Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter has opened up about his Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, revealing he unknowingly lived with the condition for several years before finally seeking medical help around 2024.
Speaking with Premier Guitar, the 55 year old guitarist reflected on the difficult period surrounding the writing and recording of the band’s latest album, ‘private music’, explaining that persistent exhaustion and physical pain had become part of daily life long before he understood what was causing it.
“I had no clue what I was going through. I’d just been so out of it for the past four or five years—all the things that go with poor diet and poor exercise, that’s what I experienced.
During the whole writing process, I was just tired, but I was not connecting how I felt to what I was doing. When we went in to start tracking the music, thankfully we got all of our scratch tracks done, because shortly after that, something had got me all messed up. Like, every day, I was just shy of crying from pain that was in my right arm. I couldn’t even move it.
I did what I could to just take care of myself—at least as best as I understood what I was going through. And thankfully, when it was time to actually track my guitar parts, my body was feeling better, and I was able to physically do what I had to do.”
Misreading The Warning Signs
Despite the serious symptoms, Carpenter initially brushed the situation off as simply getting older (per The PRP).
“I just thought it was old-man life sh*t.”
“I was self-medicating, hoping I was doing the right thing, and always hoping things would get better so I wouldn’t have to do any of that. But unfortunately, you can only kick a can so far down the road before you run out of road.”
It was only after hitting a low point that Carpenter’s bandmates encouraged him to seek proper medical help, leading to the eventual diagnosis.
Finding Stability Again
Since receiving treatment and making changes to his lifestyle, Carpenter says things have improved significantly.
“I’m very glad I got help. Type 2 diabetes was affecting me on a number of levels for a long time, and I’m grateful to have that information now and be able to deal with it. I’m also really grateful to everyone else in the band—their positive energy really carried me through that period of time, and really carried us through the making of the album.”
The experience has even sparked unexpected inspiration:
“I’ve had two MRIs in the last year, and each time, I found myself thinking, ‘Man, how can I bring a recorder in here and record it?’ The sounds those machines make are so wild. The techs were like, ‘You can listen to music while we’re doing it.’ And I’m like, ‘No—I want to listen to the machine!’”
Carpenter also noted that 2012’s ‘Koi No Yokan’ remains his favourite Deftones album to perform live, explaining that it’s the record he enjoys playing the most from a physical standpoint.
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