The use of backing tracks in a live setting has been a hot topic lately. Kiss was recently accused of using them to lip synch part of their show, while Fozzy vocalist Chris Jericho took the side of backing tracks aiding artists live to fill out their sound (though not to mime a performance). Now Deftones keyboardist Frank Delgado is weighing in via an interview with NME.
Delgado said that bands using click tracks and backing tracks results in what he dubs a "perfect show." He added that Deftones use neither live, and that he believes "some warts and all are important" when it comes to a performance.
"It's always good when people are able to put their best foot forward and feel like they're fitting in, without worrying about being part of a scene. Sometimes you need to be that thorn. We were always the thing that stuck out, because we were not the same. Things go in phases, but one thing that I think I noticed is that so much music uses click tracks and backing tracks these days, so there's so much perfection, which is a trip for me because there's never been any of that with us.
"People are so used to seeing a perfect show, they expect things to sound exactly like the record but there's something about a raw, visceral performance with tension that will always speak to some people. Others might say it sounds like shit but in a time when everything sounds and looks so perfect, I think some warts and all are important."
In the same interview, drummer Abe Cunningham said Deftones has the rest of their year pretty much planned out, and that the band is hopefully going to start jamming on the follow-up to their 2020 record Ohms. When asked what the new material might sound like, Cunningham joked "The next one is going to be soft as hell. Everyone's going to weep uncontrollably for months. There'll be a tissue shortage around the world. No, for better or worse, there are never any rules or preconceived thought put into much of what we create. It's mostly just jamming it out and seeing what happens."
"When we get together and write, it's 70 per cent about the hang. If that's going well, shit comes out. When it's no longer fun, that's a problem. There have been times like that. It's part of being around for a long, long time, so we try to keep it on the light side these days."
Deftones is currently touring in Europe without guitarist Stephen Carpenter, who recently said he's not ready to leave home.
6/17 Clisson, FRA – Hellfest Open Air
6/18 Landgraaf, NET – Pinkpop Festival
6/19 Dessel, BEL – Graspop Metal Meeting
6/21 Bologna, ITA – Sequoie Music Park
6/22 Zagreb, CRO – INmusic Festival
6/24 Budapest, HUN – Budapest Park
6/26 Hamburg, GER – edel-optics.de Arena
6/27 Berlin, GER – Verti Music Hall
6/29 Viveiro, SPA – Resurrection Fest
7/2 Seinajoki, FIN – Provinssi Festival
7/3 Helsinki, FIN – Tuska Open Air
7/5 Stockholm, SWE – Grona Lund
7/7 Madrid, SPA – Mad Cool Festival
7/13 Katowice, POL – Metal Hammer Festival
7/13-17 Cluj-Napoca, ROM – Electric Castle Festival
