My Own Summer (shove it)
. When asked what inspired a song that includes lyrics like “see I try to look up to the sky but my eyes burn come shove the sun aside,” MORENO offered, “I’d be in the studio recording all night. I’d try to sleep during the day and I couldn’t because of all the light. I ended up putting tin foil over all the windows.”
Lhabia
Another secret I found when I was talking to Chino is that this song was to be called ‘Labia’ wich is a female genital area. And Abe actually was the one who gave this first name to the song, but Chino didn’t like it at all, because of its meaning and changed it to ‘Lhabia’ – with a H after the L. He also told me that they just played it once, and the strange reason is that it sounded really good…strange han!?!
Mascara
. Chino’s favorite song on ATF is Mascara. At the Deftones Live at SIR Rehearsal Hall, just before they play Mascara, Chino tells the crowd that he called a friend up and his friend had heard the new record (When Around the fur came out) and his friend said “your new album is the shit but there is one song that is just “sorry”” and Chino was like “which one is that” and his friend said “track number 3”. Then Chino was like “that’s fucked up. That my favorite song on the record” (thanks to Gio / Engine no.9)
. Here’s what Chino had to say about the woman he talks about in ‘Mascara’:
Chino: “It’s about my wife.”
. While I was with Chi (on my meeting with the band) I asked him what was he saying on the Bizarre Festival’98 about Robert Smith and ‘Mascara’, and he answered me ‘oh yeah, I said that he wanted to play ‘Mascara’ with us’. So there you go, Robert Smith from the Cure was about to play this song on the Bizarre Festival’98 with the Deftones, but for some reason that didn’t happen.
. On “Mascara” right before the first verse and before the drums start, it sounds like a door opens…
I guess it is Stef’s distortion but it sure looks like someone’s opening the goddamn door! (thanks to WiCkeDkrON)
Rickets
. The word Rickets is (dictionary definition) a disease of childhood, characterized by softening of the bones as a result of inadequate intake of vitamin D and insufficient exposure to sunlight. (thanks to Lucy D)
. On the final chorus of this song, just as it is beginning, In between the times of 2′:20” and 2′:25” you can almost hear what sounds like a phone ringing. You can also associate this noise to the one you hear when you sign onto the internet (modem or fax noise). (thanks to Nate, Danny and Chisus)
Be Quiet and Drive (far away)
. Here’s a cool chat between my friend Matt (DeadAtTheKoolAidParty) and DJ Crook (crookone):
DeadAtTheKoolAidParty – whats shakin, crook? heres a little technical question for ya… at the end of the be quiet and drive (acoustic remix) theres a very distinct, recurring metallic sound… it sounds like something is hitting a piece of metal repeatedly… i always presumed it was you creating that sound (it didnt really sound like an electric guitar with a pedal… plus its an acoustic song, so why should there be an electric guitar?) anyways, im pretty sure the same metallic sound is heard at the end of rx queen… i was presuming that it was frank doing it… so did you teach frank how to create that sound? am i wrong and thats a guitar? or did frank just bite off you?! lol… i hope you can understand what im askin…peace! -matt
crookone- -the ‘metallic’ sound at the end is actually a really fast drum sample and its chopped up and slowed down to match the tempo of the song. and it came out sounding kinda cool. -oh and for the record no sounds i used in the BQAD remix were used in Kool Aid. -and nah frank didnt bite nothin’ hes got his own method of doing things that he does quite well. later,(R()()K()NE
crookone- -thats correct.the story behind the remix is that chino and jonah did the guitar and singing over a ‘casio’ type beat that i believe jonah made. and all this was recorded on a 4 track cassette. -they mailed me the cassette and i added the ‘kick’ and ‘rimshot’, some horn samples and the ‘metallicy’ sounding beat at the end. -this was all done ‘bedrooom’ style on our respective 4 track machines. and it came out sounding real good considering i didnt have any effects at the time and everything was mono. later,(R()()K()NE
. Stephen uses 2 different guitars in the video. It’s quite obvious. He uses his standard ESP horizon signature model and he also uses a black ESP viper. (thanks to jorge “mos_shark”)
. Sometimes when they play it live, Chino sings at the beginning this “I’m taking a ride with my best friend, and I hope she never lets me down again, I’m Taking a ride with my best friend, taking me where I want to be” This is a verse from “Never let me down again” of Depeche Mode. (thanks to Rolando “Rizos”)
. You can see a shot of Chino’s belt in the “BQAD” video. It goes by very quickly though, like most of the video. It’s towards the end when he’s about to yell “I don’t care where just far”. You can check the star that Chino has on his belt, it’s something like the one they use in their White Pony flag. |here| (thanks to Abby Diaz)
. Sometimes when they play “Be Quiet and Drive”, Chino starts with some verses like “Long goes the night…longer the day…”. Chino took these verses of PJ Harvey’s “Teclo”. This song is track #5 of her album called “To Bring You My Love”.
