:: My Interview with Chino -1/13/00 ::
Conducted while he was in the studio working on "White Pony"
About half these qustions are mine / half from other fans


Ok, firstoff, what's the sound of the new album?
Um, just sonically fuckin out there, really. It's reallly really spacey. I'd say, it sounds like there's a lot of shit going on, it's not just a straight riff-heavy record with chunky shit in it. It's a lot of audio beauty.

Is that partly because of DJ Frank's extra involvement?
A lot of it's Frank, a lot of it's vocals, a lot more layered vocals, and me doing a lot of different sounds with my voice, and along with some of my guitar playing, obviously my sound is different from Stephen's sound, so that kinda fills up another void that we never really had before, so it's very interesting.

Speaking of that, now that you do play guitar in the band, how much input do you have in the song writing?
It varies with each record, on this one, me and Stephen probably half and half. You know his stuff is a lot different than my stuff, so even if Stef does write one whole thing, well, it obviously changes up when either he or I get involved in it.

I heard you also put some Team Sleep (Chino's side project) riffs into this record?
Yeah actually I just finished up a song that I originally had for Team Sleep, we just did it the other day, and it came out really good, so we're gonna end up putting it on the record.

Why White Pony? What's that all about?
Really it's just a name I like, you know what I mean? At first i wanted to name it "One-Trick Pony" but there's a Paul Simon record already called that. So I kinda lost that idea, and "White Pony" gives off the same vibe. It was coming up a lot, and I liked it so I brought it to the band and everybody else liked it, so we just stuck with it. It's kind of the theme, even though there's nothing behind it.

Do you think the Intro to Be Quiet and Drive is gonna be on the new album? The one you guys played at Ozzfest?
That, yeah that's actually 'Pink Maggot' it's gonna be the last song on the record. It's a pretty neat song. Yeah there's actually vocals to that, then it goes into a whole other part of the song. The quiet stuff, then it goes heavy, and it's a song thats basically just a high school anthem. More or less kind of just, being the fuckin leader, and just being quit fuckin complaining that you get picked on and shit, cuz you are the shit, and just go do that shit, you know? It's pretty dope, it's a pretty positive, but just interesting song.

How did you get involved with Maynard from Tool?
We've been friends for a few years, and we just started working, came down here to LA, and started writing some songs. He was coming around just about every day, just hanging out, singing some stuff with me, and shit started coming out pretty good. He's coming down this week and we're gonna try and lay something down, ya know, who knows what's gonna happen. It's basically just for fun, to fuck around. It's always good to get somebody else's input on songs, I could have a completely different idea than he has, and he'll just come in and do something completely differrent. I think bringing that together could be really interesting.

A lot of people are wondering if Deftones and Tool are gonna tour together
Um, I don't know, we talked about it, just Maynard and I, so I don't know. I think it'd be nice, it probably won't happen for a while anyways cuz I don't think their record will be out for a while. And they're not gonna tour until their record comes out, so...

You said that the movie "The Outsiders" was an influence on the new album, how so?
Just a lot of the vibe of it, the rebellion, just being out there and doing shit, making moves, and experiencing shit, not just like, sitting in a corner crying. That feeling like, the whole world is against me, or the whole world's against anyone, it's just like, just go out there and, just do it. Didn't mean to quote Nike like that but, you know.

Are there any other influences prevelant on the new album?
There's a lot of different influences man. A lot of the stuff, the angle of writing I've got from Nick Cave, which I've been listening to a lot. It's a lot of murder ballads, a lot of the songs have a lot of violent imagery in them, but they're real sneaky, real caniving. I dig it. A lot of storytelling.

Deftones have a lot of dedicated fans - was there any event that made you realize that you're a role model for so many people?
Um, I guess so, I get a lot of letters and stuff, and read a lot of things that people say. It's good to know that there are people out there who have complicated lives, and say our music has helped them a lot. But I'm not trying be that person that's out there trying to help. Not that I'm trying to not help, but I don't want to be a spokesperson at all. I just like the music I make, and if people dig it, that's fresh. I realize that when I get people's reactions like that it's pretty intense.

What are some bands you've been listening to right now?
Today I went to the record store and I bought DMX, which, I don't know, I just fuckin love it. That's one of the angriest mother-fuckers in hip-hop. Anybody with thauch emotion, I just dig it, no matter what kind of music it is. Whether it be mad or sad or whatever. I dig somebody who can just let loose and just put-out like that. Umm, I got that, I got some Mike Patton noise shit, that guy can do the illest shit with his voice. I got some old 80's shit, some Book of Love, and some old Cure. I don't know there's just a lot of shit I've been listening to.

Do you think Weezer's ever gonna come out with a new album?
I hope. We have the same accountant as them, and I was in the office the other day and I was asking him, he thinks maybe they will this year or something.

