“there was debauchery and nIpple pIercIngs!”
Along with toby Wright, Grammy-winning producer Steve thompson was charged with getting the best sound from Korn for their third album. It was no easy task… HOW DID YOU GET THE JOB? STEVE:
“I went to lA with my manager and we met in a rehearsal studio. I could tell that they’d interviewed tons of people and were ready to go back with Ross, so I said, ‘Why don’t we work on one song and see if the chemistry is there? I wanna get the essence of the band and turn it up to 11.’ So I said to Jonathan, ‘I wanna make sure that when people hear you sing they feel your pain and emotion.’ He gave it so much that at the end of the performance, he literally passed out. they definitely stepped up to the table.”
HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH THE GUEST STARS?
“I originally wanted B-Real from cypress Hill to do the song We Are Family with Jonathan, but I had a big fight with columbia because cypress Hill were just putting out a new record and they didn’t want it to conflict. I said, ‘With all due respect, you’re fucking wrong! this album’s gonna be huge!’ Meanwhile, Fred Durst was hanging out in the studio every day, so Jonathan decided to do the song with him. It just made me crazy, because I made a song that was more commercial, but as soon as Jonathan and Fred got together it was, ‘My dick is bigger than your dick’, and there goes the commerciality of that song. I did get to smoke a joint with cheech, though!”
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MISS SOME OF THE SESSIONS?
“We spent six months on the album, working very long hours, and I got run down and developed bronchitis. I had to go on medication and the doctor said I would have to stay in bed for a couple of days. the album was almost done at that point. We had the record label president and executives come in for a listening session before I got sick, and they were blown away.”
WHAT WAS THE ATMOSPHERE LIKE IN THE STUDIO?
“It was absolutely insane! We did Korn tV every thursday in the studio, and we had debauchery like you wouldn’t believe. they were doing nipple piercings and we had tons of bands come in, from orgy to Marilyn
Manson to Primus. the studio was a circus, and normally I don’t like to work that way, but the band were more comfortable with that approach so I let it go. It was very stressful, because I’m a perfectionist, and
I wanted to make this record second to none. the idea with this album was, ‘let’s experiment and go out of the box.’ Personally, I think it holds the test of time.”