Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Roberto “Ra” Díaz, a former bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, recently spoke with Bass Magazine about how he joined Korn five years ago to replace Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, the band’s original bassist, who announced in June 2021 that he would miss the band’s tour dates in order to “heal” after “falling back” on some of his “bad habits”, as per Blabbermouth.
Well, it all happened very quick and kind of out of nowhere. Long story short — this was mid-COVID era or whatever you wanna call it. So I was pretty much just sitting at home making videos and stuff, like a lot of other musicians were. And because of these videos, sometimes I would see, like, ‘Oh, wow.’ We were doing a lot of Rush songs with Charlie [Benante] from Anthrax and Alex [Skolnick] from Testament and stuff like that. And some of those videos got a lot of like exposure, and I would notice, like, ‘Oh, wow, this cool guy followed me on Instagram,’ or, ‘This person reposted it.’ And I’m, like, ‘Oh, wow. Cool.’ And I remember at some point Ray [Luzier], Korn’s drummer, followed me. And we never chatted or anything. He followed me. And then I ended up doing a video with this drummer, incredible drummer named Aric Improta. And he’s a very creative guy. He’s not just drumming — he makes sounds with breaking glass and a skateboard and this, very artsy, cool stuff. And he invited me to play bass on it. And some time went by and he hasn’t posted it. And I asked him, ‘Hey, are you gonna share that video?’ And he said, ‘I’m waiting because Munky [James Shaffer] from Korn might record guitar.’ And I’m, like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome.’ So that ended up happening. And this is all with us not meeting each other in person — it was all online. So he did that for Aric. And then when we posted the video, Munky started following me too. But again, we never talked or anything. And then, I don’t know, fast forward — I’m not even joking, one day I just got like a DM on Instagram from Ray, the drummer. And he was, like, ‘What’s your number? Somebody’s gonna call you tomorrow.’ And I was, like, ‘This is my number.’ I didn’t know what it was for. And just out of nowhere, next day I get a call and they said, ‘Hey, we have this situation, and we need someone to jump in.’ And they asked me, like, ‘Are you interested?’ And I’m, like, ‘How can you say no to that?’
Díaz spoke on his feelings upon receiving the initial offer of the Korn gig.
I was born in ’84, so when their first record came out, I was 10. So listening to that first record when you’re 10, there’s no other way to describe it than [it was] life changing. So it was just something I couldn’t say no [to]. And at the beginning it was just gonna be [for] one tour, and I was still in Suicidal then, and nothing was gonna interfere with anything else, in theory. But then they needed me a little longer, and then things started to overlap. And at some point I just kind of asked them, ‘Hey, am I gonna continue helping you guys out?’ And they said that they were gonna need me, so I kind of had to make a choice and talk to my band at the time, Suicidal. And they were happy for me. Part of me was just sad because this happened during COVID and I never got to do a last show, knowing that it was a last show with Suicidal. But I’m very happy with everything that happened and I’m still, to this day, loving every second of it and hoping it keeps going. I’m enjoying it. And [Korn] brought also a lot of happiness into my personal life. I met my wife when I joined them, and now we have a kid and everything, so it’s, like, I owe a lot to this band, and I’m very proud to be in it, helping them.
Díaz responded as follows when asked if it was true that he wasn’t initially informed that Korn was the band he was going to perform with when he received the call to join.
I think it’s more the person that called me, I think she assumed I already knew [that she was calling about Korn], probably that Ray told me what it was for, but that wasn’t the case. So at some point in the conversation, I’m asking her, ‘Yeah, what are the dates?’ And she’s, like, ‘This and that.’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, I think I can do it.’ And I asked her, like, ‘Where can I find your music?’ Or maybe I got confused. Also, she called me in the middle of — I was like driving, and I was paying attention, but I was like not following every single detail. And at some point, I go, like, ‘Do you need me to do something?’ And she’s, like, ‘Oh, you can film yourself playing a couple of songs.’ And I’m, like, ‘How can I find your music?’ And she goes, like, ‘Oh, we have a YouTube channel.’ I’m, like, ‘Okay, how do I find it?’ She’s, like, ‘Korn official.’ I’m, like, ‘Oh, okay.’ And then that’s when, like — it was shock and panic, and at the same time, like, ‘Wow.’ ‘Cause, like I said, it was very unexpected, and it happened in the middle of COVID. I went from not knowing when I was gonna be able to play a show again to getting a phone call to, like, ‘Can you come and rehearse with Korn?’ It went from almost depression to the biggest happiness. And, obviously, I was, like, ‘Yes, I’m very interested. And I’ll give it a shot.’ Yeah, like I said, I was driving, and when they said that in that phone call, I legit called my friend, canceled the plans, turned around, went back home, learned a bunch of songs, and I think in a few hours I’d sent them some videos. And everything went from there.
When asked if he had ever seen Korn perform live prior to his band tryout, Díaz responded as follows.
Yeah. I saw them actually in Chile two or three times, and then once in the States. But I never got to meet them or anything. I met — at the NAMM show once I said ‘hi’ to Fieldy in — I don’t know — 2010 or 2011, something like that. But, yeah, I basically met everybody when I first came to the first rehearsal.
Upcoming shows by Korn:
