Chino Moreno, Shaun Lopez Talk ††† (Crosses)
A good project has the ability to cement itself in fans’ imaginations. Done right, it can cast a shadow, one that can take some considerable time to surpass. Just look at ††† (Crosses) – a partnership between Deftones’ Chino Moreno and old friend Shaun Lopez, their debut album won ecstatic reviews on its release in 2014. Day jobs soon intervened, however, with the two going down distinct paths. In each interview they did, however, the same question reared its head: hey, how about some more Crosses…?
“It has been a while,” Chino reflects on their decade-long absence. But you shouldn’t take that gap for silence – 2022 EP ‘Permanent Radiant’ led smoothly into last year’s excellent full length ‘Good Night, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.’. “It’s seemed like these last four years we’ve been working really fast, just pumping them out,” he adds with a wry laugh. “Usually we take a while… we spend time on it to make sure it’s right, and ready to go out there. Once we got the EP out we started working intense, really fast, so we decided: let’s not worry about the EP and focus on a whole album.”
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Speaking to Clash over Zoom, Chino and Shaun dial in from two different locations, yet it’s immediately apparent they’re on the same path. Picking up on each other’s answers, they remain tethered to a creative sphere in their lives. “Coming back after being on hiatus for a while we had to get out heads down, and get back into it,” Shaun insists. “It’s just two of us tackling everything. We had to see how it works. The EP helped us to build confidence. When we started working we realised we’re on a roll. Before we knew it, we had about 20 ideas – in varying stages – that we really liked. It felt current to us, where we’re at musically. We went down that road, and I’m really glad we did.”
For Chino, the appeal of an album – a larger body of work – remains palpable. “Doing EPs and singles is a neat thing but doing an album – a coherent piece of work – it feels different, large, and urgent.”
“It’s the excitement,” the metal legend adds. “Once we get into the studio together we start tweaking knobs, playing with synthesisers… that feeling of going in there with nothing, and walking out at the end of the day with something that will be around forever. And that feeling is just… it’s way different than playing shows. Creation is one of my favourite things about being a musician. That excitement is the driving force behind the album.”
The two connected much earlier in life, and retain an infectious, almost boy-ish enthusiasm towards creating music. On his screen, Shaun is seated at the control desk of his studio, the walls covered in vintage synths – it’s a mad scientist’s laboratory, or a music fan’s dream, depending on your perspective. “Sometimes a new piece of gear would influence a song. I get this new synth, and you start making something new. Next thing you know, Chino is going into the vocal booth to lay down an idea. It makes you feel like a kid at Christmas – I got this, check this out!”
“Shaun and I connect musically in a lot of ways but a lot of it is unspoken,” the vocalist adds. “We never go in with a preconceived notion of what we’re trying to make. Sean and I share the same influences. We’re constantly turning each other on to new music. It’s not preconceived, we just get in the room and start bouncing things around.”
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In spite of the long gap between albums, both full length projects from Crosses draw from the same well. There are similar influences – Nine Inch Nails, left-field electronics, The Cure – and also an unrelenting chemistry. “Although I’m capable of writing songs, I’m just not interested in writing something on my own for myself,” Chino notes. “I love collaboration. I throw something to him, he throws something to me. It’s not a competition, but it’s sort of like that – it’s trying to expand on this thing that’s in front of us.”
Take fan favourite ‘Light As A Feather’. As Shaun notes, it’s “one of the oldest songs on the album”, born from those initial conversations when the two started to meet up regularly again. “We were meeting as friends, it wasn’t to make anything. I plugged in, fired up some samples, and next thing we knew we had made this track… maybe in three, four hours. It was super creative. It lived on Dropbox for a while, and when we started putting together the album we felt it was the right time to use it.”
“It’s usually just me reacting to the music,” Chino adds. “The music is what inspires the vibe. It’s very rare that I would have a lyrical idea, or a preconceived idea of what I’m trying to say. A lot of times the music creates the vibe, and I react to it. Usually when I go in, I’ll hear the rough idea and I’ll have something – maybe a melody, or a cadence – and I’ll go in with no words at all, and lay it down.”
He continues: “It’s crazy because maybe 75% or 80% of what I do on that first take… stays in the song. I don’t really approach this any different than I do anything that I work on. I don’t really come in with a lyric sheet. I wish I could do that! I admire that.”
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One notable guest on the record is The Cure’s Robert Smith, who augments ‘Girls Float + Boys Cry’. “The song itself was pretty much finished,” Chino recalls. “We had the majority of the lyrics. The initial idea was to reach out, and ask if he’d loan his voice for just one line. It was meant to be on the bridge, and make people wonder: oh, is that Robert Smith…? Thankfully he obliged. We weren’t able to do it in person, but when we got it back, with his vocal on it – and he did his own thing, he layered it – I took it to Shaun, and hearing that for the first time was just amazing.”
Still beaming at the memory of it all, Shaun adds: “When I was a kid I had one of those massive Boys Don’t Cry posters… like a subway poster. It was so surreal to get that email, and open up that raw vocal track. Pretty insane.”
For Shaun, the audio universe remains something he’s desperate to map out. More than two decades into his career, he retains the pure enthusiasm of a beginner. “You can go into a rabbit hole sometimes. I really just care about sounds. If I hear a sound on an album, or a song, I straight away think: how did they make that? I end up Googling it! (laughs)”
“It’s Chino’s influence sometimes. I know that I can’t just send him something that’s like, super trapped out drums. I know he’d be like, what are you doing? If but I use 80s snares and claps, or a super hard 808, or something a bit more modern… but with a good balance, then we can use that. I can’t send him something that’s too 80s – that’s just retro. It’s funny, people label Crosses as synth-wave or darkwave… those elements are in there, but it’s not what I think we are.”
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Name-checking some key influences, Chino is also careful to note that they aren’t swamped by reference points – their work together has a unique character. “We’re always cautious of balancing it out. We came of age in the 80s and that has a big influence on us. We wear that on our sleeve. But we try to mix it with something contemporary. It’s important for us, for the project to not be a retroactive endeavour.”
Released to huge acclaim, ‘Good Night, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.’ is a rare example of the sequel more than living up to the original. Crosses aren’t done yet, however – there’s a UK tour planned, the possibility of remixes, and… some much-needed rest.
“Right now, we can let our shoulders down a little bit,” says Chino. “We’ve done a lot this past year. For me, really, I can say that going in to making this full length record we were being over-achievers. I don’t think people expected it. I feel like we’re ahead of ourselves. And that let any outside pressure dissipate. We went above and beyond. Being head of ourselves made it easier for us to see how far we can take it.”
“I honestly feel like I’m learning all the time,” Shaun finishes. “And that’s a good thing. Once you’ve stopped learning either you think you know everything, or you’re just stuck. I’m learning everyday.”
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Catch ††† / Crosses at the following shows:
June
23 Bristol Marble Factory
24 London O2 Forum Kentish Town
26 Manchester New Century Hall
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Words: Robin Murray
Photo Credit: Brian Ziff
