We caught up with ex Korn guitarist Brian 'head' Welch to talk about his current solo material, the chances of him rejoining Korn, tattoos, god and so much more.

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview.

You have been working on your forthcoming debut solo album 'Save Me From Myself' for sometime, has it been a long stressful ride or has it been quite enjoyable to sit down with no deadline and work on the album in your own time?
A lot of struggles went in to making the record and a lot of fun went in to making it as well. I had to face a lot of issues in my life while working on the record, but the fun part was overcoming those issues.

You have pretty much done everything yourself on your solo material from writing the bass and guitar parts, writing the lyrics, singing the vocals and pretty much organizing the songs, how did it feel to be able to get so involved in your music?
I never experienced writing music ever in my life like I did on this record. the music just flowed right out of me. It was crazy. It was cool to be so involved in every aspect of my music, but it also involved a lot more hard work than I was used to with Korn.

When you started on your solo material you were writing a song a day for months, how many solo songs have you been writing now and do you ever plan on getting tracks that’s not going to appear on your debut solo album out for your fans to download, stream or listen to in any way?
I have about 35 songs written to date, but I only picked out 12 or 13 songs for my debut album and I completed everything on those songs only. I don't have any songs available for my fans to download because the 2 songs that didn't make it on the album didn't turn out all that great.

You had legendary drummer Josh Freese lay down the drumming on some of your earlier tracks, do any of these tracks appear on your album and what was it like to work with Josh?
Josh Freese is the best drummer out there in my opinion. He's very professional and he's one of the most humble people I've ever met. Every song on my debut album features Josh Freese on drums.

How many songs will feature on 'Save Me From Myself' once it is released on the 9th September and can you tell us some of the song names and themes you have covered on the album?
There are 11 songs and these are the titles and what they mean:

L.O.V.E. : About an intense spiritual encounter I had.

Flush: About Flushing addiction down the toilet and starting out fresh.

Loyalty: About my past and how I was selling out for money towards the end of my time in Korn, and selling out my beliefs when I tried to have my ex wife get an abortion when she was nineteen.

Rebel: A song about abused children running from their abuse and turning to God instead of a life of drugs and crime.

Home: about coming back to where you're supposed to be in life.

Save me from myself: About overcoming my Crystal Meth addiction.

Die Religion Die: About false religions that misrepresent God

Adonai: A Hebrew word meaning "my master."

Money: A song about how my number one love in life was money. I could never have enough of it and it started to ruin my life.

Shake: about the book of Revelation

Washed by blood: About getting your damaged heart healed and every single wrong you've ever done forgiven and washed by the blood of Christ.

From reading your book 'Save Me From Myself', you stated that you found it hard to lay down vocals for your solo work and that it put your solo plans on hold, did you ever think to yourself that your solo project may end up as an instrumental project, or were you determined to beat your demons and get the courage to lay your vocals down?
I was determined to lay the vocals on my album. Sometimes I would take many months off and work on my book or just chill, and every time I came back into the studio after those breaks, I was always stronger and able to get further progress with my vocals.

In my opinion your vocals have turned out really well sounding so dark and working perfectly with your music, are you fully happy with the final result of your vocals?
I am pleased with the way my vocals came out and now I have the challenge of figuring out how to sing live. Life should always be about challenges and overcoming those challenges.

You have posted your first single 'Flush' up on your myspace page, the song has a huge sound and isn’t too far away from the music you were making with Korn, your vocals are dark sounding as mentioned above and come across really well on the song, are you pleased first of all for getting your first official solo single released and secondly with the final result of the song?
Thank you. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. It's a perfect way for me to come back into music because it's hard, heavy, and the lyrics sum up everything that's happened in my life--change.

The artwork for your album 'Save Me From Myself' is pretty impressive, who came up with the ideas and was it tough picking a final design?
Actually it was simple. We gave a talented guy named Travis Smith a picture of me and he came up with that cover. To me, it symbolizes God saving me from killing myself with my past addictions.

You have written a song called 'A Cheap Name' it is about rapper 50 Cent, what made you write the song and have you had any response from 50 Cent?
I actually don't like to talk about 50 anymore because I said some stupid things about him right after I quit my two year addiction to meth. I was a little insane back then.

You wrote and recorded an instrumental tribute to Dimebag Darrell, what inspired you to create this song, and will it be appearing on your album?
I wasn't very close to Dimebag, but I did hang with him a few times and I was totally crushed when I heard that got murdered. The pain that I felt in my heart and soul was poured into that song. But it's not gonna be on my album.

Your book 'Save Me >From Myself', was a very good read, did you find it hard to write the book and how long did it take to create?
It was very hard to write because I was never good at school and I had to write about a lot of painful things from my past and it hurt a lot again to remember all the details. But in the end, it was very cleansing. It took about 10 months to write.

Thousands of people have read 'Save Me From Myself', are you happy with the responses and reviews the book has been getting from the press and your fans?
Yes, very happy. A lot of the Korn fans hated me after quitting Korn and I felt I owed it to them to tell them the whole reason why I left Korn. After reading the book, I''ve had nothing but understanding from them. I guess A lot of people could relate to my pain and understood why I needed a major life change.

I understand that you are planning to release a paperback version of your best selling book 'Save Me From Myself', and also a edited down version for the younger generation called 'Washed By Blood', who came up with the idea of releasing different versions of the book?
Harper Collins came up with the idea to be able to reach the younger kids. The original version is too graphic for younger kids.

