinking that it’s time to go find Rick. He has a real history with Rick, no one can deny him that.

The B-plot of the story is with Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). She’s Rick’s next door neighbor, pregnant with Roman Polanski’s baby. She’s young Hollywood and she also goes about her day absorbing what Hollywood can give to her.

Part of the meandering feeling comes from sections that are more or less old Hollywood sightseeing. A few times I thought the message of the movie was “Hey, you know what’s great? Driving down Hollywood Boulevard in a convertible. Want to see how great that is? How about this backstage movie lot? That’s just cool, man.” Tarantino can’t but help slather his admiration for anything he idolized as a kid.

Through the movie, you get to see the struggles and brief joys of Rick, Cliff, and Sharon. Rick trying to throw his weight around with the new superstar in town, Bruce Lee. Cliff holding on to Rick and reconnecting with him. Sharon looking for moments of happiness with the people around her, waiting for her new family and future to become reality. When their lives intersect at the end, we are left with looking at the future with each of them. At times we were uncertain about who would have a future at all.

This is an unexpected movie. It’s hard to break it apart efficiently without digging into every scene. I’m scratching the surface here. Once Upon a Time needs to be experienced first and then talked about. Everyone’s perception will be different and valid. Tarantino makes divisive movies, you either love it or think it’s a waste of time.

I went through a lot of thoughts in just under three hours. Starting with, what is going on and what is this about? And why should I care? And with Tarantino, he answers those questions–once again–at his pace and in the manner he wants to with his colorful characters. Love them or hate them, or even both at the same time or from scene to scene. I did find myself come to love Rick and Cliff, flaws and all. I also caught myself thinking that will this be the first movie that Tarantino does with his trademark liberal use of cursing but be shockingly devoid of violence? When the violence does go down–and it does in Tarantino’s trademark cinematic glory–I was thrilled to see it. And that bothered me because I thought, is that all it takes to seal my final thoughts on a movie? A dose of hyper-violence to tickle my dopamine spigot to make me sit wide-eyed and clap like a dope? On the surface, yes. I mean, Tarantino can frame and execute pandamonium like few others. It’s nuts.

But it comes down to who is in the scene and what happens to them. Tarantino doing another spin of revisionist history to make the good guys win. To give them a future and not an end despite the credits marking the end. This story that Tarantino is finished but the characters continue to go on. I like that.

A few times here I’ve mentioned how long this movie is. It sounds like a detriment and it will be to a lot of people. I’ve thought a lot about what a more aggressive edit could do. What could be condensed or taken out entirely? I’ve come to the conclusion that it would become a different story and this is the cut that was meant to be.

What’s going on?

Life, Movies, Music, Netflix Original, The Darkest Winter

It’s the last day in August and with the holiday weekend this feels like the end of summer. Sure we can expect warm weather for quite a bit longer but mentally when September hits it feels like winter is standing on top of us already.

So with the pending winter blues approaching, what’s going on?

The obvious is my book, The Darkest Winter. I’m waiting to hear back from Amazon about getting approval for the paper book files. When that happens, I order the proof to make sure everything is fine and dandy for public consumption. While I wait for the proof, I’ll get the ebook in order. I expect my business cards to come in next week so I think the end of next week is looking the most likely for launch. There are a ton of moving parts I’m now navigating and I’m itching to show the end result to everyone.

With September hitting, that means TV is about to pop off. Netflix dropped Ozark season 2 today and the first show on the doccet for cable TV is season 13 of Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The promo looks insane so I have high hopes. That’s on Wednesday I think. Then Bojack Horseman on Netflix! There’s a huge list of programming about to start and I’ll do updates as they start (5 weeks away from hockey season!).

Better Call Saul is going well and Ink Master just started so those have been keeping me warm along with some movies and stand up specials on Netflix that I’ve been knocking off my list:

  • Moonwalkers (good)
  • Hardcore Henry (nauseating, turned it off)
  • Wheelman (liked it a lot)
  • Bert Kreicher: Secret Time (hilarious)
  • The Standups- Deon Cole and Kyle Kinane (both hilarous)
  • Train to Busan (loved it)
  • Iliza Shlesinger: Elder Millennial (very good)
  • Demeri Martin: The Overthinker (very good)
  • I Am Not a Serial Killer (good)
  • I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (good)

I’m listening to Twenty One Pilots new track “My Blood” right now and I dig it. Their new album comes out soon and I’m sure it’ll be a smash. Eminem dropped a new album out of no where and I’m about to check that out.

