During an interview with Sick Drummer Magazine, Korn drummer Ray Luzier recently remembered the process of becoming a Korn member. Luzier revealed that the vocalist Jonathan Davis gave him a piece of advice that made him feel better.
Ray Luzier’s tendency to music and drumming began when he was a child. He got technical education and became a music instructor. Luzier, known for his works with David Lee Roth, played drums in DLR Band between 1997 and 2005.
In 2006, Korn hired Joey Jordison from Slipknot as a touring drummer following the departure of the original member David Silveria. However, Jordison had to leave the band to prepare the new Slipknot album at that period.
Luzier went for an audition for the drummer position, and the band immediately accepted him as the new Korn member. Luzier appeared first as a Korn member in 2008 in Dublin. In March 2009, the frontman Jonathan Davis announced Ray Luzier as the band’s permanent drummer.
Recently, Ray Luzier revealed in an interview the process of joining Korn. Luzier stated that he was nervous at the first few performances because he should have embraced Korn’s unique style and strongly reflected the band’s identity.
Recalling the process of joining Korn, Ray Luzier explained:
“It was like; I was dry heaving; the first couple shows because I was just like, ‘No one replaces anyone in Korn. Korn is who they are; they each have their own identities.’ But after the original guy quit, they had Terry Bozzio, one of my favorite drummers of all time; Brooks Wackerman is amazing, Mike Bordin played with them for a bit, and Joey Jordison, of course, from Slipknot.
They had all these different people filling in, and I was the next guy, so I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just filling in too; these guys are all monster players.’ But to get inside a Korn song, it’s all in motion and feels it, doesn’t matter how fast your feet are, how technically great you are, how many things you have built up in your vocabulary in your head, drumming-wise. You have to get inside the music of Korn.”
As Luzier mentioned, it took a few years for him to internalize the group’s sound fully. The drummer explained how Fieldy said they should start signing papers for their fans during the meet and greets in 2009. After that, he created a strong bond with the band members, and they became like brothers. That is why he was already feeling like a member of the band. He was questioning his place in the group after his permanency became absolute. Also, Jonathan Davis gave him a bit of advice and told him only to be himself because that was the reason he joined the band.
Ray Luzier continued in the same interview:
“It took me quite a few years, you know? I remember I got the gig in ’07 and then in ’09. I remember Fieldy came up to me, going, ‘We’re gonna start going to the meet and greets, start signing things.’ And I’m like, ‘Why?’ and he goes, ‘Well, where are you going? Are you in this band or not?‘ I would love to be, but I thought I was just a fill-in guy, and I was okay with that at first.
But I also bonded with them in a really strong way, musically, emotionally, everything, the brotherhood. And I was like, ‘Well, if I’m with this band, what’s that mean?’ And then when we figured out everything we needed to do, then it became like, ‘Okay, where’s my spot in this band?’ One thing Jonathan told me, ‘Just feel it, man. Be you; we hired you for you.‘”
You can watch the entire interview below.
