In an new interview with Pierre Gutiérrez of Hablas ROCKas, ex-KORN drummer David Silveria, who left the band nearly a decade and a half ago, was asked for his opinion on the KORN albums that were recorded after his departure from the group. He responded (see video below): “I have not listened to a single song full through since I left KORN — honest to God. I’d be pulling up places in my car and on the station there would be KORN, and I would just turn it off. I can’t name one KORN song [from the albums I didn’t play on].”
He continued: “No offense to KORN — I don’t hold any grudges or whatever — but I just haven’t listened to any of their music since I’ve been gone… It wasn’t out of spite or anger or anything like that. For some reason, I wasn’t interested in what they were doing. I had people tell me and describe their music and all that, but I’ve never listened to a whole song… And I definitely don’t mean that in any kind of insulting way. I just haven’t.”
Last year, Silveria revealed that he apologized to his former bandmates for the “wrong and mean” things he had said about them since his split from KORN. The drummer was said to be especially upset over the fact that the band welcomed back guitarist Brian “Head” Welch seven years ago but wouldn’t do the same for him. Welch left the group in 2005 and continued as a solo artist before rejoining in 2013.
“I was immature, hurt and mad that after Head [rejoined KORN,] they wouldn’t let me back in,” Silveria wrote in an Instagram post. “Specifically, because the year before Head came back, I personally talked to Head and tried to get him to, along with me, talk to the guys about both of us going back to KORN. At that time, Head said, ‘David, you and I are good friends. But don’t call me if you are only going to try to get me to go back to KORN. I will never go back.’ Then, less than a year later, he goes back to KORN. On our phone call, he said very negative things about KORN, which I won’t repeat. The things I said were wrong and mean. I haven’t said anything negative about KORN in years now. I have the utmost respect for the guys and an appreciation for every one of those guys.”
In June 2019, Silveria, said that he would be willing to mend fences with his former bandmates. “Yeah, I would have no problem with it any way whatsoever,” he said during an appearance on the “Appetite For Distortion” podcast. “I have no problem with anybody whatsoever. I just think at some point our comminications broke down so bad that our managers were calling other bandmembers, saying, ‘Okay, we talked to Jon [singer Jonathan Davis] about this or that. He wants to do this or that.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Why isn’t Jon talking to us? Why is it happening like this?’ And it just got worse and worse, to the point where we weren’t even talking at all — nobody was even talking. It was so weird. I don’t even know why the hell it ever got like that. It was so many years ago, I couldn’t even imagine, at my age, ever having a relationship break down that bad and not just go up and say, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta work this shit out. This is ridiculous.'”
Asked why he couldn’t rekindle his relationship with his former bandmates, even if it’s just on a friendship level, David said: “I really don’t know why. I guess you have to ask those guys.”
Silveria, who left KORN in 2006, told “The Ex-Man” podcast that his relationship with his bandmates started deteriorating around the time he suffered a serious back injury in the mid-2000s, which left him with debilitating pain that eventually led to his exit from the KORN.
Silveria sued KORN in February 2015, insisting that his exit from the group was merely a hiatus and that he was rebuffed when he tried to return to the band in 2013. David said he still had ownership interest in KORN and asked a judge to force the band to reveal how much money they’ve made since he left so that he can get his rightful share. KORN countersued and the two sides reached an agreement in 2016 that called for Silveria to give up his rights to KORN royalties going forward in exchange for a lump sum.
A few years ago, Davis told The Pulse Of Radio that he believed Silveria had lost his passion for playing music, saying, “The first two albums, I think, he really enjoyed playing drums and then after that he just lost his love for playing drums. It happens.”
David told fans in 2013 that KORN was not the same since he left, saying, “Until they have the real ‘funky drummer’ it’s just not gonna groove the way it could. I’ve made it clear that I would come back and restore the groove.”
Silveria recently launched a new band called BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE (a.k.a. BI*AS). He is joined in the Orange County, California-based group by bassist Chris Dorame, guitarists Joe Taback and Mike Martin and singer Rich Nguyen.
Last month, BREAKING IN A SEQUENCE released its cover version of FAITH NO MORE‘s classic song “Midlife Crisis”.
