Deftones
Deftones |
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Deftones are a Grammy award-winning experimental alternative rock band from Sacramento, California.
They have often been praised as one of the more innovative and unique rock bands of recent years. Johnny Loftus writes, "Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century nu-metal movement... Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like dream pop or D.C. hardcore into their northern California alt-metal."[1]
Moreno's poetic lyrics—described by a Time magazine critic as "furiously intelligent"—are often evocative, yet sparse enough to allow for multiple interpretations. Moreno has cited Morrissey, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, The Cure's Robert Smith, Bad Brains' H.R., and Depeche Mode's David Gahan among his favorite singers, and, beyond an occasional similarity in vocal technique, these singers' sweeping sense of drama is often evident in Moreno's vocals.
Band history
Early years
When Stephen Carpenter was 16, he was struck by a drunk driver while skateboarding and was confined to a wheelchair for several months. It was during this time that he began to teach himself to play guitar, as he was unable to partake in his primary hobby of skateboarding. It is often rumored that the money from this accident afforded Carpenter "state of the art" equipment. In an interview with Metal Edge (January 2007), drummer Abe Cunningham says, "That's a myth about how our band was started. It's true that he was hit by a drunk driver, and he did buy a bunch of gear, but by the time we all got together, that shit was sold off. It's this shiny story of how he was hit by a drunk driver and made millions in the settlement, bought all the gear, and we all came over and had the shiniest gear in town. That's a bunch of bullshit." Moreno was able to land an audition after a relative happened upon Carpenter's garage and was impressed with what he heard as he walked by. Moreno, who had never performed in front of anyone outside his family before, convinced Carpenter by flawlessly mimicking Glenn Danzig's vocal style. When their original drummer, John Taylor, quit to join the band Prayer Wheel, Cunningham (who was in Phallucy with Garcia) filled in until a permanent replacement could be found. However, Cunningham had prior commitments to other projects and Garcia often found himself sitting in for him. The now-open slot on bass was given to Cheng, having formed an acquaintance with Carpenter through skateboarding. After much persuasion, they were finally able to convince Cunningham to leave Phallucy to become their full-time drummer; Garcia left to pursue other interests. The name "Deftones" originated by simply combining the hip hop slang term "def" with the suffix "-tones," which was a popular suffix among surf rock bands and soul artists in the '50s and '60s. The name is also a notable play on the term "tone deaf." The name also means "deft" - meaning skilled or good, and "ones" - meaning the members of the Deftones.
Deftones soon began playing shows in local clubs, cutting their teeth as the opening band for more established acts. At the time, their sound wasn't always welcome with the metalheads in attendance, who often had a preference for hair metal sounds. Undeterred, they were embraced in the early '90s by a Sacramento music scene that was more open to experimentation (and also spawned bands such as Far, Will Haven and Cake). During this time, the Deftones were influenced in part by Cunningham's former band, Phallucy, as well as the Bad Brains. As they ventured beyond their hometown borders, they toured quite often with Bakersfield metal group Korn, with whom they had become quick friends.
The band became notorious for their workhorse attitude and made it a goal to play as often as possible, no matter what the venue. Trading in Carpenter's now-obsolete four-track for more sophisticated recording equipment, they committed several of their songs to tape and sold the demos at their shows. Their early songs included "(Like) Linus," "Plastic," "Venison," "Christmas," "Hump," "Freaks," "Some People," "God's Hands," "Hopburg Hop," "Gift," & "Answers"(the only original deftones song to have a guitar solo). Up until this point, their goal was to raise enough money to record more demos. In July 1994, Deftones were approached by an impressed Guy Oseary, co-chairman of Maverick Records, after playing a show in a Los Angeles club called The Coconut Teazer. The next day, Oseary offered them a deal based on the band's wishes and ambitions. Deftones humbly accepted the terms of the contract, and began planning out the details of their major-label debut not too long after.
Adrenaline
Pre-production on the Deftones' first proper album began in the fall of 1994. The producer chosen to helm the sessions was Terry Date, who at the time was most known for producing albums for Pantera, White Zombie, and Soundgarden. Date brought several ideas to the table for improving the structure of the music. The band took to his style, and had him produce their next three albums.
Adrenaline was released on October 3, 1995. The album sold well, and earned mostly positive reviews. "Bored" and "7 Words" were minor hits. Delgado was not yet an official member, but he contributed on several songs.
