Spin.com rounded up a number of actors, musicians, wrestlers and more to discuss the impact the Deftones had on them with their platinum-selling 2000 album “White Pony“. The piece was penned ahead of the album officially turning 20 this Saturday, June 20th.
Among those sharing their thoughts in the piece are Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda, actor/director Colin Hanks, Mastodon‘s Brann Dailor, Architects‘ Sam Carter, rapper Murs, WWE‘s Fandango (who has some Deftones ink) and many more. Speaking of how “White Pony” and the band influenced him, Shinoda commented:
“I heard the first album, Adrenaline, from a friend when I was in high school; he bought the CD. I liked that album, but I liked Around the Fur even more. I think everyone who was following what the band was doing was really excited to see what would come next. Deftones just has such a unique sound and aesthetic, and White Pony was the album that took such a big step up in terms of communicating who the band was.
Chino’s sense of eerie and unconventional melody, the band’s technical chops, and the engineering and production all felt really innovative and fresh when it came together. Nobody was making anything that sounded like that, and when people did, you could tell they were inspired by Deftones.
We wouldn’t have written a song like “A Place for My Head” if not for them. There was a bounce to their music that reminded me of my favorite hip-hop songs. And even though the guitars were super heavy, oftentimes they felt smooth like a keyboard, as if the distortion had flattened it so much it was just a wash of chords.
White Pony was one of the few albums I was into where I barely knew any of the words. They felt like estimations of lyrics, to me — really abstract and intuitive. I probably still think some of the lyrics say things they don’t say. But isn’t that the beauty of music? A listener’s experience with it can be such an integral part of the song, that it takes over the song’s actual intention or meaning.”
You can read the whole thing at Spin.com. Deftones will be hosting a “White Pony” 20th anniversary listening party this Monday, June 22nd.
A 20th anniversary edition of the album is also expected later in the year with a new companion effort titled “Black Stallion“. The latter will feature remixes of a number of key tracks from the release done by special collaborators, including DJ Shadow.
Comments