RIP Chester Bennington

Life, Music

Chester Bennington’s suicide has shocked everyone. His passing is terrible and I can only wish peace for his family and friends. He left behind many people.

I saw Linkin Park once. The 2004 Projekt Revolution Tour. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen, the sold out crowd of something like 12,000 people were in a trance for the entire thing. Their fan base adored (and still adores) them and the band played in kind. A feedback loop of energy that’s impossible to forget. Chester was a major part of that and he positively affected countless people.

From the outside, you think success is all you need in life to be happy. Fame couldn’t hurt either, an acknowledgment that people dig what you do. Since 2000, Linkin Park has gone strong and remained incredibly popular so it’s easy to assume they’re all perfectly happy people. It’s never that simple. Chester survived abuse as a child and that followed him his entire life. Drug abuse and depression were a part of his life, unfortunately. He wore his heart on his sleeve in his songwriting but I guess he hid his deepest scars from everyone as long as he could.

If anything, this is another reminder that we need each other. Don’t keep it all to yourself, talk and others can and will listen and help.

2016 ~Fin~

Life, Movies, Music, TV

2016 is now behind us and I think we’re all ready to get things going in a positive direction. I ended the year being sick for more than a month, first with kidney stones and then a stomach virus that set up camp with no intent of leaving without some serious antibiotics. I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for both (still have a stent in my kidney which is GTFO ASAP. Embrace every day you are healthy, getting knocked out of commission for any amount of time is a serious bummer.

My movie reviews took a back seat to TV as just about all of my favorite content was coming on strong for the medium until the holiday break. I peppered some movies in here and there in the past 2 weeks. And of course there is a ton of stuff on Netflix to check out (just started S3 of the Dusk Til Dawn series and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown with plans to start The OA soon,)

Some TV highlights outside of watching the NY Rangers put on a clinic, hit a rut and now hopefully pulling the A team back together. Got into Vice News Tonight on HBO and I watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert religiously. Ink Master had a quality season Obviously, I was on Shameless like a frog on a Junebug. The comedy shows I watch (Bob’s Burgers, Modern Family, Brooklyn 99) have remained strong. My extremely brief take on The Walking Dead is ‘serious pacing issues.’ When you have a cast that large and only care for maybe half of them, any diversion away from those key people (neutering Carol again and beating us over the head that yes, Negan is a bad guy) it more often feels like meandering than entertainment. The ex-Top Gear boys rode back with The Grand Tour and it’s often a treat to see them at it again.

The standard cable shows are returning shortly and a few hard hitters are coming back for new seasons. Homeland sounds like they’re shifting gears which is much needed and Black Sails is ending with Season 4. Last year was brilliant and I’m both happy and sad to see the end of one of my favorite shows. FaceOff took a big break and is returning at the end of the month.

Korn put out a killer album that made me very happy (gushing review is here) and Run the Jewels snuck out RTJ3 just before the new year and it’s also great.

Movie wise, some quick hits:

Yoga Hosers– The best way I’ve seen this Kevin Smith movie described is: it’s like watching someone’s home movie that had a great budget. It’s super stupid (it knows it) and is a project for Smith’s daughter Harley and her friend Rose (Depp) to have fun. Kevin says he made it for tween girls and I think that’s a fair assessment. Spawned from a goofy idea on a stoner podcast, Kevin did all the ground work to get this little picture made. Even if you hate it, you have to recognize and respect the indie spirit.

Point Break (2015)- Yeah, watch the original. This remake does nothing better. While competent (by modern cinema standards) I couldn’t help but shrug this entire movie off. Maybe if the changed the name and tried to make it more original it would stand up better, but there is very little fun and exhilaration here that the original did so well. Sure the landscapes and real stuntwork are good (far expanding the ‘extreme sport’ umbrella the first did) but it’s coated in so much CG it gets numbing.

