Our interview with Abe Cunningham of the Deftones

I've been a Deftones fan for well over a decade, which says a lot, because I completely lost an interest in new music between 1998-2004, when the Deftones first found their stride.

Like most 1997 high school graduates, I assumed the "golden years" of music were behind me. I mean, how could you top the rock/rap scenes of the early to mid '90s?

Not only that, but my most basic reliable sources for new music were drying up as well. The local alternative radio station became a Nirvana jukebox, MTV stopped playing music, and with the emergence of Napster, I spent most of my time trying to fill my back catalog of rare '90s gems at a 5 song a day pace.

So while I was busy scouring the virus minefields for every single Jane's Addiction b-side ever made, anything new that was kicking any sort of ass was all but going unnoticed.

Through a lot of trial & tribulation during the primitive digital music emergence, and an unimaginable amount of hours spent sifting thru this new breed of garbage rock and crap rap, only a handful of bands survived my attempt to sleep on an entire era, and one of those bands, the Deftones, emerged as an all-time favorite.

I'm still not positive exactly when & where the Deftones are from... they claim Sacramento, of that I'm sure, but my chat with Abe Cunningham did little to clarify within what plane of existence they actually reside.

Some might say Deftones are the last great band of the '90s, others would argue that they're the first great band of this millennium. I say, "Fuck it"... wherever they're from, I'm glad they found me in this lifetime when I needed 'em most, or shit, I might have been singing Pearl Jam's, "Jeremy" at a local dive bar karaoke last week instead of embracing the future and shooting the shit with the best band rarely played on your broken FM radio dial.

Abe Cunningham: Roy man, how's it going?

SYFFAL: Fantastic... how about you?

Abe Cunningham: I'm fucking grand! We're up in Vancouver right now. This is a lovely part of the world. I'm having a beer and it's fucking great.

SYFFAL: Well, Abe... first things first. After a World Series finally went your way last October, is there any chance that we'll ever see you again without that goddamn San Francisco Giants hat?

Abe Cunningham: Do you want me to boil that shit down? Okay, so here's what really happened... The fact that they won... I DID THAT. Because I rocked that shit everyday all of last year, so I'm responsible for the win and that's pretty much indisputable FACT at this point.

SYFFAL: Well shit! Then how much cash do we need to scrape up here in Chicago to get you to start sporting a Cubs hat every Fuckin' day of the year?

Abe Cunningham: You know what's funny? You know how you can get those ones that are black, where they're not even the team colors, just solid black? Well, I found a Cubs one that looks so sick because my last name starts with a “C” and I wore it for a day and I thought, 'Wait a minute!?! This is gonna Fuck it all up!”

But yeah, I got one... I still have it. But hey! You got the White Sox... woooo!?

SYFFAL: Nah, I'm not feeling the White Sox...

Abe Cunningham: Hahahahaha... HEY! What's up with ketchup? I was in Chicago not too long ago and I went to have a red-hot, you know... and no Fuckin' ketchup!? What is UP with that?

SYFFAL: Yeah, muthafuckers are hardcore about stupid shit around here, no doubt. You find yourself in the wrong neighborhood with a ketchupy dog and you might catch a beating...

Abe Cunningham: You'd get your ass kicked! As long as you do it the comfort of your own home you should be all good though, right?

SYFFAL: Depends what you married... But if you do shit like that at U.S. Comiskular it's a guaranteed problem. Plus, the white trash in attendance are typically only 2 white trash beers away from jumping onto the field and getting their asses kicked by an umpire, so no need to provoke 'em.

Abe Cunningham: That's the truth!

SYFFAL: Well dude, as a Deftones fan, I think you probably have a good sense of who you're dealing with here. I'm borderline psychotic about good music. Maybe good is a relative term, but I think it's accurate... though often the best way to judge something isn't by who gets it, but by who doesn't. Like the William Blake line, "the fool's reproach is a kingly title."

That said... What do you think about the current state of FM radio and their relentless persistence to just not get it?

Abe Cunningham: Well, put it this way: If New Orleans is a dying whore... then there you have it. I mean, it's just sad, man... I can't really say anything more than it's just fucking sad. I know things change and that's just the way shit goes, and sometimes it's just a phase, but this is not! It's hurting.

SYFFAL: Do you think it's more of a brilliant recognition by corporate America; that en masse most can be led to a river of toxic waste for a lifetime supply of manufactured? Or is it more devious than that?

Abe Cunningham: Well dude you're right. I think it IS devious. It's almost like it's a cruel, cruel joke. You've got a few things that work, so you keep it simple, keep it dumb. I mean it's just all money. The same company that owns the country station, also owns the oldies station that owns the hip-hop station, that owns the rock station...

I mean shit, back in the day, not even so long ago, you'd tune into a station, not only because they played good music, but maybe they had a really dope DJ that you dug that really mixed it up... but yeah, that's gone.

