ChartAttack Exclusive: Producer Bob Ezrin Hits Back At Deftones’ Chino Moreno
Friday August 19, 2005 @ 02:00 PM
In an interview with Deftones and Team Sleep frontman Chino Moreno this week, the
singer talked about problems with legendary Canadian producer , who was behind the
knobs for the Deftones’ upcoming LP.
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything, really,” Moreno said
in the article. “There were times when we really got along and I learned a lot of
things from him but there were a lot of times when he’s in his own world where he
thinks he knows what’s best and he doesn’t know what’s best, really. It just wasn’t
fun to do and it wasn’t a fun record to make. The music turned out rad. It’s just
when you’re making a record, especially when you’re working on vocals, I’ve only
worked with a couple of producers and most of the records I’ve done with Terry Date.
The reason we chose Ezrin is because we wanted to do something different, but I
learned that different isn’t always good.”
This wasn’t the first time the singer took shots at the production of the new Deftones
record in the press, but this one hurt a little more from Ezrin’s perspective.
“The only reason I would respond was that it happened to be in Canada in a Canadian
publication and that’s my home turf and that pisses me off,” the producer said over
the phone on Thursday. “This didn’t come out of the blue because he did it once before.
When he was doing some press at the beginning of Team Sleep people said, ‘Have you
finished the album yet?’ He came out and said ‘No I haven’t and the reason why is
because first we tried going to Connecticut to make the record and it was just a
fucking drag. It was a terrible place and finally we’ve come back [to Sacramento] and
it’s all going to be better.’
“And I was furious with that because the reality is that everybody had a great time in
Connecticut and stuff got done, except for Chino, who came unprepared, came late,
missed days, didn’t show up. So maybe from his point of view it was a shitty place to
be, but that wasn’t the fault of the venue, it was because he wasn’t ready. I called
him and I told him, ‘Watch your mouth. Don’t be saying stuff like that.'”
Ezrin said that as far as he knows, the vocals for the Deftones record still aren’t
finished, since Moreno has been playing with Team Sleep since his main band finished
laying down the tracks for their record.
The producer suggests that there might be a rift between Moreno and the rest of the
Deftones because of the singer’s commitments to Team Sleep.
“The other guys in the Deftones are patiently waiting for this album to get finished
so they can get on with their lives and their careers,” Ezrin said. “I think they’re
not happy about the fact that Chino went on the road with his side project before
finishing his primary commitment.
“I hope that the Team Sleep tour has inspired him and that he’s ready to go back and
finish the album — with whoever makes him comfortable. One way or the other, that
album should be finished. It’s great music and the fans of the band and the other
members of the Deftones deserve it.”
Ezrin is a 2004 inductee to the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame and produced Pink Floyd’s
The Wall, as well as records by Alice Cooper, KISS, Nine Inch Nails, Lou Reed and
Jane’s Addiction.
He said that his experience with Moreno during the Deftones sessions was, surprisingly,
unlike anything he’d seen previously.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve never been through something like this before in the many,
many years that I’ve been making records — I’ve never encountered anyone like Chino
Moreno before,” Ezrin said with a laugh. “And to be clear, I really like him. I
think he’s a charming, talented, smart, well-intentioned and very artful guy, but
he’s got a problem with finishing things and he’s a blamer. Basically, Chino’s using
me as an excuse for running out on his band and their album.”
—Noah Love
