Chino Moreno

Chino Moreno
Moreno performing with Deftones at Maquinária Festival, São Paulo on November 6, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Camillo Wong Moreno
Born	June 20, 1973 (1973-06-20) Sacramento, California, US
Genres	Alternative metal, nu metal, experimental rock, electronic rock, electronica, dream pop, shoegazing, trip hop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Maverick, Reprise
Associated acts	Deftones, Team Sleep, Crosses

Chino Moreno (born Camillo Wong Moreno; June 20, 1973) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead singer and contributing guitarist of Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project bands Team Sleep and Crosses.

Moreno is well known for his distinctive screams, as well as his soothing tenor voice while singing melodically. In 2007, he was placed at number 51 in Hit Parader's "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time".

Biography

Early life

Moreno was born in Sacramento, California to a Mexican father and a Spanish/Chinese mother; the latter being the origin of his Spanish nickname Chino, which means "Chinese" in Spanish. He was the third of five children. He attended McClatchy High School, where he met Abe Cunningham and Stephen Carpenter, with whom he founded Deftones in 1988. Before becoming a professional musician, Moreno had a day job at Tower Records' shipping department.

Musical career

In relation to his often ambiguous yet image-heavy poetic lyrics, Moreno quotes: "[Sometimes] my lyrics don't deal with specific topics. I write down on paper the feelings of the moment, it's not easy to explain the contents of the lyrics or give a logical sense to the words. What I write is also a reaction to the music we make, so the Deftones' sound is not pop, it doesn't communicate happy feelings. Paradoxically my favorite songs of the album talk about love, in a clearly different view." Despite this, Chino has been known to write songs about social issues such as racism, prostitution, urban violence, and drugs. However, even these songs can be rather vague and cryptic.

Moreno in 1998 on the set of the "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" video.

During the making of Deftones' White Pony, Moreno began work on a side project, Team Sleep. Moreno's influences include such bands as The Cure, Bad Brains, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Duran Duran, The Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, Helmet, Jawbox, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Hum, Kool Keith, Tool, Jane's Addiction and Weezer, and claims that Deftones' 2006 album, Saturday Night Wrist, is more of a compromise between all of the members' influences, ranging from their brutal and brooding heavy signature seen on Adrenaline and Around the Fur to the more experimental sound heard on White Pony and Deftones. Chino recently worked with post-hardcore band Norma Jean, on their album The Anti Mother. Moreno has also worked with the band Dance Gavin Dance in the song titled "Caviar". In 2009, Moreno recorded a song with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not finished. On May 2, 2010, he performed "The Kill" with 30 Seconds to Mars. He was also featured on Whitechapel's 2010 album, A New Era of Corruption.

From White Pony onwards, Moreno has been credited as contributing guitar in addition to vocals.

In March 2011, he stated to be working on a new side project known as Crosses, featuring Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and Scott Chuck. Moreno described the project as "minimal and soothing, and it's sort of like the stuff I like listening to when I'm not screaming my head off." Their debut self-titled EP was released on August 2, 2011.

Vocal damage

In 2001 Moreno developed a throat injury due to heavy screaming and was forced to miss at least four shows. He suffered inflammation on his right vocal cord and partial paralysis of the left vocal cord. During the rest of their supporting tour, Chi Cheng took over vocal duties that required screaming while Chino sang the softer melodies of the lyrics, despite recommendations by doctors to hold off from singing to allow time for recovery as well as rumors that the band would be cancelling the remaining stretch of the tour with Godsmack and Puddle of Mudd.

Equipment

Guitars

• Gibson 1961 SG
• Fender Mustang
• Fender Jaguar
• ESP Viper 301
• Epiphone G-400

Amplifiers & Cabinets

• Orange Music Electronic Company KT88 180watt Amplifier
• Orange Music Electronic Company 4x12 Cabinets
• Marshall 1960B 4x12 Cabinet
• ISP Technologies Vector SL 600 watt 15" Guitar Subwoofer cabinets

Effects

• Boss CE5 Chorus
• Boss DD6 Delay
• Range of other Boss effect pedals.

Microphones

• Shure BETA 58a Microphone for live performances since 2011
• Shure SM58 until 2011

Collaborations

• "Wicked" - Ice Cube cover from Life Is Peachy by Korn (1996)
• "Savory" - Jawbox cover from Soon by Far (1997)
• "Will To Die" - from In This Defiance by Strife (1997)
• "First Commandment" - from Soulfly by Soulfly (1998)
• "Bender" - from Home by Sevendust, credited as "Pony One" (1999)
• "(Rock) Superstar" - from Skull and Bones by Cypress Hill (2000)
• "Danger Girl" - from Tried + True by Tinfed (2000)
• "Pain" - from Primitive by Soulfly (2000)
• "Things!" - from Hesher by Hesher (2001)
• "Ashamed" - Never a Dull Moment by Tommy Lee (2002)
• "Feed the World (Do They Know It's Christmas)" feat. Far - Band Aid cover from A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas by various artists (2003)
• "The Hours" - from White People by Handsome Boy Modeling School (2004)
• "Red Sky" - Thrice (appeared during the band's live set at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in 2005 [1]
• "Paralytic" and "Crashing Down" - from Vices by Dead Poetic (2006)
• "Zombie Eaters" - Faith No More cover from The Undercover Sessions by Ill Niño (2006)
• "Rock for Light" - from Family Compilation Vol. 3 by Bad Brains (2006)
• "A Day In The Life Of A Poolshark (remix)" - from A Day In The Life Of A Poolshark by Idiot Pilot (2006)
• "Fistful of Nothing" - from Runs Astray by Atomic Six (2007)
• "Vengeance is Mine" - from Droid by Droid (2007)
• A few songs - in Astrological Straits by Zach Hill (2008)
• "Wall" - from HAKAI by Wagdug Futuristic Unity (2008)
• "Caviar" - from Dance Gavin Dance by Dance Gavin Dance (2008)
• "Surrender Your Sons..." - from The Anti Mother by Norma Jean (2008)
• "Reprogrammed To Hate" - from A New Era of Corruption by Whitechapel (2010)
• "Only One" - from A Public Disservice Announcement by Methods of Mayhem (2010)
• "If I Could" - from All 6's And 7's by Tech N9ne (2011)
• "Right Outside" - from Beautiful Things by Anthony Green (2012)

Moreno also featured in the low-budget video for the song "Carpe Diem" by fellow Sacramento hardcore act Will Haven. In 2007, he produced their album The Hierophant.

Discography

With Deftones

Main article: Deftones discography

• Adrenaline (1995, Maverick/Warner Bros.)
• Around the Fur (1997, Maverick/Warner Bros.)
• White Pony (2000, Maverick)
• Deftones (2003, Maverick)
• Saturday Night Wrist (2006, Maverick)
• Diamond Eyes (2010, Warner Bros./Reprise)
• Eros (currently unreleased)

With Team Sleep

• Team Sleep (2005, Maverick)

With Crosses

• EP 1 (2011, self-published)
• EP 2 (2012, self-published)

External links

• Official website