Deftones biography
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Chi Cheng (bass), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), and Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion). As of 2009, Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident. They have released six albums to date, with three Platinum (Adrenaline, White Pony, Around the Fur) and one Gold certification (for the self-titled album).
History
Early years (1988-1993)
When Carpenter was 15 years old, he was hit by a car while skateboarding. Confined to a wheelchair for several months, he began teaching himself guitar by playing along to bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death, and Metallica. Supposedly, the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but Cunningham commented in an interview that all was "a myth about how our band was started."
Carpenter, Moreno, and Cunningham were friends from their childhood, went to the same high school and remained friends through the skateboarding scene in Sacramento.
The name "Deftones" was created by Carpenter, who wanted to pick "something that would just stand out but you know, not be all cheese-ball at the same time." Carpenter combined the hip hop slang term "def," which was used by artists such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy, with the suffix "-tones," which was a popular suffix among 1950s bands (e.g., Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, The Quin-Tones, The Monotones, The Cleftones, and The Harptones). Carpenter said the name is intentionally vague to reflect the band's tendency to not focus on just one style of music.
The band's debut album, Adrenaline, was recorded at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington and released on October 3, 1995. It was produced by Deftones and Terry Date, who would go on to produce the band's next three albums. While they were initially unsuccessful, extensive touring, word-of-mouth, and Internet promotion built the band a dedicated fan base, as well as helping Adrenaline to sell over 220,000 copies without the singles "7 Words" and "Bored" (as well as their music videos) receiving any airplay. The band contributed the non-album track "Teething" to the soundtrack for the 1996 film The Crow: City of Angels and are also seen performing the song live during one of the film's scenes. The track "Engine No. 9" has since been covered by Korn and Suicide Silence and appeared in the film Law Abiding Citizen.
The album spent 21 weeks on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, reaching a peak position of 23. When asked what he attributed the album's success to, Cheng responded, "One word: perseverance. We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two, and we do it with honesty and integrity - and the kids can tell." The album was RIAA certified gold on July 7, 1999 in recognition of 500,000 units sold.
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