Deftones pictures, interviews, magazine scans.

[Starz]

i really like those reddish purple pants that chino wears. i want some i think

[defsteve]

Deftones dedicate BDO set to Chi

by CHRIS SCHULZ

It's been a long time since the Deftones performed in New Zealand - so long that singer Chino Moreno can't remember when they were last here.

"It's been quite a long time ... 2006? 2005? Was it 2003? Whew - that was a long time ago," says the front man for the Sacremento metal act in an interview with Stuff.co.nz.

If he sounds confused that's because many things have changed for Deftones since their last performance at the 2003 Big Day Out - the biggest being the band's line-up.

Yep, someone very important will be missing when Deftones hit the stage on Friday afternoon at the opening leg of the Big Day Out.

That man is Chi Cheng, the band's original bassist who remains in a coma after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash in 2008. He has been replaced by former Quicksand member Sergio Vega in the band's current line-up as they tour last year's acclaimed album Diamond Eyes.

Moreno - who is joined by guitarist Stef Carpenter, DJ Frank Delgado and drummer Abe Cunningham - says everything the band does is carried out with Cheng firmly in their thoughts.

"When this happened to him there was a chance we wouldn't have carried on as a band," he said.

"There's no bigger reason than doing this for Chi and fighting through this. We use it as a catalyst to keep going and to be friends and help each other through it."

They're hoping Cheng makes a full recovery - Moreno says Chi is stable and a new team of doctors are attempting "aggressive therapies" to bring him out of his coma -  but in the meantime the band believes it is playing some of the best and most "energetic" shows of their career.

"I think we're a lot more aggressive now since 2003. At that time we were going through a stage which was more lackadaisical on our part. We're a rejuvenated band. There's a lot of aggression going on.

"Our shows have been really great, we feel really good for what we've been through. ... We're excited to play and get back down there."

They'll mostly be playing new material from Diamond Eyes - including surefire moshpit winners Rocket Skates, You've Seen the Butcher and the album's brutal title track - but Moreno says they'll mix in some old stuff as well.

Recent setlists have included fan favourites like My Own Summer (Shove It) and Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) from 1997's breakthrough record Around the Fur, and tracks like Feiticeira and Change (In the House of Flies) from 2000's White Pony, an album that cemented the band's status as one of the world's most inventive metal acts.

We'll be playing a lot of everything, but a lot of new stuff as well. We're really excited about playing the new album, it was written as a live record. It has a very live feel to it and a lot of songs translate really well live."

But Moreno can't say if Maynard James Keenan - the Tool front man who will perform during the main stage closing slot later in the evening - will join them on stage for a live rendition of their song Passenger, from the 2000 album White Pony.

"We've played a lot of shows together before. He's very hit and miss on whether we're going to do it or not. I'd like to think there's a chance it could happen but I haven't talked to him so I don't know."

Deftones play the Orange Stage at the Big Day Out at 2.40pm on Friday.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/entertainment/4552621/Deftones-dedicate-BDO-set-to-Chi

[dawg]

found this in a random blog 

[UrZ*]

found this in a random blog 

omnomnom... so beautiful, must resist eating... O_o

[sing blue silver]

God I hope maynard gets up there for passenger but its unlikely. He's not as spontaneous as he once was, he'll want to save his voice and I don't even know if he could really do it anymore. It was very noticeable on the last APC tour his voice isnt as it once was. He even admits he can't do it like he used to anymore.

[Vesanic]

Kirk Hammett from Metallica showed up at the last Tool gig, right ? So I guess they're not afraid of " posing "...

But you never know...

Maynard did refuse to play Passenger in 2003 and 2006, God knows why. And yeah, his voice is definitely going down... He'd still do better than Chino, though.

[Vesanic]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10700715

Who: Deftones
Where and when: Big Day Out, Orange Stage, tomorrow, 2.40pm-3.30pm

Essential albums: Around the Fur (1997); White Pony (2000); Diamond Eyes (2010)


When Chino Moreno's bandmate Chi Cheng had a near-fatal car crash in 2008 it forced the Deftones' singer to take a long, hard look at himself.

