Post by gia on Nov 20, 2007 18:24:22 GMT -5
hey guys, i had a great pleasure to do an interview with Richard Gibbs for my site KoRnZone.pl. Want to share it with you here. Enjoy. All questions are by me and pokarmm.
~gia
Hello Richard, thank you for your time, we have a few questions concerning JDs solo tour and Oblivion opera. So here they are.
Jonathan plans a solo tour in Europe too, it's gonna be like in May or something, as KoRn takes a break between April and August, before they start with a new album, and JD said he is going to expand his tour between KoRn projects. Are you gonna go with him to deliver some music like keyboards?
We haven't discussed that tour yet. Sounds like fun to me, but right now that's Zac's chair as long as he wants it.
Will it be same small and intimate shows as in USA? KoRnZoNe users hope that, when you're here, you hit Poland too.
I would assume, but I don't know, that they would be small. As to where, I don't think anything has been done about that yet. Jonathan is very excited about this band and wants to pursue it further. The possibilities are just now being explored. Stay tuned.
This is first time you guys are able to play tracks form QOTD soundtrack, along with your favorite, unreleased Careless, how do you feel about it?
Thrilled. And that's an understatement.
And why only Careless, we had hopes for others unreleased too...
Careless is our favorite of the unreleased tracks. The other two are okay, but all the other material is stronger.
Don't you have any problems this time with rights for using Jonathan's vocals?
No - Jon is unencumbered by a record contract at this time.
What song is the best and the weakest in your opinion?
Anytime Shenkar solos I stop in my tracks. Other than that I won't pick amongst my children.
And why did you decide finally not to play Tearjerker on the live shows? This is one amasing song, that we suppose is easy to translate into acustic form. It is even included on CD and DVD, fans would love to see it.
Actually I don't know why Jon decided not to perform it. We did have it all worked up and ready to go, obviously.
Now, how did it happen that, this little exclusive concert for DVD purposes took place in your house? BTW congrats for being ready with DVD and CD for 3rd show already. Great job.
It wasn't in my house. It took place in my recording studio, the Woodshed. For more about the studio, go to woodshedrecording.com. And thanks!
From what we see on fan sites it seems to be already very popular. How many did you sell by far from these 1200 limited copies?
As of today we have sold about 300 - averaging around 60 per show. Seems to be picking up steam though...
Do you have plans for some international distribution or this cd/dvd will be avaliable on concerts only.
Keep an eye on invisiblearts.com for news there. Brand new site. We're working on distribution ideas.
Again you were arranger of the show. It was only you who chose all these musicians and instruments?
When Jon first called me about this tour he told me he wanted it to be relatively acoustic. He liked the idea of hiring the players he already was comfortable with from Korn's backup band - hence Zac and Michael. I had heard Shane playing about a year ago in a booth at the NAMM convention. The day I hired him for this tour Jon and Munky called and snatched him to finish the Korn tour. Miles Mosley was another great find - Jon had requested an upright player and I found the greatest possible fit for him in Miles. And I had turned Jon onto Shenkar many moons ago when we did QotD, although he knew indirectly of him already thru the Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack.
Did Jonathan had any time at all to work on it, or it was just you who remade the songs?
Well first off, don't discount the players' input on the arrangements - that was everything. Our idea was to simply get great players and let them rip. Basically I acted more as a producer and guide, not so much as an arranger this time. Korn was still touring during the first week of rehearsals, so I only had Mike, Miles, and Lilo Fadidas to start with. Lilo is an amazing flamenco guitarist, oudist, and bouzouki player, but he didn't work out this time around. Initially we had thought that we would need two guitars for some of the songs, but it became clear that Shane can play like two normal mortals at the same time and Miles can sonically fill a room by himself. So with Lilo out, I started thinking of a strictly feature-type player. It honestly hadn't occurred to me that Shenkar would be interested in touring at all, but on a whim I called him. Much to my (and Jon's) amazement he agreed to join forces with us! When the rest of the guys got back Jon had to fill in as musical director for a few days when I suddenly had to go out of town to rescue my mother from the hospital (all good now).
As we see this time there aren't so many instruments (just keyboards, upright bass,violin, percussion, guitar) and musicians (4) as it was on Unplugged, not many weird ones and acoustic too. You think it works better this way, it isnt totally acoustic, is it? Was it easier to translate all these songs to not totally unplugged form? Many fans think its better than Unplugged..
