"I was kicked out of the Deftones show 'cos I was being too aggressive in the pit. I was like, 'I used to be in this band!'" What it was like being in one of the world's biggest metal bands in their earliest days

Deftones today, next to a shot of Dominic Garcia on bass in the early 90s.

What's it like to be in a massive band at the very beginning of their career - only to leave before things take off? It's a question posed in the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which interviews a bunch of ex-members of some of the biggest metal bands around, including Trivium, Papa Roach and Faith No More.

One interviewee is Dominic Garcia, the original bassist for Californian alt metal titans Deftones. In 2026, they're bigger than ever, a post-pandemic boom seeing them draw in a new generation of fans, release some of their most critically acclaimed work and headline the biggest venues of their career. But once upon a time, they were just another new band on the scene, trying to scrape some momentum together. Dominic gives us his memories of those forgotten early days - and explains why, in his opinion, he technically never quit the band in the first place.