I will sing your life

The new Deftones record, Diamond Eyes, was released this week and it's the first new record from Sacto's finest since 2006's Saturday Night Wrist. I've been listening to the album for a while now and it's amazing, like Adrenaline and White Pony had a baby, amazing. I'm particularly partial to the raw emotion and intensity in the song "Rocket Skates" and (like many times before) have completely fallen in love with Chino's vocals on "Sextape." Seriously, he has one of the best voices I have ever heard.

This fall, the band will embark on a tour with Alice In Chains and Atlanta's Mastadon, with a stop at Madison Square Garden September 24th. I'm hoping that they'll do their own headlining tour as well, since I'm not sure I'd enjoy a Deftones show unless I was practically on stage with them.

From everything I've read so far about Diamond Eyes, most people seem to think it's classic Deftones and it will probably be looked back on as one of their best. And it IS a great record. However, it's impossible for me to listen to the new album, or any Deftones record at all, and not think about Chi.

I wrote about Chi and his accident a while back and though he's made great progress, he's still got a ways to go. Gina at One Love for Chi updates the site with news about Chi's condition. Recently she posted about Dr. DeFina, a doctor who the family has brought on to help Chi get better. Dr. DeFina was featured on this week's episode of True Life, which followed three young men whose lives have been turned upside down after suffering serious brain injuries. We certainly take for granted the fact that we can hold objects or walk or speak or even remember something that happened 2 minutes ago, because our brains work in a way that makes these things absolutely effortless. But after a serious brain injury, these "effortless" motions and thought processes can become significantly impaired, making once simple actions extremely difficult, and in turn making life more difficult. My heart went out to these guys, particularly because they're all so young (19, 20 and 26). You can view the episode of True Life here.

While Chi has come far since his accident and has a great team around him, it's still very important to remember that he needs our continued prayers and support. You can also still donate to help with Chi's medical bills. I recently came across this post from Chi's ex-wife Adrienne about why help is so very needed:

For those of you that wonder why fundraising is necessary to a Grammy award winning musician I can tell you first hand there was a time when Chi was bringing in so little capital that the courts wanted ME to pay HIM child support during the long time between albums. Bear in mind I am a hairstylist and the money I bring in does not exactly put me on any top earner lists. Even during these hard times Chi would do whatever it took to make sure that Gabriel was provided for, including selling several of his personal possessions. The stories posted on this site from fans all over the world about Chi’s generosity don’t even touch what he has done for Gabriel, myself and my family. He was generous to a fault sometimes and often put his needs last to make sure everyone was happy.

After Chi's accident, listening to Deftones was a little hard. Just thinking about what happened made me feel so sad for him and his family. But I know that his fans, friends and family continue pulling for him to get better and I know that Chi would definitely want the rest of his band out there, playing music for the people who have enjoyed Deftones over these last several years.

When I first listened to Diamond Eyes, I misheard a lyric in the song "Risk." I thought Chino said, "I will sing your life," probably because I'm also a huge Morrissey fan and one of his best songs is Sing Your Life. As all Deftones fans know, the band is fond of Moz and even recorded a masterful cover of The Smiths classic Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want. In the song "Sing Your Life," Morrissey doles out these wise words:

Others sang your life
But now is a chance to shine
And have the pleasure of saying what you mean
Have the pleasure of meaning what you sing
Oh, make no mistake my friend
All of this will end so sing it now

Melina and I used to always joke about how we weren't quite sure what the word we were hearing was in certain Deftones songs and we got into some pretty humorous debates about Chino's lyrics on several occasions. However, I think "I will sing your life," is just as good of a sentiment. You never know what could happen to you in life, so you have to make the most of the time you have to do all that you are able to do.

I know that Chino, Abe, Steph and Frank will continue to sing Chi's life, as will his friends and family. And hopefully one day, he'll be able to sing his life for himself again.

Blue star, shine your light

When I was in college, I met a really cool girl named Melina. Melina and I shared a mutual friend, Elena. Elena and I went to the same high school and Melina had gone to school with Elena's sister. Elena was a year ahead of me in school but it just so happened that we ended up at the same college and living in the same dorm. Even though Melina and I both knew Elena, we probably wouldn't have become good friends had I not taped pictures of one of my favorite bands to my dormroom door. That band was the Deftones. Turned out Melina was a big Deftones fan as well and after meeting her, I had someone to share my 'tones obsession with.

I have so many great Deftones memories from over the years including the first time I saw them at Ozzfest in 1999; the time I caught Abe's drum stick when he threw them up into the air at their Tabernacle show in 2000; the time Melina and I bought tickets off a classmate for the sold out Big Day Out concert, praying that we'd get to hear "Back to School" live for the first time (which we did); the time we FINALLY heard "The Chauffeur" live after begging them forever to play it live; and the time we got to hang out with them one awesome night in Fort Mill South Carolina, making us the happiest girls ever in life.

While the Deftones are an incredibly talented band, one of the best things about them has always been their bass player Chi Cheng. I was fortunate to meet Chi on a few different occasions and he was always humble, incredibly kind and really appreciatve of the opportunity to play music for his fans. I remember one particular day in November of 2000 when Melina and I went up to Atlanta for a Deftones show at International Ballroom. Because we were super fans, we arrived at the venue really early (11 am to be exact) so that we could be one of the first people inside when the doors opened later that night. To our surprise, we weren't even the first ones there. A 16 year old kid from Alabama had made it there first. We thought, "Wow, how early did this kid have to get up to drive to Georgia from Alabama to make it there before 11 am?" We knew he had to be a big fan.

The weather was terrible that day. It was cold and rained on and off all day. While Melina and I had hoodies that kept us pretty warm, this 16 year old kid didn't have a jacket or anything and we felt really bad for him.

As the day went on we spotted a few members from the opening bands walking around and chatted and talked with them. But the highlight was definitely when members of the Deftones came out to talk to fans. Now Melina and I used to ask Chi questions on the Deftones messageboard pretty frequently. And somehow, with the hundreds of questions people would ask him, he would always answer ours. When we met him, he remembered the questions that we asked and we thought, "Wow, here's this big rockstar who actually knows who we are." And that felt really cool. Talking to Chi about music, politics and Buddhism, you could tell that he was really well informed about so many things and topics. But what came across the most about Chi that day was his kindness. When he saw that the 16 year old kid who had been waiting there all day was shivering because he didn't have a jacket on, he went onto the bus and gave the kid HIS jacket. I was truly amazed. Most regular people wouldn't have done that much less a rockstar. If we didn't know before, we definitely knew then that Chi wasn't just a rockstar. He was a good person too.

I mention all of this because a few weeks ago on November 3, Chi was involved in a really terrible car accident. His mother, Jeanne, has been updating the Deftones blog with Chi's condition. He's in a coma. While he's stable, his condition is obviously very serious. I pray for him every night. It's so funny how you can feel so connected to a band because of all of the times you've listened to their CD or how many times you've seen them in concert or all of the posters you have of them hanging in your room (I still have a little Deftones corner in my room in Atlanta). However, when you've met them and see what good people they are, it makes it even more difficult to hear when something horrible happens to them.

Luckily for Chi, he has a lot of people pulling for him between his band mates, his family & friends and his millions of fans. I also know that his will is strong and that he will fight to get better. So I ask you, if you pray, pray for Chi. And if you don't pray, send some good thoughts his way. If anyone else were in his position, I know that Chi would gladly do the same.

Melina and Chi in 2000