Well first your math is off - we have 5 musicians plus Jon, not 4. It never occurred to me (or Jon, I think) to compare it to the Unplugged project. Nor, honestly, do we worry much about what the fans think. When you worry about that you end up with pablum. As an artist Jon is first and foremost concerned with expressing himself musically. Initially he did want to do this acoustically, but in rehearsal came to the conclusion that he preferred the sound of relatively unadorned electric guitar to a plugged-in acoustic. As Jon says, this is really more of a hybrid. Miles is playing upright acoustic bass, but with a pick-up on it running thru any number of pedals. Zac is playing acoustic sampled piano parts. Shenkar's double violin is strictly a plugged-in instrument. We don't try to stick to any one ethic or another. For MTV Unplugged, however, we were given the rules - nothing electric. I remain very happy with the result of that project as well.
But you use some weird ones too, what are they? Jonathan mentioned oud and boozkie.
Can you tell us something about them, and their sound? On which songs do you use them?
I covered that above - when Lilo exited the oud and bouzouki went with him. The oud is a very old middle-eastern fretless lute - a beautiful expressive instrument. It can be heard providing the accompaniment to Shenkar's violin in the piece entitled 'On the Beach' from the Queen of the Damned score album. The bouzouki is most strongly associated with Greek music - somewhere between guitar, mandolin and banjo in tone.
Weird is in the eye and ear of the beholder - but if you want to see weird, check out Shenkar's axe!
Does Jonathan play some instruments on the show too?
I really wanted him to show off his instrumental skills, but right now he has just limited himself to his unbelievably massive camouflage djembe.
Now when you can compare both unplugged and solo tour, do you agree with fans, that tour is better?
No. I don't compare them.
And maybe its time for next step and try out KoRn with symphony? Have you guys talked about it?
I would love to try something orchestral with Jon or Korn. We haven't really talked about it. If I were to do it I can guarantee it would be a radical approach, not just Korn with an orchestra behind them.
Congrats on very talented wife, how did she come up with the idea for artwork?
She would be the first to deny her contribution. As she said, she only did the layout - the artwork was kindly provided by the t-shirt designer. But she is very talented.
Now Oblivion, so now you guys work on the plot. Can you tell us something more than just the end of the world subject? What is the timing and place of the opera? Who are the characters?
The answers to those questions are in Clive's court at this time - Jon and I are anxious to see what he's been doing with our ideas too! TBA.
Have you guys started with the music yet? Or you just wait till the story is done? When do you think we can expect for it to has its premiere?
Patience, grasshopper.
Thank you for the interview and good luck on your projects. All fans in Europe seeing pictures form Alone I Play DVD and some bootlegs form live shows, simply can't wait to both: get a copy of the DVD as well as see the solo concert.
~gia
Hello Richard, thank you for your time, we have a few questions concerning JDs solo tour and Oblivion opera. So here they are.
Jonathan plans a solo tour in Europe too, it's gonna be like in May or something, as KoRn takes a break between April and August, before they start with a new album, and JD said he is going to expand his tour between KoRn projects. Are you gonna go with him to deliver some music like keyboards?
We haven't discussed that tour yet. Sounds like fun to me, but right now that's Zac's chair as long as he wants it.
Will it be same small and intimate shows as in USA? KoRnZoNe users hope that, when you're here, you hit Poland too.
I would assume, but I don't know, that they would be small. As to where, I don't think anything has been done about that yet. Jonathan is very excited about this band and wants to pursue it further. The possibilities are just now being explored. Stay tuned.
This is first time you guys are able to play tracks form QOTD soundtrack, along with your favorite, unreleased Careless, how do you feel about it?
Thrilled. And that's an understatement.
And why only Careless, we had hopes for others unreleased too...
Careless is our favorite of the unreleased tracks. The other two are okay, but all the other material is stronger.
Don't you have any problems this time with rights for using Jonathan's vocals?
No - Jon is unencumbered by a record contract at this time.
What song is the best and the weakest in your opinion?
Anytime Shenkar solos I stop in my tracks. Other than that I won't pick amongst my children.
And why did you decide finally not to play Tearjerker on the live shows? This is one amasing song, that we suppose is easy to translate into acustic form. It is even included on CD and DVD, fans would love to see it.
Actually I don't know why Jon decided not to perform it. We did have it all worked up and ready to go, obviously.
Now, how did it happen that, this little exclusive concert for DVD purposes took place in your house? BTW congrats for being ready with DVD and CD for 3rd show already. Great job.
It wasn't in my house. It took place in my recording studio, the Woodshed. For more about the studio, go to woodshedrecording.com. And thanks!
From what we see on fan sites it seems to be already very popular. How many did you sell by far from these 1200 limited copies?
As of today we have sold about 300 - averaging around 60 per show. Seems to be picking up steam though...
Do you have plans for some international distribution or this cd/dvd will be avaliable on concerts only.
Keep an eye on invisiblearts.com for news there. Brand new site. We're working on distribution ideas.
