Early years: 1989-1993

When Carpenter was 15 years old he was hit by a car while skateboarding. This left him confined to a wheelchair for several months. It was at this point that he began teaching himself guitar by playing along with bands such as Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death and Metallica.[1] It has been reported that the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment,[1][2][3] but drummer Abe Cunningham commented in an interview that this was "a myth about how our band was started."[4]

Carpenter, Moreno and Cunningham went to the same high school. They were childhood friends and remained friends through theskateboarding scene in Sacramento.[1] When Moreno found out Carpenter played guitar, he set up a jam session with Cunningham and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage circa 1988. After playing with several bassists, the band settled on Justin Jaramillo and recorded a four track demo soon after.[1] Within two years the band began playing club shows and later expanded their playing territory to San Francisco and Los Angeles where they played shows alongside bands such as Korn.[3][5] While closing for another band in L.A., after the majority of the audience had left, the band impressed a Maverick Records representative. They were soon after signed to the label after showcasing three of their songs for Freddy DeMann and Guy Oseary.[3][5]

The name "Deftones" was created by Carpenter who wanted to pick "something that would just stand out but you know, not be all cheese-ball at the same time."[6] Carpenter combined the hip hop slang term "def", which was used by artists he listened to such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy, with the suffix "-tones", which was a popular suffix among 50s bands whose music he also enjoyed (e.g. Dick Dale and the Deltones; The Quin-Tones, The Monotones, The Cleftones and The Harptones). Carpenter said the name is intentionally vague to reflect the band's tendency to not focus on just one style of music.[6]