. I don’t know if it was a mistake but at the very end of “BQAD” Chino sings “I don’t care just where far…” instead of what he was singing till then, that was: “I don’t care where just far…” (runtime=4’52”). This is when the music starts to fade out, he just changes the order of the word just/where. (thanks to Noznisky)
. Chino didn’t like “BQAD” video at all, here’s his comments:
Chino: “I like to make videos because I like to see visuals to our music, but the last video was just what our record label thought what was MTV wanted to see, and I will never ever ever do that again. Our label is really cool, they don’t really tell us to do anything, but this last video we made they finally asked a favor of us, and it was a really one sided version of what we are all about. It was all this artsy, gay shit, and I’m not really into that. I’m more into the harsh, brash parts of life that are just reality. I’m about to make a video myself and direct it for a song called “Around the Fur” it’ll be just crazy, and MTV I’m sure won’t play it because you can’t show that kind of stuff on TV.”
This ATF video that Chino’s talking about was already shot, but just a few saw it. It has some nude scenes and some even say that Stef’s d#ck is showed there. It’s rumored that it will came out with the Deftones Home video this year.
. On the “BQAD” video seconds after it ends (when Chino is with his arms wide open), if you look closely you can see a bird coming from nowhere flying above Chino’s head. See a pic of that |here|
. Right after the drums start (runtime=22″) it sounds that you’re in a haunted house and someone opened a very rusty door. And right before Chino starts singing there’s this very faint sound of like ghosts screaming in the background. It’s not very loud, so you gotta catch it. It’s right when the song hits 45 and 46 seconds. You wont hear it at first but just listen to those seconds a couple of times and you’ll hear it. (thanks to Abigail Diaz)
But all that is Chino breathing in, you can hear several time through out the song mostly before verses. Chino always uses a highly sensitive mic that picks up every little sound he makes.
. I thought that during the ‘Be Quiet and Drive’ video, Chi Cheng wasn’t playing the right notes. I thought he was just banging his bass. But the true reason for that is that on some parts of the song (more on the pre-chorus) he doesn’t have to even pluck a string because it’s not played on any frets. You can just hit the bass and it will be the right note. It happens more on that big ‘Away’ Chino says between 2’30” and 2’37”. (thanks to Autopsy17)
Lotion
. Till the White Pony’s release, Lotion’s riff was Stef’s favorite…
Stef: “Well, I like’em all, but if I have to pick one, then ‘Lotion’. I love playing it. It’s just totally heavy and so simple.”
. Here’s what Chino had to say when he was asked if there was any particular person he was referring to in “Lotion”:
Chino: “Yes, there is… there’s a certain person that I can’t really tell… a person who fucked with me. It’s not about a girl though… it can be about anyone.” (loudside.com)
. I was watching a video of Deftones playing at the Bizarre Festival in 1998. And when they played “Lotion” the weirdness began. First of all it was raining cats and dogs, Chino was wet from head to feet. Then during the song Chino jumped to the bars near to the crowd, but right on the 1st second some guy pulled Chino’s mic and started to scream “ahhhahh”, then a bodyguard punched the drunken guy on the head and Chino was able to sing again. But it was not over, cause Chino climbed the bars and started the chorus “I feel sick…” but another crazy guy started to tear up Chino’s shirt as if it was a souvenir or something, he was wearing a shirt like this |here|…but Chino didn’t like it at all, cause after the souvenirs man tore up his shirt, Chino almost punched him, but he didn’t reach his face. But that guy was such a pain in the ass, cause after Chino’s advice he started to pull another piece of Chino’s shirt. Chino was furious… it was “It’s classical anyways…” time and after Chino sing that, he bended over this annoying guy and screamed “WHAT THE FUCK!!” And after that the stupid fan stopped to make shit like that. Before the end of “Lotion”, Chino stood still on the pit looking at his wrecked shirt and singing “I feel sick right here, I feel sick right here…” Then on the end of “Lotion” Chino climbed to the stage again and tore up the rest of his shirt and sang “Bored”.
