Deftones is a band out of Sacremento, CA. Chino(then going by Wong), Stephen, and Chi knew each other from highschool, and they used to jam together. The original Deftones featured the three plus John Taylor, the first drummer. A few years after the band started, John Taylor quit and joined Prayer Wheel. The Deftones then auditioned for a new drummer. During their auditions, Abe from the band Phallucy filled in as their drummer. After a while, Abe quit Phallucy and joined the Deftones. And that's how they came to be.

"I've known both Abe and Stephen since i was 11 years old, but I didn't know them collectively. I knew Stephen from my neighbourhood and I knew Abe from school, which was out of my neighbourhood. I'd always communicate with them as friends but separately and when I introduced them , they automatically started playing together. When I was probably about 15 or 16, they were playing and they asked if I wanted to sing. I told them I coudn't sing, but they were like, 'Just do it, man, c'mon!' and i was like, 'Oh, okay'. "So, just for fun, we started playing and Stephen started writing all the songs and I'd write all the lyrics. They'd tell me what they wanted the songs to be about, but i didn't care, I was just happy to be in a band and playing. One day, somebody asked us to play a party, the barbecue that was our first gig. So I said to Stephen, 'If were gonna play a show, then whats the name of our band?' and he said, '.' I said, 'Okay' and I didn't think anything more about it- we played that show and we were just excited that we got to play at all.

"At our local club in Sacremento on Thursday nights, they used to have a system where you'd pay to play - you'd buy all these and then you could give them away or sell them. We bought about 200 tickets at a dollar each that you could sell for three dollars; we gave most away to our friends and sold the rest. We played the show and it was really cool, we were like 'Man this is fun!' People came and they liked the band!

"After that, we kept practising, not really playing too many shows, just practising and practising. Then we recorded a five song demo tape which we gave out - we didn't sell it or anything - and the club heard it and started giving us opening slots when bands came into twn. We didn't care we were just happy to be play and kept it at that."

"A couple of years went by like that and we found ourselves in the middle of the local band scene that was going on. Far were starting out back then, and it was cool. We just kept practising, playing shows and getting our stuff together. Then we started taking trips to San Francisco and getting on any show that we could play, but trying to space them out, trying to do one a month, so we weren't playing all the time. It was probably about three or four years after that we took our first trip down to LA. We were just so happy that we were out of Sacremento! It was so exiting to be there and we played a few shows too.

"At the third show we played, somebody had seen us and got a tape, and the next thing you know, there's a buzz about us and people are talking about signing us. We were like, 'No way!' I'd never even thought about that side of things, to me it was just fun to play shows and go to town. But Maverick got hold of the tape and they said that they wanted us to fly down to play for them in a little practice studio. We were like, 'Okay...'We had nothing to lose, you know? So not thinking too much of it, we went and did it, and after playing three songs, they asked to sign us. We did that and ever since then, it's been non-stop.

"After you get signed, it's almost like you start over from the begining again, you start trying to be recognised at another level. But it's been nothing but fun. We've always been playing and playing, doing all we can do to have a good time. And the minute I'm not having a good time, I won't be doing it!"

In the words of guitarist STEPHEN CARPENTER, the new album "is passionate, heavier--it has more feeling than ADRENALINE. It'll be just as destructive on your stereo." DEFTONES triumphantly staked out their own turf with the October 95 release of ADRENALINE, which sold over 200,000 copies and featured the nerve-shredding classic "7 Words." This success was fueled by 13 months of great touring success with the likes of Bad Brains, Korn, and White Zombie, a stint on the Warped Tour, three rounds of headlining U.S. tour dates, and a special appearance--performing the song "Teething"--as the house-band for a "Day of the Dead" festival in the The Crow: City of Angels motion picture. "Teething" was also featured on the film's soundtrack album, while another DEFTONES song, "Can't Even Breathe," emerged on the Escape From L.A. soundtrack album.

In a recent Guitar School story, writer David Grad described ADRENALINE as "DEFTONES' firestorm of noise, which blends a sensibility for drop-dead grooves with a passion for precision riffery. The ease with which the DEFTONES annihilate boundaries among their audiences is no doubt enhanced by the multi-ethnic makeup of the band." As CHINO explained, "We're two Mexicans, a Chinese and a white boy. Metal and punk don't have to be white, anymore than rap has to be black."

The band once again joined forces with co-producer Terry Date for AROUND THE FUR, which is undeniably DEFTONES in sound and structure and, like ADRENALINE, every song has its own distinct style and fury. "It's a lot like the last record in that I love every song for what it is," says STEPHEN. "Every song really is different from each other. They all have their own vibe, but there is a general vein to each, which is energy." And a lot of it. "I would just call it passionate; it's more about intensity than any actual style or genre," says bassist CHI CHENG when asked to describe their sound. Drummer ABE CUNNINGHAM further explains, "I'd say, Grandma, it's just crazy!'"

