By Noe Gutierrez
In my opinion, musical genres are there to describe the music, not the people playing the music. The music of CORE 10 thwarts any attempt anyone can make to corner their sound. As people, you will find, through their music, they are exceptional human beings. Its members, Duncan Nisbet and Sean Lenhoff on vocals, Chris Dorame on bass, Joe Taback and Bobby Thomas on guitars, Ronnie King on keys and David Silveria on drums, will be descending upon the desert for a weekend of live music, industry insight and flat-out infiltration. Coachella Valley Weekly huddled with the band during a recent rehearsal from their studio in Costa Mesa, California. Below is their appearance schedule:
Friday, March 23, 2018 at The Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs at 8 p.m. is the FREE and ALL AGES ‘THE ACOUSTIC SESSIONS’ featuring Ronnie King + Meet and Greet with David Silveria hosted by Esjay Jones.
Saturday, March 24, 2018 1 to 3 p.m. will be the record industry panel with David Silveria, original drummer and founding member of KORN and Ronnie King, industry professional writer, publisher, producer, touring musician with OFFSPRING, RANCID, TUPAC, PEPPER and SNOOP DOGG. The panel will be based around all things in the record industry; publishing, record deals, new technology and music licensing. David Silveria will be speaking about his rise to fame with the super group Korn. Ronnie King will be speaking about the entire music industry and the past industry module compared to the new industry standards. This is a great opportunity for those seeking a career in the music industry. There will also be a Q&A after the panel with a meet and greet along with autograph and memorabilia signing. Please feel free to bring any memorabilia to have David or Ronnie sign. Location will be disclosed once tickets are purchased through Eventbrite.
Later on Saturday evening at The Date Shed: Live performances from CORE 10, ANNABELLE ASYLUM, DROP MOB, DECAPITATE THE KAUSE and DJ set by ROW LOW. Doors open at 8 p.m. Ages 16 and up. General admission is $10. You can purchase tickets online or at the Date Shed box office Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased at the door on the night of the show.
PROGRESSION
RONNIE: “It’s going great. There’s a lot going on. We have major management. We’re making records with top tier producers Ulrich Wild (Anthrax, White Zombie, Deftones) and Alejandro Taranto (A.N.I.M.A.L.). I think it’s every musician’s dream to have such a high level of expertise around the band.”
SEAN: “We’re working with First Row Talent and Jason Tyler. They work with bands like Prong and Ministry. We’re focused on getting more songs completed and released. Our new single, ‘Introspection,’ is gonna be our heaviest single thus far. It will be released in April.”
JOE: “We’re gonna take a break after this weekend and our next local show will be in Orange County in May. We’ll be working on getting some of our newer stuff tracked. We have some really cool things we’re talking about for the summer but nothing is set in stone yet.”
SEAN: “‘Introspection’ is a cross between punk, metal and prog rock.”
DUNCAN: “It’s looking within. It’s about self-help and realizing that if you’re not in the right place and you need to fix where you’re at or maybe you just realize where you are and you don’t fix it. In time you are looking within and seeing your state.”
JOE: “For me, with this new lineup in CORE 10, I’ve known Sean for a few years and then met Duncan later, now playing with David; I’ve been playing with Chris and Bobby for over ten years now. For me, no matter how much time we have left, I know I’m enjoying myself and I like the guys I’m performing with and we’re making some pretty cool fucking music. As long as you’re enjoying yourself, a happy life is a good life. There are people paying attention to us.”
DUNCAN: “If you’re happy and enjoying it, it’s never a waste of time. That’s how we have to look at it.”
BROTHERHOOD
RONNIE: “Everybody’s professional. You don’t have a lot of the same temperament as you would with a start-up band. It’s an all-star band with David and I being together. It really sets the tone for a lot of professionalism and focus. I know the record industry is very interested in that combination. It’s been a couple of years. I’ve worked with Sean over the years on various side projects and when I understood David was coming into the band, it heightened my interest. I knew that he had not played in some years. I know how that is when you take time off, you’re like a caged lion and I knew David was gonna come out of the chute hot. He’s playing better than ever. That’s one of my highlights is to be sitting on the stage with him playing music. He’s amazing!”
DIFFERENTIATION – THE CORE 10 SOUND
RONNIE: “As a producer, I can give it to you analytically, David Silveria is a superstar. He created a very unique drum approach early on in his life. To start with that being the foundation of the music, it’s like no other. Whenever you can play with a musician with that kind of street credibility and a gift of creating something new, it’s once in a lifetime. He still does that. It’s not a dream it’s a reality that he is David Silveria, one of the inventors of Nu Metal. He walks into that room every day with the same attitude and the same focus. The band is better because of it.”
SEAN: “Duncan and I are really stepping it up and using in-ear monitors. We’re just trying to adjust to wherever we play. You also try to have a good rapport with the sound guy.”
DUNCAN: “The sound guys know their gear at their place and know what’s best so we take care of them and they take care of us.”
SEAN: “Our sound has developed and grown. Everyone has their influences. Joe and Bobby on guitar and Dave’s drumming, obviously, have changed the scope of our sound. And Ronnie bringing in the keys adds this ethereal element to it. We’re still really heavy but now it’s refined. Sounscapy I would say. It’s been a great run so far and we’ve been writing together effortlessly.”