Spectral– A surprise treat from Netflix. Sci-fi action (with many nods to Aliens) done well. It’s about the US military calling for extra brains to help out with a new threat on the battlefield somewhere in Europe. Well written, paced and acted. Looks like they got the entire budget on screen because it looks really good.

Finally, I started writing my book 4 years ago. I’m really close to the end. I’m thinking 5 chapters close. Being sick derailed me for a while and I’m now burning to get this last bit out of me and onto the page. I think I have a legit sellable story here and I just got to get it done. Even when I write “the end” in the coming weeks, I have to go back to the beginning and fine tune work I haven’t touched in a long time. While I have much more work to do with it, I’ve never been closer to such a huge personal accomplishment. Still need to think up a good title.

Posts in 2016: 126

KoRn – The Serenity of Suffering

Korn, Music

sos

Not many bands make three albums let alone 12. Not many bands stay together, and stay popular, for more than a few years let alone 22. Korn has weathered the storms of the music industry and personal strife and somehow managed to stay largely intact. Emerging onto the scene in 1994 from the dustiest parts of California with a new sound that no one really knew what to make of, Korn has again managed to make a killer album by remaining true to their unique sound with revitalized energy and perspective.

Never one to shy away from experimentation in their entire career, 2011’s The Path of Totality saw a total embrace of electronica. Dubstep bones wrapped in Korn meat and flesh. 2013’s The Paradigm Shift saw the return of founding member Brian “Head” Welsh and with him the scaling back of the electronics for the trademark twin guitar attack of Head and James “Munky” Shaffer.

That brings us to today and what I hoped was going to happen with their follow up material: the band’s total re-fusion as a unit with renewed faith in each other and the drive to reach the next rung of their trademark sound.

I’m a huge fan of The Paradigm Shift. There’s a ton of great songs on there and the return of Head made a clear resurgence to their creative and distinct riffs. That album is very safe, though. The production sparkles, it’s very clean and organized. It lacks that certain Korn “weight” most of the time. With the experience of them touring together starting in early 2013, writing TPS (Head playing.writing with Ray for the first time) and hitting the road some more, the band has really gelled again. Fantastic live shows, the band of brothers are clearly happy and healthy.

The Serenity of Suffering is an absolute return to form. The band that went all out on the likes of 1999’s Issues and 2002’s Untouchables can be heard again. All of the elements that made people love Korn are sprinkled all over this 52 minutes of music (get the deluxe edition).

Head and Munky wanted to push their guitar playing again. They did. SOS is a guitar showcase. That back and forth “talking” they do is just unparalleled. The grime and creep factor is back that frontloads the soundscape into some other world. They change tempo and rhythm much more often (really lacking on TPS). And the melodies! I can’t express how impressed I am with my two favorite guitar players.

I don’t skip a single track on this album. That hasn’t happened since Issues. There are so many amazing songs I could write a thousand words on each one.

Insane and Rotting in Vain are arguably the most Korn prototypical tracks. They’re obvious choices for singles to introduce the new album as they hit all the checkboxes for Korn song structure and sound. Opening with ‘Insane,’ the bellowing “Lies” sets expectations much like “Are you ready?” on ‘Blind’ did for their debut album.

‘Black Is the Soul’ is an absolute Korn classic, simply brilliant from start to finish. A low, ramp up into the song into a pounding groove with some of my favorite lyrics. The haunting start of ‘The Hating’ into the sweeping chorus. The bouncy beats of ‘Take Me’, the thunderous ‘Everything Falls Apart’, the brilliant metal shredding on ‘Die Yet Another Night’. The solider’s march percussion, batshit crazy two tone “bumble bee” guitars, DJ scratches and howling screams on ‘Next in Line’. The straight up funk of ‘Please Come for Me’!  I think the guest vocals on ‘A Different World’ from Corey Taylor are the best in the discography (I never liked ‘Cameltosis’ and ‘Play Me’ was incredibly disappointing). The creativity makes these tracks live and stick with you. Most tracks have memorable pre-choruses and rip roaring bridges.

I can’t say any more about this album without mentioning producer Nick Raskulinecz. Long time Korn fan, Raskulinecz had an instrumental hand in forging SOS. He went on tour with the band for their 20th anniversary of Korn dates and saw first-hand night after night what the fans responded to most. Along with producers Ross Robinson (Korn, Life is Peachy, Korn III), Brendan O’Brien (Issues) and Michael Beinhorn (Untouchables), Raskulinecz knows how to make Korn crush.

