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04-22-2006, 06:59 PM
actually there's two, spread across five pages of the latest issue of german VISIONS magazine. the interviews were held on February 15th, one day after the Munich listening session.
grammatical idiocy is copyrighted by... me.
No, i don't have any scans. You can't read german anyway.
Enjoy.
Interview with Danny:
VISIONS: Danny, how many copies of your new record do exist at the moment?
Danny Carey: Four. Only the four of us each own a copy. It’s like that: If anyone else will receive our music before the release, it will instantly be online. This devaluates our work. Our records are more than just data. I.e. they have artwork, which Adam is currently working on in L.A., together with Alex Grey. (thinking) However the record itself is just advertising for our live shows. The visuals and the sound – this cannot be substituted.
VISIONS: Once again, five years have passed since your last album, cause Maynard sings in two bands: Tool and APC. Is one album every five years enough for you as a musician?
Carey: I would enjoy to produce an album every three or four years. We’re usually on tour for two years, and an off-time of one year would be good. What should a band which releases a record every one or two years, and tours, have new to say? We worked on this record approximately one and a half year non-stop. We spent one year on writing, and a half on recording it.
VISIONS: Once more there are epic pieces on the record, over ten minutes in time, which apparently have more than one level of meaning. How does one write such complex songs?
Carey: I think a lot of that are the results of jamming. Over the years, we have developed a high level of communication with each other. We are able to share quite abstract emotions and experiences in a musical way. This hopefully gives our music a certain depth which finds its way to the listener. The process however, which we all have to undergo for recording an album, is very time consuming. Often it actually starts with small ideas, which we work on in every possible way. This first phase takes months. We record almost anything on tape for being able to return to the good ideas.
VISIONS: You sit around in the rehearsal room, reeling tapes?
Carey: That is a very organic approach. Whereas the arranging is the most difficult part in my opinion. Jams are fun, you bend things just as much as possible. Arranging however means that we decide what has to be played for how long. The changes in rhythm alone were very difficult this time. Sometimes there are different time signatures flowing into each other. It is a painful, long process which can only be done in very small steps. But I believe it is worth the trouble. We normally are not the band which writes song in the studio, however we had planned to do so with one of the new songs. Studio experiments just don’t make sense because of financial reasons. We record on a very high sound level. The studio cost 2,000 $ a day. And at that price you can assume that we are very well prepared.
VISIONS: The new album sounds more offensive than its predecessor. There was almost no sonic space on Lateralus.
Carey: Yes, that’s why I wanted to open the drum sound this time. That’s not as easy as it sounds. If one instrument gets more room, everything has to have more room.
VISIONS: This time Joe Barresi did help you with the recordings. However, you always self-produce your albums.
Carey: Technical assistance is sufficient. A producer also tends to help out musically, or decides which take makes it onto the album. Who could do that job better than us? What use would be talent scouts like Rick Rubin for us, who put their name on the record and tell us that the first song will be the single?
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
VISIONS: Well, after one listen I did not recognize one single even measure.
Carey: Believe it or not! It’s a trick, almost a rhythmical illusion. I play this at the top (moves his hands) and that with my feet.
VISIONS: k…
Carey: A rare thing for a Tool song! Parabola too was almost straight forward, on the other hand… at the end not anymore.
VISIONS: Do you play after notes?
Carey: in Tool everything is controlled by emotion. It would also be a bit much to browse through.
VISIONS: Tool connect highly detailed arrangements and much emotion. Many musicians say that too much discipline kills creativity.
Carey: That’s a lame excuse! Perfect musicianship just means that in special moments you can do whatever you like. That I have an intuition and do not have to think about how I will realize it. I just react to my feelings. Technique only exists to do justice to your potential. Without technique, you slay the moment. You refuse your visions any chance. That of course does not apply for people who celebrate self- or system-destructiveness in a punk band. But what visions do they have? The visions of idiots who play in a garage? (lols) Sure: Often those bands do have political or social attitudes, but actually this is just themselves. It is not in their music. It’s much like with many expressional painters, who shit onto the canvas to reveal their innermost. That’s ok, but what is this in comparison to a Salvador Dali or a Rembrandt – people who worked hard on themselves, to make their work something big?
