circus magazine 
december issue


Deftones 

chino moreno

    
“basically threre are just 2 diffrent feelings,   
love and hate.”

special interview by gabriella


 the deftones are a unique blend of music and one of
the reasons for it might be the fact that they all and
especially singer Chino Moreno are into a variety of
music. for them variety is the spice of there sound . 

“I always liked a lot of different music. some people
said im open minded and some said i have no musical
taste at all and listen to almost everything. i
couldnt care less, i guess it depends on how you want
to see things. for some people the glass is always
half empty while for somebody else it might be still
half full. personaly i think you cant have to many
influences, its great to be open minded. i dont want
to paint myself in to a corner and just have one
single musical influence.”

but even if he thinks alot of influences are important
for the deftones, when it comes to feelings are
concerned, for chino there are just two major
feelings, but he dosent just see it black and white,
he also realizes there alot of different shades of
gray in between.

“bacially there are just to different feelings , love
and hate . everything else , every other feeling is
somehow connected to one of them. Love and hate are
the two basic feelings and im capable to change from
one to the other really quick, like in a song.
sometimes i go through both moods in one song, not
just one spot a couple of times .”

Chino explains that he doesnt see himself has the
front man just because he is the singer,he rather sees
his voice as a fifth instrument of the band something
that blends and completes the song of the deftones.

“it’s really easy for a singer to destroy a great
song, that's why i dont like to see myself has a
singer but rather has a instrument with in the band ,
the fifth instrument in a great band.”

maybe that’s one of the reasons why, while he puts
alot of effort in the lyrics, the lyrics are something
that comes last when there writting songs. for him its
not the lyrics that are important, the feeling he gets
across is what really counts for him.

“ I want to express my feelings, I want to express
what I feel with out actually having to spell it out,
with out actually having to sing the words, I dont
want to use the words to express myself, I think the
music should express it all. i have always been a huge
cure fan especially when Robert Smith was really
abstract and cryptic, like in pornography , were the
lyrics were really cryptic but definetly intense and
everybody understood and felt what he was trying to
say.”

the deftones and korn are often counted to be in the
same genre and are labeled as the new californian
metal explosion, but chino sees it quite differently,
especially when it comes to the lyrics.

“ I think our lyrics are rather introverted and
sometimes really complex, alot of people describe
Jonathan davis this way but i dont think our lyrics
can be compared . the lyrics of korn are quite
different, for example if you hear jon singing about
something you know what he means, hes not talking
around something he's getting straight to the point
while i rather give you a feeling of what im trying to
say. I perfer using metaphors, and give you the
general feeling about what im trying to say it isn’t
necessarily something that has anything to do with my
real life, it isn’t necessarily nothing more than the
feeling that he’s to obvious and transparent. 

I like the way my lyrics are, there a bit different
but maybe that’s the reason why i like them its ok if
people don’t like the lyrics everybody should have
there own opnion about them.

“our albums have alot of different senario. you might
just feel real relaxed and then the mood changes and
shakes you up. it might be a bit uncomfortable
sometimes but at the same time there is a certain warm
feeling around  and it dosen't let you down and hugs
you. I think it's something really rare its certainly
not something you find all that often.”

Just like their lyrics, their sound is everything else
than obvious, it does take some time to get in to
there albums and find all the little tidbits and parts
who are almost hidden away, but who’re still
responsible for a lot of deftones magic. with the
deftones the beauty of a song is often not obvious and
only visable in between the lines. Chino gets right to
the point and sums it up with simple words. 

”we’re trying to be as decent as possible and as effective as
possible.”

the deftones singer doesn't quite understand that for
a lot of people everything has to be obvious and plain
and he seems to be rather fed up with having to
explain the role of frank delagdo .

“a lot of people keep on asking which role frank plays
in the band and why he’s in the deftones. They seem
not to be able to understand that you dont hear the Dj
straight away. We all work together and everybody in
the band is important but we dont need to please  out
egos with solos. “

Egos and commerce are certainly not something the
deftones place a lot of value in they even refused the
headlining spot at the prestigous family values tour.
something a lot of bands would kill for but for the
deftones other reasons were far more important.

“we really wouldnt have fitted in and it wouldnt have
been our thing. we thought about it but then decided
not to do it. it just seems to be such a big circus
and some many different bands, we wouldnt go on tour
with so why tour with them for family values? i think
there are to many things involved, too much politics
and to much money."