Korn – Ray Luzier (drums)

Musicians Institute graduate and current KORN drummer Ray Luzier spent eight years in David Lee Roth’s band, as well as being a session drummer for various other bands. However, for the past three years, he has been the anchor behind the already-distinctive KORN sound. In his new role, he has brought in new enthusiasm to the band, consisting of singer Jonathan Davis, guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer and bassist Reggie “Fieldy” Arvizu.

Ray feels he has finally found a home in KORN. And nothing has made him happier, apart from the fact that he will soon be a new father.

Before KORN‘s show in Rockford, Illinois on the Music As A Weapon tour, Ray discussed his drumming style and technique, what he brings to KORN and where he hopes the band will be in the next 20 years.

Music as a Weapon is a huge tour, were you excited when it was officially announced that you would be co-headlining with Disturbed and how are all the bands getting along?

We’re all buds. Sevendust and Korn have toured for a while back before I was in the band. I’ve been in a little over three years now. Here and there, we’ve done some shows with Disturbed, and I’ve known all those guys for a while. We’re all good buds. It’s always nice to have a family on the road because you’re only on stage an hour a night. So, the other 23 hours you’re hanging on the bus, doing press or hanging out with each other. All the guys out here have their own solo projects going on, and I write as well. But I always like to check out the energy of the crowd and the vibe. I always like to go out at least three or four songs just to see the crowd and get the energy going. I like to soak in the vibe that we’re going to be playing in.

Since joining Korn in 2007, you’ve seemed to have come along and gave the rest of the band a kick in the ass with your playing style and enthusiasm. Do you sense that?

It’s one of those things where, I’ve done so many sessions and played on so many peoples records, that’s how I made a living. Whatever situation I get in, I try to engulf myself in that. If I play with a jazz band or a rock band, I try to get really into it.  Well, Korn is finally my home because I feel this music the most, it’s inside me. We gelled and locked so quickly, it was pretty obvious. Me and the former drummer are such different drummers. He’s great at what he does and he’s one of the reasons they are so legendary to this day. But we’re quite different. So, when I got in here, I didn’t know if they wanted me playing more towards that,. But they said they wanted Ray Luzier’s energy and fire. So, hopefully that’s what I’m bringing. To be honest, I’m just being myself. A lot of bands you have to try and act like they act and fit in. This band, it’s just purely me and it feels great playing. Hopefully I’m taking the energy to a new level. I always say to myself, “If I was in the audience, what would I want to see?” I hate when you go see a heavy band and the drummer has that “waiting for the bus” look on his face. I’m still a fan of music, and I always will be, so I always imagine if I were in the crowd, what would I want to see.

Were you apprehensive, nervous or confident upon first joining a well-known band such as Korn?

I wasn’t nervous as much as questioning. You don’t just join a band like this, it’s one of those things whether you either get it or you don’t. There’s a lot of great musicians out there but it doesn’t mean they can fit a particular act. Chemistry-wise, it has to fit. So, I was just very curious how the chemistry would work because we all come from such different backgrounds. What we did, is we played six songs at sound check at Seattle. Joey from Slipknot filled in on one of the tours, that was the first time I played (with Korn). Just playing six songs in an empty arena and just feeling so good and them saying, “See you in Dublin.” It took me back a little bit but now it’s like a machine, it feels really good.

Korn III: Remember Who You Are is the first album you’ve recorded with the band. How did it feel to finally get it under your belt?

My first recording was “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” off of Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack (Nightmare Revisited). I’m quite proud of that track because it was the first time I ever stepped into the studio with them and created. But this album, going back with Ross Robinson who did the first two Korn records… we did a whole thing of no click tracks… he put us into the guitar booth, which is a 12-foot by 13-foot room, very small. He wanted that intimate, “lets take it back to like when you were not rock stars, we’re back into the garage, back where you guys started.” Hence the name, Remember Who You Are. To go to two-inch tape analog and no ProTools, no drum fixes… that was kind of crazy because I’m kind of a perfectionist in the studio. The album is going to outlive us all. When we’re all dead and gone, this album will live on. We’d write the song and a half hour later, we’re tracking for the record. I’m quite proud of it. I like the passion it’s brought to it as opposed to trying to get it technically perfect. It’s all about the emotion we were feeling. We’d have full-blown therapy sessions before each recording. “Everyone put your instruments down and let’s talk.” (imitating Robinson). Ross would see what was inside us. “What are you giving to the people?” It had nothing to do with, “Let’s work on this section or make this twice as long.” I’ve been on 72 CDs out there and this is the first one where I was really turned upside down, in a good way.

Your style is pretty versatile, as you’ve played with many different musicians, not just metal and rock. Since you’re a seasoned pro, do you find it easy to adjust to playing different styles of music?