VISIONS: That sounds nice. But even for Tool there is this issue: would you be where you are now, if it weren’t for exact these “idiots in a garage”? Nirvana as an example.
Carey: Of course there’s always exceptions. But I think that we caught our chance mostly in that wave of bands like Helmet, Soundgarden or RATM. All of them being ambitioned musicians, but also good technicians.
VISIONS: So you would say that sober, hard, disciplined work…
Carey: …can lead to artistic freedom, yes. Discipline opens doors to places which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. During that three year break i used to exercise drumming every day and would not quit until moving into the rehearsal room. Because there, discipline would actually encumber me. Two years of practising, two years to let go – otherwise it constrains you. However I won’t be able to tell you if it worked like we imagined it to until the next five years.
VISIONS: So that means you know since of today what you would change in Lateralus!
Carey: I think, that album could have been more tough and airy. On the other hand, these are exactly the things we did right on the new one. It does breath more, is more powerful, more dynamic. Adam and Justin have expanded their fields in an amazing way. I however try to play my own melodies on the drums, to contrast the harmonic instruments. And when the band changes from a 6/8 beat to a 5/4, I play the 5/4 even before the 6/8 ends. Hopefully that all will be received by the listener. The song order is finally set as recently as two days ago. To be honest I listened to the album in its final version for the second time yesterday.
VISIONS: How was it?
Carey: Good. I think it has a very good flow that way, even if it visits many very different places. Also, I think the last song is now much more fitting.
VISIONS: There also have been electronic rhythms.
Carey: That was me. I listen to Aphex Twin very often and put some samples onto my drumpads. This will be hard to play live. We fuck up more often than people would believe. This probably will increase again, when I listen to the new album. Sometimes you just have two things in mind at the same time and totally fuck it up. (lols) And then people come and say: “Wow, how do you do that? Cool!”
VISIONS: Does this band actually consist of four members whose opinions each weigh 25%?
Carey: Yes… (thinking) Yes. With everything. Starting with career relevant decisions, up to writing. In my opinion, this also is the reason why we still exist. All of those who began at the same time as us – Alice in Chains, Helmet, RATM – they’re all gone. Because in such issues bands break up. Why do you ask?
VISIONS: Your release rhythm is defined by Maynard because he has two bands. Also, public focus lies on him as the singer. Plus, there is his aloof, almost arrogant appearance.
Carey: Yeah, what you say happens all the time. I have enormous respect for Maynard, how he does his best to not be pushed into the spotlight. No matter how introvert and stressful he seems to be: Even for him it must be kind of a temptation. In the end he is the singer. And he has another, successful, similar band. But we’re clever enough to watch over ourselves. We also had the luck to get signed very late. I was 30 back then. It sucked having to eat canned tuna until i was 28, but I thank God that we didn’t have to play in front of 50,000 people at age 21. Who knows what I had done to myself otherwise.
04-22-2006, 06:59 PM
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#1
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Banned.
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: outside your pixel universe
Posts: 1,745
Bincount™: 932
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Interview. a quite good one.
actually there's two, spread across five pages of the latest issue of german VISIONS magazine. the interviews were held on February 15th, one day after the Munich listening session.
grammatical idiocy is copyrighted by... me.
No, i don't have any scans. You can't read german anyway.
Enjoy.
Interview with Danny:
VISIONS: Danny, how many copies of your new record do exist at the moment?
Danny Carey: Four. Only the four of us each own a copy. It’s like that: If anyone else will receive our music before the release, it will instantly be online. This devaluates our work. Our records are more than just data. I.e. they have artwork, which Adam is currently working on in L.A., together with Alex Grey. (thinking) However the record itself is just advertising for our live shows. The visuals and the sound – this cannot be substituted.