One review of Adrenaline noted Cunningham's "surprisingly sophisticated drumming" and wrote that "Unlike many of their contemporaries, the Deftones are very controlled even in the midst of chaos." [2]
As of Jan 2007 it had sold 965,925 copies (US)
Around the Fur
Around the Fur was produced by Terry Date and recorded at Seattle's Studio X. Released on October 26, 1997, the album included a collaboration with singer Max Cavalera (founder and frontman of Sepultura) on "Headup," a tribute to Max's late step-son Dana Wells. The song inspired Cavalera to create Soulfly, a band dedicated to Wells. Also appearing on the album was Cunningham's wife, Annalynn, who provided the female vocals on "Mx." "My Own Summer (Shove It)" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" were hits in the alternative circle, with both songs' music videos receiving play. "My Own Summer (Shove It)" was even featured on the soundtrack to The Matrix.
An acoustic remix of "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" was performed with a friend of the band, DJ Crook, and lead singer Jonah Matranga of Far.[3] This mellow version with a new trip-hop-esque beat by Delgado inspired vocalist Chino Moreno to explore softer music, which eventually lead to the inception of his side project, Team Sleep.
In 1999, it was certified Gold in recognition of 500,000 sales in the US. As of Jan 2007 it had sold 942,177 copies (US).
"It's one of my favorite records," Moreno commented. "The time and place we were in when we made it was fluent as hell."
White Pony
On June 20, 2000, the band released their third album, White Pony. It was produced by Terry Date in the Deftones' own recording studio in Sausalito, California. It debuted at No. 3 in the US Billboard chart with sales of 177,000 copies. It is generally considered by fans to be Deftones' most mature recording. Hits included "Change (In the House of Flies)" and "Digital Bath."
Of White Pony, one reviewer wrote, "Moreno is exquisitely mind-blowing" and that "Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature punk sound." [4]
Delgado was now a full-time band member, and he added greatly to the atmospheric album. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, noting Moreno's increasing sophistication as a lyricist and the group's experimentalism: the fragile "Teenager," for example, incorporates elements of glitch and trip hop, with programming duties carried out by Moreno's friend and Team Sleep bandmate DJ Crook ("Teenager" was originally a Team Sleep song). A collaboration with singer Maynard James Keenan of Tool is present on "Passenger," and the refrain in "Knife Prty" features vocals by Rodleen Giecek.
A limited edition print of 50,000 black and red jewel case versions of White Pony were released with a bonus 12th track titled "The Boy's Republic." The band re-record "Back To School (Mini Maggit)," a rap-influenced interpretation of the album's closer, "Pink Maggit," after their record label said they had run out of marketable singles. The song was placed as the new opening track (with "Pink Maggit" still the closer), and, under altered cover art, re-released White Pony on October 3, 2000. The band notably expressed their resentment towards Maverick's lack of faith in their art and immediately regretted recording "Back To School." Moreno has stated that he hates that song, and said that he reluctantly agreed to record it to show his label how mindlessly easy it was to write a hit. Deftones played "Back to School" on tours in support of White Pony but rarely thereafter. It was only until their South American and European tour in early 2007 that the song began appearing on their setlists.
White Pony eventually achieved platinum status as well as a Grammy award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Elite".
In interviews, Moreno has stated that some of the lyrics are intentionally misprinted to cover up vulgarity. For example, at the beginning of "Feiticeira", the liner notes read "Stop I'm drunk" when Chino quite audibly sings "Fuck I'm drunk." In the song "Street Carp," the lyric booklet states a line of lyric as "Now take it home and have fun with it", when what he actually sings is "Now take it home and fuck with it." Similarly, on "Change (In the House of Flies)," the booklet reads "Give you the lung, blow me away," when he actually sings "Give you the gun, blow me away".
As of Jan 2007 it had sold 1,274,364 copies (US)
Deftones
Deftones was released on May 20, 2003. It sold 167,000 copies in the first week and remained in the Billboard top 100 for nine weeks, supported by the first single, "Minerva." The track was featured in the video game NHL 2004 as well as True Crime: Streets of L.A.
Later, the band shot a video for their second single, "Hexagram," with fans watching the band play the song in an indoor skatepark in Simi Valley, California. The band made a video for the track "Bloody Cape," but it was never released for play on television. The video was only made available on the band's official website for one day.
Much of the material on the album was written by guitarist Carpenter, which accounts for the album's heavier feel. Delgado plays synthesizer, keyboards or sampler rather than his previous turntables.
