Davey Oberlin is an American musician. He is best known as the touring

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

for

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

. Oberlin is also known for his work in heavy metal group

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

and symphonic

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...

group

Winds of Plague Winds of Plague is an American deathcore band from Upland, California. Formed in 2002, the band is known for being the first of several deathcore bands to incorporate symphonic elements into their music. The band's name is derived from a sect ...

Background

At sixteen, Oberlin drew animation in-betweens at

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

for animated television series

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom ...

. Between 2003 and 2009, Oberlin worked as a

game tester Game testing, also called quality assurance (QA) testing within the video game industry, is a software testing process for quality control of video games. Moore, Novak 2010, p. 95 Oxland 2004, p. 301-302 The primary function of game testing is t ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

, testing popular video game titles including

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

, Call of Duty: World at War,

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was launched in North A ...

X-Men Legends ''X-Men Legends'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It was released on the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles in 2004. Barking Lizards Technologies developed the N-Gage port of ...

, 007: Quantum of Solace, and Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Oberlin also provided the score and sound design for the

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

hits ''GraveStompers'' and

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

's ''Hail to the King: Deathbat'', where Oberlin voiced a majority of the characters and produced several ambient themes.

Musical career

Early career

Between 2003 and 2005, Oberlin joined rocker

Jennifer Finch Jennifer Finch (born August 5, 1966) is an American musician, designer, and photographer most notable for being the primary bass player of the punk rock band L7. Active in L7 from 1986 to 1996, Finch also wrote music and performed with her ban ...

's band The Shocker touring Europe and the United States as lead guitar and second vocals. Following his exit from the band, Oberlin formed the

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

based band Perish. With Perish, Oberlin released a record produced by

Paul Miner Paul Miner (born December 4, 1976) is a former bassist for Death by Stereo, he left the band in early 2005 (right before the band's fourth album '' Death for Life''), to produce, engineer, master, and mix music full-time. Previously he produced a ...

Death By Stereo Death by Stereo (also referred to as D.B.S.) is an American hardcore punk band formed in Orange County, California circa 1998 by frontman Efrem Schulz. They are well known for their energetic performances and intricate guitar work. Their nam ...

fame. Several years later, Oberlin, along with Perish, released an album exclusively in Japan. The album included the song "The Hammer," which featured guest vocals from

Dave Peters David Peters is an American musician. He was the original guitarist for the metal band Eighteen Visions, guitarist for Throwdown, and, since 2002, the vocalist for Throwdown. He has also provided guest vocals for the song " Unleash" by Soulfly, ...

of Throwdown fame. In 2009, Oberlin joined the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band Dawn of Ashes. Oberlin co-wrote the band's album Genocide Chapters for

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

under the stage name Volkar Kael. The band toured as opening act for

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic lang ...

across the United States and Canada. Following his time with Dawn of Ashes, Oberlin joined the band

Stolen Babies Stolen Babies is an American experimental rock band consisting of vocalist/accordionist Dominique Lenore Persi, the twin brothers Rani Sharone (bassist/guitarist) and Gil Sharone (drummer). History Stolen Babies formed from a 12+ member high ...

featuring

Gil Sharone Gil Sharone (born June 2, 1978) is an American drummer and member of the rock bands Stolen Babies, Team Sleep, Marilyn Manson and formerly The Dillinger Escape Plan. He was also a fill in for the punk rock supergroup +44. He is the twin bro ...

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...

fame. Oberlin played drums and lead guitar for the band while touring with bands including

Katatonia Katatonia is a Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for their love of death metal. Increasing popularity ...

Sevendust Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...

, and

The Devin Townsend Project Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

Winds of Plague

In 2015, Oberlin joined symphonic

band

. Oberlin played guitar and performed on several tours with the band before being asked to join the band

Korn

While Oberlin was working as a guitar technician for heavy metal band

, Oberlin met

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...

and his bandmates from

. When keyboardist

Zac Baird Zachary Baird (born February 16, 1971) is an American keyboardist known for collaborating with the nu metal band Korn. He is also noted for using the Moog synthesizer, as well as the Ondes Martenot. Early life Zach Baird graduated from the ...

left Korn after a ten-year stint with the band, guitarist

Brian Welch Brian Philip Welch (born June 19, 1970), also known by his stage name Head, is an American musician. He is a guitarist and founding member of the nu metal band Korn and his solo project Love and Death, where he also provides vocals. Along wit ...

recommended Oberlin to take over as keyboardist in the band. In 2017, Oberlin officially joined the live band as Baird's replacement.

All the Damn Vampires

In 2019, Oberlin created his solo

synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

project "All the Damn Vampires." On March 30, 2020, the video for his single "Saturday" was officially released.

Five Finger Death Punch

From 2022 to 2024, Oberlin sang second vocals and played keyboard for heavy metal band

, including for the

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

72 stadium shows. Oberlin also took over lead vocals with

Phil Labonte Philip Steven Labonte (born April 15, 1975) is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the metalcore band All That Remains. He is the former lead vocalist for Shadows Fall, was the touring vocalist for Killswitch Engage in early ...

SoFi Stadium SoFi Stadium ( ) is a domed multi-purpose stadium in Inglewood, California, U.S., a suburb of Los Angeles. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack and neighbors the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome. Opened in September 2020, the ...

after

Ivan Moody Ivan L. Moody (born Ivan Lewis Greening on January 7, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP). He performed for several other bands including Motograter and Gho ...

contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Artwork

In addition to his music career, Oberlin is an artist and enjoys painting. He created the pop art character line the "Boneheads" and has painted pieces for attorney Bobby Samini, Bobby Schubenski, and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning musician

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

References

External links

Korn
Official Website
All The Damn Vampires
Spotify Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberlin, Davey Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Korn members 21st-century American keyboardists Musicians from Burbank, California American heavy metal musicians