I’ve always been kind of a heavy fan. Doing heavier kind of stuff has always been my favorite. Army of Anyone wasn’t that heavy. They were more heavy rock. I’m a huge STP fan and it was an honor to play with Robert and Dean DeLeo. But playing something that feels so natural… I grew up on AC/DC, Van Halen, Rush, Kiss, Zeppelin, all those bands. That’s my heart. I’ve always been attracted to heavier type of music, the more aggressive and powerful stuff. To me, (Korn) has all the elements; it’s got funk, groove, aggression, violence. But it also has a soft side to it. We’re all big emotional babies. It helps in a band like this because it all comes out in the music. You can see it on the fan’s faces. Everyone always says it’s about their fans, but there’s no fans like Korn fans. This is their release, you can see it on their faces. It’s amazing for an hour, hour and a half, that we can give them that release. All over the world… the first tour I did we did 35 countries in four and a half months. It’s weird going to Dubai one day and South Africa the next, and you see these crazy fans with Korn tattoos. This one girl had all nine album covers down her leg. These guys are lifers. I got ridden hard for joining this band, like, “Who the hell are you?” So, thanks to those of you who accepted me.

You play matched grip, but you often play left hand lead, you seem to be even stronger that way than the cross-over technique. How’d you come about developing this?

You’re very observant. I actually started left-hand lead… I’m fully right-handed. I pitch baseball and write with my right hand. When I was really little, I saw on Solid Gold, I was five, I saw the Beach Boys drummer playing the hi-hat way over here and he was doing this (gestures towards the left), so I figured that’s how you play drums. Every day I would go in my room and practice, I’d just beat up Muppet kits. And it kind of stuck. Then years went by and my friend said, “You’re doing it wrong, you’re supposed to cross over.” And it never really felt a 100% natural. So when I’m doing more technical stuff, fusion, I cross over because the ghost notes, grace notes, I can do more on my left hand. Open hand to me, it’s so obvious, it’s open. So I try to play it as ambidextrous as I can. When people buy your record, they don’t really care if you led with your right or left hand. I have a real weird way of playing. I lead with different feet on double bass. Morgan from Sevendust sat behind me last night and was asking all these questions. It was pretty funny. I look up to Morgan, and he’s asking me all these questions. He’s a perfect example of being visual, putting on a show. And Mikey as well. I love Wengren. It’s a fun tour.

While writing the songs, did the music Fieldy and Munky came up with dictate what you played or did you already have certain fills and patterns worked out beforehand that you brought to the band?

It was all of us. Some of those jams… “Are You Ready to Live” for example. I was checking my drums and to see if the mics were working. It was super early in the morning, I just got in and I had a coffee in one hand and was just kind of tapping my drums and thought this beat’s pretty cool. Munky was like, “What is that?” And he sat down and started hitting his peddles and that song arose just by checking my drums. This whole record was completely on the cuff. We had got together at Korn Studios in Hollywood six months prior.  Every time we get a break from the road, we go in and just write riffs with Ross, and not one of those riffs made it to the record. And we recorded hours worth of the stuff. There’s a lot of good stuff on there and who knows if they might surface again. When we started this session, we went in fresh. We even had iphone recordings and everything that wasn’t as cool as we thought it was. It was a whole new thing that came through, which was cool.

Do you like doing drum clinics/instructional videos? What type of satisfaction do you get from doing them?

Yeah, I do. I’m a complete geek. Everyone always asks what I do when I’m off the road. I go to drum clinics. I go to four concerts a week in LA. I love teaching. I taught for ten years in a music school, so it’s part of me. Education’s in my family. Musicians aren’t like doctors or lawyers. When you get to a certain level in your profession, you can pretty much do it anywhere. When you get to a certain level as a musician, it doesn’t really matter because you have to fit a certain thing. A lot of great musicians don’t know how to teach or don’t know how to get their points across. I’ve been very good at talking and being very thorough at explaining what I’m doing. I enjoy doing it, but it takes a lot of patience. When you get to that many different levels, you learn yourself. You’re not just teaching, you’re getting stuff off of them and vise-versa.

I’m sure life on the road can get mundane and difficult at times. What’s a typical day for Ray while on tour? How do you occupy your time?

I got a baby coming in six weeks, so it’ll probably all change soon. It’s my first kid. Ray’s getting ready to change diapers soon! (laughs). I have a great new girlfriend. She moved in a few months ago and we just started a complete life. I just bought a new house in LA in January and everything just changed this last year for me. It’s been an exciting adventure in my personal life. I’m really excited about the first kid. I’m 40 now, so if I’m not ready now, I never will be! (laughing). That’s the challenge. Especially with what I do, and she’s a full-time model, so it’s hard. She’s set up in Miami… planes are no foreign objects to us because we always jump on them. There’ll be a lot of baby sitters and nannies I have a feeling.

What’s next for you and Korn? What do you hope to achieve, or keep achieving?

It’s amazing to be with a band that has three Grammy’s, 35 million records (sold) and to have such a fan base after 18 years and still keep showing up. We’re just going to keep creating. We got asked the other day, they were saying, Ozzy’s 63… they were going through all these legendary people like Dio, people who were of age. They asked, “Do you guys see yourself playing in Korn when you’re 60?” All three of us, me, John and Munk, all at the same time said, “Yes. Absolutely!”  It was weird. We all looked at each other. That’s weird to think that in 20 years from now that we’ll still be doing this. We’re just so about the music now. If the fans are loyal to us, we’re going to be loyal and keep releasing stuff.

By Kelley Simms
Website: www.korn.com