Maynard James Keenan Sets Sights on New TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE and PUSCIFER Music After “Sessanta” Tour Wraps
After the “Sessanta” tour, a celebratory jaunt featuring PRIMUS, A PERFECT CIRCLE, and PUSCIFER, wraps up next month, vocalist Maynard James Keenan isn’t slowing down. In a recent interview with Revolver, the prolific frontman revealed his focus has shifted towards writing new music for all three of his bands.
Keenan, who recently turned 60, expressed his intention to reconvene with TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE, and PUSCIFER over the next year and a half to begin work on fresh material. This news will undoubtedly excite fans who have been eagerly awaiting new releases from each of these critically acclaimed groups.
“I’ve got three bands that need to write songs, so I’m going to be doing that,” said Keenan. “But I’m also expanding out in Arizona, opening up a fried chicken place in Cottonwood. When it comes to winemaking and growing our own grapes, we’re planting vineyards and strapping in for four or five years of waiting to see what’s going to happen there. That’s the one that takes the most planning and patience.
“But other than that, the path is kind of laid out for you. Like Les [Claypool of PRIMUS, also interviewed] said, he’s a bass player. I’m a singer, I’ve got to write songs. That’s what I do. So the next year and a half to me is writing songs I’ve got to write.”
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, TOOL bassist Justin Chancellor assured fans that they won’t have to endure another lengthy wait akin to the 13-year gap between 2006’s “10,000 Days” and 2019’s “Fear Inoculum” for new material from the band.
“Danny [Carey, TOOL drummer] is 62 now, so there’s no thought of taking 13 years if we’re gonna do it,” he explained. “We’re gonna have to be more efficient, and we’ve been talking of ways that we can do that. Maybe taking a leaf out of how me and Peter [Mohamed, Justin‘s bandmate in side project MTVOID] work with MTVOID — instead of staring at each other going ‘Come on! Get it out of ya!’ maybe we could do a bit more at home. We’ll see!”
Chancellor went on to say that TOOL has in fact begun working on new music. “We put a little work in before this tour,” he said. “We gave it a stab for a couple of months. We ended up compiling all the ideas we had; normally when we do that we start writing pretty soon after, but we had a lot of stuff coming up, so we didn’t dive all the way in. When we’re done with Europe, we’re gonna dive back in during the second half of the year.”
According to Keenan, who also recently sat down with Metal Hammer, there is indeed a consensus within the band regarding Justin Chancellor‘s sentiments on the matter. Keenan affirmed that there is a collective agreement to expedite their creative process and operational efficiency.
Maynard says: “ Tool is a more complicated beast with a lot of egos and a lot of other things going on in our lives. But all the creativity’s there, the songs and the ideas can flow and the arguments ensue. As soon as we get past the arguments, we can get shit done! Ha ha ha! I think we could do it more efficiently. And I think everyone’s on the same page that we have to get through that, because we can’t drag this out another 14 years.”
TOOL guitarist Adam Jones added: “Most of the people that you hear from on those things – like, ‘When’s your next record?’ – when you do finish it, they’re like, ‘OK, when’s your next one?’ You can’t make people happy. We have this very selfish approach to art. It’s our rules. When you start trying to make people happy, you’re losing yourself. You’re losing that burn inside you of why you do what you do.”
Chancellor also touched on TOOL‘s writing process for the new material, revealing that soundchecks, while on the road, seem to be the best time to mess around with new ideas.
“Danny [Carey]’s been working on this beat everyday. It’s amazing, but I hadn’t really played with it, but we had a good half-an-hour and I just really sort of got it. Of course, there’s like three different things going on top of each other, but yeah, it is very exciting. It was like everyone just kind of stopped and we were just working on this thing. Some days you get that vibe and it’s very creative, you know?”
Both PUSCIFER and A PERFECT CIRCLE have recently treated fans to new singles as part of the “Sessanta E.P.P.P.” In terms of full-length albums, A PERFECT CIRCLE last graced listeners’ ears with “Eat The Elephant” in 2018, while PUSCIFER delivered “Existential Reckoning” in 2020. Meanwhile, TOOL‘s last studio album, “Fear Inoculum,” dates back to 2019. These releases serve as eagerly awaited additions to the discographies of these influential and boundary-pushing bands, leaving fans eagerly anticipating what musical journeys lie ahead.
In 2022, TOOL made a significant splash with the release of “Opiate2,” an extended and reimagined rendition of the title track from their 1992 EP, accompanied by a visually striking short film. This marked the band’s first new video in a decade and a half. Additionally, they unveiled the Ultra Deluxe edition of “Fear Inoculum” on vinyl, a limited offering featuring five 180-gram discs adorned with unique etchings and complemented by an elaborate pictorial booklet showcasing never-before-seen artwork.
Since their formation in 1990, TOOL has built a formidable discography, including five studio albums: “Undertow” (1993), “Ænima” (1996), “Lateralus” (2001), “10,000 Days” (2006), and “Fear Inoculum” (2019). They’ve also released two EPs: “72826” (1991) and “Opiate” (1992), along with the limited-edition boxset “Salival” (2000). The band’s stellar achievements have earned them four Grammy Awards, including “Best Metal Performance” for “Ænima” (1998) and “Schism” (2002), “Best Recording Package” for “10,000 Days” (2007), and “Best Metal Performance” for “7empest” (2020).
