Deftones

"I didn't feel like we were going to break up, but I knew we had to make some real serious choices about what we wanted to do," Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter deadpans. He's telling it straight about some of the difficulties the band encountered during the making of their latest album, Saturday Night Wrist.

To be sure, fans don't know how close they were to no longer hearing more innovative music from the band that softened metal's edge without compromising its heavy weight—those unique Deftones compositions that deliver heavy washes of guitars and melodramatic angst. But after two years of regrouping and retooling their working dynamics, the Deftones present us with Saturday Night Wrist, the triumphant return of an almost-lost group. It's a Ferris wheel of ups and downs, of soft and hard—a fresh direction that mirrors the turbulent story behind the album’s production.

Here are the Deftones themselves on the album that almost broke the band.

Nokia Unwired : To start out, we've got two question from our Nokia Unwired Team.
First up: Braydon from Des Moines, IA wants to know " If you weren't playing in a famous band, what would you be doing?"
Chino Moreno: Playing in an unsuccessful band, serving you burgers during the day.
Stephen Carpenter: Golfing.

Nokia Unwired : Arianna from Aurora, IL asks "What’s been your main inspiration in pursuing your music careers?"
Chino Moreno: My main inspiration for playing music is to perpetuate the self-mutilation that is involved with being a member of Deftones.
Stephen Carpenter: Happiness. Music makes me happy.

Nokia Unwired : It's no secret the making of your new album was troubled. Do you think the turn in the band's sound was in part a reflection of the difficulties in making Saturday Night Wrist?
Abe Cunningham: We really wanted to test ourselves with this record. It's an album that explores a whole spectrum of sound rather than just switching between heavy stuff and light stuff.
Chino Moreno: Every record that we make, it gets harder and harder for us because we try not to stick to certain formulas. Our fans are very critical, which is the way we all are.

Nokia Unwired : So what exactly were the band members dealing with at the time? And how are relationships now within the group?
Chino Moreno: There had been a huge lack of communication between us and I just felt like it was the end. Looking back now I think taking a break in the middle of the record-making process was a healthy choice for us at the time. It just seemed like we needed to come out of the dark days we had been in.
Stephen Carpenter: We're stronger than we've ever been.
Abe Cunningham: We've got a lot of stuff worked out and everyone's really having a blast again and enjoying each other's company and having fun.  

Nokia Unwired : Chino's got his side project Team Sleep. What other projects are the other Deftones members involved in?
Stephen Carpenter: KUSH with B-Real from Cypress Hill, Christian and Ray from Fear Factory.
Frank Delgado: Decibel Devils with Crook from Team Sleep.

Nokia Unwired : You've toured with Korn and Ozzfest. Are you ever afraid of being pigeonholed permanently into the metal genre?
Frank Delgado: We've known Korn since the early days, and people were writing about us as "buddy bands," and we looked at it as a wave we didn't want to ride. We made the White Pony record to solidify ourselves as having a different sound and vibe, and we accomplished that.

Nokia Unwired : After the experiences working on this album, was it worth it?
Stephen Carpenter: It's always worth it. There's been drama throughout the entire span of our existence. But it's cool now. At least until out next fight.

Abe Cunningham: It's pretty ridiculous that it's been two years in the making, but you've got to work through these things and, hopefully, you realize it's still worth doing. That's what we figured out.