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Chi Cheng (musician)

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For Asia's top female track and field athlete of the 20th century, see Chi Cheng.


Chi Cheng

Chi Cheng, (born July 15, 1970) is an American musician, best known as being the bassist in the American rock band Deftones.

Personal life

Cheng attempted a BA in English Literature from CSU Sacramento[1]. He is the author of a collection of poetry entitled The Bamboo Parachute released in 2000 as a spoken word album. He has a wife, Colleen, and a son with ex-wife Adrienne. He is also a practicing Buddhist, and maintains an interest in Taoism and Shamanism.

Cheng also sponsors a community service group based out of the band's hometown of Sacramento, California. The group aids homeless citizens in developing their musical talents, among other things. Cheng is also a vegetarian. During college, he read No Denial!: A Handbook for Becoming a Socially, Environmentally, and Personally Responsible Citizen of the Planet by Neill S. Cohen and decided to make the switch.

Car accident

Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, CA, on November 4, 2008. Deftones singer Chino Moreno stated on the Deftones' blog: "It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night. He is currently in a Northern California Hospital in serious, but stable condition. I am on my way up North right now to be by his side along with the rest of our band mates and family. Chi is one of the strongest people I know, and I'm praying that his strength will get him through this. Please say a prayer for him as well."[2]

The accident left Cheng in a coma, and the Deftones announced in February that the band would perform at Bamboozle Left in April, with their friend Sergio Vega (formerly of Quicksand) filling in for Cheng on stage.[3] On April 26, Cheng was readmitted to ICU following a near-fatal septicemia infection[4]; he survived the infection following treatment and was released from ICU about a week later.[5] Following the release, a rumor started to spread in early May that Cheng had awakened from his coma[6] but this was denied on oneloveforchi.com, stating that Cheng is in a minimally-conscious state.[7] On August 18, Cheng underwent surgery to replace a bone flap in his skull that had been removed after the accident, in order to relieve intracranial pressure.[8]

oneloveforchi.com was created in March 2009 to help raise funds for Cheng and his medical expenses, where fans can donate to help towards a initial target of $20,000 (later raised to $50,000 and $100,000). It is also a place where fans can read personal blogs and comments from the Cheng family, and record a message that will be played to Cheng to further speed his recovery. In late April, PETA announced that 20% of the income from a "Happy Families, Not Happy Meals" T-shirt designed by Chi would go to the One Love For Chi foundation.[9] There is also a "Get well soon" card on MySpace[10] for Cheng that fans from all over the world can sign by posting comments. Fans and some rock celebrities have posted comments, including Sonic Youth, Thursday, The Used, Flaw, Evans Blue, Ill Niño, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst who said: "CHI is a GOD. CHI has touched my heart as an artist and as a human being. He has been put on earth to shed light on all darkness. I love CHI. Fact. He is a major contribution to mankind. My heart aches for him, his family, his friends, and his fans. CHI for life."

On April 27, 2009, Shepard Fairey put three signed copies of his Obama inauguration posters up on eBay, with the proceeds of the auction going to the One Love For Chi foundation, founded by the family of Deftones bassist Chi Cheng.

Long time friend and fellow bassist Fieldy of Korn has recorded an instrumental song along with other musicians. All proceeds will be donated to Chi's family.[11][12] The song entitled "A Song for Chi" was released for free via digital download on its official website where donations to Cheng and his family are also accepted. A few months later, in October, Răzvan Rădulescu (aka DJ Hefe) of the Romanian nu metal band Coma, released a compilation album entitled "From Eastern Europe with Love", featuring bands from Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia - the proceeds from the sale of the album will also go to the One Love For Chi foundation.[13]

Deftones played a two-night benefit show on November 19-20, 2009 at Avalon in Hollywood. Proceeds went to the Chi Ling Cheng Special Needs Trust. [14] Guests included Far, Cypress Hill, Rodleen Getsic, Ben Kenney, Greg Puciato, Rick Verret, Tommy Lee, Mike Shinoda, P.O.D., Mark McGrath, Xzibit, Robert Trujillo, Rocky George and Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies), Dave Lombardo, Alexi Laiho, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, John Dolmayan, and Max Cavalera.

Equipment

Basses

Cheng exclusively uses Fender Basses. On tour, Cheng uses around 5 or 6 basses. His main basses are two '59 Fender Precision Bass Reissues which both feature a Precision Bass Split-coil Pickup (Mid), and a Humbucking Pickup (Bridge); made by Alex Perez of the Fender Custom Shop. Cheng also uses a '51 Fender Precision Bass tuned in EADG, for all Adrenaline songs.

Cheng occasionally makes innovative use of a fretless 4 string Precision Bass with a single EMG split pickup (mid). The smooth slides can be heard on tracks such as "Knife Party" from the album White Pony.

Although he generally prefers to stick to 4-Strings, Cheng acknowledges that he pulled out a couple of Fender 5-Strings during the making of Deftones. Ever since, he has played a Fender Roscoe Beck V 5-String Bass when performing live.

Amplifiers and effects

Cheng used a two 300-watt, all-tube Ampeg SVT 2 Pro Heads, two Ampeg 8x10 Cabinets and a rack-mounted Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 for extra distortion. He also used a Boss OD-3 OverDrive and Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble pedals.

Accessories

  • Fender heavy-gauge (.065-.120) Strings
  • Sennheiser Wireless System

Discography

Solo

With Deftones

For a more comprehensive list, see Deftones discography.

Guest appearances

In pop culture

References

  1. ^ Sauro, Tony. "Deftones' Cheng, Tokay grad, still hospitalized". Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  2. ^ http://deftonesinstudio.blogspot.com/2008/11/chi.html
  3. ^ http://deftonesinstudio.blogspot.com/2009/02/bamboozle-left.html
  4. ^ http://oneloveforchi.com/index.php/update-from-the-icu/
  5. ^ http://oneloveforchi.com/index.php/chi-is-out-of-icu/
  6. ^ http://www.gigwise.com/news/50772/Deftones-Bassist-Chi-Cheng-Comes-Out-Of-Coma
  7. ^ http://oneloveforchi.com/index.php/deftones-bassist-chi-cheng-comes-out-of-coma/
  8. ^ http://oneloveforchi.com/index.php/chis-surgery-done/
  9. ^ http://blog.peta2.com/2009/04/the_deftones_need_your_help.html
  10. ^ http://www.myspace.com/headupchi
  11. ^ Korn MySpace blog - Chi Song
  12. ^ http://modlife.com/korn/news/1/7270/chi_project_update
  13. ^ http://oneloveforchi.com/index.php/hefecompilation-cd-for-chi-cheng/
  14. ^ http://www.deftones.com/2009/10/a-benefit-for-chi-cheng-2/
  15. ^ http://www.deftonesworld.com/weird.htm#chichi
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