
For Korn bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, "Family Values" has taken on a new meaning. Sitting at his tour bus' table with his feet on the opposite seat, he looks weary as a wardrobe assistant walks in and out of the bus. Touring doesn't appear to be Fieldy's favorite thing to do.
"Now that I have a family, it gets harder," he said during an interview during the Family ValuesTour's recent Phoenix stop.
"I miss my family. I have a 7-month-old baby boy, Israel. I miss my wife. I miss my home. If it wasn't for that, it would be all good. It's fun."
At the time of the interview, Korn was in the home stretch. The band later played three California shows to finish up the tour, which also featured Atreyu, Hellyeah, Evanescence, Neurosonic, Flyleaf, Trivium and others.
The roadwork isn't over, though. On Sept. 22, Korn kicks off the "Bi%h! We Have a Problem Tour," a secondary market outing with Family Values veterans Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP), Droid and Hellyeah. Call it Family Values Lite.
Korn is touring behind its untitled eighth studio album, which hit the streets July 31 and reached No. 2 on The Billboard 200. The band was thrown into a period of growth and change when guitarist Brian "Head" Welch left in 2005 and drummer David Silveria began an extended hiatus last year.
Fieldy, who also has two daughters, ages 8 and 9, talked to LiveDaily about the change in his bass-playing style, Silveria's hiatus and Family Values.
LiveDaily: How was the Family Values tour?
Fieldy: It's probably one of the most packed tours we've done in a long time.
Why do you think it was so successful??
I think it's because we have two stages. There's 14 bands out here; you're getting your money's worth. I think it's $9.99 lawn seat tickets.
Plus the album is doing well.
It's all timing. I don't know if we really planned it. It just happened like that.
Your latest album goes in a little bit of a different direction for Korn, with odd time signatures and what not.
You know what happened? When we went to record an album, David wasn't ready and we were. We wanted to do it. [Studio drummer] Terry Bozzio has a completely different style. It made us create music around a different-style drummer. That's why it sounded different--because we're taking a whole different direction. There was new chemistry.
Did you consider taking Bozzio on the road with you instead of Slipknot's Joey Jordison?
No, but you never know. I think he's more of a studio guy.
How did you chose the bands for Family Values and the "Bi%h! We Have a Problem Tour"? Was it management or personal choices?
I don't really get too involved in it. I just want the tour to do well. It's not my thing. If it was up to me, it would be a way smaller tour, because the bands I'd want to bring, people would be like, "Who?"
Who are you listening to these days?
I'm into all of '80s rock right now. I like like King Cobra, Ratt, Dokken, Dio.
You must live on the cable station VH1 Classics and their "Behind the Music" series.
Sometimes. [Laughs]
The Ratt "Behind the Music" is a classic.
Oh yeah, definitely.
Are you geared up for a second single yet?
No, but it's going to be "Fall Down." We're going to be shooting a video for it soon. I don't know when.
So you'll have your second single to push when the second leg of the tour begins?
I hope so. It seems like [the push behind singles goes] on forever now. It's been at least 20, 30 weeks since the first single was released.
Tell me about the songwriting process with Korn.
It's always different. It's either bass or guitar, sometimes drum beats. We set the mood for the lyrics. Jon doesn't know what the music's going to sound like, so he has to hear it first. We set the atmosphere. He goes home and writes this type of song, or he thinks to himself, "It makes me feel like this."
Did you approach your playing any different with this album?
The only difference for me is I was moving notes around a lot more because the way that Terry Bozzio plays drums was a lot busier than David. I was forced to progress around that. It actually was a good thing. It ended up being cool.
Your bass sounds a little more muted on this album.
Some songs you can hear the bass real well and sometimes you can't. The ones that you can't, I want to be heard. [Laughs] It just happens sometimes; there's nothing you can do about it.