The recording sessions were helmed by producers Terry Date and Greg Wells for the first four months in Sacramento and then Seattle. Wells had to return to Los Angeles due to the birth of his second child, and Date continued on the record for months. Wells later produced much of Team Sleep's debut record.
In reviewing Deftones Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes that "Hexagram," the album's opener, "hits hard — harder than they ever have, revealing how mushy Staind is, or how toothless Linkin Park is."
Erlewine notes that on the album "Deftones feel compelled to strengthen their metal roots" and at the same time maintain "the very things that make them better and more interesting than the rest — namely, their love of art rock, whether it's via The Cure or My Bloody Valentine." He closes by writing, "When they do play by the rules, they're good, but they're great when they don't follow a map."
Another review, by Rolling Stone's Greg Kot states, "Singer Chino Moreno sounds like he's conversing with a choir of voices inside his troubled skull. He's the most Dada of the metal screamers: sobbing, stoned and strangely sensual, when he isn't shredding his tonsils. The band brings the requisite brutality, but this album delivers chills when it creeps past the margins of modern post-Korn heavy music: the spooky spaghetti-western drones that hover like vultures over 'Deathblow,' the space-is-the-place liftoff of 'Minerva' and the ambient doomscape 'Lucky You,' which might be worth an approving smirk from the Aphex Twin."[5]
As of Jan 2007 it had sold 520,900 copies (US)
B-Sides & Rarities
An odds-and-ends album titled B-Sides & Rarities was released on October 4, 2005.
The CD includes various 'B-Side' songs and covers, while the DVD contains behind-the-scenes footage and every music video the band has made. This compilation includes a semi-rough cover of "Savory" originally done by Jawbox, a cover of "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and "Black Moon" featuring "B-Real" from Cypress Hill, among others.
Most noticeably absent from the album was "Lovers," a B-side from Deftones. Moreno had stated in interviews that the name of the album was going to be "Lovers." Also sorely missed was "To Have and To Hold" a Depeche Mode cover that was used heavily during the White Pony era.
Saturday Night Wrist
The band's latest album, titled Saturday Night Wrist, was released on October 31, 2006. It debuted at No. 10 in the US Billboard chart with sales of just over 76,000, a significant decrease on the two previous releases.
Rather than work with longtime producer Terry Date, Deftones decided to record with Bob Ezrin. Cunningham says that while the group enjoyed working with Date, "At this point, we just needed to change things up ... And this is definitely a different style. Working with him (Ezrin) is just putting us fucking upside down. He's cracking the whip."[6] After recording all the instrumentals for the record, Chino Moreno decided to record his vocals separately. As of April 7, 2006 Chino was finishing recording the album with former Far guitarist Shaun Lopez as producer. Confirmed collaborations on the record include Annie Hardy from Giant Drag on the song "Pink Cell Phone" and Serj Tankian from System of a Down on the track "Mein."
The album's first single was called "Hole in the Earth", hitting the radio on October 16th, 2006. The album features a song titled "U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,SELECT,START", an obvious reference to the Konami code, which is normally represented as (U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, B, A, Start).
A music video for "Mein" has been shot, as it will be the album's second single in Spring 2007.
As of March 2007, Saturday Night Wrist has sold over 200,000 copies in the US. .
Notable tour dates
- 11.12.1997 Las Vegas, NV @ Huntridge Theater: Jonah Matranga (Far) sings on "Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)"; Will Haven joins in during "Headup." John Gutenberger of Far plays bass on "Engine No. 9" while Chi and Chino sing. Chi stage dives during "Engine No. 9." Fans jump on stage during encore.
- 11.25.1997 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza: Jonah (Far) joins in on "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)".
- 12.31.1997 Oakland, CA @ Kaiser Arena: Annalynn Cunningham does her part on "MX". The band opened for Primus as part of their annual New Years Eve Freak Out.
- 11.06.1998 Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre: Max Cavalera of Soulfly sings on "Headup".
- 12.18.1998 Sacramento, CA @ Memorial Auditorium: Sergio from Quicksand replaces Chi on bass on "To Have and to Hold". Roadies, along with Chi's brother Ming, sing in "Headup".
- 08.07.1999 San Francisco, CA @ Slims: Surprise Small Club Show Sponsored by Radio Station Live 105. Papa Roach opened and Chino performed a good chunk of the show from the venues bar.
- 08.04.2000 Vancouver, BC @ BC Place Stadium: performed "Passenger" with Maynard James Keenan of Tool.
