James Christian Shaffer (born June 16, 1970), also known by his stage name "Munky", is an American musician best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the nu metal band Korn.

[1] Shaffer set up the side-project band Fear and the Nervous System in 2008 and is also the founder of Emotional Syphon Recordings, who have signed acts like Monster in the Machine and Droid.

Shaffer and the other members of Korn grew up in an agricultural town of Bakersfield, California, two hours north of Los Angeles.

[citation needed] Shaffer, along with fellow future Korn members, David Silveria and Reginald Arvizu formed a band called L.A.P.D.

When Shaffer reunited with the band, they found a manager and released an EP entitled Love and Peace Dude in 1989 through Triple X Records.

They were also briefly known as Creep, recording a demo with a singer named Corey until Shaffer, Arvizu, and Silveria enlisted Brian Welch and Jonathan Davis to form the band that went on to become Korn.

When drummer David Silveria left the band, Shaffer said in an interview that he had a strong friendship with him and was very sad to hear that he had to leave.

On March 4, 2008, it was announced that Shaffer would be releasing a solo record on August 8, 2008, with his solo band Fear and The Nervous System which would feature Shaffer doing vocals and guitars, Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion (who also performed on Korn's eighth album) on drums, Leopold Ross on guitars and programming, Bill Gould of Faith No More fame, and Zac Baird (Korn's keyboardist) on keyboards and programming.

The first bands to be signed were Droid and Monster In The Machine, however Shaffer says he does not want to limit himself to only releasing metal acts but to create a multi-genre label.

In 2023, Shaffer announced the formation of Venera, an glitch music project with Chris Hunt; the self-titled debut album came out on Ipecac Recordings on October 13.