Deftones members Abe Cunningham and Frank Delgado
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Metal rockers Deftones have spent a career forging their craft. Founded in 1988 and still going strong today, the band has faced its ups and downs and been through a great deal of tragedy. Despite all this they have produced a total of eight albums, the most recent of which, entitled “Gore,” was released in April of this year.
Abe Cunningham, the band’s drummer, and Frank Delgado, Keyboardist and DJ, spoke with Chattanoogan.com before their set at Shaky Knees Music Festival 2016 in Atlanta. Much of the discussion encompassed the path of Deftones since its inception and the future of what’s to come.
Chattanoogan: Let’s talk about the new album first, Gore, which came out in April, was met with critical acclaim by the media, what do think is responsible for that reception?
Delgado: I don’t know, but we make the record and we cherish them and nurture them, and make this thing and once it’s released it’s really out of our hands. So it’s kind of for the people to decide. It’s amazing to be this far along and doing what we do for all these years to have people still enjoy us and also still enjoy new music from us as well. So it’s definitely the people, with open ears.
Chattanoogan: It’s the highest charting Deftones album, since the self-titled alubum in 2003. So what kind of statement is that in 2016?
Delgado: It’s mind boggling, honestly. We have confidence in ourselves and making things that we like and I don’t think we ever stop to think, well what if others don’t like it? We just kind of, in a selfish way, make our songs, and get people together. And we like this, and we can back this, and then we put it out there and hopefully there’s some people that still are into what we’ve got going on. And there is.
Chattanoogan: Creative tension is kind of a buzzword associated with this band. Is that a lot of media hype?
Delgado: Well to me it’s just another day at the office. I mean, not to be rude, also it’s a tired topic. It is just another day at the office. It’s five guys, with strong personalities, and personal opinions, but with the end goal of still completing something. We’re like brothers, it’s not always easy but it’s a lot of fun.
Cunningham: I think there’s that creative tension in all bands. I haven’t been in any other bands to the same degree of creating and putting stuff out like this, but there has to be that push and pull and tension to get things going and to debunk ideas and then build new ones. That’s just a part of the process. It makes for a good story that there’s this really big tension going on, but that’s been like that since the first record. Nothing’s really changed. It’s part of being in a band.
Chattanoogan: So how did the Deftones get stuck with that label?
Delgado: During the White Pony they used it as a really big media thing, for a tag for stories where there’s this tension between Stephen and Chino and it makes for a good story, whatever. But I think they kind of regurgitated that on this round too.
Cunningham: Quite frankly most of our best material has come out of that tension, so it’s just band stuff.
Chatanoogan: So this is bassist Sergio’s third album with the band. How has he caught on, being a part of Deftones as a permanent member?
Delgado: It’s been amazing. I’ve never met anyone who is so gung-ho about things. Not only just his music either. For us, I think that was the spark we needed to just keep going. We never really thought about it. I think he was that backbone to just make us feel like we didn’t have to question it. Here we go. Let’s just keep making music. And we’re going to just see what happens and we haven’t really looked back honestly.
Chattanoogan: How did you all get with him in the first place?
Delgado: He was from this band that we love, and years ago we were on tour and our bass player had to have surgery and left tour immediately and long story short, in a hot second Sergio was able to come in and fill in. He learned the set in no time at all and he was with us for a couple weeks. It was Black Sabbath’s first reunion tour. It was us, Pantera, and Black Sabbath. So we were like we’re going to stay on this tour, who can step up? And Sergio did it; he learned the set in a day and a half. So that was the first thing, he ran that tour, and from there we just became friends.
Chattanoogan: So, with Eagles of Death Metal also at Shaky Knees, I have to ask what it was like being in Paris and with Stephen at their show the night of the attacks?
Delgado: It was all so surreal, because it was all in real-time. We went to have sushi, and we happened to go the other street, we had been on that street the night before. We were supposed to play the next three nights at the same [venue] starting that Saturday. I actually had plans and wanted to go check out the show, too, it was close by.
Cunningham: We had just left dinner and we were walking back to the hotel and we saw Steph and they were not at the show, they were back at the hotel drinking a beer and we were just like hey what’s up, we left early and we just got here. And we had just left from dinner and then that’s when it all started.
Delgado: Cops started coming around and you could tell there was tension in the street. Sirens. People running. And you could just feel something was wrong. Our tour manager was calling about the club. The hotel was asking us to come in. It was just a bunch of emotions and a bunch of scary things going on, but it happened really fast.
Chattanoogan: So talking about the first Black Sabbath reunion tour, they are currently on their final reunion tour and it’s clear rock lives on. With a band as long running as Deftones, how do you stay relevant?
Delgado: If there was a recipe that we could bottle, we would and we’d be very well off. But I think what it is, is that we keep it light and we keep it fun, regardless of all the B.S. and things that happen along the way, we just try to keep it light. We don’t think about things too much. Maybe that’s good or bad, but we just roll with it. Amazingly, it’s been 27-28 years, so just keep it light and fun.
Cunningham: I agree. We enjoy each other’s company because we have a good time and we try and make it to where it’s not too stressful, not overthinking a lot of things. We try to have our business and do it right and properly, and execute what we want to do. But we want to have a good time and to where we want to go back out and do it again; to where it’s not a burden. Because this is not a burden, this is fun, what we do for a living.