Revolver has teamed with Deftones for an array of special limited-edition 'White Pony' 20th anniversary bundles including the new White Pony|Black Stallion 4LP release, a hand-numbered Richey Beckett print and Revolver's Deftones Summer 2020 box set. Quantities are limited so order yours now!
Deftones' debut, Adrenaline, introduced a powerful, if still raw and unfocused, new force in heavy music. Around the Fur marked the first evolutionary step toward the transcendent sound and vision we know and love today. But White Pony was the major leap, a dive off the deep end into a sensual world without sonic limits. The Sacramento-bred trailblazers' signature alt-metal grooves were wedded with ambient electronics, synth-pop, experimental rock and trip-hop. Tool's Maynard James Keenan guested (on the immortal "Passenger"). "Elite" won a Grammy. And a generation of fans were inspired to make their own genre-defying music — including Jimmy Wizard, vocalist of U.K. hardcore upstarts Higher Power. We talked to Wizard about his connection to White Pony and its enduring impact on him.
HOW DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER THE DEFTONES?
JIMMY WIZARD I had seen and heard them on Kerrang!, but I first really got into them when they were playing Wembley Arena on the 2003 self-titled tour. My older friend was like, "We have to go see this band. They have the most violent mosh pits in the world." Those were his exact words — and I was sold. He gave me the self-titled album. I loved it and had the sickest time at the show and was a real fan from then on.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU HEARD WHITE PONY?
I honestly can't remember the first time I heard it, but White Pony still blows my mind every time I listen to it — so let's just say that was my first impression of it.
WHAT ABOUT WHITE PONY STILL BLOWS YOUR MIND AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
When I listened to White Pony when I was a kid I liked it, but I didn't know why. I just thought Deftones were cool. The older I get the more I appreciate it musically and realize how ahead of its time it was. I like to think it was subconsciously opening me up to so many different styles of music without realizing it. And it has definitely had a huge influence in how I approach writing music without trying to conform to any one genre.
CAN YOU GIVE US ANY EXAMPLES OF HOW WHITE PONY INFLUENCED WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN HIGHER POWER?
I can tell you that "Street Carp" directly influenced our song "Drag the Line" [from 2020's 27 Miles Underwater]. If you go and listen to it, I was so inspired by that hard riff–into–dreamy chords dynamic and that's what inspired me to start writing that song on a larger scale. Like I said before, it showed me you don't have to conform to any one formula when writing music, you can blend all these different elements and create your own world.
THE ALBUM TITLE IS UP FOR INTERPRETATION. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
I always thought it probably had something to do with drugs, but what do I know?
WHITE PONY WAS RELEASED IN A VARIETY OF PHYSICAL EDITIONS. WHICH, IF ANY, DID YOU OR DO YOU OWN?
I'm pretty sure I have only ever owned a copy my friend made me — probably downloaded from LimeWire.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WHITE PONY TRACK?
"Street Carp" or "Change (In the House of Flies)"
IS WHITE PONY SOMETHING YOU REGULARLY GO BACK AND LISTEN TO? OR DOES IT REPRESENT A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME IN YOUR HISTORY?
I still listen to it regularly. For me personally it just gets better with age — and grows with me.
