Munky: Chris Cornell and Soundgarden Inspired Korn To Carve Our Own Path
While at Rock on the Range, we spoke with a number of artists about the legacy of Chris Cornell, and among those musicians was Korn guitarist Munky, who told us that Soundgarden were a major inspiration to his band in the early '90s.
Soundgarden were scheduled to headline Day 1 of Rock on the Range, with the news of Cornell's death casting a shadow over the festival. Munky said he was taking the news particularly hard, as there were a lot of similarities between Cornell's family and his own that he didn't want to get into. However, Munky was willing to delve into the impact Cornell's music had on him.
Munky told Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez that seeing Soundgarden carve their own path with their music in the early '90s inspired Korn to do the same. "I remember listening in 1991 to the Badmotorfinger album, and they kept playing the 'Outshined' video on MTV. I remember ... we would watch this video and be like, 'We want to be like them' [not musically], but they've carved out such a unique sound and we wanted to do that. 'We need to find our lane and do something that's as inspirational as Soundgarden.' And [Cornell's] voice was just so unique. The band was heavy, melodic [and] the lyrics were very deep."
For more from Munky on what Cornell's music meant to him, watch the interview above.
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