The old saying goes “you have to learn to walk before you can run.” Before Korn would run to for the hills with their self-titled debut that would take the world of metal by storm, they had to learn how to walk with their demo tape Niedermeyer’s Mind, recorded on October 17th, 1993. Korn settled into a small house together in Huntington Beach, California, where they began working on their songs by renting a studio called “Underground Chicken Sound,” a spot at Huntington Beach where people often loitered. As the band played the opening riff to “Clown,” the loitering crowd grew curious and took a liking to the band’s unique sound.
With the guidance of the legendary Ross Robinson, whose only other producer credits at the time were Fear Factory’s Concrete, Creep’s self-titled, and an engineering credit on W.A.S.P.’s The Crimson Idol. His guidance would be vital to the development to honing Korn's sound on the demo and on their self-titled album, a move that would see Robinson become one of the most in-demand metal producers at the time, recording for bands such as Sepultura, Slipknot, Glassjaw, and Limp Bizkit.
The tape itself is especially rare due to limited printing, though it is now available on YouTube. It contains three tracks that would eventually be re-recorded on their debut LP, “Blind”, “Daddy”, and “Alive” before it was renamed on their debut album to “Need To”. And the opening track “Predictable” seems to be the only one that’s unique to the demo. Hearing the songs in their original, less polished form, makes for an interesting listen. They showed the makings of a band that was on the verge of greatness.
The title of this tape was named after the artist who drew the cover, which despite it eventually being given a proper title, is still called Neidermeyer’s Mind by fans.
This demo tape was a stepping stone for the release of their debut self-titled LP on October 11th of 1994. Soon, entire careers would be spawned, countless bands would be inspired and sounds that were ushered in by the alternative movement of the early 90s would become expanded upon.