DUNCAN: “We’ve been a band a little over a year. With a lot of the new stuff we’re writing, everyone is getting their part in.”
SEAN: “David will tell you this, when the first single came out, he said, they’re gonna love us or hate us if we sound like Korn or they’re gonna love us or hate us if we don’t sound like Korn. We’re just being ourselves and doing what we do.”
DAVID: “This style of music that we’re playing, it actually took a little bit of time for me to get used to. In general, the tempos are all faster so I kind of had to figure out fills and grooves that work for the faster tempo. The Korn stuff was a much slower kind of groove and bouncing kind of tempo. This stuff varies from slower, in-between or faster. So I’ve kind of had to really take notice to the kind of stuff I play to make something bold and fit this type of music. I had to basically learn a new style.
I think everybody has brought ideas. We write everything as a band. Any song can come from every member, two members, etc. I don’t think any song has ever come from any less than two or three guys. Everybody comes in ready to work and contributes. We all bounce ideas off of each other at all times. It’s spread out pretty evenly.”
BACKLASH
RONNIE: “I have a great response to the detractors. I’m engaged in all kinds of music. I’m heavily involved in Hip-Hop and I’m working on the biggest reggae records around. I’m writing, recording and playing keyboards with STEEL PULSE. I’m writing and working with PEPPER. I just got done working this past weekend with TOMMOROWS BAD SEEDS and Lewis Richards (17TH Street Recording Studio). I don’t really fall into any pigeon-hole kind of idea. I’m ‘rangy’. I’m writing my David Foster record I’m playing with the Seattle Symphony. Hip-Hop artists are loving CORE 10! I’ve got Ron Killings (R Truth of the WWE) loving it. Every Hip-Hop artist I let listen to CORE 10 are out of their minds about it. I just had Luciano Jr. from Buenos Aires artist LOS FABULOSO CADILLACS put his rap on a CORE 10 SONG. He said it was the coolest stuff he’s done in a long time. I think if you’re narrowing down to trolls and people who are following David’s career and such, it is what it is. You’re dealing with 14 year old men at that point. You’re not dealing with my crowd who is the David Foster crowd, the big production and industry crowd. If you can come up with something unique, everybody loves it. I believe CORE 10 is in that world.”
SEAN: “I have had my moments with the naysayers. It’s been a trial by fire. We create with no fear. Do what we do, everything else be damned and just kick ass!”
DUNCAN: “We take real criticism.”
TO THE KIDS
DUNCAN: “Every time we ever went surfing or skating as kids we listened to music first. It would get me going. It made me inspired. That would be something I want the kids to take away from us.”
SEAN: “After the kids leave our shows I want them to say, “I CAN DO THAT!” We build you up and don’t break you down. Pull yourself out of a bad place. Anything is possible.”
JOE: “We want the kids to come to the show and leave with inspiration. It was 15 years ago that I started and now I’m sitting in the studio playing with David Silveria from KORN. You can do anything you want with your life as long as you stick to it. “
Duncan: “The other thing we want the kids to do is leave the show wanting to go buy our song on iTunes, HA HA!”
DESERT CONNECTIONS – THE DATE SHED & HARD ROCK HOTEL P.S.
RONNIE: “I support ESJAY JONES always. It’s gonna be fun to just hang out. It’s the start of festival month and I feel like we’re starting it off with CORE 10 shows at Hard Rock and the Date Shed. I love it! For me, I get to share a little with everyone. The Date Shed has its own following and mystique about it. I’m always excited to play there. I played there a few times before. I used to play there when it was Alex Haagen’s private little club and having amazing jam sessions. The sound there is fantastic so we’ll do a lot of videotaping. The boys are gonna bring their guns and we’re gonna do some shooting.”
DAVID: “We’ll have more desert connections once Joe gets someone pregnant out there.”
RONNIE: “David and I will be doing an industry panel at the Hard Rock. We’ve opened it to the public. They can come and really get a bird’s eye first-hand view at success in the music business. They can talk to David personally about what it’s taken to be successful. You can find out what he did to achieve his first record contract, how it was when he renegotiated his contract, about the full experience and what do new artists need to understand. You’ll find out why he got to be successful. There’s a real method to it as well as in my own life. There’s a method to being successful in this business and I think it’s something valuable and I think the wisdom of both of us together is something people in general will love. It doesn’t matter what level of career you’re at. To sit and hear real stories with real people and success is a great opportunity.”
SEAN: “We’re stoked to be coming out. We may even be tracking David’s drums at Rancho de la Luna. We’re gonna be doing three or four more singles soon. Duncan and I have worked with HARPER HUG at Thunder Underground Studios in the past. I saw JOHN GARCIA at the Date Shed not too long ago. I know what the Date Shed means to the desert and the whole area. The environment is amazing for music out there. Playing the Date Shed is a very cool thing for us.”
DUNCAN: “We’re looking forward to the whole weekend. It should be interesting.”
SEAN: “It’s the perfect environment to shoot videos and band photos. We would love to utilize the area. I have so much love for the desert. I get up regardless, hung over or not, to see the sunrise when I’m at Chateau Relaxo. There’s nothing like a desert sunrise.”
DAVID: “This is my first time performing in the Coachella Valley.”
You have three opportunities to connect with CORE 10 this weekend, Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel P.S., Saturday afternoon for the industry panel and Saturday night at The Date Shed. Look out for the single, “Introspection” in April!
