Korn Guitarist Recalls His First Reaction To KISS: “What Is That?”
In a new interview with Bringin’ It Backwards Podcast, Brian “Head” Welch, the guitarist of the rock band Korn, looked back on his childhood and recalled his first reaction to KISS. Korn guitarist has also revealed the bands he discovered for the first time as a kid.
When asked about his musical journey, Head said:
“I had some neighbors that were blasting KISS, like ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You,’ and I was like, ‘What is that?’ It was a sound that I was drawn to.
“And then 1980, my parents got me AC/DC, ‘Back in Black’ album, I opened it on Christmas morning, I heard ‘Back in Black,’ and something just hit me. And I’m 10 years old – I’m playing it all day long for months and months and months, over and over.
“And then I found Iron Maiden, and then I found Ozzy, and then I found Judas Priest, and I got into the LA bands, Motley Crue and Ratt, and that was it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Korn star was asked if the guitar was the instrument he learned first. He admitted that he wanted to play drums, but explained why it has not happen.
“Yeah. I wanted to play drums, but my dad talked me out of it because kids are lazy.
“So he was like, ‘Drums have so many pieces and parts,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ And then I got a guitar, an acoustic, they got me a cheap little thing.
Concluding his words, Head said he wanted a guitar like AC/DC.
“I wanted a guitar like AC/DC, I wanted that sound, I needed that sound, and they’re like, ‘You can’t even play, go and learn something first on acoustic.’
“So I took lessons, I learned, and they were like ‘wow’, I was dedicated playing all the time, and the next thing you know, I had a little amp, like a distortion pedal, and a little, cheap guitar, the amp was about that big, so I started from the bottom, now I’m here.
Listen the entire sound below.
