Like much in the world of alternative metal trailblazers Deftones these days’, their 1997 sophomore album “Around The Fur” is kind of having a moment. Several key tracks from that effort went gold/platinum this past July in the United States. While in part some overdue accounting, that success is in part also driven by younger generations continuing to flock to the group amid their sustained TikTok-driven viral popularity.
At the time of writing this very story, “Around The Fur” just surged up the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart to #3, a feat attained after that album also debuted at #24 on the Top Rock Albums chart this past December. But while iconic songs like “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)” continue to resonate with new ears, the album’s striking cover shot has attained a level of fame all its own.
The band’s frontman/guitarist Chino Moreno ruminated on the origins of that photo this past fall. As the story goes, the shot came about during one of the many parties Deftones hosted at their rented residence in Seattle, WA during the recording sessions for “Around The Fur“. Moreno told the Broken Record Podcast last year of that:
“We were just like wild, out every night, partying, driving around, listening to the roughs from the day. And that album cover was, we had a Jacuzzi at our apartment… There was a hot tub downstairs. So every night, at the end of the night, after all our bar hopping, we’d go with everybody we’d meet from the bar, ‘let’s go back to our place. We’re gonna go the hot tub.’
And that photo was just from a random night there, whatever. And it got mixed in with all the other photos from the thing. So when they came and [started] spreading all the photos out for the album cover, that picture was there. And it was literally just like everybody pointed at that one. I mean, it’s very 90s too. So 90s. So it like really represents that time. It’s kind of funny.”
Moreno also went on to clarify that despite the pivotal role the woman featured on the “Around The Fur” cover has played for the band’s imagery in the near 30 years since the record was released, she wasn’t a close friend of the group. Moreno told the aforementioned podcast:
“She was a friend who we befriended while we were there in Seattle. And I did see a thing the other day, it was cool, they showed like, you know, her then and now. So it was her like, now — she’s probably our age now too, like, you know, maybe late 40s, early 50s — and she’s holding up the album cover, and she’s, like, smiling, whatever. ‘This is me’, you know when she was young as well.
But who knew, Right? It’s like even when she was asked, ‘Hey, we want to use this for the album cover.’ But then thinking that, like, 30 something years later, whatever it is, that would be such an iconic photo with t-shirts and all these like teenagers now wearing that picture on their t-shirt.”
Moreno also admitted that the decision to pick the shot as the album cover was a bit baffling to him at the time, saying, “You know it’s so weird that even as far as our merchandise goes, that t-shirt with that album cover on it is like one of the biggest sellers. But it’s such a random photo, it makes no sense at all.”
Now, in a newly released video feature, Jenkem dug into the origins of the album’s cover, tracking down the original photographer Rick Kosick, who went on to find fame with ‘Jackass‘ and more, as well as Kevin Reagan, who served as the art director for the album. Of course the feature wouldn’t be complete without talking to the cover star herself, Lisa Hughes, and Jenkem also flew out to meet with her as well.
Kosick was the first to be featured in this new video and had the following to say about his role in taking the iconic image [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“They invited me to come shoot photos during the recording of ‘Around The Fur‘ in Seattle, Washington. Not knowing what it’s going to become. I had no idea that this would make it to the album cover, at all. Maybe that’s why it worked, you know? ‘Cause there was not the intention, ‘I got to go there and shoot a cover,’ you know? Like, just go there and have fun, hang out, shoot photos, stay in your lane. That’s what I did.
They were kind of in their party phase stage of the band — as you probably should be — and so we went back to their their condo that they rented during the recording of this record, and there was this girl hanging out in the jacuzzi. And I just went up and took a couple… two photos. That’s it. Walked away.
Few weeks later, I get a call from the label. ‘Hey, come by and check this out. We want to show you something.’ And the art director [Kevin Reagan], he was like, ‘Well, what do you think?’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ I was blown away. I was like, ‘This is so cool looking. This looks… I love it’ — of course, I’m going to say I love it. It’s my photo — But I was just really… looking back, I was just really excited because it felt right after all the mockups and everything, this one looks incredible.”
Hughes herself went on to state that while she didn’t set out to bank on being on the cover at the time, the notoriety of it did come with benefits, mentioning that she was being granted entry into night clubs and such due to her famous face.
She also revealed that she kept some contact with guitarist Stephen Carpenter in the years that followed the shoot, revealing he invited her to a number of future Deftones shows. Given the provocative nature of the image, Hughes did however set out to dispel any notions of being a groupie at the time of the shoot and the other misconceptions that have emerged around the picture in the decades since it was taken. She said of that in this new feature:
“I found those articles, you know, about like [me allegedly] being a groupie and this and that. And I was like, maybe I should just start a little page just about myself and so people know that I’m Lisa. I’m just this awesome chick from Auburn, and I like to have fun. And there’s no groupie action going on here. Just me having a kick-ass time, you know?
It’s a pretty cool looking shot, right? Like with the fisheye lens just looking down. You know, it’s kind of risqué a little bit with my breasts, and people have asked, ‘Oh, look, you got a pimple there.’ I’m like, ‘Who gives a sh*t?’ What does that really matter? I’m a human being. I’m not a model and I could care less really. That’s me. It’s just cool looking. And if you look at the whole shot and the legs going into the hot tub, it just looks pretty awesome.”
There’s a lot more info about celebrated cover to be gleaned from the below video feature,. There were also some interesting tidbits and minutia shared as well, including:
- The jacuzzi that the photo was taken in still exists and was actually revisited in this new video feature.
- A testament to Deftones reaching younger audiences, Hughes has recently been asked to sign copies of “Around The Fur” for her daughter’s friends.
- It’s Rick Kosick‘s feet that are seen in the image beside Hughes on the album’s cover.
- The drink featured on the cover beside Hughes was her drink of choice at the time: ‘silk panties’ — a combination of vodka, peach schnapps and peach bitters.
- The cover was the only album cover shoot Kosick ever did.
