Interview with Andrew Bennett (about Entertain Me DVD, EPK 2003, etc...)

[deftfan]

All credits go to http://www.digitalbath.fr.st/ (www.defnz.net)


1. Hi Andrew, can you introduce yourself for those who have never heard of your work?

A: Hey there. I'm Andrew Bennett, I've been directing music videos consistently for the last few years. We're obviously here to talk about the Deftones, who I still regard as my proudest work, so that said, I have also worked with the Dresden Dolls, 3 Inches of Blood, Dream Theatre, System of a Down, and, because I have to pay the bills, Nickelback, the Jonas Brothers, and a slew of other acts that shall remain nameless so
that I may try to keep my rock and roll credibility intact. Although, I think doing the Nickelback"Rockstar" video already hurt me.

2. Where are you at? What are you currently working on?

I am currently holed up in the tiniest hotel room ever, shooting a commercial in New York City. My girlfriend is asleep, I'm sneaking cigarettes out the window because they put me in a non-smoking room, and drinking coffee. I am closing down a block of Times Square tonight, and it's hot as hell here. So I'm going to hover over the air conditioner in my room, talk to you a bit, and watch movies all day until I have to go shoot.

3. You've done several music videos. What is your relationship with music like? Any favorite artists, styles that you listen to and feel more comfortable to work for?

Music has made me the person I am today. I know that sounds cheesy, but fuck it, it has. Music helped me find my identity as a person, it helped me form the strong relationships I have today, and it is still the common bond I can find with everyone from my girlfriend and brother, to my worst enemy.

A side note. I know you didn't really ask this, but since this for the Deftones fans, I have to tell you this.
When I was a freshman in high school, I was short, skinny, and had orange spikes for hair. Needless to say, here in the states, I was not considered cool. What could have been four years of hell, was saved by Abe Cunningham. While he and Chino still treated me like a little punk kid (they are two years older than me), they still let me hang around. By the way, back then, Chino wore polo shirts. No shit. Anyway, it was Abe who took me to my first concert, Primus in Sacramento, and was always happy to get me into a Deftones show. We were in the marching band together, and if I was not able to go through that hell with someone like Abran, I might have gone crazy. So it was Abe and Chino, and later Stephen, who turned me on to bands I had never thought of listening to. Everything from Bad Brains to Prince.

That was long winded, sorry. Moving on.

Favorite Artists and Styles? Rock, Metal, Country (older) and Hip Hop. Weezer, Dresden Dolls, Foo Fighters, White Stripes, Prince, and even Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash.

I am definitely more comfortable working with the harder rock bands. I get more creative freedom, and even when I don't, my ideas and the bands always seem to mesh well. Anything in the top 40 comes pre-made to you. The label knows what they want, they have 50 other videos to compare it to, and you are simply there to execute their weird "creative" decisions. Besides, I'd much rather listen to the same Deftones
track for 18 hours than Nickelback.

4. How did you end up being a video director?
You could not have picked a better question. While shooting the documentary "Entertain Me", which we will talk about in a second, I was snowboarding with Chino one day, when we were supposed to be doing an interview. This is how it goes with Chino though. You want the interview, it might take four or five days, but you'll have a good time while you wait. Mostly. So we were snowboarding when Chino got a call from the label about the follow up video to "Back to School", a real piece of shit in my opinion, but the performance was sick.

The next video was going to be for Digital Bath. Chino turned to me, while still on the phone, and asked me if I wanted to direct a video. I said no. He said I would get paid and it would be fun. I said yes.

We used a ton of live and behind the scenes footage from the documentary, and then shot the scenes of Chino in the goggles and Abe on the tiny drum kit, and the car scenes, in one night that included a variety of drinks ranging from Coors Light to Purple Rains (a mixture of purple gatorade and vodka, trademark Chino Moreno 1999).

And that was my first video. I thought it was cool that I made some money, so I quit my job waiting tables by throwing my apron in my bosses face and calling him a bitch, and luckily the video did well so I didn't have to beg for my job back. That's how I came to direct music videos, by going snowboarding with Chino.

5. Let's talk about the Deftones. Digital Bath, Hexagram, Deftones EPK: you've produced videos that are widely (ie among fans) recognized as the visual equivalent of Deftones' raw, melodic and eerie approach to music. Also, the way you've succeeded in capturing the band on video shows you're quite close to the band. How did you meet them and work with them over the years?

