What's new with you and the Deftones these days?

We're finishing up … I don't even know what album this is—six or seven? Who knows, you know. It's our 20th year anniversary this year, being in a band, and you know, so we're feeling really excited. … I think it's going to be a really amazing album, I hope, and a really good year for us.

That's cool. So I know you switched to a mostly vegetarian diet years ago. What made you decide to make that switch?

I'm actually pescatarian, and I have always been clear about that, so I don't want people to catch me in a Japanese restaurant and be like, "Fuck you, asshole!" Twenty years ago, I read Neil Cohen's No Denial book. I know its kind of dated now, but it was kind of my second year in college when I read that, and I just felt the treatment of animals—or the mistreatment of animals, rather—was just appalling to me, and I was like, "Fuck it, I don't want anything to do with this." And like I said, this was about 18 to 20 years ago.

Wow, so you're old-school?

Yeah, I'm one of the old-school people, and I can still maintain a pretty unhealthy figure like Jack Black. So there's hope for you guys if you're worried about being a really skinny vegetarian, then don't worry about it. I can show you that you can be a little overweight.

You're living proof.

Yeah!

A lot of the people who go to our Web site are in college, so what was it like for you to be a college student and make that diet change? Was that difficult? Do you have any advice for people who are trying to do that?

No, I mean now, you know, here's my advice. You guys have got it easy. Boca and Morningstar and all these other great companies are making things that are just phenomenal. I mean, everything that you can imagine they have made fake. Try going on tour in the early '90s as a vegetarian—driving through the South in a van, and they were like, "What do you mean you don't want no meat, boy?" And they would give you salad and throw some bacon on top of it, and you were like, "Man, I don't think you're getting it," you know?

Well, nowadays what do you eat while you're out on tour? What are your staples when you're on the road?

I mess around a lot with the Morningstar Grillers, because you can pretty much do anything with that.

Those are amazing!

Yeah, those are the best! And now, everyone's trying to be a bit more health conscious, and we're getting a bit older and trying—you can't tell—to get a bit more exercise and diet a little more. … You steam vegetables and steam a little rice. It's really nice, and if it's summer time, we'll bring out a grill. The other guys will grill as much meat as they want, but they're kind enough to leave me a little space on the grill for my vegetarian shit.

You heard about the whole Michael Vick situation, I'm sure, with the dogfighting charges. Are you familiar with that?

Yeah, yeah.

How did you feel when you heard about all that, and how do you feel about dogfighting in general?

Oh, I mean, terrible. Like I've said, I've got three dogs at home, and that is just appalling. It's fucking horrible, and every time I take my dogs to the dog park, there's always that one asshole owner that and—I don't mean to profile, but—he's got a pit bull and he's got to be a big-head daddy and his dog goes around bullying my mini-dachshund. And I'm like, "Fucking, keep an eye on your dog," because it's not bad dogs, it's bad owners.

Yeah, we always say that. There are no bad dogs; there are just bad people who don't train them well and make them into, unfortunately, these violent animals you talk about.

Yeah, it's terrible, and I think the crime should be a lot more serious. These are the same dogs that are biting children and attacking old ladies, and you hear all these stories and it's like ... Where's the punishment for the real criminal?

What would you say to somebody who's basically feeling what you're saying and they're interested in getting more involved?

I would just tell them to give it a shot, see if it makes them feel better, because I'm sure it will, you know what I'm saying? It definitely makes an improvement in your life—no matter what it is.

We have a campaign against KFC to try to get them to make some basic improvements in the way the chickens are treated on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. You know, stuff like having their beaks cut off with a hot blade ...

Ugh, it's terrible. That's the main stuff like I was talking about a long time ago, I was like, wow, debeaking chickens … and it's proven that kind of stress, on a cellular level, goes into the person that eats it. So you become more aggressive as a human being with the consumption of that kind of detrimental treatment. So yeah, that's a fairly good campaign.

So how do you feel about KFC specifically, and what do you think people should do about companies like that that aren't making even small improvements to better the lives of animals?

I think you're doing everything the right way, which is why I like being affiliated with you guys. I think all we can do is educate and campaign and hope for the best. Let the voices be heard, you know, boycott it as much as you can ….

And one more thing. What would you say to someone that you saw walking down the street in a fur coat?

I would tell them that they ought to know better. I mean, fuck, "You ain't Daniel Boon"—that's what I'd say.