Deftones

Classmates Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham and Chino Moreno met up at C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento after school to practice skateboarding together. But it wasn't long before music became their main interest, and they began rehearsing regularly in Stephen Carpenter's garage in 1988. Carpenter, a heavy metal fan, played guitar, Abe Cunningham drums, and Chino Moreno, interested in both hardcore and new wave, became vocalist by necessity. Chi Cheng soon joins the band as bassist. The quartet thus formed played an increasing number of concerts, appearing in clubs as far afield as San Francisco. During one of these appearances, the band caught the attention of a representative from Maverick Records, who decided to sign them after an audition. Their first album, Adrenaline, was recorded in Seattle at the Bad Animals studio. Released in 1995, it initially struggled to find its audience, but word-of-mouth and a grueling promotional tour eventually paid off, selling nearly 200,000 copies. Its release benefited above all from the advent of nu-metal, a mix of metal and rap with which the band was, against its will, affiliated. For their second album, Around the Fur (1997), the musicians once again chose to record in Seattle. Two singles stand out from the album, "Be Quiet and Drive" and "My Own Summer (Shove It)" , which appeared on the soundtrack to the cult film Matrix. Both tracks played a major part in the success of the album, which reached number 29 on the Billboard 200. Its successor, White Pony, marked by the integration as a full member of keyboardist Frank Delgado, whose sonic ambiences brought a new coloring to the band's formula, did even better in 2000, taking third place on the American charts, with over a million copies sold. A few months later, the single "Elite" earned Deftones their first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. For their next album, initially called Lovers before being soberly christened Deftones, the musicians converted their rehearsal space into a fully-equipped recording studio in 2003. At the same time, Chino Moreno underwent vocal rehabilitation to repair the damage caused by his previous tour. With this album, the Sacramento band maintains its aura and its place in the Billboard charts at #2. For their next album, Saturday Night Wrist (2006), the band enlists the services of producer Bob Ezrin. The recording was marked by strong artistic tensions between the members. But these would be pushed into the background when, in 2008, the musicians had to face a tragedy: bassist Chi Cheng, victim of a violent car accident, survived but was plunged into a coma from which he would not emerge until May 2010. The musicians took numerous initiatives to support their partner's family financially. Over the next three years, the musician's condition alternated between signs of improvement and various infections. On April 13, 2013, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Meanwhile, Deftones releases Diamond Eyes (2010), supported by the title track of the same name, and Koi No Yokan (2012). Sergio Vega takes over bass duties and becomes an official member. Vega adds a six-string bass to the next album, Gore, released in 2016 after many postponements, allowing the band to explore new sonic avenues. Produced by Terry Date, the band's long-standing assistant, the follow-up album Ohms (No. 5) was released in 2020, featuring the title track and "Genesis". Five years later, the band reunited for the third time with producer Nick Raskulinecz for their 10th opus Private Music, featuring the singles "My Mind Is a Mountain" and "Milk of the Madonna".