Again you were arranger of the show. It was only you who chose all these musicians and instruments?
When Jon first called me about this tour he told me he wanted it to be relatively acoustic. He liked the idea of hiring the players he already was comfortable with from Korn's backup band - hence Zac and Michael. I had heard Shane playing about a year ago in a booth at the NAMM convention. The day I hired him for this tour Jon and Munky called and snatched him to finish the Korn tour. Miles Mosley was another great find - Jon had requested an upright player and I found the greatest possible fit for him in Miles. And I had turned Jon onto Shenkar many moons ago when we did QotD, although he knew indirectly of him already thru the Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack.
Did Jonathan had any time at all to work on it, or it was just you who remade the songs?
Well first off, don't discount the players' input on the arrangements - that was everything. Our idea was to simply get great players and let them rip. Basically I acted more as a producer and guide, not so much as an arranger this time. Korn was still touring during the first week of rehearsals, so I only had Mike, Miles, and Lilo Fadidas to start with. Lilo is an amazing flamenco guitarist, oudist, and bouzouki player, but he didn't work out this time around. Initially we had thought that we would need two guitars for some of the songs, but it became clear that Shane can play like two normal mortals at the same time and Miles can sonically fill a room by himself. So with Lilo out, I started thinking of a strictly feature-type player. It honestly hadn't occurred to me that Shenkar would be interested in touring at all, but on a whim I called him. Much to my (and Jon's) amazement he agreed to join forces with us! When the rest of the guys got back Jon had to fill in as musical director for a few days when I suddenly had to go out of town to rescue my mother from the hospital (all good now).
As we see this time there aren't so many instruments (just keyboards, upright bass,violin, percussion, guitar) and musicians (4) as it was on Unplugged, not many weird ones and acoustic too. You think it works better this way, it isnt totally acoustic, is it? Was it easier to translate all these songs to not totally unplugged form? Many fans think its better than Unplugged..
Well first your math is off - we have 5 musicians plus Jon, not 4. It never occurred to me (or Jon, I think) to compare it to the Unplugged project. Nor, honestly, do we worry much about what the fans think. When you worry about that you end up with pablum. As an artist Jon is first and foremost concerned with expressing himself musically. Initially he did want to do this acoustically, but in rehearsal came to the conclusion that he preferred the sound of relatively unadorned electric guitar to a plugged-in acoustic. As Jon says, this is really more of a hybrid. Miles is playing upright acoustic bass, but with a pick-up on it running thru any number of pedals. Zac is playing acoustic sampled piano parts. Shenkar's double violin is strictly a plugged-in instrument. We don't try to stick to any one ethic or another. For MTV Unplugged, however, we were given the rules - nothing electric. I remain very happy with the result of that project as well.
But you use some weird ones too, what are they? Jonathan mentioned oud and boozkie.
Can you tell us something about them, and their sound? On which songs do you use them?
I covered that above - when Lilo exited the oud and bouzouki went with him. The oud is a very old middle-eastern fretless lute - a beautiful expressive instrument. It can be heard providing the accompaniment to Shenkar's violin in the piece entitled 'On the Beach' from the Queen of the Damned score album. The bouzouki is most strongly associated with Greek music - somewhere between guitar, mandolin and banjo in tone.
Weird is in the eye and ear of the beholder - but if you want to see weird, check out Shenkar's axe!
Does Jonathan play some instruments on the show too?
I really wanted him to show off his instrumental skills, but right now he has just limited himself to his unbelievably massive camouflage djembe.
Now when you can compare both unplugged and solo tour, do you agree with fans, that tour is better?
No. I don't compare them.
And maybe its time for next step and try out KoRn with symphony? Have you guys talked about it?
I would love to try something orchestral with Jon or Korn. We haven't really talked about it. If I were to do it I can guarantee it would be a radical approach, not just Korn with an orchestra behind them.
Congrats on very talented wife, how did she come up with the idea for artwork?
She would be the first to deny her contribution. As she said, she only did the layout - the artwork was kindly provided by the t-shirt designer. But she is very talented.
Now Oblivion, so now you guys work on the plot. Can you tell us something more than just the end of the world subject? What is the timing and place of the opera? Who are the characters?
The answers to those questions are in Clive's court at this time - Jon and I are anxious to see what he's been doing with our ideas too! TBA.
Have you guys started with the music yet? Or you just wait till the story is done? When do you think we can expect for it to has its premiere?
Patience, grasshopper.
Thank you for the interview and good luck on your projects. All fans in Europe seeing pictures form Alone I Play DVD and some bootlegs form live shows, simply can't wait to both: get a copy of the DVD as well as see the solo concert.
