Happy 50th Birthday to Chino Moreno of the Deftones!

Chino was born Camillo Wong Moreno in Sacramento, California, on June 20, 1973. He is of Mexican and Chinese descent.

The nickname “Chino” is a Spanish-language term for Chinese people, shortened from “Chinito” (little Chinese one), given to him as a kid by his uncles.

Moreno began playing guitar at the age of 14. He formed Deftones with high school buddies Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham in 1988. The band released their debut album, Adrenaline, in 1995. Deftones have since released nine studio albums, selling more than 10 million albums worldwide.

In addition to his work with Deftones, Moreno has also released music with Team Sleep, Crosses, and Palms.

Team Sleep is an experimental alt-rock/electronica project that Moreno formed in 2000, with their self-titled debut album released in 2005. Crosses is a darkwave project that Moreno formed with his childhood friend and neighbor Shaun Lopez in 2011. Crosses released their self-titled debut album in 2014.

They also have a number of EPs out, including 2022’s ‘Permanent Radiant.’  Palms is a post-metal project that Moreno formed with Aaron Harris, Jeff Caxide & Bryant Meyer of the metal band Isis. Plams released their self-titled debut album in 2013.

Moreno is known for his dramatic tenor voice and distinctive screams. He is praised by critics for his songwriting, and his ability to blend genres. Moreno has also been cited as an influence by many other musicians.

I remember when Deftones sophomore album ‘Around the Fur’ was released in the late 90s, with the lead single “My Own Summer (Shove it)” playing very heavily on MTV. That was my introduction to Chino and the boys, and I have been a fan ever since!

If you ever get a chance to see the Deftones live, do it, you’ll be glad you did! I’ve been fortunate enough to see them many times over the years, meeting Chino and the fellas at a Festival Pier show 5-6 years ago.

Happy 50th Birthday to Chino Moreno from all of us at WMMR! I’ll be cranking up a double shot of Chino & the Deftones today on my program between 3p & 7p to celebrate!

So I hope you can tune in! -bp

Once again, Happy 50th Birthday to Deftones’ Chino Moreno!

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Fred Durst Gets ‘Sad & Boujee’ in Atlantic City [PHOTOS]

Atlantic City should have been overflowing with hard-rockers and hip-hoppers alike this past weekend, with the 20th anniversary of the Bamboozle Festival scheduled to hit Bader Field for 3-days of live music, fun & tomfoolery. Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Motionless in White and close to 60 other acts were all set to perform over the course of the weekend. Unfortunately, due to reasons out of the fans control, the festival was scrapped a little over a week before it was set to kick-off. Sean Salm and the great folks over Sad & Boujee had a couple of afterparties scheduled at Anchor Rock Club (ARC) both Friday & Saturday night as well. With the main festival cancelled, Sean and the Sad & Boujee team had to pivot their plans slightly but threw one helluva party at ARC on Saturday night for the Bamboozle fans that still wanted to blow off some steam! Enter Fred Durst! Freddy D hosted a super fun Sad & Boujee Halloween Party on the Moshulu back in October of last year (pics here), and it was such a success, they decided to do it again… in Atlantic City!

Sean was spinning tunes from everyone from Britney Spears to My Chemical Romance to System of a Down, with plenty of Emo & Hip-Hop mixed in. Durst was moshing with the fans, crowd-surfing over them and running around the Anchor Rock Club like a madman! You could tell Freddy D was having a blast, because so was the packed crowd at ARC. Thanks to Sean & everyone at Sad & Boujee for hosting a spectacular event and adding a bit of a silver lining to the weekend that was supposed to be Bamboozle.

I was able to grab some pictures from the event, and they are posted for you below.
-bp