Saturday, July 7, 2007

Meth = Bad; God = Good!


From Bakersfield.com

Bakersfield native Brian Welch releases his memoirs. Old bandmates? Loves ’em. Drugs? Did ’em. God? Forever with him.
BY DREW PHILP, Californian staff writer


Brian "Head" Welch, former lead guitarist for Korn and son of Bakersfield, will release a tell-all memoir Tuesday titled "Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story."

Welch writes of lazy days in the Bakersfield heat where he met the founding members of Korn, his rise to stardom on the wave of nü metal that he helped create -- and the drugs and addiction that came with it.

Welch's life took a profound turn when he realized he could not continue to lead the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and use drugs while being a single father. In a nationally reported event, Welch spoke at Bakersfield's Valley Bible Fellowship and declared his faith to the world.

The book describes in detail his personal struggles and accomplishments, and his new life devoted to God.

Welch recently answered a few questions for The Californian:

TBC: You say in your book that you only had four tattoos before you became a Christian. On the cover, you have tattoos up and down your arms. Most people don't convert to Christianity and get new tattoos ...

WELCH: "When I turned to Christianity, I wasn't going to turn into something I wasn't. I wanted to be a walking billboard to God."

TBC: On the record, there has been some animosity between you and Korn, but in the book you say that it has all blown over. Do you have any plans to meet with them and how are the feelings between you and the rest of Korn now?

WELCH: "I have no plans to meet with them. I'd just like to see them one day, but the time's not right. ... I haven't seen them in a couple of years.

"The last time I spoke with them there was a little bit of weirdness and I apologized. I did and said some stupid stuff and I meant being sorry, but the bitterness is gone on my end."

TBC: What would you say to them if you could talk to them right now?

WELCH: "I love you guys."

TBC: You describe a lot of hard partying and drug use, specifically methamphetamine abuse, in the book. Drug use is no surprise in the hard rock world, but was the partying you did with Korn excessive even by those standards?

WELCH: "We went at it. It seemed that everybody did. Some bands we provoked to party, like Incubus. Fieldy (a former band mate) got the guitar player to drink for the first time in his life. We saw them after that and they were drinking all the time."

TBC: What about the meth?

WELCH: "That was a Bako thing. Maybe with all the bands I toured with, I did it with three."

TBC: Bakersfield seems like a place of comfort for you. You came back again and again for different reasons, notably to kick meth in a hotel in downtown Bakersfield.

WELCH: "I wouldn't have come back throughout the years if my parents weren't here. When my wife left me, I was a single dad, and I couldn't do it all. I needed my family."

TBC: Are you certain you will never do drugs again?

WELCH: "You could put me in a room with anything: pills, beer, meth, and I wouldn't touch any of it. I'm totally set free and I will never do drugs again."

TBC: Why did you move away? (Welch moved to Arizona with his daughter.)

WELCH: "I had to move away, I needed to be somewhere less crazy... but I love Bako and I've got a lot of friends there."

TBC: In your book you describe going to India and setting up an orphanage for children in extreme poverty. Is there any chance of coming back to your hometown to do charity work here?

WELCH: "I have no plans as of now, but I'm doing it through my music and my book. I can't say when I'll be back because right now I'm living by faith. If God tells me to, I will."

TBC: What was the highlight of your career?

WELCH: "The Woodstock ('99) show. It was just chaos. Insane. Afterwards we were all hugging, even David and Fieldy (two band members whom Welch describes as not getting along.) It was also the lowest point in my life. I got home and got in a fight with my wife (which Welch describes in detail in the book). Both the highest and lowest points in my life happened in one weekend."

TBC:Do you miss playing to huge numbers of people in stadiums, like you were able to in Korn?

WELCH: "I'd like to do it again. I miss playing music but I've become more happy now"
TBC: Do you have any regrets?

WELCH:"I'm not proud about everything, but I'm glad about the road I went down. I wouldn't be able to touch people like I can now. But I regret punching my wife."

TBC: Your parents still live in Bakersfield. How do they feel about your career and your new book?

WELCH: "They're proud of me standing up for what I believe in. They started going to church and ended up getting involved with Christianity.

"My dad was hurt by different things (written in the book) and they didn't know what happened with all of the drugs and my girlfriend, but they got over it and they are proud. Overall they were great parents."

TBC: What would you say to kids in Bakersfield who might go to Compton Junior High like you did, and are being bullied like you say you were in the book?

WELCH: "Stay out of the heat, follow your dreams, and stay away from meth."

No comments: