Having long been friends and both emerging from the same Sacramento, CA scene, Will Haven and Deftones have long had strong associations. Of course, with Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter guesting on the new Will Haven track “El Sol“, that relationship continues to this day.
Speaking recently with Revolver, guitarist Jeff Irwin elaborated on how their friendship with Deftones inspires them to this day. Speaking of the Sacramento scene that gave birth to both bands, he offered:
“Well, it’s definitely different than when we were starting out. We had a pretty rad scene in the Nineties. Deftones, Far, we came out after that, a bunch of other bands never got big but were awesome bands. But we also grew up more in the straightedge hardcore scene.
Even though we were friends with Deftones, Far, stuff like that, we had other influences like Earth Crisis. Our roots were more based on those types of bands. When we started played live we’d play Sacramento but also go to L.A. We were able to develop a cool sound having hardcore influences and be friends with Deftones.
I grew up with the Deftones and Far guys way before Will Haven even existed. They’ll always be close friends of mine. It’s cool. I think that’s maybe why we continue to do it. When we’re home, I hang out with the Deftones guys all the time and hear stories from them. I’m like, “Wow, let’s do some more music, I want to experience that again.” Being friends with those guys keeps us hungry to do stuff and play music.”
Meanwhile, though rumors of Will Haven‘s new album “Muerte” being their last have emerged in recent months, Irwin confirms that the band are leaving their future open for now:
“When we started this [album,] I asked Grady, “Do you want to do one more?” And he was like, “Yeah, but let’s just quit after this, because I don’t have another one in me.” I said, “That’s cool.” So basically we were playing around with the idea of the death of Will Haven.
It just stuck after that. Death is a dark and evil thing for me, so it definitely inspired me a little more to write on this record. I put myself in that position of losing somebody — Will Haven is my baby. I was treating it like, “Will Haven is dying. This is it.” Get that feeling of losing something that’s been in your life forever.
But it’s funny: That was at the very beginning, and I don’t think we expected to be as happy as we are with it. So we’re leaving it open. But telling people the honest truth — we thought this might be the end of it. But at the same time we feel like we came out of the studio as a new band with a new sound. So it’s like, maybe we should see what else we can do with this. We’re taking it day by day. If we get the opportunity to do another one, maybe we’ll do one. If not, we’ll be fine with that, too.”
“Muerte” is due in stores this Friday, March 23rd.
Comments