Deftones recently sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to discuss their highly anticipated 10th studio album Private Music, which just got announced yesterday. Deftones members Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, and Frank Delgado joined Lowe at the iconic Canter's Deli in Hollywood for an in-depth conversation about their latest work, personal growth, and memories of their late bassist, Chi Cheng.
Chino Moreno touched on the evolving Deftones audience, particularly the younger fans discovered while touring after the pandemic: "When we went on our first tour out of the pandemic, I started noticing a lot younger fan base as well as some of the old die hard fans and then it's even like the kids of our older fans, too. We'd do some meet-and-greets, there were a lot of parents and kids, I was like, 'Who showed who our music?' and it was pretty much split down the middle sometimes.
"Sometimes, it was the younger kids who showed their parents. And their parents heard of us, but probably never seen us, right? So they were bringing them, and then it was parents bringing their kids. It was kind of a cool thing."
Stephen Carpenter and Chino Moreno also delved into Deftones' unique creative process, which tends to focus on sounds rather than traditional songwriting structures.
"We're creating soundscapes, if you will, and there's just some things for me, my instinct and where I gravitate to always is hearing a chord ring out or palm muted stuff, that's what I'm really into," said Carpenter. "I'm at a place now where I'm more interested in putting in stuff that I'm unfamiliar with and trying to be more than just the power chord. But I still end up back there, that's the problem."
Moreno added: "It's funny though. I don't think this is something we'd be proud of specifically, but as a band, as I think as musicians and as a band, I feel like we're much more into making sound than we are writing songs. The sounds are what really inspire us. When we start making music, honestly. No one ever goes, oh, play. Let's go from this chord to this chord and this chord.
"It's the sound of a… For instance, we made White Pony. The only idea that we had in going into making that record is we were really, really into DJ Shadow at the time, and a lot of stuff like that. We just wanted drums. We were so into just drums and just low end sub bass, certain little things that we wanted out. Our record didn't turn out sounding like that- But this is what inspired us, right? The sound, not so much the song or a lyric or anything like that. All that stuff kind of comes secondary. So like I said, I don't know if that's something to be proud of but I feel like that's what really inspires us"
The late bassist Chi Cheng remains a powerful presence within the band, as Chino reflects on the impact of his passing: "That was kind of when everything got put in perspective, how lucky we are to have each other and to have the friendship that we had up to that point. And honestly, we still continue to have obviously, but I think about him all the time. We think about him all the time. There's not a day that goes by where when we're together, something happens and a Cheng story comes up."
"That's the one thing that he left us, that music. It's like, when you hear what he plays too, also unconventional. I think he was another sort of version of that within the band where, because he listened to only reggae and Taj Mahal and whatever, he didn't play bass like was expected to play over what Stephen was playing, and to the drums Abe was playing. And that's kind of what made it special."
On how the upcoming album's title, Private Music, Moreno added: "I mean the simplest answer for that would be that was a folder on my desktop while we were working on all these songs where I put stuff in. Obviously, I like the kind of exclusivity of the name, whatever it makes you feel very, I guess maybe restricted, maybe naughty, maybe has all these connotations, I guess to it, whatever. Very private in a way."
Joining Deftones' core lineup – Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, and Frank Delgado – is touring bassist Fred Sablan, who appears on the album. The record also reunites the band with producer Nick Raskulinecz, whose work on 2010's Diamond Eyes and 2012's Koi No Yokan helped define one of the group's most critically acclaimed creative eras. Private Music is:
- "My Mind Is a Mountain"
- "Locked Club"
- "Ecdysis"
- "Infinite Source"
- "Souvenir"
- "CXZ"
- "I Think About You All the Time"
- "Milk of the Madonna"
- "Cut Hands"
- "Metal Dream"
- "Departing the Body"
Pre-orders for Private Music are available here. You can also catch Deftones at one of their many tour dates below in support of the new record. Get your tickets here.
8/22 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
8/24 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
8/25 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
8/27 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
8/29 Minneapolis, MN Target Center (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
8/30 Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
9/1 Buffalo, NY Key Bank Center (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
9/3 Toronto, ON Rogers Stadium (w/ System Of A Down, Polyphia & Wisp)
9/5 Toronto, ON Rogers Stadium (w/ System Of A Down, Polyphia & Wisp)
9/7 Quebec City, QC Centre Videotron (w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians Of California)
9/8 Montreal, QC Bell Centre (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/10 Cleveland, OH Rocket Arena (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/11 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/13 St. Louis, MO Enterprise Center (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/15 Denver, CO Ball Arena (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/17 Kansas City, MO T-Mobile Center (w/ IDLES & The Barbarians Of California)
9/19 Atlanta, GA Shaky Knees
9/20 Louisville, KY Louder Than Life
10/3 Sacramento, CA Aftershock
