Deftones and Team Sleep Works Over Time On Upcoming LP - Part One

(Read Deftones - Part Two) - Singer says Saturday Night Wrist follow-up will be in stores next fall, but Team Sleep fans will have to settle for free EPs and new Deftones merch is due to come out soon.

When you front two different bands like Chino Moreno does, you've got to prioritize.

Sure, Moreno would like to devote just as much time to both projects, but at the end of the day, he knows which band butters his bread: the Deftones. So, while Deftones fans can expect the follow-up to 2006's Saturday Night Wrist to be on store shelves by fall 2008, followers of the singer's electronic side project, Team Sleep, will need to wait until 2010 for that outfit's sophomore effort.

In the meantime, though, Moreno said Team Sleep will issue a series of free, downloadable EPs to whet fans' appetites for the impending follow-up to 2005's Team Sleep (see "Chino Moreno Says Ambient Team Sleep Aren't A Snooze").

"We've got two weeks of shows coming up, so we get to play together again," Moreno said of Team Sleep's upcoming mostly West Coast run, which kicks off November 29 in Sacramento, California, and runs through December 16 in San Francisco, with former From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore, Strata and Monster in the Machine in tow. "We're going to put out the first of the EPs to coincide with the tour, and we'll probably make the music available for download on a new Web site we're setting up."

So, what is the new material sounding like? "It's mostly electronic stuff," Chino explained. "We've been working on it the last few years, and we'll continue to write over the next couple of years, while I'm doing Deftones stuff. And in 2010, hopefully, we'll be able to release a full record. It's a big, long, drawn-out plan, but it works."

For the recording of Team Sleep's eponymous debut, Moreno took time off from recording the Deftones' Wrist, which, he now admits, delayed the release of the Deftones' fifth outing and led to some considerable tension within the ranks. He said his balancing act nearly led to the D-tones' demise — but that won't be happening again.

"To do both, right now, I'd be trying to squeeze in too much," he said. "The last time, I was in the middle of a Deftones record, and it wasn't thought out ahead of time, which caused me a lot of problems."

Team Sleep are still working on the EPs, and they have about 20 songs to choose from — some instrumentals and others featuring Moreno's unmistakable pipes. The band is offering the material gratis, Moreno said, because he has no illusions about what kind of act it is.

Read more of the Deftones discography and watch my favorite Deftones video.