Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Chino Moreno of Deftones spotted at a Depeche Mode concert when he was 16
Chino Moreno, the vocalist and guitarist of the influential alternative metal band Deftones, is the featured guest on a recently released episode of World Cafe, as per theprp. The discussion centered on his band’s tenth studio album, “private music,” as well as various formative experiences within his musical development.
A significant moment addressed in the interview was Moreno’s first live concert experience. At age 16, he attended a Depeche Mode concert at the Cal Expo Amphitheatre in Sacramento, California, on July 22, 1990, as part of the ‘World Violation Tour.’ Footage of Moreno as a teenager standing at the barrier during this performance has been documented by Deftones fans.
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.
Moreno’s admiration for Depeche Mode extended beyond this concert, as Deftones later covered their song “To Have And To Hold” for the 1998 tribute album “For The Masses.” His appreciation for new wave artists also included high regard for Duran Duran, a band he considers pivotal in his musical evolution.
His admiration for Duran Duran is well-established, with the band having previously covered “The Chauffeur” and “Night Boat.” Moreno also highlighted the influence of Duran Duran’s lead vocalist, Simon Le Bon, on his own artistic development.
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.
Moreno explained his decision to include “The Chauffeur” in the 1997 Duran Duran tribute album, “The Duran Duran Tribute Album.”
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.
He also discussed the origins of the title for the “private music” track “Ecdysis,” noting that while the term traditionally refers to the process of shedding old skin, he regarded its use as more metaphorical.
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.
The conversation then shifted to the band’s ongoing growth in attracting new fans. By 2025, Deftones had solidified their position as an arena headlining act, with recent years witnessing a surge in popularity across diverse age groups, reaching a career peak.
When asked about the band’s ability to transcend generational boundaries, Moreno attributed this to their deliberate efforts to diversify their sonic approach and consciously avoid the stylistic constraints associated with nu metal during their early years.
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.