Chino Moreno, vocalist/guitarist for alternative metal vanguard Deftones, is the featured guest on a newly released episode of World Cafe. That conversation found the acclaimed frontman discussing his band’s tenth studio album, “private music“, as well as various formative experiences in his personal musical upbringing and more.
Perhaps one of the most life-changing moments for Moreno was addressed in this chat: his first-ever live concert. That show found him front row for new wave icons Depeche Mode at the age of 16. He said of that experience [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“I just remember it was the coolest thing I’ve ever I’d ever seen. I mean, I’d already loved Depeche Mode. I think I was in sixth grade when I got my first Depeche Mode cassette, and it was the album ‘Speak & Spell‘, which is still probably one of my favorite Depeche Mode records. But that was the ‘Violator‘ tour. So that was when ‘Violator‘ had came out, and that was when they were considered like, pop music. I mean, they were on the radio, You know? They started getting played. Because before that, Depeche Mode wasn’t played so much on the radio.
I only knew it because I had an older sister, and, like I said, she gave me that cassette, and I felt very privileged to be listening to music that nobody at school was listening to. I felt like… you know, they’re band from from England and it’s so far away — especially when you’re at that age, that seems like a world away…
So when the ‘Violator‘ record came out, they came to Sacramento and the funniest thing about this is that that was my first concert, and that I was there, and I made my way up to the front row, you know? [I] was blown away by it. And somebody recently — I don’t know how they did it — but they got, they found footage from that show, and they posted a picture of me in the crowd, in the front row, like 16, in the front row. I don’t know how. I don’t know how they found it. They got a still from a video, or something from me being at that concert. That’s hilarious.”
As you can see for yourself, Moreno wasn’t lying, as Deftones fans did indeed track down footage of a teenage Moreno standing along the barrier at that show, which took place July 22nd, 1990 at the Cal Expo Amphitheatre in Sacramento, CA as part of Depeche Mode‘s ‘World Violation Tour‘. Deftones of course would also later go on to cover Depeche Mode‘s “To Have And To Hold” for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute album, “For The Masses“.
Moreno‘s admiration for new wave royalty wasn’t limited to Depeche Mode in this latest conversation. He also once again spoke highly of fellow 80s new wave stars Duran Duran — another pivotal band for him in his musical journey.
By now, his admiration for that group is well-documented, with the band having in the past covered both “The Chauffeur” and “Night Boat“. Speaking of the group, and in particular the influence Duran Duran vocalist Simon Le Bon has had on him, Moreno offered:
“It was as a kid, I remember, because I would read [Simon‘s] lyrics and and they were so abstract, but there was a lot of imagery in them. And I love that. I just always thought that was very creative. And I didn’t need to know what he was singing about. I mean, obviously I was probably too young to really understand it anyways, but I just thought it was awesome how he painted these pictures.
And then along with their videos, which were super elaborate and weird too. Like, they’d be in Sri Lanka in a jungle or something… I just thought it was bigger than anything. It was like, ‘wow, this is the hugest band in the world.’ They’re standing on this mountain somewhere, singing the song. And it’s just, I don’t know, I’ve always just loved that band.
And musically. I mean, I think a lot of people, I think Duran, Duran got a bad rap in the 80s, because they were [considered] a boy band, because they were all these good looking dudes. And they were kind of like considered a boy band, but musically they were, and they still are, very talented. And Simon is a very, I mean, he’s got a awesome voice, but his melodies he chooses, and again, his lyrics were always captivating to me.”
As for choosing to cover “The Chauffeur” for the 1997 Duran Duran tribute album, “The Duran Duran Tribute Album“, Moreno offered:
“I just always loved that song. And again, the video, I remember, I saw it when I was a kid, and it’s a little risque… they had a few risque videos, whatever. So I kind of felt bad watching… I mean, [I felt] like I was doing something bad watching it. I think there’s some boobs in it, or something like that.
So as a kid… It made an impression. But I just always loved this song. It’s a beautiful song. I love the instrumentation of it, the words, everything. So it was one of those things where also, it was on our second record I think, It was at the end of the recording session when we did ‘Around The Fur‘ album.
And especially during that time, it was probably so odd for us to choose a song like that to cover. You know, why weren’t we covering a Slayer song? Or, I don’t know, whatever. It was just weird to me. I thought no one would expect this, so let’s try it. We pulled it off, yeah we did it like in a couple hours.”
In more modern concerns, Moreno also addressed the origins of the title for the “private music” song “Ecdysis“. While the term itself refers to the process of shedding old skin, for Moreno its usage was more metaphorical. He explained:
“It was an afterthought actually. It was the last kind of title that was given. The song was already there. The lyrics were there. And the song is sort of about the environment itself… The lyrics were written during the L.A. fires. And there was floods and stuff around the world. And not that I was celebrating it, obviously, it was definitely a harsh thing. But, you know, the planet itself, and just kind of like reflecting on how the planet and how I’ve always heard tales how the planet sort of… people refer to the planet repairing itself in a way, you know?
And so it was kind of a metaphor for that, for the planet, sort of just… that’s what it does? Sort of maybe the people are the plague of the planet… And it’s, I never really get too, I try not to, at least get political or anything about what I’m saying. It’s not like it is a political thing really; people make the environment political. But it’s more or less just observing what I see in the world.”
Also discussed was the band’s continued ascent in reaching new fans. 2025 officially cemented Deftones as an arena headlining band, and recent years have found the group newly being embraced by audiences of all ages, allowing them to experience a career-high in popularity.
When asked why he felt that Deftones have been able to transcend generations, he pointed towards the group’s concerted efforts to continually expand their sonic palette and purposely avoid nü-metal trappings back in the day:
“I think the conscious effort that we made to just not do the same thing that our contemporaries were doing, or just, or to even tour with our contemporaries as much as it was expected. So we always try to do things a little left of center, from the types of records that we started making — especially around the 2000s when we did ‘White Pony‘, I think that was when we really started our kind of departure of just being fit into a box.
I never wanted it to seem like we were like, ‘Oh, we’re better than them’, or anything like that. I just felt like I just don’t want to be… if someone else does something, I don’t want that to affect us, right? I always felt like I just want to stand on our own two feet in some way, the most we can, right?
So the best way of doing that is to try to just continue to have our own identity apart from what was then nü-metal, and I guess still is now to this day, right? And although we… I think we will forever be associated with it. Which is fine. I think because we’ve made those conscious decisions back then, I think it allowed us to always just expand, you know from that.”