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collaborate with, ‘cause we wanted
to make sure that happened on this
record,” JD ponders. “I couldn’t think
of anybody. I think Nick [Raskulinecz,
Producer] ended up suggesting
[Corey]. So I messaged [him] and
said, ‘I heard you’re in town. Do you
want to be on a Korn song?’ He’s
like, ‘F-ck yeah, when and where?’”
Grammy Award-winning Raskulinecz
has been working with Korn for as
long as Jonathan can remember,
and he’s the one responsible for
everyone “getting their sh-t together
– you need people to do that sh-t,
set, but don’t expect
to see Xayalith herself
in any giant crowds. “I
don’t go to festivals, I’m
a grandma!” she laughs.
“It’s always been really
satisfying, going to see
my favourite band and
then hearing them play
one of my favourite songs
exactly how I imagined
it to be. For instance, I
saw LCD Sound System
play at Big Day Out a
couple of years ago
[2011] and I loved them,
and they played every
song perfectly, note for
note. I love that: when
bands do such a great
job of representing their
recording live.”
And that’s exactly how
The Naked And Famous
want to be able to perform:
full of life, and physically
connecting with every note
the audience is hearing.
“So many electronic bands
just have music on track
and they just press play and away they go. It’s
not very interesting,“ she says. “So we always
made a point that everything we play can be
played by human fingers, and we actually play
the sound that you’re hearing. It just feels more
rewarding.”
visit
stack.net.au66
jbhifi.com.auNOVEMBER
2016
MUSIC
NEWS
continued
THE NAKED
AND FAMOUS
KORN
INTERVIEW
T
hree years on from the release of sophomore
album
In Rolling Waves
, Xayalith believes
Simple Forms
constitutes the group’s most
poppy record to date, in terms of production and
arrangement. “I [think it’s] more immediate, very
vocal,” she proposes. “There are a lot of songs
on there that demand a lot from me vocally. But
I’m super proud of it. It’s the most immediate
thing that we’ve ever done.”
The blissful New Zealand band has called
Los Angeles home for many years now, but
they have not let the location change affect
their musical prowess. “Making music for me
isn’t about my direct environment; it’s about
an emotional connection,“ Xayalith explains.
It was facing these powerful emotions –
erupting from a worrying hiatus – that helped
bring the cathartic album to life. “We’ve been
in this band for 10 years and when we came
off tour, at the end of 2014, everybody was
just so burnt out, mentally, physically,” Xayalith
admits. “And in that break, everybody realised
just how important this band was… focusing
on songwriting [and] driving ourselves into
work again was a very triumphant outcome
after [the] emotional roller-coaster that we
came off.”
The album’s lead single
Higher
formed
part of the band’s recent Austin City Limits
FACTOID:
Korn's JD knows who Australian comedian and classic stitch-up artist Aaron Gocs is: " Oh, that guy. I’ve seen that. Yeah, that’s some corny sh-t.
That was just playing one day, and I’m like 'I love this guy. Someone’s eating corn with cornrows listening to Korn.' So, yeah, that’s f-cking awesome."'
T
he Serenity of Suffering
is
Korn’s twelfth studio album;
amongst its redemptive gems is
A Different World
, which features
Slipknot’s Corey Taylor. According to
Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, it’s
a collab that’s been just waiting to
happen. “I was sitting in the studio
trying to think of who I wanted to
and it came out really good. He
really was pushing the group to do
their best, and write the best sh-t,
and that’s exactly what happened. I
had a good time working with him;
he’s got a good ear. He put the time
in, doing different arrangements
with the guys, and really pushed
them in different directions. It ended
up being a heavier record. For me, it
was cool to try and re-visit that and
embrace that again. It had been a
while since I was in that mindset.
It was awesome. He’s a great
producer.”
Whether they’ll be bringing this
new album on an Australian tour,
though, remains to be seen. The
Californian five-piece hasn’t been
out here for a while, and JD is pretty
sad about it. “I don’t know what
happened, but it sucks, ‘cause we
play there usually every two or three
years,” he explains. “I love it down
there. I’ve been going there f-cking
half my life. I can’t wait to get back
there soon. So as soon as they
figure out a promoter that can come
Words
Alesha Kolbe
INTERVIEW
The whimsical, soothing voice
of The Naked and Famous’
euphoric hits is owned by
frontwoman Alisa Xayalith. She
takes control of the microphone,
caresses the keyboard and
ultimately helms the band’s
third album,
Simple Forms
.
Words
Savannah Douglas
Simple
Forms
by The
Naked And
Famous is out
now via Island/
Universal.
The Serenity Of Suffering
by Korn
is out now via Roadrunner/Warner.
up with the money to do it all, we’ll
be there.” (It’s a pity Soundwave is
no more: the afore-mentioned Corey
Taylor recently hit out at AJ Maddah,
promoter of the now-kaput festival,
who has brought both Slipknot and
Korn to Australia in previous years.)
So then, what’s on the current
playlist? “I’m listening to all kinds
of Donny Hathaway,” JD says. “Old
R&B and funk I’ve been listening
to a lot.” Not what you expected?
You’re not the only one. ”I’m not the
metal guy in the band; everybody
knows this,” the singer says. “That’s
why the band works so well. We all
love different types of music – I’m a
huge fan of Duran Duran. I’ve been
re-discovering real music. I’m really
f-cking fascinated by listening to
musicians that can actually play their
instruments and sing – just sh-t with
a soul. A lot of people forgot about
that magic. Remember that? How
we all used to listen to and enjoy
music? People seem to forget to
take the time to actually really listen
to the music.”
TOURING
07 - 08/01/2017