Chino Moreno

Chino Moreno
Background information
Birth name	Camilo Wong Moreno
Born	June 20 1973 (1973--) (age 34) Sacramento, California, U.S.
Genre(s)	Experimental rock Alternative metal Trip-hop Dream pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals Guitar
Years active	1988-
Label(s)	Warner Music Maverick Records
Associated acts	Deftones Team Sleep

Chino Moreno (born Camilo Wong Moreno June 20, 1973) is an American musician. He is the lead singer and back-up guitarist in Deftones and Team Sleep. Moreno was born in Sacramento, California to a Mexican father and a Mexican/Irish/Native American/Chinese mother;^[1] the latter being the origin of his Spanish nickname Chino (a nickname given to Latinos with Asian features), which means "Chinese" in Spanish. He was the third of five children. He is married, his wife's name is Celeste. They have two sons: Kristian and Jakobi. The Deftones were quite close with the stepson of Max Cavalera of Sepultura and Soulfly, Dana Wells, and when he died, Chino Moreno was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.

In relation to his often ambiguous yet image-heavy poetic lyrics, Moreno quotes: "[Sometimes] my lyrics don't deal with specific topics. I write down on paper the feelings of the moment, it's not easy to explain the contents of the lyrics or give a logical sense to the words. What I write is also a reaction to the music we make, so the Deftones' sound is not pop, it doesn't communicate happy feelings. Paradoxically my favorite songs of the album talk about love, in a clearly different view."^[1] Despite this, Chino has been known to write songs about social issues such as racism, prostitution, urban violence, and drugs. However, even these songs can be rather vague and cryptic.

Music

During the making of Deftones' White Pony, Chino began work on a side project, Team Sleep. Chino's influences range from such bands as The Cure, The Smiths, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Helmet, Jawbox, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Kool Keith, Bad Brains, and Weezer, and claims that Deftones' latest album (Saturday Night Wrist) is more of a compromise between all of the members' influences, ranging from their brutal and brooding heavy signature seen on Adrenaline, Around the Fur and Deftones to the more melodic sound heard on White Pony.

Collaborations

• "Wicked" - Ice Cube cover from Life Is Peachy by Korn (1996)
• "Will To Die" - from In This Defiance by Strife (1997)
• "First Commandment" - from Soulfly by Soulfly (1998)
• "Bender" - from Home by Sevendust, credited as "Pony One" (1999)
• "(Rock) Superstar" - from Skull and Bones by Cypress Hill (2000)
• "Danger Girl" - from [[Tried + True]] by Tinfed (2000)
• "Pain" - from Primitive by Soulfly (2000)
• "Things!" - from Hesher by Hesher (2001)
• "The Hours" - from White People by Handsome Boy Modeling School (2004)
• "Paralytic" and "Crashing Down" - from Vices by Dead Poetic (2006)
• "Zombie Eaters" - Faith No More cover from The Undercover Sessions by Ill Niño (2006)
• "Fistful of Nothing" - Runs Astray by Atomic Six (2007)
• "Vengeance is Mine" - from Droid by Droid (2007)

Chino also featured in the low-budget video for the song "Carpe Diem" by fellow Sacramento hardcore act Will Haven.

References

External links

• Deftones Official Website
• Team Sleep Official Site
• Team Sleep Semi-Official Site
• Turkish Deftones Fan Page

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