Deftones pictures, interviews, magazine scans.

[luisch]

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/21/4836357/deftones-coming-to-town-with-stone.html

Deftones coming to town with Stone Temple Pilots, Bush
By Chris Macias
cmacias@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Sep. 21, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 5TICKET

Together for nearly a quarter century, after humble beginnings in a south Sacramento garage, Deftones couldn't be busier. The band already spent a chunk of August touring with System of a Down, and is on the verge of a hometown show Sunday at Discovery Park that's co-headlined by Stone Temple Pilots and Bush.

Once October hits, Deftones will rev up the tour bus for another round of gigs across the country.

All of this rocking is a prelude to Nov. 13 – the day Deftones release their seventh studio album, "Koi No Yokan."

"It's a Japanese phrase that loosely means 'love at first sight,' " said singer Chino Moreno, on the phone from a Southern California recording studio. "We didn't go into the studio with this certain ideal. It just kind of happened, possibly because we're in a good place in our lives. It's a very optimistic sort of feeling."

Those sunny feelings follow the most harrowing times in Deftones' career, an otherwise successful run that has included a Grammy Award and the platinum-selling album "White Pony." Bassist Chi Cheng was nearly killed in a 2008 car accident and has remained in a coma ever since. The band soldiered on with help from former Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega and entered one of its most productive phases, both as a touring and recording band.

While Deftones were once fairly notorious for taking their sweet time in the studio, "Koi No Yokan" will arrive just two years after 2010's "Diamond Eyes."

"I've said it before, but if it wasn't for (Vega), I don't think we would've continued after Chi's accident," Moreno said. "Writing with him is awesome. He's a very enthusiastic person, and having new blood come in really psyches everyone up again. He's a great dude who motivates us, and we have a lot of respect for him."

Back in Sacramento, on a sweltering afternoon, drummer Abe Cunningham navigated his black Cadillac toward the new Zocalo restaurant in Roseville. Along with DJ Frank Delgado, Cunningham's the remaining Deftones member who lives in Sacramento. Moreno and guitarist Stephen Carpenter have lived in Southern California for years, while Vega calls New York home when he's not on Deftones duty.

Cunningham turns up the volume on his car stereo, which quickly fills with chunky guitar rhythms and Moreno's ethereal vocals. These are the nearly finished mixes of "Koi No Yokan," which even in their preliminary state sound especially full and dynamic.

"Check this one out – it's kind of like Pink Floyd," Cunningham said about one track with a spacey intro.

The new songs have such names as "Rosemary," "Dazzle" and "Swerve City," though some are working titles and could change by the time the album is released. The hallmark Deftones sounds are all there, magnified, even: a mix of beauty and guitar-and-drum bombast, keyboard and turntable soundscapes, all punctuated with Moreno's patented screams. They're songs that'll bang your head, and then soothe any neck pain via Moreno's vocal melodies and other dreamy textures.

"We've just been on a stride lately with the last record and this one," Cunningham said. "We've been maximizing our time. I think this is some of the best music we've ever done. Everyone always says that, but it's the truth. We have a respect for what we're able to do, and it feels great. There's still the craving to want to do it, and we have a blast."

Moreno also feels stoked about the new batch of songs. Deftones always has been heavy enough for hard-rock radio, but with enough twists and a diversity of influences to set the band apart from the typical head-banging hordes.

"We never go in with a preconceived idea of what record we're going to make," Moreno said. "We look at it like capturing three months of our lives together, and this is what it is. One word that always comes back is 'dynamic.' There's a lot of different moods, and I think people are really going to enjoy it."

The band might preview a couple new songs at Sunday's show but will likely focus on the back catalog that made Deftones one of the biggest acts to break from Sacramento. Though Moreno's a Southern California guy now, his heart remains in Sacramento – the city where Deftones got their start and then took on the world.

"That's my city," Moreno said. "I miss my buddies and my family in Sacto, and I get back pretty often. We were out with System of a Down getting our feet wet, and we are jazzed up to play."

[DeftonesNZ]

Thanks for posting that although I did lose a bit of respect for Chino after he said Jazzed lol.