- 06.21.2001 Moscow, Russia, Green Theatre: the band's first performance in Russia.
- 07.21.2001 Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Pavilion: Max Cavalera (Soulfly) sings on "Headup," Rodleen sings on "Knife Prty".
- 01.23.2003 Sydney, N.S.W. @ U.N.S.W. Roundhouse: Xzibit raps verses to "Back to School".
- 04.03.2006 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom: Deftones perform Around the Fur and Adrenaline (without "Fist") in order.
- 09.06.2006 Donnington Park, UK @ Download Festival: Max Cavalera (Soulfly) sings on "Headup"
- 06.07.2006 London, UK @ King's Cross Scala: Band performs for an hour before an extended jam which led into a performance of Adrenaline in its' entirety.
Other projects
Deftones members have worked on several side projects, including Moreno's Team Sleep and Cunningam's Phallucy. Guitarist Carpenter works with a group called Kush, featuring members of Fear Factory and Cypress Hill as well as a group called Sol Invicto featuring members of Cypress Hill & Cultura Londres. The Deftones' Frank Delgado has a DJ crew with DJ Crook of Team Sleep, DJ Julez and Matt D Called Decibel Devils. In 2000, Bassist Chi Cheng released a CD comprised of his own spoken word poetry. They have also appeared in several concerts in the 2006 Taste of Chaos tour
Discography
Albums
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | US sales | Official UK Albums Chart | Australian Album Chart | Irish Album Chart |
| November 30, 1993 | (Like) Linus | |||||||
| October 1, 1995 | Adrenaline | Maverick Records/Warner Bros. | Gold | |||||
|
October 28, 1997 | Around the Fur | Maverick Records/Warner Bros. | #29 | Gold | |||
| June 20, 2000 | White Pony | Maverick Records | #3 | Platinum | #13 | #21 | ||
| May 20, 2003 | Deftones | Maverick Records | #2 | Gold | #7 | #4 | #14 | |
| October 4, 2005 | B-Sides & Rarities | Rhino Entertainment / Maverick Records | #43 | |||||
| October 31, 2006 | Saturday Night Wrist | Maverick Records | #10 | 200,000+ | #33 | #26 | #50 |
EPs
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label |
| June 22, 1999 | Live | Maverick Records/Warner Bros. |
Singles
| Year | Song | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK Singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "7 Words" | - | - | - | Adrenaline |
| 1996 | "Bored" | - | - | - | Adrenaline |
| 1997 | "My Own Summer (Shove It)" | - | - | 29 | Around the Fur |
| 1998 | "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" | - | 29 | 50 | Around the Fur |
| 2000 | "Change (In the House of Flies)" | 3 | 9 | 53 | White Pony |
| 2000 | "Back To School (Mini Maggit)" | 27 | 35 | 35 | White Pony |
| 2001 | "Digital Bath" | 16 | 38 | - | White Pony |
| 2003 | "Minerva" | 9 | 16 | 15 | Deftones |
| 2003 | "Hexagram" | - | - | 68 | Deftones |
| 2006 | "Hole In The Earth" | 18 | 19 | 69 | Saturday Night Wrist |
| 2007 | "Mein" | - | - | - | Saturday Night Wrist |
B-Sides
- "Can't Even Breathe": A track on the Escape from L.A. soundtrack.
- "Teething": A track on The Crow: City of Angels soundtrack.
- "The Chauffeur": Appears on the Duran Duran tribute album and the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack.
- "To Have And To Hold": Appears on the Depeche Mode tribute album.
- "The Boy's Republic": Featured on White Pony Limited Edition.
- "Back To School (Mini Maggit)": Featured on the Re-Release of White Pony.
- "Crenshaw": On the Change (In the House of Flies) single.
- "No Ordinary Love": A Sade cover on the Change (In the House of Flies) single.
- "Sinatra": A Helmet cover on the Minerva single.
- "Sleep Walk": A Santo & Johnny cover on the Minerva single.
- "Lovers": On the Hexagram single.
- "Drive": A Cars cover only available on iTunes when the entire album, Saturday Night Wrist is purchased.
References
External links
- Official Site
- Template:MySpace-music
- Deftones World
- Saturday Night Wrist dot com
- Team Sleep (Chino Side Project)
- Decibel Devils Official Site (Frank Delgado, Dj Crook)
Interviews
- LiveDaily: Chi Cheng of Deftones on Saturday Night Wrist
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