There are plenty of options for fans to legitimately buy music online these days, but record labels are still not hip to artists just giving it away. The Deftones learned that lesson the hard way recently when their label, Maverick Records, took down more than 40 live bootlegs the band had posted on its Web site in July.

"I think Maverick got mad because they own all that music," said singer Chino Moreno. "It was our idea to put it up there, but I think we were maybe supposed to ask permission of something."

The 49 bootlegs of shows in 2000, 1995 and 1992 were available for free download on the band's site for several weeks but were removed approximately three weeks ago and replaced with a note reading: "Taken down for now ... sorry." Maverick did not authorize the posting of the songs, according to a label spokesperson.

Other bands, including the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, have run afoul of their labels for giving music away for free in recent years. "Record companies are afraid of everything," Moreno said, laughing.

With Summer Sanitarium, a nasty feud with Korn (see "Korn's Singer Calls Deftones Vocalist 'Bitter,' Prepares To Blow Heads Off") and an even nastier groin injury behind him (see "Deftones Singer Suffers Groin Injury"), Moreno said he and his bandmates are looking forward to their upcoming headlining dates.

"I didn't want to do that tour," Moreno said of the Sanitarium dates with Metallica, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit (see "Metallica, Limp Bizkit Set Off Musical Fireworks At Summer Sanitarium"). "With the launch of a new record, I wanted to support the record with our own tour. I didn't want to come out of the box on a package tour."

Though he had no harsh words for hosts Metallica or his tour mates ("For as much as we bicker, Fred [Durst] and I are really close"), Moreno is psyched to be hitting the road for some quality time with the Deftones' notoriously rabid fans.

The band will be joined on various dates by Poison the Well, Clutch, Hoobastank, Thursday and Thrice. As a warm-up for their first solo North American dates in support of their self-titled album, the Deftones will kick off a European tour with A Perfect Circle and the Revolution Smile on Friday.

In between, Moreno will finish work on his long-awaited trip-hop side project, Team Sleep. The band's still-untitled debut is now due early next year, and Moreno warns that if you think you know what to expect, think again.

"We did a whole new record because I had stuff I'd been working on for years and stuff we recorded in Seattle with [producer] Terry Date that got leaked on the Internet a year ago," he said. "Then the Deftones did our record, so it got pushed aside again. We just finished a batch of all-new songs and now it's more of a band than before, [because before] it was mostly just stuff I did in my bedroom or tracks we sent back and forth to each other."

Team Sleep, which features Moreno's friends DJ Crook and guitarist Tom Wilkinson, as well as Hella drummer Zach Hill and former Tinfed bassist Rick Verrett, have completed 13 songs for the album.

Deftones tour dates:

  • 10/24 - Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre (Clutch, Poison the Well)
  • 10/26 - San Jose, CA @ San Jose Event Center (Clutch, Poison the Well)
  • 10/27 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern (Clutch, Poison the Well)
  • 10/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern (Clutch, Poison the Well)
  • 10/30 - Las Vegas, NV @ Cox Pavilion (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 10/31 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/1 - Phoenix, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheater (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/5 - Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/6 - Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/7 - Dallas, TX @ Next Stage (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/8 - New Orleans, LA @ State Palace Theatre (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/10 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/11 - Pompano Beach, FL @ Pompano Beach Amphitheater (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/13 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/14 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/15 - Washington, DC @ TBA (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/17 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/20 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/21 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom (Hoobastank, Poison the Well)
  • 11/24 - Burlington, VT @ Burlington Memorial Auditorium (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 11/25 - Montreal, QC @ Verdun Auditorium (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 11/27 - Toronto, ON @ Arrow Hall (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 11/28 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 11/29 - Cleveland, OH @ TBA (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 11/30 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/2 - Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/3 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/5 - Saint Louis, MO @ The Pageant (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/6 - Kansas City, MO @ Memorial Auditorium (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/8 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/9 - Salt Lake City, UT @ SaltAir Pavilion (Thursday, Thrice)
  • 12/11 - Sacramento, CA @ TBA (Thursday, Thrice)