ON THE GOLDEN GODS BLACK CARPET: DEFTONES’ CHINO MORENO

Photo by Adam Haussman

One day I needed revenge on my sister so I stole her Misfits t-shirt and wore it to school, thereby making it impossible for her to ever be seen in it again. Sure I’d won control of the shirt (which was ugly as butthole), but I then saw the first signs that she was harboring a secret, evil command of the supernatural. Nothing else explains how that same day my Misfits tapes appeared unchanged but had somehow become Depeche Mode tapes. Wow, right? She’s practically Merlin.

Years later, her witchery also must have caused me to spend an entire summer afternoon on the pavement outside Club Quattro only to get The Mars Volta guys to sign a cd booklet to Emily. Who does that?! It was like 97 degrees out there! And in her latest feat of astral projection, she took possession of my senses at the exact moment that Deftones singer Chino Moreno said his goodbyes following our chat at the Golden Gods on Thursday. She’s mental for that guy and mega-gay for his band. That’s why, totally against my will, I yelped that I’ve knit him a snuggly sweater and that I find his skin sexy. Don’t worry, he already had turned away and didn’t hear me. But from then on Jerry Cantrell was winking at me all night. My Q&A with Moreno after the jump:

I had a chance to hear Diamond Eyes. It seems very streamlined. Is that what you guys set out to do?

I think so. Streamlined, focused, [those] are kinda the same thing. We’ve spent a lot of time messing around [when] making records. There’s something to be said for that too. It’s a fun way to do it. But it’s also really good to have everybody really focussed. Keep the songs really streamlined, you know what I mean? It sounds like it. I think it was the record we needed to make right now.

Will Eros see the light of day?

[Quickly] Yeah, it will. We haven’t really talked about when. We have it, there’s great stuff on there, and … it will. I don’t know when, but it will.

It was probably around White Pony that I read how Steph [Carpenter, guitars] instructed Abe to keep the drums simple, “just kick and snare.” Now, is that what Steph was told this time around, so to speak? It seems —

No, but you know what? I’ve heard a lot of comments like that. Actually, we did an interview yesterday where he admitted that yeah, he tried to keep the guitars really simple and straight-forward. Nobody told him that. No one really tells him what to do. He just kinda comes and plays and then it’s what comes out. Luckily, he came out and was in a really creative space and really inspired me and the guys to all come together and to be really creative.

And it’s got some of the best singing on any Deftones record.

Thanks man. I am excited about it.

Your personal playlist always interests me. What were you listening to during the creation of Diamond Eyes?

That’s hard to say. Honestly, a lot of different stuff. There really wasn’t one thing that was influencing what I was gonna do. Mainly, I listened to the music that the guys were making. That’s what I do. It’s the music I hear from them and am inspired by.

Get Diamond Eyes first thing on May 4.

— ADF