In a recent interview with Ulitmate Guitar, guitarist Stephen Carpenter was quite candid with his views on the new Deftones record and his involvement on it. He’s been known to butt heads with the band’s frontman Chino Moreno in the past. But that tension is a part of what makes the music so great. The height of this could be seen on what’s arguably the band’s biggest record “White Pony”. It can also been seen in other points of the band’s career as Stephen, creatively, leans towards the heavy end and Chino leans towards the more ethereal side.
Anyways, here’s a segment of the interview. If you’d like to read more, you may do so by clicking here or hitting up any of the assorted UG links.
Ulitmate Guitar – Are there any songs or guitar parts on the new record that you’re really proud of or really excited for the fans to hear?
Oh god. I think my proudest thing about my guitar playing on this record is just playing on the record because I didn’t want to play on the record to begin with. It wasn’t until way later once I actually got into it. I look at all the songs on the record and they were all a challenge for me to get in to.
Ulitmate Guitar – What do you think that barrier was for you?
I don’t know. I just really like metal and I love all the metal that’s being played now. I wish everybody would stop saying “djent” though. That’s just dumb. It’s just metal.
Ulitmate Guitar – I still don’t know what the fuck that is.
I thoroughly can get djent, I even have great appreciation for the bands, and I mean Meshuggah is one of my favorite bands. But it’s just not a genre. It’s just metal.
Ulitmate Guitar – So, you were saying earlier that you were having a hard time getting into playing on this new album. Why do you think that was?
When we were coming up with ideas and writing the songs, the stuff that was being written, you know, the other guys’ ideas, I wasn’t too interested in it. It wasn’t the style or the sound I was hoping we would take. It wasn’t what I was expecting or wanting.
Ulitmate Guitar – That says a lot about you seeing yourself as part of a band and going in the direction of the band. Its unselfish.
Yeah I hear ya. My band is going one direction and I am going another one currently.
Ulitmate Guitar – Do you think that will result in some more side projects or solo albums?
Well I have another side project going with my friend in England, Sol Invicto. We’ve got some songs done over the past decade, hardly enough to count it as a full on band. But that’s mostly on me because I haven’t been able to contribute very much. My friends in my band would probably say the same thing. It’s just that life thing that’s always going on. Time and life, that’s the way it goes. I’ve also got ideas for my own personal solo stuff. I’ve got another thing I’m going to start with a friend of mine. So there’s definitely going to be other stuff, no doubt about that.
Ulitmate Guitar – That’s not saying that you’re going to leave the Deftones, is it?
I would never leave the band that I started but the band started leaving me, I can’t control that.
Ulitmate Guitar – That’s a democratic way to look at it, really.
I mean, I have a great time for the most part. This record has been a struggle and we have got issues that I do not want to leave home but how things will be in the future, I do not know. But I know what I will do and what I will not do and there are some things that I will not do in the future because I just don’t agree with it.
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