So I always listen to like the local KDVS out of Davis, CA... by where we live in Sacramento. It's a college station and they play everything man, and it's great. But it's just sad. Everything is just fucking sad these days.

SYFFAL: Do you miss MTV?

Abe Cunningham: TOTALLY man.

SYFFAL: Hell, at this point I miss Kennedy and I used to want to strangle that broad with her microphone cord for interrupting a block of cool videos back in the day!

Abe Cunningham: Kennedy! Hahaha shit, what about Adam Curry on Headbangers Ball with his teased out hair?

SYFFAL: Aww yeah... SO dreamy!

Abe Cunningham: Dude I feel you! I miss all that shit too. I miss Kennedy's glasses & her squeaky ass voice 'n shit.

SYFFAL: Thank god for YouTube I guess, but sometimes I wish I could just veg out like it was 1996 and let the TV do the work for me, ya know? I really miss the surprise of 'what's next' in that medium.

Abe Cunningham: Man I feel you. I really feel you.

SYFFAL: So dude, I've never been more disappointed to not be a Chilean miner than I was a week or so back when you guys rocked that shit down there. Please tell me that you haven't completely ruled Chicago out this festival season...

Abe Cunningham: There is a festival that started in the early '90s... I believe maybe 1991, that goes by the name of Lollapalooza. So yeah... we just played Lollapalooza in Santiago, Chile and that was the first time that they brought it out of the country... and um, so we played that one and yeah... I *believe* that we are playing in Grant Park, on that thing. Chicago Lollapalooza. Maybe I'm not supposed to say that, but I just did, so there.

SYFFAL: fucking AWESOME!

Abe Cunningham: So yeah, we're playing Lollapalooza, man. I think we're stopping through The Riv, in fact we were supposed to be at the Aragon this time, but they moved us to The Riv because we have contractual obligations to Perry Ferrell and Lollapalooza to play at a little bit smaller joint. But I'm down with The Riv, The Riv's cool. shit, I like Aragon too... The Vic...

Man, I'm down with the Windy City... I'm attached. I love that town. It's just a great, vast city with many many wonderful neighborhoods and good times for everyone.

Damn, I wasn't supposed to say that, but I just did, so Fuck IT!

SYFFAL: We're gonna spread that shit like a California wildfire!

Abe Cunningham: hahahahaha.... LET IT BE KNOWN!!!

SYFFAL: Your latest LP, Diamond Eyes, is stunningly beautiful & futuristic... in a way that all Deftones records are I suppose. Even when I go back and listen to your earliest efforts, I don't feel nostalgic like I do with most albums that I love from the past. I'm always instantly catapulted into a dreamlike future that we still have yet to become one with. What's going to have to change in society to walk in real time to the beat of the Deftones?

Abe Cunningham: Deftones are always a little bit out of touch... Maybe we're stuck in the past? Maybe we're too futuristic? Maybe we're stuck in a time capsule that someone will open up in 500 years? Maybe we're just stardust?

"WE ARE STAAAARDUST!"

I'm just stoked man. It's kind of a trip, I mean, we've been doing this a long ass time and we're just really having a fucking good time now, man. Ya know? I like playing drums, I like the dudes in my band, I have a Fuckin' blast with 'em. I love what we're able to do and that people still come out to see us from time to time. shit, what more could I ask for? I mean, it kinda sounds silly 'n shit, but what more could we ask for at this point in our careers? Everyone is just having a really good time again. There's tons of smiles and that shit's just electric.

I mean we've been around the world numerous times now... which is just nuts, because our whole goal when we started the band was just to make and finish songs. I mean, we were just kids. Then after that we were trying to play in the next city over, and besides that there were never any actual set goals.

God man, we just went to Paraguay the other day. We've been to South America several times, but shit... ya know?

SYFFAL: Well, I don't get outta the country much, but I do make it out west on the reg. Besides family, marijuana is my favorite part of the California adventure. I can't believe what a bad wrap it still gets. My parents still think that's why I dropped outta college, when in fact, that whole debacle is entirely Tony Hawk 2's fault, which ironically my mom bought me for Christmas circa 1999.

You guys being a few years older and having achieved an artistic level which I myself strive for everyday... Does it get any easier when the misconstrued pressures of a 9-to-5 are laid to rest? I guess I just mean that back & forth banter in my pot head... Can I ever really hope to overcome the ridicule?

Abe Cunningham: No. You're a criminal and you're gonna go to hell.

SYFFAL: True... I am an American.

Abe Cunningham: You are! And you're a fucking war monger and a bad man. So just be happy with that. Take some deep breaths, drink some water, maybe a coffee... have a home style craft beer and Fuckin' get down with it and just say Fuck it. Because yeah, you're already going to hell... at least you won't have to shovel anymore snow.

SYFFAL: It Fuckin' snowed here yesterday... What do I need with an eternity of snow anyway?

Abe Cunningham: I love to look at snow... it's beautiful, but I like to be able to go in & out of it at will, rather than be all up in it. But I live an hour from snow, so that cool. That shit just happens to you and that is NOT for me.