SOS is so heavy, only the devil can lift it. As I mentioned above, the bridges are something to behold. The breakdowns are downright rollercoaster rides and there are a lot of them. The pits at shows will go berzerk like it’s 1994 again. In particular, the “There is nothing in my head” bit of ‘Everything Falls Apart’ is a neck snapper. I’m talking ceiling to floor headbanging. Heaviest bit of track since ‘Oildale’ on Korn III: Remember Who You Are.

Along the lines of Issues and Untouchables, the production and mixing are in the sweet spot.  A huge amount of depth, SOS really breaths as you listen to it. You can hear everyone, every second that each band member contributes. Do not play this album on crap speakers. Toss those garbage earbuds and pump this through components that can handle the craziness. With quality headphones, SOS takes on even greater life.

The guitars are just filthy good. Thick tones, that range from the searing to the heavenly (Everything Falls Apart is a great example). Head and Munky wail on every track.

The percussion from Ray and Fieldy are in the perfect slot together (again, I give ‘Everything Falls Apart’ as a prime example). Ray can do fills like there is no tomorrow. The snare sounds especially crisp and it can sound like he has four arms working at once. He is so versatile it’s ridiculous (the opening of ‘When You’re Not There is a great example and I adore what he does on ‘Next in Line’).

Fieldy shatters along the bottom end like no other, bouncing in the pockets of Ray, Head, and Munky. The tone Raskulinecz dialed him in on each track is phenomenal. He’s got his trademark “click” here and there, but he’s also much more robust sounding. He’s such a unique bass player I’m so happy he’s given so much space to shine (looking down at you, SYOTOS, Untitled, POT). He’s especially awesome on ‘Please Come for Me.’ Those sustained notes make my heart palpitate every time. This album simply thumps.

Jonathan Davis is on point. Some of his best work. His entire insane range is shown off. Straight up singing with a mix of passion and pain. The whispers, phenomenal screams and howls. The vocal arrangements are so cool! It takes me back to my favorite album, Issues. The layering on ‘The Hating’ (the end is nuts), the awesome subliminal double talk in ‘Everything Falls Apart’ and the split personality presentation in ‘Die Yet Another Night’:

Sick of all these things I tried
Sick of all these lies
(Nobody cares you’re just a bad man
Nobody wants you you’re a dead man)
Wake me from my darkest dream
Read me from my mind
(Nobody cares you’re just a bad man
Nobody wants you’re a dead man)

From the beginning.  Korn has been a decisive band. The traditional metal scene turned their nose up at them while a legion of misfit kids flocked to see them so they could headbang their torment away. Today, most people are shocked to hear Korn are still making music and simply boil down their sound to slap bass and JD scatting.

The Serenity of Suffering isn’t Korn doing anything new thematically, so the haters will still see no reason to hop on board. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’re giving their fans everything they love in a modern way. This isn’t the band from 1994. Those guys don’t exist anymore, a lot has happened in two decades. This is the band in 2016 and they still deliver to those that listen. I consider this one of the best albums they’ve ever made. Korn has given us another album that no other band on Earth (and many have tried) can make. I, for one, couldn’t be happier.

 

Korn- A Different World

Korn, Music

Was expecting a much different track so this one has grown on me with each listen. It’s got a real Untouchables vibe with the bending out of key. Slower, pounding groove that changes tempo. Subtle use of Corey in the chorus, which I really like and his verse is really good, love the guitars on that section. It’s a creative song that could be a little longer. Good complaint to have as Serenity of Suffering is shaping up to be all killer and no filler.

Less than a month for the album release, I expect the video will be up in a week or so.

Korn Bio: Ray Luzier

Korn, Music

Ray-Luzier-1

Raymond Lee Luzier

Born June 14, 1970 in West Newton , Pennsylvania.