AROUND THE FUR opens with "My Own Summer (Shove It)," which instantly gets your attention like using a hand grenade for an alarm clock. The album then shifts and changes, expanding on the concept of pure musical energy enhanced with obscure, yet personal and grabbing lyrics.

Says STEPHEN, "I would call this record a progression, but not in the respect that it's better than the last one, it's just different. We've all matured a lot and communication is a lot clearer. I know what CHINO is going to do before he does it." "Yeah," adds CHINO, "this album just felt natural to us after all the touring."

This "natural" feeling, and the maturing sense of communication and trust, allowed CHINO to go lyrically where he had been apprehensive about venturing before. "On AROUND THE FUR I say a lot of things I've always wanted to," explains CHINO. "I've grown more confident where I can express more personal things, and even if the guys don't agree with it or understand what I'm saying, they know that I'm sincere and trust me to do my thing."

The straightforward sincerity of the lyrics entangled with the music makes them more compelling and relatable. In the album's title track, "Around the Fur," CHINO conveys his fascination with the dark and trashy side of the fashion, glamour and prostitution worlds. Says CHINO, "It's basically about being infatuated with the dirtiness of life. I'll do anything to try to get into it and understand it, because I want to see where everybody's coming from. I'm hoping that people don't take it as a sexual reference, because it's not about that at all." Another song that deals with similar issues is "MX," which conveys images of greed and high culture. For the song, CHINO really wanted a girl to trade off lines with him throughout the song, and the only one around at the time was ABE's wife Annalynn, who at first had adamantly refused. After much coercion, she finally gave in and provided a voice to contrast against CHINO's musings about his longing to "let me think about girls and money and new clothes," to which she finally responds "fucking rock star."

CHINO's desire for a female voice to appear on the album also gives insight to the inspirations for his melodic vocal stylings. "My vocals on this album was really influenced by female singers, really passionate ones like Polly Jean Harvey," he states. "Lately I've been more into that as opposed to the strictly hard-core style of singing. I just like the way that girls can make their voices sound, and I know I can't really do that, but I try to write in that way." This particularly comes across in a hypnotic song like "Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)."

Tour plans for DEFTONES? They plan to live on the road, bringing life to AROUND THE FUR and building their unique bond with their fans, whom they reward with shows that are transcendent and physically draining. One sold-out performance, at the Whisky in Los Angeles, had Sandy Masuo of the Los Angeles Times observing: "STEPHEN CARPENTER's guitar gouged into the groove one minute, then peeled out of it the next, boosting the undulating rhythms of songs such as Lifter' with relentless, repeating riffs. Singer CHINO MORENO hurled himself around the stage as he spewed his abstract lyrics through a startling assortment of vocal textures--from the primal keening of Root' to the tuneful crooning of One Weak,' some rapping, hair-raising howling and melodic mumbling."

It's that kind of passion and total commitment to their craft that makes DEFTONES stand apart. With AROUND THE FUR, they've delivered a work that will intrigue your mind, energize your body and touch your soul.

                                                

Back To school

So run
Right
Right back to school
Check it
Look back I sift through all the cliques
Roaming' the halls all year, making me sick
While everyone's out tryin to make the cut
What?
And when you think you know me right I switch it up
Behind the walls smokin' cigarettes and sippin' vodka
I profess to catch a cab, ain't no one can stop us
Give me a break about some other mess
What were you?
Act like it's everything you got
Push back the square
Now that you need her but you don't
So there you go
Cause back in school
We are the leaders of it all
Stop that, quit! - All that, quit!
Who ruined it? You did! Now grab a notebook and a pen
Start taking notes, I'm being everyone who's on the top
You think we're on the same page - but, oh we're not!
I'll be the man, watch your backpack and the pencils
Just like he now flippin it, why you just keep it simple?
You just can't go wrong rocking' the clothes
Coppin' the stance
'Cause really is everything that you got!
Push back the square
Now that you need her but you don't
So there you go!
Cause back in school
We are the leaders of it all
So
Transpose
Or stop your lies
It's what you do
Transpose
Or stop your lies
So run
So why don't you run, so why don't you run
So why don't you run back to school
So why don't you run, so why don't you run
All you are - Now I'm on the next page
All you are - It's time to close the book up
All you are - I'm on the next page
All you are - Close the book up now .



Change (In The House Of Flies)

I watched you change
Into a fly
I looked away
You were on fire.

And I watched a change in you
It's like you never had wings
Now you feel so alive
I've watched you change

I took you home
Set you on the glass
I pulled off your wings
Then I laughed

And I watched a change in you
It's like you never had wings
Now you feel so alive
I watched you change

It's like you never had wings

I look at the cross
And I look away
Give you the gun
Blow me away

And I watched a change in you
It's like you never had wings
now you feel so alive
I've watched you change
Now you feel alive
You feel alive
You feel alive
I've watched you change
It's like you never had wings
You change. You change. You change.