After facing pressure from industry executives, Deftones nearly changed their band name before signing their first record deal.
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The news was shared via a new update from former Roadrunner Records executive Monte Conner, in which he reflected on his time working with the band before they were signed.
In a now-deleted post on Facebook, Conner recalled how he nearly signed the band when they were first emerging on the rock scene, and nearly convinced them to abandon the name Deftones.
“In the summer of 1993, I was sent a Deftones demo by their manager Dave Park… I was instantly blown away; their music was like nothing I had ever heard before,” he began (via The PRP). “While these days the band are commonly grouped with Korn as the founders of Nu Metal, I never viewed their sound as similar to Korn, or any of the other bands that very quickly put Nu Metal on the map as a genre. The Deftones had their own unique sound right from the start.”
According to the outlet, Conner was ready to sign the band to Roadrunner after hearing the demo – but only on the condition that they continue under a different band name. His reasoning was that the ‘Def’ part of the name was heavily associated with Rick Rubin at the time, who had recently rebranded his label Def American Recordings to American Recordings.
Similarly, he had concerns that the latter part of the word ‘-tones’ would make them feel like they were a part of the popular ska movement at the time.
Chino Moreno of the Deftones performs at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on May 23, 2022. CREDIT: Scott Legato/Getty Images
“In 1993, after seeing ‘def’ added to the dictionary, Rick Rubin, the arbiter of all things hip, decided the word had lost its cool factor, and made the bold move of changing the name of his highly successful record label,” he explained. “More importantly, at the same exact time, there was a full-blown ska movement happening in America with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones… To me, the ‘tones’ part of the band’s name made them sound like a ska band.”
As reported in the original post, frontman Chino Moreno and co. were open to the idea of rebranding, and even suggested the new name ‘Engine No. 9’ – the title of one of their demo tracks at the time – but the deal would eventually fall through due to other factors.
“Six months later they signed to Maverick Records, releasing ‘Adrenaline’ in 1995, and the rest is history,” Conner concluded. “Seemingly overnight the album took off, the band blew up, and every metal fan across the globe was wearing a Deftones T-shirt. I sure felt silly.”
He also claimed that he later ran into guitarist Stephen Carpenter, who told him that Maverick also pushed the members for a new band name, but eventually gave up when no better alternatives were found.
“I learned two valuable lessons from that whole experience. Firstly, you can’t look at a band’s name in a vacuum,” he added. “The band’s music MAKES the name! Secondly, it is important not to fall victim to myopia. Not all things that seem important in our often-insulated music industry world matter to the fans out in the real world.”
inger Chino Moreno of Deftones and Crosses performs onstage during The Darker Waves Festival on November 18, 2023 in Huntington Beach, California. CREDIT: Scott Dudelson/WireImage/Getty Images
In other Deftones news, back in 2022 the band spoke to NME backstage at Download festival and suggested that there is new music on the horizon.
“The next one is going to be soft as hell,” Abe Cunningham said. “No, for better or worse, there are never any rules or preconceived thought put into much of what we create. It’s mostly just jamming it out and seeing what happens.”
“When we get together and write, it’s 70 per cent about the hang. If that’s going well, shit comes out. When it’s no longer fun, that’s a problem,” he continued. “There have been times like that. It’s part of being around for a long, long time, so we try to keep it on the light side these days.”
More recently, frontman Chino Moreno has focused his sights on his side project, ††† (Crosses). Last year, the duo – also comprising Far guitarist Shaun Lopez –dropped their highly anticipated new album, ‘Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete’ – their first full-length release in nearly a decade.
Discussing their label as ‘goth’ with NME and collaboration with The Cure’s Robert Smith, Moreno said: “Music has this great ability to be nostalgic on its own, and a lot of those influences we wear pretty openly
“I don’t think we try to fit into that box, or any box for that matter. Lyrically, even in Deftones, I’ve always offset the jagged heaviness with the more romantic. To me, that’s where I cut my teeth as a listener. In Crosses, it’s a little more fluid because the musical bed offers that space a lot more openly.”
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