Jonathan Davis AsylumJonathans biography . . .an innocent darkside
Obviously, this is Jonathans life in a page. woot. If anyone thinks I have a detail wrong in this,
mail me and I'll sort it out. I promise. Also, that goes for any details ive missed out too. mail me, because
after all, all this shit is right here for you.
I've decided to put this in sections, too. Early Childhood, Teenage years, After School, Early Korn years,
Late Korn, and right now. thanks for reading.]
Jonathans childhood. . .and its ending.
[Jonathan Houseman Davis] was born on January 18th 1971, in Bakersfield, California.
Jonathan's world was turned upside down at a young age when his parents divorced. Jonathan spent his childhood
living with his father, Rick Houseman Davis.
Rick Davis was in a country band called Ragtyme, and toured around Bakersfield playing gigs in small venues like
pubs and nightclubs.
Unfortunately, the music industry screwed Ragtyme over, and Rick bought a music shop in Bakersfield, selling all sorts of instruments
to the upcoming bands in CA, knowing that they too, would be screwed by the industry.
Jonathan's childhood was abruptly ended when he was abused by a neighbour.
When Rick was away, and Jonathan was playing in the garden, His neighbour poked his head over the fence and said
"I'll be your daddy." When Rick returned home, from the gig he was playing, Jonathan did the brave
thing, and told his father about everything that had happened.
Rick decided to not believe Jonathan about it.
He called his crying and shaking son a liar.
That left an enormous hole Jonathan's sanity. He went all the way through his life wondering if he was a bad boy,
wondering if he led his neighbour on, wondering if he imagined the whole thing, and knowing his
parents were ashamed of him.
Jonathan went to a catholic primary school. Always, the memories of Jonathan being abused was provoked every
day by the priests, who said to him, " you are gay. you have to come home with us."
and repeatedly tried to abuse Jonathan until he left the school.
he tried to tell his mother and father about this, but again, he was told that he was lying.
When Jonathan was 12, his father remarried to his new stepmother. She hated Jonathan's guts, and the feeling
was mutual in Jonathan's case.
One time, when Jonathan was ill with a cold, she poured a full bottle of pepper oil down his throat
saying that "he had to burn his cold out" and
holding him down while he screamed and gagged on the stuff.
Jonathan realised that his favourite sexual fantasy was stabbing his stepmother to death.
Jonathan's teenage years. . .
Jonathan went to Highland High School in Bakerfield, CA.
He was an outcast among the students in school because he was a New Romantic, and wore eyeliner to school and
listened to Duran Duran.
This made the other students think he was gay. A popular warcry to Jonathan in the corridors of Highland High was
" Fag!! " because Jonathan used to visit gay bars and have gay friends, because they were the only people that would
accept Jonathan.
Jonathan's nicknames in school were " Pussy, Queer, Fag, HIV," and " Homer Sexual". Jonathan laughs this off today, saying
he is still known as a fag, even though he is straight, and he has to act gay, because that was his minds way of coping with it
back then, turning everything into a joke, and making up in your mind that the people that were calling you names only did it for a joke.
Jonathan was beaten up regularly in school by the jocks, and he was also run over one time with a three wheeler by Korn bassist Fieldy.
In school, Jonathan was good at Science.
Jonathan did have one friend in high school though, a jock named Sean Olsen.
Sean turned nasty though, and Jonathan realised that all Olsen was doing was feeding Jonathan speed, and cocaine, and instilling
the habit of using drugs into him, simply so he could get money off Jonathan. Jonathan wrote two songs for Olsen, "Sean Olsen" and "Good God"
Jonathan was nominated for " person most likely to own his own morgue" in the highschool yearbook.
Some Korn songs and videos showing what stress Jonathan was put under in high school are "Clown", "Faget" and "Thoughtless".
Jonathan picked up some qualifications in high school and decided to enter mortuary college, in the hopes of becoming a mortician.
After school. . .
Jonathan joined the mortuary college and eventually graduated with a degree in mortuary science, and worked as an assistant coroner
in a morgue in Bakersfield. This proved to be one of the worst jobs Jonathan had ever done. Don't get me wrong, he enjoyed the job and
finding out how people died, its just he realised with that job, that death can happen at any time. When he saw people he knew on the enbalming
table, he freaked out. This is where his phobia of car crashes stems from.
Jonathan quickly learnt that the messiest and most horrible way to die was in a car crash, as the horrifically mutilated bodies showed him.
Another thing that freaked Jonathan out is when a woman rushed into the morgue, and Jonathan spoke to her, and had an interesting converstaion with
her, and then she walked out, and got hit by a car. Jonathan had to run outside the morgue,
check if the woman was alive, (she wasnt) and drag her into the
morgue again.
There were some aspects to the job he liked. on a slow day, he would get his girlfriend,
Renee Periez, in the morgue and fuck her on the enbalming table.
Im sure that this is where Jonathan's death fetish comes from today.