Drummer (2007-Present)

Located about an hour from Pittsburgh, Ray grew up on a 118 acre farm. Ray’s passion for music is an innate one, first feeling the urge to play the drums when he was very young. While no family members were musicians, he was first exposed to the works of Elvis, Chuck Berry and The Beatles. With the records playing, Ray would sing and tap along to the beat of the music; banging on pots and pans was an early favorite activity for him. His parents soon caught on to this and his father welded some old coffee cans together and painted them orange. Soon, he graduated to a beginner kit that lasted all of two weeks before Ray destroyed them from playing them so much. His drumming roots really started to grow on his six birthday when he got a full kit.

From his first drum set to entering high school, Ray was a self-taught drummer. Over the years he’d see bands on the cover of magazines and pick up their albums. He’d put on the likes of Rush, AC/DC, Leonyrd Skynyrd , Kiss, and Ozzy Osbourne, figuring out how to play the songs by ear. Consuming and memorizing the works of the great bands of the 70’s and 80’s Ray became a fan of countless rock bands that inspired him to continue his passion for making music. High school marked Ray’s start in formal percussion education. He got involved with every band available to him: marching, concert and symphonic. This was where Ray first got a taste for playing live on stage in front of an audience. It was a tremendous feeling that pushed him to get into a band outside of school.

Ray was just 14 when he got into his first rock band. They’d play gigs in clubs that he was legally too young to enter. So to get in, Ray’s father would escort him in, stand right by the door during the show and escort him out the moment it was over.

It was the late 80’s when Ray graduated high school , the same time he decided that making music, that playing drums, was going to be his career. Saying goodbye to his close family, Ray packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles, California. First stop was attending The Musicians Institute in Hollywood, where he honed his technical chops and learned how to play many more styles and how to work in the professional scene. From learning so much and having such a positive experience at MI, Ray went back as an instructor from 1992-2001.

Now done with school, Ray never stopped drumming. He became a well-known  studio and session player in LA who could pick up and play any type of music. He was a quick learner and easy to work with; his skill and attitude getting him constant gigs. To date, Ray can be heard on dozens of albums. Through-out the 90’s you could find Ray playing at everything from the size of a wedding wearing a disco wig to an arena packed with people. If he wasn’t working on music, he was teaching it.

In 1997, Ray got his biggest gig playing drums for David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame. He toured with Diamond Dave consistently though to 2005. While Ray didn’t necessarily become famous from his time playing with Roth, he did get an education in the School of Showbiz Rock during this time. Roth taught him the importance of putting on a show for an audience. When someone takes the time and money to come and see you, you make them remember the time with you.

Ray avoids the “waiting for a bus” look when playing. He never liked seeing a boring drummer and he didn’t want to be known as one. A key part of that is showing the emotion on your face. “I try to show them that this is what I’m all about. I’m trying to give you everything I got. Like my blood and sweat.”

During the David Lee Roth years, Ray also played with numerous bands in the down time. Wicked Alliance, Arcade, and Freak Power Ticket, just to name a few.  Ray’s time with David Lee Roth ended around the same time that the DeLeo brothers (Stone Temple Pilots) were starting a new band with singer Richard Patrick (Filter). In 2006, Ray joined their band, Army of Anyone.

Army of Anyone released its self-titled debut in 2007. Ray is very proud of this album, but shortly after it was released, the band dissolved as the DeLeo brothers decided to resurrect Stone Temple Pilots. A real blow for Ray at the time, fate seemingly had other plans for him.

Korn saw its founding member and drummer David Silveria leave the band in late 2006. Despite losing its second band member in as many years, they continued on. After enlisting the help of drummers Brooks Wackerman and Terry Bozzio to record 2007’s Untitled, Korn was ready to support it with a world tour. Slipknot’s Joey Jordison stepped behind the kit for the American leg of The Family Values 2007 tour. At the end, Joey left to go back to record the next Slipknot album, All Hope Is Gone. With this opening, they needed someone who could take over. As luck would have it, the management company behind Army of Anyone is the same as Korn’s. This made for a quick discovery and introduction between Ray and Korn. The timing was simply perfect. Ray flew out to one of the last stops of the Family Values tour in Seattle and auditioned with Munky and Fieldy. Asked to learn six songs for the audition, Ray went the extra mile and learned 30. It was an easy decision for Korn and they asked Ray to tour the world with them. He got the job in October 2007 and worked so well within the band, he was made an official member in 2009.