VISIONS: Once again, five years have passed since your last album, cause Maynard sings in two bands: Tool and APC. Is one album every five years enough for you as a musician?
Carey: I would enjoy to produce an album every three or four years. We’re usually on tour for two years, and an off-time of one year would be good. What should a band which releases a record every one or two years, and tours, have new to say? We worked on this record approximately one and a half year non-stop. We spent one year on writing, and a half on recording it.
VISIONS: Once more there are epic pieces on the record, over ten minutes in time, which apparently have more than one level of meaning. How does one write such complex songs?
Carey: I think a lot of that are the results of jamming. Over the years, we have developed a high level of communication with each other. We are able to share quite abstract emotions and experiences in a musical way. This hopefully gives our music a certain depth which finds its way to the listener. The process however, which we all have to undergo for recording an album, is very time consuming. Often it actually starts with small ideas, which we work on in every possible way. This first phase takes months. We record almost anything on tape for being able to return to the good ideas.
VISIONS: You sit around in the rehearsal room, reeling tapes?
Carey: That is a very organic approach. Whereas the arranging is the most difficult part in my opinion. Jams are fun, you bend things just as much as possible. Arranging however means that we decide what has to be played for how long. The changes in rhythm alone were very difficult this time. Sometimes there are different time signatures flowing into each other. It is a painful, long process which can only be done in very small steps. But I believe it is worth the trouble. We normally are not the band which writes song in the studio, however we had planned to do so with one of the new songs. Studio experiments just don’t make sense because of financial reasons. We record on a very high sound level. The studio cost 2,000 $ a day. And at that price you can assume that we are very well prepared.
VISIONS: The new album sounds more offensive than its predecessor. There was almost no sonic space on Lateralus.
Carey: Yes, that’s why I wanted to open the drum sound this time. That’s not as easy as it sounds. If one instrument gets more room, everything has to have more room.
VISIONS: This time Joe Barresi did help you with the recordings. However, you always self-produce your albums.
Carey: Technical assistance is sufficient. A producer also tends to help out musically, or decides which take makes it onto the album. Who could do that job better than us? What use would be talent scouts like Rick Rubin for us, who put their name on the record and tell us that the first song will be the single?
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
VISIONS: Well, after one listen I did not recognize one single even measure.
Carey: Believe it or not! It’s a trick, almost a rhythmical illusion. I play this at the top (moves his hands) and that with my feet.
VISIONS: k…
Carey: A rare thing for a Tool song! Parabola too was almost straight forward, on the other hand… at the end not anymore.
VISIONS: Do you play after notes?
Carey: in Tool everything is controlled by emotion. It would also be a bit much to browse through.
VISIONS: Tool connect highly detailed arrangements and much emotion. Many musicians say that too much discipline kills creativity.
Carey: That’s a lame excuse! Perfect musicianship just means that in special moments you can do whatever you like. That I have an intuition and do not have to think about how I will realize it. I just react to my feelings. Technique only exists to do justice to your potential. Without technique, you slay the moment. You refuse your visions any chance. That of course does not apply for people who celebrate self- or system-destructiveness in a punk band. But what visions do they have? The visions of idiots who play in a garage? (lols) Sure: Often those bands do have political or social attitudes, but actually this is just themselves. It is not in their music. It’s much like with many expressional painters, who shit onto the canvas to reveal their innermost. That’s ok, but what is this in comparison to a Salvador Dali or a Rembrandt – people who worked hard on themselves, to make their work something big?
VISIONS: That sounds nice. But even for Tool there is this issue: would you be where you are now, if it weren’t for exact these “idiots in a garage”? Nirvana as an example.
Carey: Of course there’s always exceptions. But I think that we caught our chance mostly in that wave of bands like Helmet, Soundgarden or RATM. All of them being ambitioned musicians, but also good technicians.