[M1GHTY M4VS]

Umm Pink Floyd Vibe, I get the feeling long intros with slight guitar and frank effects, that lead into the songs and switches the mood in transitions, might give them more breath for the live performances especially as they're going from early 40s to their 50s now and Serge beeing a Silver Lion soon lol.
Jazzed, well Jazz isn't bad music, there's a lot of shabby nonsense nowadays so staying classical to musical elements is good better if they just use how music was intended with fresh elements instead of this horrorfying Dubstep and Drumcomputed stuff that many have put to either rmx's of deftones or those shitty bands that must extend to these crap officially just because they fail to be good enough to do it by hand live namingly Slipknot that has headlined deftones (such an insult) recently.

[deftones86]

^haha this dude cracks me up thought chino was listening to jazz. and deftones are still in their 30's. stef might be 40 something sergio too

[deftoolsys07]

^haha this dude cracks me up thought chino was listening to jazz. and deftones are still in their 30's. stef might be 40 something sergio too

Just leave him alone, he'll get it someday..

[M1GHTY M4VS]

Chino and Abe born in '73, Stef, Chi and Frank born in '70 Vega is unspecified but I think he's the oldest of them all lol, that leads most of them at the Age of 42 now, then butter in those chitchat about Chino's Wheight, ignoring Stef's absolute Adonis Type of Human Body, dude's a Gladiator on Guitar still but soon he'll be a doctore type wipping out the best he can but seriously thought about how he'll look if he greys, like an icon as Bud Spencer, still favourite among a billion people

[lithium]

Quick search on twitter
http://instagram.com/p/P53tqtOAAx/
https://mobile.twitter.com/rachelontheweb/status/249716381208166402?photo=1
http://instagram.com/p/P5y5_PIhm1/
http://instagram.com/p/P5ykszsL3s/
http://instagram.com/p/P54AH2ljWD/
http://instagram.com/p/P52PwTr0nG/

[976-EVIL]

Gotta love Detones !!!

[M1GHTY M4VS]

The font feels pretty DE but at the same time it feels great for these huge amphitheatre as it looks good from about any angle. Doesn't beat the curtain intro but still looks awesome with their very good light fx they have around for a decade.

[iceache]

It's just the SNW font bolded.. Which I suppose is the same as the DE font lol

[bewareofrats]

I like the SNW font better... but that might just be because I like SNW more.

[dictatesofreason]

yeah the SNW imagery was pretty spacey i liked it

[from_musings]

chino talked a bit patronizing about video suggestions like "in a post apocalyptic world ..." his attitude was a little "man, take that shit elsewhere". fair enough.he didnt like that suggestion.but the suggestions to fly around in space in a space pod and sing and dance on a skyscraper among breakdancers were ok? he was funny in that interview, but i still cannot wrap my head around what they think is silly and not when it comes to videos

[DeftonesNZ]

chino talked a bit patronizing about video suggestions like "in a post apocalyptic world ..." his attitude was a little "man, take that shit elsewhere". fair enough.he didnt like that suggestion.but the suggestions to fly around in space in a space pod and sing and dance on a skyscraper among breakdancers were ok? he was funny in that interview, but i still cannot wrap my head around what they think is silly and not when it comes to videos

Yea in an other interview i saw the guys were talking about how much they hate doing videos and its more a thing of keep the record company happy but if they have to do it they should get that Andrew Bennett guy back his videos suit their style quite well no cheesy CGI or break dancing, But I can imagine what's its like with that type of music ,directors would want to make an epic 30 seconds to mars style video were I think the guys would want it simple with more focus on the music.

[tarkil]

Talking about post apocalyptic, this interview really had me questioning the guys taste too !!

The white pony EPK is one of the best videos they had, compared to all the shitty Hole in the Earth, Mein, etc.
I really don't understand why they wouldn't want more things in this vein compared to random gay videos...

[DeftonesNZ]

Talking about post apocalyptic, this interview really had me questioning the guys taste too !!

The white pony EPK is one of the best videos they had, compared to all the shitty Hole in the Earth, Mein, etc.
I really don't understand why they wouldn't want more things in this vein compared to random gay videos...

