Deftones Sergio: Stef Carpenter was uncomfortable but supportive on Gore

Deftones
Deftones

Deftones’ Sergio Vega says that guitarist Stephen Carpenter was “uncomfortable” yet supportive towards his bandmates in Gore writing sessions.

The bassist says that Carpenter let the ideas flow in the studio and “allowed it to live” – despite his initial doubts over the band’s new sound on their latest album.

Vega tells Chittare: “When we jam together, it comes together in different ways and different speeds. So sometimes it could be hard for somebody.

“If you’re going through things in your life, and other people are not, sometimes it works out for everybody – sometimes somebody has a hard time or a hard day. Because of our friendship, we all are still there and present.

He continues: “So what’s important is that during the time that Stephen was having problems catching up with the material, or being into it, or thinking about it – he was always very supportive. So even if there was something that he didn’t like right away, he was, like, ‘I’m not gonna mess with this and let it develop and see where it goes, because I trust you guys.’

“That’s the part that gets missed. He felt uncomfortable, but he never stopped anything – he was always supportive. Then when he found his place, for certain songs, like Hearts/Wires, he made the song so much better.

“Stephen allowed it to live – he waited and he sat there, and finally he was like, ‘I see what I can bring to this song to make it better.’”

Deftones have a number of tour dates in Europe and the US scheduled in the coming months – including an Australian tour with Karnivool in November.

Deftones tour dates 2016

Jun 14: Cologne Palladium, Germany
Jun 15: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany
Jun 17: Aarhus NorthSide Festival, Denmark
Jun 18: Reykjavik Secret Solstice, Iceland
Jul 31: Buffalo Wedg Edgefest, NY
Aug 02: Bethlehem Sands Bethlehem Event Center, PA
Aug 03: Baltimore Pier Six Concert Pavilion, MD
Aug 05: Brooklyn Coney Island Amphitheater, NY
Aug 06: Philadelphia Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing, PA
Aug 07: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Aug 09: Boston Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, MA
Aug 10: Asbury Park Stone Pony Summerstage, NJ
Aug 12: Sterling Heights Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, MI
Aug 16: St Paul Myth, MN
Aug 17: Clive Seven Flags Event Center, IA
Aug 18: Tulsa Brady Theater, OK
Aug 20: Magna Saltair Resort Main Pavilion, UT
Aug 23: Fresno Woodward Park, CA
Aug 24: Los Angeles Greek Theatre, CA
Aug 25-26: Berkeley Greek Theatre, CA
Aug 27: Eugene Cuthbert Amphitheater, OR
Aug 30: Las Vegas Joint, NV
Aug 31: Mesa Mesa Amphitheatre, AZ
Sep 24: Grand Prairie Texas Mutiny, TX
Sep 25: Houston Open Air, TX
Oct 15: Mexico City Knotfest, MX
Nov 08: Perth Metro City, Australia
Nov 10: Adelaide Thebarton Theatre, Australia
Nov 11: Melbourne Festival Hall, Australia
Nov 12: Sydney Hordern Pavilion, Australia
Nov 13: Brisbane Riverstage, Australia

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.