Deftones Stir Up Suspense for Fourth Album
www.deftonesworld.com
By Margo Whitmire
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – After gradually building their fan base for several years,
the garage-skater-band-turned- Grammy-decorated Deftones have returned to the upper
regions of The Billboard 200 with their self-titled fourth album.
To build anticipation for the music, the band’s members say they decided to carefully
shield the album from outside ears until its May 20 debut.
“We tried to build an anticipation that you can’t get these days,” drummer Abe Cunningham
explains.
With three albums and more than 10 years as a band behind them, their Maverick/Warner Bros.
project came easily to the group’s members.
“It’s definitely not forced when it comes to creativity,” says turntablist Frank Delgado, w
ho spins on the heady, beat-laden jam “Lucky You.”
“But it gets hard because we know what we don’t want to do–but we don’t know what we’re going to do.”
moving steadily uphill
After nine months of studio time with producer Terry Date, the Deftones find their music to
be as “exciting as it ever was,” Cunningham says. “Our path has been steadily uphill.
Ten years later, it’s better than ever.”
The band’s signature backdrop of Stephen Carpenter’s frenzied guitar and Cunningham’s
powerful drums blends melodically with lead singer Chino Moreno’s voice.
He excels on such songs as “Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event” and first single, “Minerva.”
It is a move that seems to be working for radio, because “Minerva” is now No. 10 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
“They’ve written an album that is representative of what their core fans would want,”
Warner Bros. marketing executive Robbie Snow says. “But it allows them to grow their audience as well.”
RAISING THEIR PROFILE
Aggressively marketed internationally to retail with price and positioning and in-store
visibility, the new album is featured in TV spots on MTV, MTV2, and Fox Sports.
Before embarking on the hotly touted Summer Sanitarium tour with Metallica, Linkin Park,
Limp Bizkit, and Mudvayne, the Deftones are currently playing small clubs across the U.S.
“The club dates allow them to maintain credibility with their core audience, as their
hardcore fans can still see them in an intimate environment,” Snow says.
Starting out as a bunch of high-school kids playing in their hometown of Sacramento, Calif.,
the Deftones consider themselves “first and foremost a live band,” even recording their first
CD, 1995’s Adrenaline, almost completely live.
The fourth time around, the group is able to better appreciate the process.
“Just making the music is our favorite part of what we do,” bassist Chi Cheng says. “Whether
it’s live or in the studio, we’re just excited to make music together.”
Delgado adds, “Being able to have an outlet to be creative and then being able to travel
around the world to do it is the best.”
Reuters/Billboard