Fuck yes I love that epk but I guess their talking about the real cheesy sort of stuff or maybe they just want something new either way i would love more like that epk it fit so well, I don't know but im guessing they get alot of people gibing them the same stuff like well film at a castle or some shit. Id loved to see more stuff like Andrews unused Hexagram video.

[downtownpony]

The white pony EPK is one of the best videos they had

Yes it is. It's usually a deal breaker when trying to get someone into the deftones.
Generally though I prefer more simple videos like BQAD and Minerva; they show the deftones  jamming in a cool environment without a bunch of weird shit going on.

[M1GHTY M4VS]

they show the deftones  jamming in a cool environment without a bunch of weird shit going on.

umm they thought the same about Mein lol

[glassdomino]

umm they thought the same about Mein lol

hahaha

[normsteez]

Deftones Fuel New Album WIth Confidence Boost
Group talk System of a Down tour, cover songs

Chino Moreno of Deftones

By Steve Baltin
September 24, 2012 12:50 PM ET

In 2010, Sacramento, California quintet the Deftones released Diamond Eyes. Coming two years after the car accident that put bassist Chi Cheng in a coma, the album became the band's highest-charting record in a dozen years, debuting at number six and scoring some of the best reviews of the group's 20-plus-year career.

Sitting in a spacious lounge downstairs at the Burbank, California offices of their label, Warner Bros., frontman Chino Moreno tells Rolling Stone the success of that album was a big boost for the band when it came time to make their new work, Koi No Yokan.

"Because we got through making that record, it was so well received and we loved it, it was a confidence-builder [for] all of us as a band," Moreno says. "So when we went in to make this record, I think we carried a lot of that over with us. There was no doubt."

Moreno gives a huge amount of credit to bassist Sergio Vega, who joined the band for some shows prior to Diamond Eyes. "When he came in, he was excited. And that shit fuels the hell out of me, and I know the rest of the guys," he says. "It's definitely kicked some life into this whole thing, and we really appreciate him for that. If it hadn't been for Sergio as a person, and as the bass player he is, I don't foresee us sitting here right now talking about a Deftones record. He totally invigorated the whole thing, and still continues to every day."

Vega's enthusiasm is on display as he talks about continuing the creative momentum from the last album. "Diamond Eyes was capturing lightning in a bottle. We had just come together, had a lot of constraints in terms of time, so we're just banging things out," he recalls. "This time we had a little more chance to experiment and just play."

The result is a widely shifting sonic journey that traverses heavy atmosphere and jarring riffs. But Moreno still views the album as a complete piece. "It's not like every song is so different that if you hear one song, then you hear the next one and you're like, 'What is this?'" he says. "It feels like a cohesive piece of work."

Diamond Eyes was an eye-opener for the band in terms of how they approach songwriting, and they followed that same technique again. "It was the catalyst for us figuring out it's not like pulling teeth to make music," says Moreno. "A couple records before that we were really in that mode, where writing songs started to become hard. Where Diamond Eyes, the way that we actually worked, it was a real communal effort, where everybody was in the room at one time and we just played off each other."

It was such a relaxed process for the group that they came out with extra songs written, something Moreno says almost never happens. Even with the added material, the quintet will be recording covers, as has become their trademark. If Moreno knows what songs they'll be doing, he's not telling. But he does say the band might move out of their comfort zone for a few songs.

"I think people expect us to do Eighties shit, [but] I'm a big fan of music from the Forties and Fifties, just standard-ish type of things, so we talked about doing something in that thing," he says. Seventies, too:  "I was listening to this group Malo, which is sort of a Santana-ish type of thing. There's a lot of jamming and solos in there, which is something we don't do too much."

The band kicks off a tour October 9th in Ventura, California with opening act Scars on Broadway, which features System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian. The Deftones and Malakian toured together earlier this year when System and the Deftones paired up.

"Just to tour with System was a really cool thing," says Moreno. "They came out around the same time we did and they, like us, never really fit into the mold of what we got thrown into. We were considered a nu-metal band – we still probably are by a lot of people. And I think people say the same thing about System of a Down, but as an outsider I feel they are completely their own entity. And I hope we could be the same way. Daron's awesome, I like Scars just as well. It's an awesome fit."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/deftones-fuel-new-album-with-confidence-boost-20120924#ixzz27PPuoOqD