He has battled alcohol and drug addiction throughout his career but his mate's accident - he's still recovering by the way - gave him "a new appreciation for life".

"When something like that happens you sit back and reflect and go, 'wow, any of this can go away at any moment'. So it really made us appreciate what we have [as a band]."

He says over the last 10 years the Californian metal act, who play a brand of beautifully heavy, all-consuming music, had become apathetic about their career. They had got to the stage where, thanks to albums like 1997's Around the Fur and 2000's excellent White Pony, they could "work when we wanted to work".

"Focus was something I was lacking for a long time, both with the music we make, my lifestyle in general, and my health, so since Chi's accident I feel personally my attitude has taken a 180 [degree turn]. I feel like I've prospered from that and I'm enjoying what we do even more. Physically and mentally I'm more energetic for the shows."

This new-found focus also helped the band come up with sixth album Diamond Eyes, which is their best since White Pony.

There is an uplifting and optimistic tone to the album yet it still retains that powerful, intense, almost suffocatingly heavy mood.

"With this batch of songs we really wanted to capture lightning in a bottle, and after what happened with Chi we got thrown into a whirlwind and emotionally everybody was going through it together," he says.

The most distinct feature of the Deftones' sound is Moreno's vocal style, that can go from a stoned whisper to a screaming shriek. He struggles to explain how he came up with it, but puts it down to chance and being into a wide range of music when he was growing up, from new wave and pop through to the brutality of metal.

"I always wanted to sing but I never knew how to, so I came up with my own thing I guess," he says. "And the more aggressive style comes from me just trying to be heard over the music [the band were playing]. So it was all learned by default and then it got to be what it is now where there are those dynamics."

And he's not just talking about vocal dynamic, but also the extremes within Deftones' music. "I honestly believe those waves of atmospheric sounds along with the really aggressive side makes our music stand out a little more from everything else out there. It makes us a little bit more heavy, and a little bit more beautiful."

[Hidalgo]

i couldn't care less if keenan does passenger. dude is a dickhead

[from_musings]

as long as he sings good, i think most people want him up there with chino on passanger. I think most people overlook that he is a dickhead in private / in interviews etc.Who cares about that,he's just gonna hit som melodies and then leave

[Hidalgo]

really the only album i'm crazy about that he ever did is mer de noms. 13th step was ehh solid, and i'm only mildly into tool. opiate is their best imo

[Vesanic]

dude is a dickhead

Talk about some argument, really.

[Hidalgo]

i'm just saying if he wants to be a pecker and refuse to do the song, that's fine by me. efff him

[Vesanic]

Deftones

[vinsanity]

Cascais, i used to live there =D

[jbmp1390]

i'm just saying if he wants to be a pecker and refuse to do the song, that's fine by me. efff him

word

[Vesanic]

DEFTONES NEW BASSIST SERGIO VEGA TALKS ABOUT FITTING IN

[deftjess]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Deftones-Big-Day-Out-2011-interview/tabid/551/articleID/195784/Default.aspx

Cool interview and mention of a new record coming

[the same sound]

“We still have yet to headline the States, which is kind of cool because our record has been out 8 months now. We’re going to finish that off, and we’ve actually already made plans to go in and start writing our new record.”
—    Chino Moreno on whats next for Deftones (Interview with David Farrier 25 Jan 2011)

Deftones talk about eventual new record and Big Day Out - Auckland, January 21st 2011

what.
like... a brand new record?!
even though it's pushing Eros back even more, i am extremely ecstatic!

have you guys seen the interview?

[ponyx]

Yes i just finished watching it. when i heard that i got ecsatic also hah.
Im just happy they arent going on hiatus. By then i'll have enough money  to see them on tour plenty times.

[Amoe38]

video please???