DEFTONES Frontman Discusses Upcoming Album

Kerrang! magazine recently spoke to DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the group's new album. The short interview, which can also be found on the DEFTONES' official blog, follows below.

Kerrang!: It normally seems to take you years to release a new album. Why has this one happened so fast?

Chino: "We've certainly taken our time on the last few records but this one has happened very quickly. We got off tour and took a month off. Then we went into the studio and wrote a lot of music very quickly."

Kerrang!: It sounds like a very fertile period.

Chino: "It was. The most important thing we had to do was to break our habits and change the way we've done things for the last few years. One of the reasons the last few records took so long was because everyone was working separately.We would record our parts and then email them out without actually seeing each other. That has its positives but we really missed out on the creative process of all of us sitting in a room and writing together. This time, we were all together and that really helped. In fact, I'd say that our working relationship is better than it's ever been before. As a result, everything has improved — our friendships and our lives. We're all really happy now.

Kerrang!: The last album had a very difficult birth. You weren't sure you wanted to be in the band and there were lots of inter-band tensions. Has that changed?

Chino: "There were lots of problems on the last album, definitely. The way we were working meant that communication in the band wasn't very strong. That's changed now that we've shifted our approach. Making that last record was seriously unhealthy experience. It just dragged on without much direction. Even the idea of the record was just to make something vague, and that's pretty much what we did. I liked it, but when we focus and work together, it's a lot better."

Kerrang!: How has the relationship between the band members improved?

Chino: "Over the last few years, a lot of the band members have had a few problems — divorces, money problems, life — and it has just been an unhappy time. We've all come out of that now. I hate to talk like its all rainbows and sunshine over here, but it is!"

Kerrang!: So you feel positive now?

Chino: "The reason we're in a band is because it's fun. It just wasn't fun back when we were making 'Saturday Night Wrist'. I really didn't want to do it anymore, which is why I left the band to go and do the TEAM SLEEP thing. I really wasn't sure if I was going to return to the band either. We had to take a break because we'd been going for 10 years straight and it was a relentless cycle of studio, touring, studio, touring. It just wasn't fun. But, having rediscovered our friendships, everything became worthwhile again. Every day just gets better and better now."

Kerrang!: What does the new material sound like?

Chino: "The songs are definitely weird, which is a breath of fresh air to me. I haven't been playing guitar on these new songs so Steph (Carpenter, guitar) has taken up the helm and that's worked out really well. He's been very creative has been writing very weird, melodic stuff. That's great because I want the album to be as weird as we can possibly make it without completely alienating people. If I had to compare it to any of our records, then I think it probably reminds me of 'White Pony' the most. There's a lot of atmosphere and a lot of soundscaping. I couldn't' feel better about it at the moment."