Deftones ‘Never Fit Into the Metal World,’ Frontman Chino Moreno Says
Deftones singer Chino Moreno remembered how the band "never fit into the metal world," especially in their early career, in portions of a joint interview with Chvrches' vocalist Lauren Mayberry shared Tuesday (Nov. 26).
The two musicians' chat followed on the fact that Deftones recruited Chvrches for their 2nd Annual Dia De Los Deftones event that occurred earlier this month. When announced this summer, the two somewhat different groups sharing a bill provoked a range of responses from both Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta and fellow festival act Gojira. More recently, the Deftones bandleader urged the Chvrches frontwoman not to sweat it.
"We dealt with the same thing, especially when we were coming up," Moreno told Mayberry in this week's Kerrang. "We never fit into the metal world. We could play shows with them, but we were never… whatever. I always thought it was kinda cool that we could dip and go into anything and make it work. That's added to our longevity as a band too, because we were never so one thing."
Longtime fans of Deftones know the outfit isn't one to rest on their musical laurels, and the alt-metal act has explored many different facets of the genre spectrum. As evidenced, the band's frontman discussed how time had furthered his keen instincts where non-metal music is concerned.
"Yeah, you box yourself in," Moreno added. "You shouldn't have to commit, especially at that age when there's so much stuff to explore. If you just follow one thing for too long you're not letting yourself experience it. In every genre there's good and bad. In any genre these days I could find something interesting — even in country music."
Responding to the creativity in Deftones' music, Mayberry told Moreno, "That was what excited me when I found your music. It had these two strains in it. It could appeal to people in that vein, but also to people outside of it, with different sensibilities. I learned to care about genre when I was a teenager. People would say, 'You can't listen to that.' And you'd think, 'I didn't know! No one told me!' I'm glad I found my way out of that, because I feel a sense of identity and community is important at that age, but it's a sad way to live."
Earlier this month, Deftones revealed they were finishing a new album they hope to release next year. Before that, the group gave live debuts to deep cuts "Smile" and "Gauze." Two weeks ago, Deftones and Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega appeared on Loudwire's video series Off the Record.
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