Chino Moreno, lead singer for the northern California-based Deftones, said music was a way for his friends to have fun.
"Basically, we just got together and played around," said Moreno during a phone call from his home in Sacramento, Calif. "Stephan (Carpenter) always had a bunch of music equipment in his garage and we just picked some things up and tried them out."Deftones - featuring Moreno, guitarist Carpenter, drummer Abe Cunningham and bassist Chi Cheng - will open two shows for rock 'n' hop 311 Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12, at the Saltair pavilion. The music begins at 7:30 p.m.
"Abe and Stephan got together in junior high school," remembered Moreno. "They eventually asked if I wanted to sing and I did it for fun. Man, I didn't know a thing about music and stuff. I just wanted to have some fun. We were all the skateboard types and just hung out together."
The fun eventually became a project that they loved.
"The last seven years has really made us grow musically," said Moreno. "I mean, it would be safe to say the first three years the band was not serious about doing this for a living. But during these last four years, we really got to get in tune with ourselves."
Aside from a record contract with the Warner Bros.-distributed Maverick label and endless touring, Deftones have made a name for themselves touring with such groups as L7, Quicksand and most recently Korn.
"But we're still learning stuff," said Moreno, who listened to a lot of new wave during the '80s.
Moreno said Deftones is technically on a two-week vacation.
"We're just flying into Salt Lake especially for the two shows before we take off for a headlining summer tour," he said. "After that, we'll do the Warped tour and hook up with Pantera and White Zombie.
"I never thought I'd be doing this. I mean when the band got together, we just though it would be fun. If the fame happened, it'd be great. But I don't think any of us made a conscious effort to make it big."
Deftones visited Salt Lake last March as part of the X-96 X-tra Hard Show featuring Korn, Sister Machine Gun and Gravity Kills.
"It was a good show, even though we went on early," said Moreno. "Salt Lake really has a lot of energy."