VISIONS: So you would say that sober, hard, disciplined work…
Carey: …can lead to artistic freedom, yes. Discipline opens doors to places which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. During that three year break i used to exercise drumming every day and would not quit until moving into the rehearsal room. Because there, discipline would actually encumber me. Two years of practising, two years to let go – otherwise it constrains you. However I won’t be able to tell you if it worked like we imagined it to until the next five years.
VISIONS: So that means you know since of today what you would change in Lateralus!
Carey: I think, that album could have been more tough and airy. On the other hand, these are exactly the things we did right on the new one. It does breath more, is more powerful, more dynamic. Adam and Justin have expanded their fields in an amazing way. I however try to play my own melodies on the drums, to contrast the harmonic instruments. And when the band changes from a 6/8 beat to a 5/4, I play the 5/4 even before the 6/8 ends. Hopefully that all will be received by the listener. The song order is finally set as recently as two days ago. To be honest I listened to the album in its final version for the second time yesterday.
VISIONS: How was it?
Carey: Good. I think it has a very good flow that way, even if it visits many very different places. Also, I think the last song is now much more fitting.
VISIONS: There also have been electronic rhythms.
Carey: That was me. I listen to Aphex Twin very often and put some samples onto my drumpads. This will be hard to play live. We fuck up more often than people would believe. This probably will increase again, when I listen to the new album. Sometimes you just have two things in mind at the same time and totally fuck it up. (lols) And then people come and say: “Wow, how do you do that? Cool!”
VISIONS: Does this band actually consist of four members whose opinions each weigh 25%?
Carey: Yes… (thinking) Yes. With everything. Starting with career relevant decisions, up to writing. In my opinion, this also is the reason why we still exist. All of those who began at the same time as us – Alice in Chains, Helmet, RATM – they’re all gone. Because in such issues bands break up. Why do you ask?
VISIONS: Your release rhythm is defined by Maynard because he has two bands. Also, public focus lies on him as the singer. Plus, there is his aloof, almost arrogant appearance.
Carey: Yeah, what you say happens all the time. I have enormous respect for Maynard, how he does his best to not be pushed into the spotlight. No matter how introvert and stressful he seems to be: Even for him it must be kind of a temptation. In the end he is the singer. And he has another, successful, similar band. But we’re clever enough to watch over ourselves. We also had the luck to get signed very late. I was 30 back then. It sucked having to eat canned tuna until i was 28, but I thank God that we didn’t have to play in front of 50,000 people at age 21. Who knows what I had done to myself otherwise.
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04-22-2006, 07:04 PM
great interview. thanks orange.
04-22-2006, 07:04 PM
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#2
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dorkus maximus (the t.d.n crybaby)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Jackson Mi
Posts: 3,810
Bincount™: 832
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
great interview. thanks orange.
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 07:07 PM
part 2: Interview with Maynard
VISIONS: Maynard, when the final version of your new album was played for the journalists yesterday, Danny and Justin stayed in the room to listen to it for the second time. You left. Why?
Maynard James Keenan: I can’t do that. I worked to close to it to being able to just sit down and examine people how they were listening to the album. Or being examined by them while I listen. They need to find out for themselves what matters to them.
VISIONS: The album sounds very resolute.
Keenan: These are hard times. In the past I always believed that one could save this collapsing world through share, enlightenment, a higher consciousness. But that somehow isn’t enough anymore. The album is, if you want to call it like that, more direct.
VISIONS: Is the variable singing your greatest personal achievement?
Keenan: I try to experiment as much as possible without harming the music. The many places on this record deserve different perspectives. Some of the vocal renovation I already tested on emotive, and even at the beginning of “The Grudge” on the last Tool record.
VISIONS: Despite your long career breaks, which are considered suicidal, the public interest in Tool seems even to increase. Whereas the tension before a new Tool release surely is also a result of your band philosophy: that of demonstrative seclusion and the resulting mystification. There’s almost nothing known about you (all). Is that your decision because of the image or for artistic reasons?
