DEFTONES - Digital Bath

Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Chi Cheng (bass), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), and Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion). They have released six albums to date, with three Platinum (Adrenaline, White Pony, Around the Fur) and one Gold certification (Deftones). Their most recent studio album, Diamond Eyes, was released in spring of 2010.


Early years (1988–1993)

When Carpenter was 15 years old, he was hit by a car while skateboarding. Confined to a wheelchair for several months, he began teaching himself guitar by playing along to bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, and Metallica. Supposedly, the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but Cunningham commented in an interview that this was "a myth about how our band was started."

Carpenter, Moreno, and Cunningham went to the same high school. They were childhood friends and remained friends through the skateboarding scene in Sacramento. When Moreno found out Carpenter played guitar, he set up a jam session with Cunningham, and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage circa 1989. After playing with several bassists, the band settled on Chi Cheng and recorded a four track demo soon after. Within two years, the band began playing club shows and later expanded their playing territory to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where they played shows alongside bands such as Korn. While closing for another band in L.A., after the majority of the audience had left, the band impressed a Maverick Records representative. They were soon signed to the label after showcasing three of their songs for Freddy DeMann and Guy Oseary.

The name "Deftones" was created by Carpenter, who wanted to pick "something that would just stand out but you know, not be all cheese-ball at the same time."[10] Carpenter combined the hip hop slang term "def," which was used by artists such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy, with the suffix "-tones," which was a popular suffix among 1950s bands (e.g., Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, The Quin-Tones, The Monotones, The Cleftones, and The Harptones). Carpenter said the name is intentionally vague to reflect the band's tendency to not focus on just one style of music.
Musical style and influences

Though initially rooted in heavy metal, Deftones have always claimed diverse influences, with their musical style diversifying over their career. Their sound has been described as alternative metal, art rock, dream pop, experimental rock, nu metal, post-grunge, post-hardcore, progressive rock, drone rock, shoegaze metal or post-metal, psychedelic rock, and rap metal. Their B Sides & Rarities compilation includes cover songs from favorite artists, ranging from metal, hard rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and post-hardcore (Helmet and Jawbox), to gothic rock, art rock and new wave (Duran Duran, Cocteau Twins and The Cure), mainstream R&B (Sade Adu) and hip hop (a collaboration with B-Real of Cypress Hill).

Critic 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 metal movement [....] Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like D.C. hardcore and dream pop into their Northern California alt-metal."

Deftones have been cited as an influence by various bands, including the British bands Muse and Fightstar.

Moreno's lyrics were described by Time magazine as "suggesting emotions rather than announcing them."

Side projects

Deftones members have worked on several side projects, such as Carpenter's group Sol Invicto, which features Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill and Richie Londres of C.L.P. Carpenter has also worked with a group called Kush, featuring members of Fear Factory and Cypress Hill. Other side projects include Moreno's Team Sleep and Cunningam's Phallucy. Deftones's Frank Delgado is a member of a DJ group with DJ Crook of Team Sleep, DJ Julez, and Matt D called Decibel Devils. Chino has made a number of guest appearances on numerous younger groups' songs, such as "Bender" by Sevendust, "Paralytic" by Dead Poetic, "Vengeance Is Mine" by Droid, "Caviar" by Dance Gavin Dance, "Surrender Your Sons" by Norma Jean, and "Reprogrammed to Hate" by Whitechapel. In 2000, Cheng released a CD composed of his own spoken word poetry, called The Bamboo Parachute. Chino Moreno and Stephen Carpenter are featured on the song "If I Could" by Tech N9ne, which will be on Tech's upcoming album All 6's And 7's.


Current members

Stephen Carpenter – guitar
Chi Cheng – bass guitar, backing vocals
Abe Cunningham – drums
Frank Delgado – turntables, keyboards, samples