Deftones/Crosses/Palms frontman Chino Moreno was recently interviewed by Spin.com. In addition to discussing his interactions with Madonna (Deftones were originally signed to her Maverick Records imprint) and more; Moreno elaborated on why his Team Sleep side project, in his words, “faded away”.
When asked if labels ever restricted him working on other projects, he replied:
“Honestly, I used to get a lot of shit for it, starting with when I wanted to do Team Sleep. That project in particular was really just this under-the-radar, lo-fi thing — the record itself was really just recorded on a four-track. At the time, Maverick was like, “The only way you’re going to put this out is if you put it out through us.” They ended up taking it, but they started trying to control it.
That was coming off the White Pony record, which was Deftones‘ most successful record. So they were like, “Well, you can’t just put this demo quality-sounding stuff out.” They shut me down right there — they were like, “You need to go in with this producer….” I kind of tried it a little bit, we tried re-cutting the record.
Through all that, it sort of took the wind out of the sails for me for that project. Which eventually led to me losing interest in it, sad as it is, because I really love playing with those guys, and they’re still my great buddies. It just stopped being fun and eventually faded away, and I went back to making Deftones records.
When they re-negotiated our deal with the label, I said the only way I’d re-sign with Warner Bros. is if I can make other music. I am fulfilled by Deftones, but I don’t like the idea of knowing that I can’t do it if I want to. Like, the Palms record.
Those dudes recorded an instrumental record and gave it to me and said, ‘Hey, put some vocals on it.’ And I did. It was simple as that. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna start this other band, I’m gonna market it….’ It was just a fun project with my friends who I hang out with all the time.”
When asked if he still hangs out with anyone from the “Ozzfest” circuit anymore, he replied:
“You know what, I don’t even live in Los Angeles anymore. I live in Oregon now; I’m pretty secluded. But I do have a lot of friends still in the industry. When I see old friends, I’m very excited.
I keep in touch with Zach Hill, for instance, the drummer of Team Sleep, Death Grips. But I don’t hang out too much… with anybody, really. [Laughs.]”