Keenan: In the first place these are decisions we feel comfortable with. Many people don’t want and can’t do it that way. Many musicians are happy when they see themselves on television. We don’t. The emotions which we set to music don’t fit into that. We need a certain space. If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that. But sadly we can’t be like that. We need to protect ourselves, to keep our energy pristine.
VISIONS: Cherished be your respect for other people, but: Aren’t it the artists themselves – at least those of them who play the media game – who make it more difficult for those who function alternatively or even refuse themselves? Isn’t the pivot of a culture what artists let themselves be done with?
Keenan: I have to agree. That business with all its mechanisms which everyone complies to as a matter of course just to have success, is bad for people who place their art over success. Because the others render them dispensable for the record labels. Sure: We too use record labels, but we are not a party of all of it. It is further of interest that Tool are not at all dependent on the generally dropping record sales. Even if we wouldn’t sell a single copy, it wouldn’t be existentially dangerous to us. We make our money from touring. Our audience comes, even if we were gone for years or never be broadcast on radio.
VISIONS: But if you already are not reliant on it: Why can’t even your label have a copy of your album before release, so there can be reported in full? Don’t you give a shit? Or do you fear a drop in sales after all?
Keenan: It’s artistic reasons. It’s a matter of appreciation for an album. The artwork, the music, the concept. It starts being a problem to us if we can not tour anymore – personal reasons for example. I hope that we, when the music industry collapses, be in a safe place. Let’s not fool ourselves: As important Tool seems to be to some people., nobody will remember us.
VISIONS: After all you managed to launch at #2 of the Us billboard charts with unconventional, cumbersome music and your last record Lateralus.
Keenan: That’s not our goal. Tool is a matter of four humans who meet again after three or four years to try to meld and express all their experience, all their emotions their way. Four personalities, who went in four different directions meet again to see where their lives cross. We unite our strengths in this… tool. We search for moments and capture them. And if we are honest to each other and try hard, then we have a nice snapshot of how we ticked on that day. That’s all we can do – music and some conversation. Hopefully we help others with that. It would be nice if we could straighten the focus a little bit. But that is beyond our power.
VISIONS: Would you say that you also coquette with the Tool-myths which was born out of your awe for media? Why isn’t there a single high resolution photograph of you without disguise?
Keenan: I do that in order to protect my private life. Do you have kids? You would understand. And if this where a perfect all-inclusive marketing plan (leans back) we would sell much more records. Then Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson would have to camp in front of our studio. We are not relevant.
VISIONS: Another side effect is that your psychedelic visual style and your image do fire your fans’ imagination. There are people who say you have to listen to Lateralus beginning with the centred song Parabola towards the outside, others see occult…
Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them.
VISIONS: Where do YOU find truth?
Keenan: In a room with this band. With these people. Within the music. When those moments come in which everything fits. When sound and words fit, space opens and the path to a pristine place is clear, from which one – at least metaphorically – can see future and past simultaneously. A higher truth. (thinks) It is these moments which all artists want to reach: hard to explain, hard to achieve and they don’t last long.
VISIONS: Yet they’re worth it.
Keenan: Definitely.
VISIONS: If this is your goal and you even have to protect your work from the public, wouldn’t it be just consistent to say: We don’t release our music anymore at all? We discharge ourselves of any commercial necessities?
Keenan: (lifts finger) I as an American, no matter how hard I would wish - in my ideal version of myself – to be like that: I can’t. There is just too much of that culture in me. I want to show and sell. Show how I feel, what I do or how I find my own peace. (shrugs) I believe however that Tool have come relatively close to this point. I think that we, without compromises and restrictions set said snapshots to music. And I believe that this commercial superstructure over art, be it music business or whatever, will implode very soon and we will be at a point again where the greatest will be shared at smallest level.
VISIONS: Who speaks like that is considered a culture-pessimist.
