california metal scene

California is home to a thriving music scene and Sacramento's hard-hitting Deftones play a major role. The four members of Deftones have been friends since childhood and have breathed life into the otherwise quiet suburban streets for the past four years with a vast amount of local gigs. Beyond Sacramento, they've unleashed their unique brand of music by hitting the road and building a following in the Bay Area, Reno and L.A., touring with everyone from Bad Brains and KoRn to L7 and Quicksand. After four years of persistent gigging and juggling their day jobs, they worked their way from a demo-to-demo existence to a record deal with Maverick.
"When you're a new band, it's hard to convince clubs in different cities to let you play and pay you -- it's not like bands can just travel anywhere at the drop of a hat," says guitarist Stephen Carpenter. "I mean, nobody minds playing for free half the time, but when it comes to travelling you still have to pay for costs. So it adds up."
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