DEFTONES Singer Discusses Racism In Heavy Metal

Jim DeRogatis of Chicago Sun-Times recently asked DEFTONES frontman Chino Moreno if he ever experienced any prejudice as a Hispanic in a scene that is dominated by white rockers and metalheads.

"In the beginning, almost every interview we did, that got brought up to us: 'Isn't it weird that you guys play metal?'," Chino recalled. "And I was like, 'What do you mean it's weird?' For one, I don't know what it's like to be white, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I just like what I like. It's not like we're trying to be anything. I like all kinds of music — I listen to the TOO SHORT tape and a whole a lot more. I take in any music.

"As far as like where I grew up, the [other Hispanic kids] called me 'the white one,' but they were cool about it. It's not like they were messing with me — they were just teasing me. The sun would go down and I'd see them go off to go do something — to get into trouble — and I'd just go the other way. I was into something different. Luckily, I had [DEFTONES guitarist] Stephen [Carpenter] and a handful of other guys who were into music, playing it and listening to it, and we all just kind of came together — all the kids who were into skateboarding and listening to different types of music."

When asked if he thinks the DEFTONES have kept their hardcore metal following despite the experimentation of the last two discs, Moreno said, "Definitely. I thought we'd lose that audience when we did 'White Pony'. We still hear from a lot of people who ask, 'What's your new album like? Is it more like 'Around the Fur', more hard and heavy?' And I'm like, 'It's hard and heavy, but it's also nice and sweet sometimes, too.' But that's how our records have always been. If people really listen to 'Adrenaline', it had some of the melodic stuff, too, but there was also a lot of the knucklehead shit, like me screaming and being pissed-off at everybody and thinking everybody was out to get me and shit." Read more.