Korn was formed in 1993 with the dissolution
of two bands: Sexart and LAPD. Sexart was the band that Jonathan
Davis had led during his years as an assistant coroner, and
consisted of Jonathan Davis on vocals, DeRoo (David DeRoo) on
bass, Chaka (Ray Solis) and Ryan Schuck on guitar, and Denis
Shinn on drums. Ty Elam, now with Cradle Of Thorns, supposedly
only sat in to jam with the band, but is listed as sharing vocal
duties with Jonathan on SexArt's only officially released song on
"Cultivation '92", a complilation album. There are
various SexArt tapes floating around Bakersfield to this day,
although there was no real demo tape produced. LAPD was the band
which included Richard Morales (vocalist), James
"Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy Snuts"
Arvizu, David Silveria, and on tour only (not on the album) Brian
"Head" Welch. When asked about LAPD's material, Munky
said: "Me, Fieldy, and David recorded it when we were about
18 or 19. You might even hear some Korn parts. That's when I
played rippin' solos." They released only two recordings:
the three-track EP "Love And Peace, Dude" in 1989, and
"Who's Laughing Now" in 1991, both on Triple X Records. The future bandmates first crossed
paths when Munky and Brian were in Bakersfield one night, and
they went to this bar where SexArt happened to be playing.
According to Munky: "We were getting ready to leave, and
just as we're walking out the door... Jon was the singer in that
band, and we heard him sing and me and Brian both turned to each
other and our jaws just... (drops jaw) oh my God. And so
we turned around and went back in and watched the whole
set." Soon after SexArt's appearance on "Cultivation
'92", Jonathan left SexArt to go to LA, and Smily (Brian
Armer) joined SexArt as the new vocalist. 
At the time, Smily was singing in a band
called Brother From Another Mother. All of SexArt loved his
style, and he was their first pick to replace Jonathan. Although
they had now found a permanent singer, SexArt continued on for
only several more months before going their separate ways. Smily
formed the band Glass Cut Eternity, and DeRoo and Chaka ended up
in Huntington Beach with Denis and Ryan in a band called
Supermodel, which featured Richard (who had left LAPD) as their
frontman. Currently, the ex-members of SexArt are doing various
things. Ryan is now in Orgy, Denis is a music producer in
Southern California, and Chaka, DeRoo, and Smily are now in Juice.
At this point, LAPD had disbanded (thus the loss of Richard to
Supermodel). Not willing to give it up, though, they reformed as
Creep, with Brian joining on indefinitely. However, Creep still
needed someone to fill Richard's shoes. It was during this time,
when Brian and Munky were living in L.A., that they saw Jonathan
at that fateful show in Bakersfield. They approached him about
trying out for the fledgling band, but initially Jonathan didn't
want to do it. However, a psychic had told him that he would be
stupid if he didn't, so he went against his better judgment and
tried out anyway. It was during this audition that they realized
that Jonathan was the perfect singer for their new band. As Munky
put it: "We just clicked."
After deciding upon the new frontman, the band needed a new name. Jonathan described the short decision making process: "We were trying to think of a name and this... "Korn" popped in my head, and I'm like 'What about "Korn"?' ... and we're all like, 'Fuck yeah!'"
When he was asked about the name, David said: "To me it kind of means that it doesn't matter what your band's called. Name or not, the music makes a name, you know... 'cos "Korn", that's a dumb name, but once a band gets established, then it makes a name cool."
Korn later recorded their first
demo tape, "Niedermeyer's Mind", which featured 4
songs: "Blind", "Predictable",
"Daddy", and "Alive". Although
"Predictable" remained basically the same in the
transition to the self-titled first album, both "Blind"
and "Daddy" were strikingly different, though the basic
progression is the same. The demo version of "Blind"
was much less rap-influenced, and featured more metal riffs. 
Although "Alive" was scrapped
before the debut album, a few parts were ressurrected and
transformed into "Need To". After garnering a small
following, Korn raised a few eyebrows at various record labels.
Although many appealed to them, there was always a lingering fear
of having to conform to the label's needs or desires, rather than
being able to do what they wanted. Then Immortal Records came
along: "They seemed to really get into what we were trying
to do. They shared our vision of what Korn was trying to do. They
didn't want us to conform to anyone's needs." Soon after,
Korn was signed and the rest, as they say, is history....
All quotes are from
Jonathan Davis. 
From KORN
Ball Tongue: It's about a guy they had to work with on a T-shirt. He either had a pierced tongue or a wart or something on his tongue and he was a dick to them.
Clown: "We were playing a show in San Diego and this skinhead guy came up and said, 'Fuck you! Go back to Bakersfield!' I didn't understand that and I bent down and he tried to swing at me. Our road manager Jeff knocked his ass out. So that song is 'Clown'..."
Faget: "Everyone thinks I'm bashing gay people in this song, and I'm not. It's really about me going through high school being called 'pussy', 'queer', and all that stuff, about getting picked on by all these jocks."
Shoots and Ladders: "The lyrics are all from nursery rhymes, and a lot of nursery rhymes go back to the Middle Ages. They're actually pretty twisted if you know the stories behind them, like about Black Death and stuff."
Helmet In The Bush: "It's about a speed problem that I
had. You know, you do a lot of speed and -- if you're a male --
your penis retracts severely." In the song he says: 'Please
God let me sleep tonight.' 
Jonathan really had trouble sleeping,
because that's what it does to you.
Daddy: "People think Daddy was written because my dad fucked me up the ass, but that's not what the song's about. It wasn't about my dad or my mum. When I was a kid I was being abused by someone else and I went to my parents and told them about it. They thought I was lying and joking around, so they never did shit about it. They didn't belive it was happening to their son. I don't like to talk about that song, this is the most I've ever talked about it."
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