Do you have any favorite movies?
Umm I got a lot of favorite movies, but lately? I've been watchin Rumblefish, which I dig, which is another one of those "Outsider" type of flicks, a lot of the same actors.

What can we expect on the Deftones home video?
Umm well whenever we get it started. Well for one, we're gonna put the video for Around the Fur, we filmed it in Japan but we never let it out. We're actually gonna put a couple snippets of that up on our website in the next couple weeks.

How did that video (Around the Fur) come out?
I think it came out really cool.
Kind of anti-MTV?
Well, not anti-MTV, but I don't think MTV would ever play it cuz it's got some shit that couldn't be played on MTV, a lot of nudity and shit like that.

What was your first gig like?
It was in a backyard, at a party, actually I think it was one of Sonny's (my cousin) party's we sucked so bad. It was hard to play cuz nobody knew who we were, and we were playing to a lot of other musicians from Sacramento, a lot of bands that I grew up listening to, like Phallucy, FMK. So we were playing in front of all these people who were probably looking at us like, "What the fuck are you doing?" But you know I guess everybody has to start that way.

What do you like about Sacramento? Why do you stay here?
It's kind of a humble place, you know I've been known to get crazy do ill shit, but I think it keeps me grounded to be there. I got my family there so I have no desire to move to any big city. I think Sacramento has a lot to offer musically, there's a lot of good shit going on there, I dig it. I got a lot of good friends there, and like I said, I don't have any desire to go anywhere really. I've been everywhere in the world, and basically everything's the same, as far as people. There's assholes everywhere, and there's nice people everywhere. I'm pretty comfortable with the friends I have there, I really don't need any more, I'm not like anti-social, but I just kinda dig it, it's quiet, and I like it.

There's some rumors that you're gonna be doing som collaborations with Tony Iommi, Snot, and Cypress Hill, are any of those coming through?
Um, I talked to B-Real the other day, from Cypress Hill, he came down to the studio. I have this one song that DJ Kirk did, it's like, a really good beat, hip-hop style shit, and I figured since I don't really rap anymore, that if I do anything rap oriented, I'll just do a straight hip-hop song. And the beat is really good, so I think him and I are gonna work on it next week. I doubt it'll be on the record, cuz I think it's just kind of silly to throw a hip-hop song on the record considering it wouldn't really fit with it. I love hip-hop and I like listening to it, but I'm just not too into doing it, but I think if I do it with somebody I like, like B-Real, i've always dug his voice and his style, so I think it just might be fun to fuck with.
The Snot thing, they keep asking me to do that and I keep putting it off, cuz I don't really have time to do it. Lynn was a friend of mine though and I think it'd be cool to pay respect and to do it.
And the Tony Iommi thing I already did, which was really cool. I play guitar on it and it's pretty evil, it's one of those really slow kind of Sabbathy type songs, with some pretty angelic vocals in there. I think it'll be pretty cool, I finished it, but I haven't heard the final thing yet. It should come out good.

What would you be doing if you weren't in a band?
Something that has to do with music, I don't know. Whether it be working at a record store or whatever. Just be around music probably, working in a studio, doing something, I jus love to be around music.

What is a song like Fireal about?
There's a lot of shit in that song, a lot of different things. I wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody and say what it meant to me. I got a letter from this girl, and read this one on the internet, and it was a pretty intense letter. This girl was being molested or something like that and the song I guess got her through a lot of shit, and cliche' as it sounds, I would just like to leave it up to whatever anybody wants to think about it.

Is anything ever gonna happen with Crenshaw or Bumble D.? (Around the Fur outtakes)
Um, I highly doubt it. Crenshaw was actually a song that I really liked, I wouldn't mind putting it out. But some movie wanted it, some fucked up movie.
Bride of Chucky?
Yeah, and I didn't want to have anything to do with that shit. I guess if something cool comes around and somebody wants it, we'll put it out, or maybe just put it out for the fans or something. But I don't think we'll be releasing it on our own. And Bumble D. I never did vocals for, and I probably won't.
Yeah I've only heard it live
I dont think we ever played it live
Yeah that Sacto Cattle Club show, May '97
That's right, maybe we did, I don't even fuckin remember, I probably just made lyrics up as I went along.

Any prospects for Deftones in the year 2000?
I just want to put out the baddest fucking record and I know right now, as I finish every song, it's getting better and more out there, and more than anything, I know it's a records that nobody's expecting, and in a way that can be scary, cuz I don't want to alienate anybody being too self-indulgent on the record. More than anything is just to do this record, have fun, make the songs I want to make, but at the same time I don't want to get too self-indulged and alienate the fans that we already have. I'll be a lot more comfortable when the record is just done, take a deep breath and for better or for worse, it's just done, and I feel good about it.

Well thanks a lot for doing this, I appreciate it
No problem, oh yeah and for all the titles, we've released for the new songs, those are all working titles. Most of the songs are all different, they've changed, so if people wanna keep talking about that, just slow down cuz it's all wrong.