The worst thing that happened to Jonathan in the morgue was when Jonathan was called out to a dead 16 month baby girl.
She had been a victim of genocide, and
literally picked up by her father, fucked, and thrown on the floor like a rag doll.
Her pussy was ripped open and her head was smashed into what looked like a thousand pieces.
Jonathan didnt realise that the girl was raped until he was examining her. When he realised, he simply broke down and cried.
He couldnt believe that this could
happen to an innocent and defenseless baby girl. He said himself that the police wanted to throw the father
down a mineshaft, but instead they did the right thing
and simply arrested the father.
Jonathan got post traumatic stress disorder from that case, and the little girl's face still haunts him even today.
Early Korn years. . .
Jonathan had formed a band called Sex Art by now, and was touring pubs and clubs around Bakersfield
just like his father had in Ragtyme.
One night, Sex Art were in a bar in Bakersfield, and James (Munky) Schaffer and Brian (Head) Welch were
supping up in the bar, getting ready to leave, when they heard
Jonathan singing, and freaking out on stage. They turned to each other and thought "We're getting him in our band."
Initially, Jonathan really didnt want to do it. He was really happy in Sex Art and even went to a psychic
asking her if joining Munky and Heads band was a good idea.
She told him, straight up, that he would be a fool if he didnt do it, so he called Munky and told him
that he was up for it.
Jonathan was in for a shock, however.
The bassist in LAPD ( Munky named the band L.A.P.D, an acronym initally for "Love and Peace, Dude" but
ended up as "Laughing As People Die") was none other than Reggie
Aruvisu (Fieldy) who was one of the bullies in Highland High, and one of the people that beat Jonathan up.
Jonathan says that LAPD was a happy funk metal band, but when he joined, they turned darker and eviller.
The band took note of this change, and decided to change thier name to Creep, and then eventually into Korn.
Why did they change thier name to korn?
because in High School in Bakersfield, everyone knew about a story of two gay students that licked each
others asses out and one student blew diarroea into the other's mouth.
when he opened his mouth in disgust, there was a corn kernel on his tongue.
Jonathan used to go round freaking everyone out by simply saying the word "korn" to people.
Jonathan also had an idea for a band logo. Korn, as a band, deleved deep into Jonathans childhood, with Jonathan
waxing out his grim obsession with it in thier songs. Jonathan took a crayon,
and scrawled down the word "Korn", deliberately spelling it wrong and doing a backwards R in it to make it look
like a child had wrote the word.
Jonathan then moved out of his father's house, moved into a house with the other members of Korn, and worked his
ass off in a Pizza Hut job.
He says that the job was fun, because he got to be a dealer. He got to sell the employees speed, because he was
the manager.
Korn worked hard touring around Bakersfield, and selling tapes of thier demo, "Neyerdiemers Mind".
This paid off, big time. Korn had a huge following all through Bako, thier disciples loving the open and ugly
truth about surburban life that Jonathan made no secret of in his lyrics, and loving
the heavy downtuned 7 string trademark guitars that korn exclusively used.
Korn sounded like nothing else out there, and this got them attention from Epic Records.
Jonathan phoned his father, telling him the good news, that Korn had been signed for an astonishing 6
album contract, but Ricks response wasnt what Jonathan was hoping for, at all.
Rick told him that he has better quit Korn, and return to doing a "real job" as a coroner.
Jonathan couldnt believe what he was hearing and told his father that he was simply jealous of Korn's success,
because Ragtyme hadn't got anywhere.
This wasnt the case.
Jonathan had got the wrong end of the stick totally. His father simply wanted Jonathan to get a "proper job"
because he feared that the same thing would happen to korn
that happened to Ragtyme. Rick didnt want Jonathan to be hurt in the same way he had been hurt by the music
industry, and wanted to stop Jonathan before it was too late
and he got his hopes up too much.
Jonathan slammed the phone down in frustration, and the two never spoke again for years.
Korn released thier debut self titled album, and Jonathan cried when he was told that the album
had reached #3 in the Billboard charts. Korn had officially made it.
Korn celebrated this by going out, and touring again, all over the US, and then after that, releasing a second
album, Life Is Peachy.
Much like thier first album, Korn, Life is Peachy was a deeply personal cocktail of child abuse, drug abuse, sex, and homophobes.
Then the money started to roll in and in and in.. and Jonathan got married to his long term girlfriend, Renee.
the two had a medievil themed wedding, with Renee as the princess, and Jonathan as the knight.
Renee and Jonathan also announced that they were expecting a baby.
Jonathan was so proud, he went to a psychic again to ask what the baby's gender was going to be.
The psychic told him that the baby was going to be a girl, so him and Renee picked out the name "Salaam Dementia" for her,
Salaam meaning "Peace" and Dementia meaning "insanity"
When the baby was born though, in 1997, Jonathan was shocked. The baby had "pink balls" as he put it.
Salaam was a boy.