SYFFAL: fucking brutal, bro. Seasonal depression is a foul bitch!

So I'm inspired by nothing more than music that comes from a very neutral place... that stands alone and therefor ultimately stands the test of time. Despite your enormous success and longevity... hell, even days of partying, the Deftones have always been a band that lets the music do the talking. Kudos. Do you think that ability to stay focused and away from the nonsense is going to be achievable for new headlining caliber musicians going forward given our penchant for TMZ and reality TV mishaps?

Abe Cunningham: I don't know... it's a dangerous world now. I think luckily for us there are plenty of other people and bands that will happily screw up before we do just to get plastered all over TMZ and Tiger Beat.

I like to roll as simply as possible, ya know? I'm not trying to throw a bottle at the cameraman when I stumble out of a bar. I like to chill... I like to kick it.

There will always be plenty of young whipper-snappers with chips on their shoulders and 3 names in their band name that are happy to be all over that shit.

It's just a dangerous world man, I mean everyone is a critic and everyone's got a camera... Everyone can Yelp! Maybe you're eating a burger and it's the best burger that a town has, and maybe the chef is sick and couldn't come in that day and somebody had to fill in and maybe they Fuck the burger up. So then of course you take your expertise to Fuckin' Yelp! & post a picture and critique this misfire of a burger with something genius like, “WORST BURGER EVER! DON'T EVER COME HERE! THIS BURGER IS THE shitTIEST & NOW I GOT FAUCET ASS & MOUTH”.

Too much information is all I'm saying. About stupid shit.

SYFFAL: It's like the Brett Favre thing last year. He just stuck around one fucking year too long, ya know? He'd been doing that shit his whole life, just like every other fucking athlete ever, and he just stuck around one season too long. He could have gone out like a fucking legend! Like Magic Johnson did for doing much worse, but instead, he's not part of that old school anymore... His cock's out there floating around the internet and it's just fucking ridiculous.

Abe Cunningham: Exactly! He was trying to be like Wilt The Stilt and get up to 20,000... but you're exactly right, you put it right there in a nutshell. One year too long and he's in the digital age. FM radio is sad, the digital revolution is really cool... but we aren't, so it's just sad...

And I'm not complaining, I mean shit's great, because what can ya do? But I just long for a simpler time, I'd like to live in the '40s or maybe even the '20s... ya know? I mean you'd probably be a gangster in the '20s... look at where you live! You'd Fuckin' pull that Tommy Gun out and be runnin' rum & Fuckin' whiskey...

SYFFAL: I'd like to step into a gangster's shoes for a bit, no doubt. I have a beef with orange people that I'd really like to settle properly.

Speaking of a dual existence... What's up with the covers album that you just released? Is it a set of covers you've been playing live over the years, or...

Abe Cunningham: It's real cool, it's for this Record Store Day thing that's been going on for a little while now, and we actually got in on it last year for the first time and did a special 7in. It's just a cool concept because I love record stores and vinyl and I wish record stores were just everywhere like they were when I was a kid. Somewhere to just waste a day.

So yeah... lots of bands are in on this and are just putting out really limited number releases... 500, 1000, up to 5000 I think?

It's something we've wanted to put together. Pretty much all of these songs have already seen the light of day in one way or another, so it was more just a bamboozling... but never before on vinyl with a big cool cover. There's just a lot of rad bands on board with this Record Store Day project...

SYFFAL: Anything you recommend I check out?

Abe Cunningham: Oh shit... that's like the hardest question in the world and I blame it on my iPod... despite that I am actually living in the 1940s.

SYFFAL: Fuckin' tell me about it! I've got like 30,000 songs on that thing and I just throw it on shuffle and you know what!? I think that muthafucker's reading my mind!

Abe Cunningham: DUDE, it does man. I swear to GOD it does!!! The first few times I was just like, 'Oh, that's kinda neat. What a weird coincidence'. Then months into it... Fuckin' YEARS into that shit... Man, that shit is reading your mind and that's bullshit!

I wonder if it's a setting? Maybe we need to look deeper in the preferences and see if you can turn that Steve Jobs mind reading shit down a little bit.

It's a trip, huh!?!

Mallory (the lovely Warner Bros PR asst): Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but we're gonna have to wrap it up.

Abe Cunningham: Mallory!

SYFFAL: I'm 5 minutes away from having a new best friend, Mallory!

Mallory: Sorry! hahaha ...but you guys can always hangout sometime.

Abe Cunningham: Rekindle!

SYFFAL: Well shit... alright, dude. Thanks a ton for the chat. Hopefully we'll meet up in Chicago one of these times.

Abe Cunningham: Dude, definitely man... come on thru and nice talkin' Roy, I wish we had longer.

SYFFAL: Until next time then, Abe. Have fun in Vancouver and safe travels.

Abe Cunningham: Thanks Roy... talk to you in the future... or 1940... whichever comes first.