Do you plan on releasing a follow up book to 'Save Me From Myself', as the book proved to be a very good read and you have also done so much in your life so far and have so many fans across the world who love to read about you, or do you think it’s to soon after your first book to release another yet?
I have a 3 book deal with Harper Collins so I will probably be releasing a devotional book in the future. But I want it to be unlike any other devotional book out there.

You had a spoken word performance at the Cornerstone Festival on the 5th July, how many people turned up and how did the performance go?
There was a few thousand people there and it went very well I thought. A lot of people were inspired by my story.

Do you have any plans on doing a tour to promote your solo album and will you be heading over to the UK for some shows?
Eventually, but in the past I spoke prematurely about things, so I can't talk about touring yet.

There have been many rumours going around that you are planning on releasing a documentary film, if so what can we expect from it?
I would like to do that in the future, but it's on hold until some time in the future. I don't have any info for you on that.

Over the past few years you have added many tattoos to your pretty much covered body, what was the last tattoo you got done, and which tattoo means the most to you?
My latest tattoo is of a few music notes on my face near my left eye...ouch! The tattoos that probably mean the most to me are the ones on my left arm of Christ, and my daughters portrait right underneath him. They are the 2 loves of my life.

Do you have a set tattoo artist that does your tattoos or have you had them done by many different artists?
I've had them done by a few different artists, but right now my artist is a guy named Walter Frank who works at a shop called club tattoo owned by Chester from Linkin Park

You have a really impressive tattoo on you of a girl crying red tears, what does this represent?
It represents childlike faith with Christ, and walking through very difficult things in life with him because life is a bitch sometimes.

You have a lot of bible verses tattooed on your body, do you have a favourite bible verse?
I have a lot of favorites.
Galatians 2:20--
Matthew 5:8-- 2
Corinthians 12:10--1
Corinthians 6:17--
Romans 8:11--
John 3:16--
Matthew 21:31b--
Psalm 91:1--
Psalm 139:1-18 to name a few.

You described being baptized in the Jordan River as one of the biggest highlights of your life, how would you describe your feelings before, during and after the baptism?
I knew it was a prophetic act showing that I was starting my new life with God. I was beginning the process of dying to the old ways I had lived my life. It was very deep and meaningful to me because when I make a decision, nothing or nobody can change my mind and that was the biggest decision in my life. During the baptism in the water, all I could think about was how cold the water was and I wanted to be warm. Real Spiritual right? But I was feeling a lot of deep emotions too. Afterwards, I felt like a big weight was taken off of me.

Do you ever regret letting MTV, CNN and Fox News follow and film you during the baptism especially considering that it was such a personal moment for you that meant so much?
No, I don't regret it because I believe that is exactly what was supposed to happen. Kind of like it was already written before it happened.

You have had a long struggle with alcohol and drug addiction, which you have now put behind you, do you feel a much happier person now and have a clearer way of life?
Life is so much better man! I'm so much clearer and smarter and my musical gifts have flourished with my new lifestyle change in Christ. Everything in my life is better now. Nobody can deny a changed life. Only people in Christ go through such radical transformations. You don't hear stories like mine in other religions that often. I think radical life changes like mine are clear proof to the world that Christ is alive and well and still helping people in the world.

Your website Head To Christ, hasn’t been updated for sometime and now seems to be offline, is this to make way for your recently launched new self titled website?
Yes, everyone knows I'm all about Christ now, so I don't gotta keep shoving it down their throat so much.

Your new website www.brianheadwelch.net features a fan section called head dogs where your fans can pay a yearly subscription fee, what do your fans get for the price of the subscription?
They get a shirt, a signed autograph, a membership card and vip treatment when I come through their town for a show sometime in the future.

Can fans from all over the world join up to your head dogs fan section?
I think so.

When people sign up to your head dogs fan section, you state that you give up to 30% of the fee back to the community to other causes, who chooses which causes the money goes to and has it proved to be successful so far?
We just started it, so there isn't a bunch of memberships yet, but we'll see what happens in the future. I decide where we donate the money, but we take all suggestions from fans too.

Jonathan Davis has recently been saying how much he would like to have you back in Korn, you have said that you are not ready to come back but do you think that it’s a possibility in the future that you might play for Korn again even if it happened just for a one off show?
I always say you never know what the future holds, but I'm very content with my life the way it is now. I don't see it happening in the near future.

Are you still in contact with the other members of Korn, and are you pleased for them carrying on with the band?
I'm not in contact with any of them right now. But my hats off to them for keeping Korn rockin after loosing 2 members.

What did you think about Korn releasing their 'Live In Montreux 2004' DVD recently considering that the show was one of the last shows you played for Korn before leaving the band?
I haven't seen it, but I'm cool with it. All I know is that I was on Crystal Meth during that show.

What do you think of the current music scene?
There's a lot out there to choose from. I like the fact that there's so many different styles of music out there.

What bands do you like in the music industry at the moment and what was the last cd you checked out?
The last CD I checked out was the new Coldplay, but I was kind of bummed that a lot of their trademark melodies weren't there. I like all kinds of music out there. Especially trippy melodic music that stir the emotions. And of course I like good heavy music.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2008?
Trust in God to take care of all HIS plans for me.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Stronger, Wiser, Smarter and Happier.

Okay, one final random question that we ask everyone; if you had a choice, what animal would you be out of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
A Giraffe, so I could see everything that's going on because of my long ass neck.

Thanks for your time, is there a message you would like to give to your fans reading this?
You da best, man!

Interview By Trigger