Jonathan didnt care though. As soon as he saw the baby, he fell in love. (Im not surprised, hes the most gorgeous thing in the world)
Jonathan and Renee named the baby Nathan Houseman Davis. (Houseman is a name given to all males in the Davis family)
Late Korn. . .
When 1998 loomed in, Korn released a total metamorphasis of an album, Follow The Leader.
This album transported Korn from a small band with a small chance to become superstars into rock Gods.
For this album, Korn abandoned the sinister bakersfield oriented rage that fueled the
Life Is Peachy and Korn albums, and directed it at a bigger, looming force.
The music industry that stole thier souls.
Jonathan said that he hated the fact that he was there, screaming and even crying out all of his innermost
feelings and that the bastards at Epic were simply rubbing
thier hands together and capitalising on Jonathans bad life.
Also in the album, they invented Rap-Metal. Jonathan proved his voice was incredibly versitile by dropping
the growls and the gravely voice that dominated Life Is Peachy and Korn
and changing it into an angelic cooing voice, fusing it into his screams of rage and terror.
When he recorded "Children Of The Korn" with Ice Cube and "Cameltoisis" with Tre from the Pharcyde,
people's jaws truly dropped.
After Follow The Leader though, Jonathan's life went downhill in every way.
Jonathan realised he was fully speed, cocaine, dependant and a seriously bad alcholic.
Head said it perfectly. "When Jonathan came on the bus, everyone ran to thier bunks and pretended to be
sleeping, just so he wouldnt find us.
He used to pick people apart. "
Jonathan adds " I used to tell them what was wrong with them. I used to go ' you know what the fucks wrong
with you...?!'"
Jonathan used to smoke 40 a day, have either a full bottle of Jagermiester a day (to himself) or 30 jack
and cokes, and do lines of speed and take methamphetemines, just to feel alive,
because he was so depressed, he couldn't summon the strength to get out and do his job.
after almost dying, he told himself and his band that he couldnt do it anymore, and then he quit all
of the drugs, the smoking, all of the drinking, and even caffiene, cold turkey.
he only relied on one thing now.
after giving up all of his vices, he only needed one thing to get him through the day.
sex.
this was really hard, since Renee was looking after Nathan at home, while Korn were touring, promoting Follow
The Leader, so Jonathan slept with groupies while touring,
cheating on Renee.
Jonathan hated himself for doing it, and decided to tell her when he got back from touring.
He did, and he was a man about it.
Jonathan and Renee divorced immeditely, and fought in court for Nathan.
Jonathan gets to see Nathan one week, and Renee gets him another week, and so on, apart from when Jonathan
is on tour, then Renee looks after Nathan.
Jonathan then became suicidal. He had to be put on liquid prozac, and had to be checked on to make sure he wasnt
going to hurt himself.
He started having panic attacks, and couldnt even get out of bed in the morning because he was too scared.
there are two reasons he is alive today, his son, Nathan, and all of the korn fans out there. He said in the song
4u off the upcoming Issues album
that he wouldn't be alive if he knew that no one cared for him. He said this about the meaning
of 4u-" All the crazy shit that I've done, It kinda took alot out of me, and
I went through alot of shit trying to express myself in my lyrics, and put down what I was feeling on paper.
I don't mind doing it, its just it took alot out of me.
Its for every Korn fan, because if it wasnt for them, I wouldn't be alive, I don't think."
Korn released Issues in late 1999. Some people say it is Korn's best album.
I agree entirely, the lyrics are quite capable of making anyone cry, and show exactly where Jonathan was,
they described his paranoia, his stress, his inner demons, and his uphill struggle against the voices that told
him to kill himself.
Issues has been described as "an audio suicide note", with a beginning of whispered "all i want in life is to
be happy" over and over, and and ending of tortured screams of
" I just wanna laugh again."
Jonathan decided to take a break after the issues tour with korn to try and pick up the pieces of his broken soul.
He met a woman named Deven Davis and they are very much in love. Korn. . . Now .
After taking a three year break after Issues, Korn burst back with thier latest album, Untouchables.
Untouchables is the most accomplished and diverse Korn album to date, and features a total change of
vocals from Jonathan. Jonathan sings a hell of a lot more now, showcasing how truly beautiful his voice is.
In the Untouchables tour though,
it was noticed that Jonathan has to have canisters of oxygen on stage
with him now
because his health is going downhill.
his atshma has kicked in severely, and he was forced to quit the Pop Sux tour because he has hurt his
vocal chords.
they should take about three months to heal.
If he does sing while they aren't right, Jonathan can lose his voice perminently.
Jonathan has finally found a light at the end of the tunnel, with Deven.
He described it perfectly himself. " Im not the Kurt Cobain, fucking Woe Is Me guy anymore. I wanted to
blow my fucking head off,
but now, now im fine."
Deven has helped him through so much shit, and he even drives now, because she taught him how to get over
his driving phobia.
Nathan's good, Jonathan's good, and at last, life is FINALLY peachy. Biography in its entirity by Katy Hughes.
Jonathans biography . . .an innocent darkside