I did the EPK for the Deftones 2003 self titled record. The idea from Chino was to remind people that even though there was some soft melodic shit on White Pony, this was still the mother fucking Deftones, and to give people a taste of what he meant, we compiled years of footage going back to the days when they played to fifty person crowds in basements. The idea to do the brain diagram was mine, and I hired some amazing kids at the time to do the animation. Those guys are now rich and famous in their industry.

We shot a video for Hexagram that is at the end of that EPK, but it is probably not the video you saw. You saw the one of them in a skateboard ramped warehouse, with 100 fans that were made to look like 500. I was not getting along with certain management at the time, so I hooked up my "friend" Darren Doane with Abe and they let him direct the one you saw. I shot a good deal of that video, and according to Chino and Stephen a bulk of the footage is mine. However, Darren took all the credit in the end, never thanked me, and even had the nerve to send me a still from the shoot that said "Thanks, Darren Doane", like it was some kind of autograph. That guy is douche bag who crumbled on set, and it took me shooting ideas with Chino to get the money shots.

For my version of Hexagram..... Chino and I wanted to shoot the band in the rawest, most real space. So we holed up in a small rehearsal
room in LA, no makeup, no lights, no wardrobe, no story line, no fans (nothing personal), no nothing. Just the Deftones, in their realm, fucking crushing away, and Chino nearly bursting veins, literally, we had to stop for awhile, it got scary. And that's how the Deftones should be shot. Let's face it. They are not pretty boys like Linkin Park, and they are not goofy like Weezer, although they are still the funniest mother fuckers I know. The Deftones success does not come from gimicks or a look, or making the same fucking song over and over. They are successful because their records are original genius, and when you go to see them live, they never let you down. If your friend tells you that Green Day rocked so hard last night at the show, you should slap them in the face and take them to a Deftones show.

How did I meet them?
I met Abe and Chino when I was 13 years old. I just moved to the neighborhood, and had to go to a different high school than where all my other friends did. As I mentioned earlier, Abe and I became friends, I kind of knew Chino, but he was too cool for school at the time, so I never really talked to him. He was always cool to me though. It wasn't until I went on tour with the band in 2000-01 that I bonded with Chino and became friends. Also, Stephen, who I met on tour, would not talk to me and always flipped me the middle finger, until he realized I was the only one on the bus who could stay up and smoke weed with him. Stephen rules.

7. Also, we've all heard about this documentary called Entertain Me and it has raised many questions and curiosity among the fans: Maverick described it as "too depressing" and decided to keep it locked in a drawer and the band itself seems not interested in getting it out. In the beginning who came up with this project?

The idea was mine. I was an assistant to a feature film director in 2000, and while running errands for him one day, I saw the Deftones were playing the Palladium that night. On a whim I went inside during sound check, and saw Abe. We sat on the floor, got to talking about touring, families, friends, band mates, White Pony's success at that point, and so on. I thought it was interesting that the band was getting this mainstream success five years after their first record, and now having to balance the rock star life and touring life with that of being a husband and father. Stephen being the exception, but still a most interesting subject. I told Abe it would make a good movie, he said good, go make it.

The band had no money to spend on it at the time, and if I was going to shoot it, I had to leave in two weeks, which left no time to get money from the label. If you want the label's money for a project you better start four months early. My boss made some calls, and long story short, got me
the money and a production company. Overnight I went from 18 hour days as this director's bitch, to being on the Back to School tour with Deftones and Incubus.

8. What does this documentary contain? Is it a"Some Kind of Monster"-like? As far as you're concerned, what could qualify it as depressing? (ndlr : Some Kind of Monster, le documentaire sur Metallica qu'il n'a apparement pas vu)

I never saw "Some Kind of Monster", it looks like a piece of shit. How can you do a proper film on a band if you do not have their authorization or involvement. I can only imagine that "film" just tells you guys a bunch of shit you already know, or gives you stupid facts like Chino used to have dreads, or Abe once quit the band and re-joined. Who fucking cares? A film about a band is not a bunch of stupid tid bits about what Chino's favorite ice cream is, it's about getting to know the people who came together to create this music, and hearing first hand, from them to you.

Entertain Me has all the great stories about how the band got together, what it was like in the early years, and all the other shit that we as fans love to hear, but it also flips it, and talks about the price you pay when touring non stop for years, being in the studio for months and years, and just being a band, effects not just you, but your family and friends. That might be where it gets depressing. Yes, there are moments that are not so happy, both in interviews and on the road. I did not go on a Summer tour, I went out during the winter amidst the holidays and blizzards. Winter tours suck, any band will tell you that. And that's why I went in the winter. However, as Chino put it in the film, coming off of a rant about the hardships, he said "Fuck it. I'm able to play music for millions of people, so I'm lucky, fuck it", or Abe who said "Man, I got no complaints. I'm living my dream, so fuck it." It is no different than anyone else in this world. We can all bitch and moan about our lives, but in the end, we are lucky to be here, so fuck it.

