Willow salutes Korn, Deftones and System Of A Down

Willow, Chino Moreno of Deftones and Jonathan Davis of Korn — (Image credit: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images, Carlos Castro/Europa Press via Getty Images, Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

Willow has once again come forward to cement her name in the rock and metal sphere by crediting a handful of big names such as Deftones, Korn and System Of A Down as her central influences.

The popstar-turned-rocker released her new guitar-orientated album, Coping Mechanism, back in October, and now, in conversation with Rolling Stone, Willow has laid out her rock credentials and praised the bands that inspired her new direction.

When speaking of the aforementioned trio of nu metal-era legends, Willow, who has reportedly been a metalhead since she was five years old, says: "That [System Of A Down] album Toxicity? Yo, I don’t think there are any words to describe it.

"Serj [Tankian] is a very spiritually connected human being, and you can feel it so potently.… And also, the Deftones, just the dichotomy of the really hard guitars and the darkness, but then also the feral vocal and the softness and the almost tenderness of his [Chino Moreno's] vocal is profound.

"Those two dichotomies dancing — the dichotomy is just so beautiful. And Korn all day, every day! System of a Down, Deftones, even Radiohead was a slight inspiration for this album as well.”

Although Willow did embark on a pop career in her youth - most likely the natural progression for any child of two famous A-list celebrities - she's now adamant that her lighter sound has been left well in the past. On not wanting to make pop music, she explains, “I think there’s a lot of pop stars in the world, and I think they do it really well.

"And I’m just not a pop star. I love doing weird shit that pushes the envelope and inspires people to perceive life and music and themselves in a grander, wider point of view. That’s how I see myself."

Over the last year, Willow has been solidly waving the flag for her heroes, and even briefly jammed out the guitar riff to Deftones' My Own Summer (Shove It), at a recent show.

The singer also recently spoke of her love for the Sacramento metal heavyweights during an interview with Kerrang!, which saw her name them as one band who she'd most love to work with in the future. "I would love to sing with Chino Moreno from Deftones" she said, "He’s so amazing.”

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.