Since joining Korn, Ray remains busy inside and out of the band. His first recording with Korn was ‘Kidnap the Sandy Claws’, a cover for The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack remix album, Nightmare Revisited. Ray also worked on Jonathan Davis’s solo project, JD and the SFAs album which has yet to be released. These works have been followed by three Korn albums.  Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010), The Path of Totality (2011) and The Paradigm Shift (2013). Ray is also a new father and continues to teach and put on drum clinics when not on the road.

Korn Bio: David Silveria

Korn, Music

davidsilveria

David Randall Silveria

Born September 21, 1972 in San Leandro, CA

Drummer (1993-2006)

The youngest of the band, David was just a kid when he first met Munky and Fieldy. Two small bands that Fieldy and Head were in had collapsed and Fieldy was working on making a new one. Fieldy asked Munky to take on guitars while Head went of to try something new. They teamed up with a friend named Richard to sing and needed a drummer to complete the group.

They put an ad in the paper that said, “Funk,  thrash, metal  groove band looking for a drummer.” Not knowing who or what these guys were about, David called and left a message on Fieldy’s answering machine.  “Hey, you guys looking for a drummer? This little kid on my answering machine said,” remembers Fieldy. After laughing at how young he sounded, they called him back and arranged to go over to his house to play in his garage. Jamming together in the garage, they were impressed. “It just clicked. He was so good man,” says Fieldy.

“I loaded up my drums that day in the car and took it to the studio,” David recalls.  “He was so young his mom had to drop him off for practice,” says Munky.

They named themselves L.A.P.D., “Love And Peace Dude” (which was later changed to “Laugh As People Die” after being openly mocked by others). They drew inspiration from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More for their sound and were able to get some traction locally. Looking to make it big, it was quickly decided they had to get out of Bakersfield to Los Angeles to get to the next level. The singer, Richard and Fieldy left first with David who dropped out of high school to do so. They crashed at Richard’s mother’s small apartment in Burbank upon arriving. David was so young at this point that his mother asked  Richard’s mother Donna, to take legal custody of David until he turned 18. She gladly accepted, making it possible for David to get one step closer to becoming a rock star. This was a very big move as it put two of the soon-to-be-named Korn members in the best area geographically to get noticed in the music industry.  Shortly after, Munky moved in and  they were later able to get Head to move to Burbank as well.

L.A.P.D. got as far as recording an album, but after spinning their wheels for a while, the band went nowhere and everyone but Richard was fed up. They parted ways with Richard and started fresh. Fieldy, Munky and David started jamming together regularly  to make new music and asked Head to join in as a second guitar player. These sessions started the foundation sounds of Korn. Fieldy and David worked closely bringing their fresh playing styles together to make the percussion trademark that is the backbone of Korn. Looking for a singer they found a friend named Corey and named the band Creep. They wrote and recorded a nine song demo with producer Ross Robinson, but things went south with Corey. After letting him go, Munky and Head managed to discover Jonathan Davis during some downtime from Creep back in Bakersfield. Once Davis joined as lead singer, a name change and a little more than a year later, Korn was becoming one of the biggest names in metal.

Three studio albums had seen Korn to the top of the record charts and filling arenas worldwide. A wrist injury took David out of commision mid tour while supporting their 4th album, Issues in 2000. “My right wrist started feeling really tired when I was playing.  I just couldn’t play, the strength went away.” What was the medical term for his injury? “ I hit too fucking hard.” Instead of canceling dates for the Sick and Twisted  and Summer Sanitarium summer tours they were booked on, Korn found an artist to fill in for David. Mike Bordin from Faith No More. “Growing up, he was one of the drummers that influenced me and he’s a great drummer…he would be a guy who would understand how I play.”

Six albums and 13 years into Korn’s career, David suddenly left the band at the end of 2006. After finishing the tour cycle for the See You On The Other Side album, MTV asked the band to do an Unplugged album.  Feeling burned out and unhappy with the direction the band was going, David had no interest in the project and didn’t participate. Originally called a “hiatus” in the brief press release given at the time, it looks like it is a permanent separation.

Since then David has continued to manage his restaurant, Silveria’s RockBar, in Huntington Beach, CA. He also announced joining the band INFINIKA in January of 2012.