9. Any chances it'll be released one day? The teasers you've posted on your website are quite mouth-watering...

Abe says yes, I say no. You should really ask Abe. He fought so fucking hard for it, even when it still needed work, and has always had my back, but I really have no power. I do however own the footage, so maybe one day when I have enough money that I can afford to piss off a major record label, I'll put it out. But until then, it's up to the band, because while I still hold on to my anti-authority teenage angst, I am not going to upset Warner or Maverick. More teasers to come though.

10. Let's switch to the present: do you have any forthcoming projects with the Deftones? They're having their sixth studio album out this autumn...

The Deftones switched management companies in 2003, and have since then, with the exception of the music, seem to be creatively controlled by them. I have seen it in the videos especially. The album artwork on Saturday Night Wrist was sick, Frank Maddocks is a genius, but the videos that came out were just terrible. "Hole in the Earth" was sub-par animation, not the least bit flattering to the band's faces or performance, and "Mein" was just complacent and lazy, something the Deftones have never been. That said, when the band is ready to get back to what they do best, and give the fans what they want to see, I'll be there to shoot Abe murdering a drum kit, Chino bursting vocal cords, Stephen shredding, Chi flailing, and Frank, well, being Frank. Frank rules.

11. Any advice for the ones that'd love to mix their passions for music and video and eventually become a (video) director?

Shoot videos all the time. It doesn't matter if it's a shitty video camera, the more you shoot, the more you learn. Also, if you have the chance, work for someone for 6 months to a year who is already successful. I worked one year for a feature film director, and never said a fucking
word. I kept my mouth shut, did what I was told, and got to watch an A-list director shoot 3 movies. I learned more in that one year than I did in the 3.8 years I went to college. Shut up, listen, and learn.

12. A last word for deftnz.net readers ?

Burn cd's of Adrenaline, Around the Fur, and White Pony and give them to every friend and neighbor who has never heard of the Deftones. I know I am biased, but I am not bull shitting when I say that those records should be held in the same regard as records by Zeppelin, Sabbath, Van Halen, and the fucking Beatles. Do what I tried to do on the 2003 epk, and remind people, as the stork gets ready to deliver the new record, what the Deftones are really all about.

I spent all last year documenting Van Halen, and made Alex Van Halen a fan of Abe's. And Alex hates virtually everybody.

[Martin]

Cool info.

On the Entertain Me thing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JjwxTTUK3Q

[goldpony]

cool info

[Hidalgo]

they need to release entertain me on blue-ray

[bloody_liver]

respect.

[wither-I]

respect.

[Penicks]

I have never seen a good official Deftones music video.

[skinnypuppy]

The DVD is great. I hope Andrew gets it out there one day. It really sucks how the band will support the DVD one minute, and not care another. The Label is crazy to not release it. Everyone knows Deftones have drama in their lives, so why not make a good film that shows some of it? It wasn't even that depressing of a film, jeez.

[cyppe101]

Good interview. He should direct their next vid fo sho..

[Hidalgo]

the best part of the interview is how ashamed he is of working with nickelback

[cyppe101]

the best part of the interview is how ashamed he is of working with nickelback

haha yeah

[lnkjuice]

Andrew is a really nice guy. Happy that you enjoyed the interview.

[pixElsblUr]

great interview man, thanks for sharing

[Nebontha]

the best part of the interview is how ashamed he is of working with nickelback

LMAO yes.  It also shows variety in his work.  He's worked with a mediocre band that's gotten waaaay too much attention (Nickelback), and an excellent band that has not got the attention it deserves (Deftones).
If that isn't something than I don't know what is.
I know a lot of you are going to shit on me for saying this, but Digital Bath is and may always be my favourite Deftones music video. Thank you Andrew Bennet for making it what it is.

[Far away]

best interview ever

[lnkjuice]

Btw, it's not DETNZ.net but DEFTNZ.net 

[Deftones86]

yeah i think entertain me would be good stuff, i cant believe it hasnt leaked yet...they should use that youtube channel and put some of their old school backstge videos and other stuff like that on there...and make them longer than 2 min...

[ponyx]

im still waiting fir the day this leaks gosh id kill to watch entertain me.

[skinnypuppy]

how much would you fuckers pay to see this?

[deftones86]

id pay the standard 20 bucks