Dai The Flu
. Between 4:06 and 4:23, when Chino is screaming. Right when he screams; it sounds like he’s 4:23, when Chino is screaming. Right when he screams; it sounds like he’s spitting, but it sorta makes a “fart noise”. It sounds like this “fart” when Chino screams the word “What”…”…a surprise” (which I thought was quiteWhat”…”…a surprise” (which I thought was quite humorous). (thanks to Brandon Capps)
. Here’s Stef’s secret about his guitar on “Dai the Flu”:
Stef Carpenter: “I also use a Marshall preamp and an ADA preamp, which is where I get all my tone from. Like the Marshall JMP1 and the ADA MP1. I use Rocktron effects and a couple of Boss pedals, but for the most part, I really don’t. “Dai the Flu” is really the only song on the record where I really use effects. All the verses are literally a combination of my preamp, a crazy-ass distortion pedal over top of it, and some delay reverb goin’ on. I don’t even play guitar on the verses, but my guitar is just ringing. I could totally have my guitar turned off, but the signal is just pouring out of my amp anyway on its own. I have effects, I use Rocktron effects, and a couple Boss pedals, but for the most part, I really don’t. “Dai the Flu,” I use effects on. It’s the only song on the record where I really know I use effects, like all the verses, are literally a combination of my preamp, a crazy-ass distortion pedal over top of it, and some delay reverb goin’ on. I don’t even play guitar on the verses, but my guitar is just ringing. I could totally have my guitar turned off, but the signal is just pouring out of my amp anyway on its own.”
. This great secret I can say that I won when I met the Deftones at Madrid…I asked Chino what was that word ‘Dai’…and believe it or not he said that was Chi’s real name (Chi Ling Dai Cheng). I didn’t know that! He also said that the song was first called ‘Before The Flu’ and they just changed it to ‘Dai The Flu’.
Headup
. Did you know when chino recorded head up with Max, that when Chino was singing his parts there was a picture of Dana (Max’s stepson) in a frame that Chino had in his hand, and while the song got aggressive Chino smashed the picture into his face.. and all Max can remember when singing this song is Chino’s bloody face… I’ve heard this story before, and I’m pretty sure that I read it somewhere when I became a Deftones fan… (thanks to Autopsy17)
. If you listen to the first Soulfly CD on track number 5 a song entitled “Bumba”, in the middle of the song (I am guessing its the bridge) a riff is played and it sounds identical to the ‘Headup’ riff (starts at 2’25”). The only difference is that there is a different drum beat. (thanks to Autopsy17)
. Max Cavalera named his band – SOULFLY – thanks to ‘Headup’. Here’s Max own words:
Max Cavalera: “The name came up on the Deftones ‘Around the Fur’ record (..) we wrote ‘Headup’ together. On ‘Headup’ says SOULFLY on it (…) And when we did this TV show, I announced the name (…) when I played with them… I grabbed the mic and said ‘Hey I have a new band, it’s called Soulfly…’ and then we announced it right there.”
Check these comments in |this| cool video. (thanks to Hardkore)
. Most of you already know that ‘Headup’ was a tribute to Max Cavalera’s (formerly of Sepultura) dead stepson Dana Wells, who was killed by a hit and run driver a few years ago. Dana was Chino’s friend.
‘Headup’ also contains parts of Dana’s diary. I confirmed that with Chino. He said the part is ‘Walk into this world with your head up high!’
. On the last 20 seconds of “Headup” it looks as if Chino is singing another song.
He makes the same humming like on “Knife Prty”, it has nothing to be with “Headup”, it’s like he’s starting another song.
Mx
. This is probably pretty known, but on MX, instead of saying “your magazine and your bones” as the lyric sheet says, chino says “your pussy and your bones”. (Thanks to: Jamie Nickerson)
. On 1996 (before Around the Fur’s release) PJ Harvey joined John Parish and both decided to release a LP – “Dance Hall at Louse Point” – On this album there’s a song called “Rope Bridge Crossing”, here’s one of the chorus of this song:
And i dream of running
And in the dream I, myself could run
And i feel the ground beneath my feet
And i move like music,
You move me…like music
If you know the lyrics for “Mx”, you’ll find some similarities on the “You move me like music” part. So I wonder if Chino borrowed the lyrics or if it’s just a coincidence.
Thanks to: The R
. After “Around the Fur” release, Chino commented track nr. 10 – “Mx”:
Chino: ‘I didn’t really like “Mx” that much, and I had complete different vocals than I had written in the practice place when we were writing it. When I was recording the vocals in the control room, and I started to say to myself ‘this is boring. Throw this song away or stop rolling the tape.’ And I just wrote a whole new song over the actual music. New melodies, new whole idea. It was just something that I was feeling at the moment.
And then Abe’s wife (Annalynn) was there in the studio and I was thinking there are these parts that I’d really like a girl’s voice on, so I asked her if she’d do it. She was like ‘I don’t wanna do this’ and I talked her into it. After it was all done I had a completely different song. Right then it became one of my favorite songs, ’cause it was something I completely changed around myself. It could have been just a normal, kind of boring song, but it ended up being on of my favorite songs, in about an hour, with me just realizing that I can completely do whatever I want that completely changes it. So that was cool.
I would just hit the old bottle of wine… I had a music stand with some of my lyrics on it, some candles burning, and instead of using a hand-held microphone like I usually use, I was using a really nice microphone. I just stood there and let loose. It was something I’d never done. I think that’s how singers usually record, but on the first record I recorded everything live with the band in the room, with a little Shure 58 microphone.
I’d never done it that way and it was a lot different. It was fun. It felt a little bit more personal for some reason, ’cause I was in there by myself, with my headphones on, and most of the record was recorded in the dark, and a majority of the record was recorded when I was drunk. So it felt pretty good. I thought it was pretty cool.’
. On “Mx” at approximately 3:57 to 3:58 Abe’s wife, Annalynn says, “fucking rockstar”. As if she’s commenting on Chino’s fantasies, or his thoughts. (thanks to Chisus)
. There’s another meaning given by Chino in an old interview (loudside.com), here’s what he said about the name ‘Mx’:
Chino: “The song was first called “Max”, because when we wrote the song, the riff was similar to something that Max (Cavalera, Soulfly singer) would make. When we went in the studio, Stef took out the “a”… and it’s now called “MX”…”
So there you go, I guess this is the most credible meaning for the weird name ‘Mx’. (thanks to Autopsy17)
“MX” is also an abbreviation for MotoCross, one of Chino’s hobbies. (thanks to Drew Birch)
. When I met the Deftones in their van I asked Chino: “That x in ‘Mx’ and in ‘Rx Queen’ stands for a girl’s name, right?”
Then Chino looked into my eyes as if I had found his most unwanted secret, and said: “Yeah, man. That’s it!”
He was looking at me like ‘how did he get it?”
And then I asked again: “Does the x in ‘Mx’ stands for a girl called Maria?”
And he laughed saying “No man, that’s Marisa!”
But I guess he was kidding cause in that day a girl called Marisa was in the backstage also, and I think he remembered that name and said it to me, but who knows maybe he was saying the truth, but now I’m sure ‘Mx’ is a girl’s name, M…
. Abe’s wife – Annalynn – is the female voice that trades lines with Chino in “Mx”…
Let me think – Chino
Think about what? – Annalynn
About girls – Chino
And what else – Annalynn
And money, And new clothes – Chino
And what do I get? – Annalynn
Chino invited Annalynn because he really wanted a female voice on “Mx” to contrast with his wishes. He came up with this idea after his first choice PJ Harvey gave up, because of divergences between tour dates and record labels . It was really hard to convincing Annalynn, but after days of persistence she finally gave in and made a great duet with Chino Moreno.
Damone
. “Damone” is ATF’s hidden track, you can listen it at the 32′:35” of track nr. 10. But before that, around the 19′:32” you will listen something weird. That’s also an hidden track and it’s called “Bong Hit” a.k.a. “Chino Taking Bong Hits”.