Keenan: I’m not pessimistic just because I see the end of music business like we know it! I see it as an opportunity for change. How did we make it this far? Through change! And now we feel fear? I say: Everything will collapse and reinvent itself from this misery, as always.
VISIONS: And what does that mean to you?
Keenan: I will try to be in a beautiful place on that day, from where I can watch.
VISIONS: The chorus from the first song on your album fits well: “ I like to stand aside and watch things die from a distance” is the only line which I can remember from the first listen.
Keenan: That’s right. It fits. But it actually is in sarcastic context. Wait a second…
The door opens, and the promotion lady gives a sign to cut off. 25 minutes, 44 seconds. Maynard does not notice. He raises from the armchair, nuzzles in his pocket, takes out a brown wallet, searches for something. “Maybe I still have it” the promotion lady comes closer. “Here it is!” he shows a small note on which is written: SCHADENFREUDE. “See?” He folds the note, puts it back to his wallet and sits down. That’s what the first song is about. Now he noticed her. “There’s much to do. Come to the concerts, I will be one of the four guys on stage.” He shortly laughs and leaves the room.
04-22-2006, 07:07 PM
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#3
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Banned.
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: outside your pixel universe
Posts: 1,745
Bincount™: 932
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
part 2: Interview with Maynard
VISIONS: Maynard, when the final version of your new album was played for the journalists yesterday, Danny and Justin stayed in the room to listen to it for the second time. You left. Why?
Maynard James Keenan: I can’t do that. I worked to close to it to being able to just sit down and examine people how they were listening to the album. Or being examined by them while I listen. They need to find out for themselves what matters to them.
VISIONS: The album sounds very resolute.
Keenan: These are hard times. In the past I always believed that one could save this collapsing world through share, enlightenment, a higher consciousness. But that somehow isn’t enough anymore. The album is, if you want to call it like that, more direct.
VISIONS: Is the variable singing your greatest personal achievement?
Keenan: I try to experiment as much as possible without harming the music. The many places on this record deserve different perspectives. Some of the vocal renovation I already tested on emotive, and even at the beginning of “The Grudge” on the last Tool record.
VISIONS: Despite your long career breaks, which are considered suicidal, the public interest in Tool seems even to increase. Whereas the tension before a new Tool release surely is also a result of your band philosophy: that of demonstrative seclusion and the resulting mystification. There’s almost nothing known about you (all). Is that your decision because of the image or for artistic reasons?
Keenan: In the first place these are decisions we feel comfortable with. Many people don’t want and can’t do it that way. Many musicians are happy when they see themselves on television. We don’t. The emotions which we set to music don’t fit into that. We need a certain space. If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that. But sadly we can’t be like that. We need to protect ourselves, to keep our energy pristine.
VISIONS: Cherished be your respect for other people, but: Aren’t it the artists themselves – at least those of them who play the media game – who make it more difficult for those who function alternatively or even refuse themselves? Isn’t the pivot of a culture what artists let themselves be done with?
Keenan: I have to agree. That business with all its mechanisms which everyone complies to as a matter of course just to have success, is bad for people who place their art over success. Because the others render them dispensable for the record labels. Sure: We too use record labels, but we are not a party of all of it. It is further of interest that Tool are not at all dependent on the generally dropping record sales. Even if we wouldn’t sell a single copy, it wouldn’t be existentially dangerous to us. We make our money from touring. Our audience comes, even if we were gone for years or never be broadcast on radio.
VISIONS: But if you already are not reliant on it: Why can’t even your label have a copy of your album before release, so there can be reported in full? Don’t you give a shit? Or do you fear a drop in sales after all?
Keenan: It’s artistic reasons. It’s a matter of appreciation for an album. The artwork, the music, the concept. It starts being a problem to us if we can not tour anymore – personal reasons for example. I hope that we, when the music industry collapses, be in a safe place. Let’s not fool ourselves: As important Tool seems to be to some people., nobody will remember us.
VISIONS: After all you managed to launch at #2 of the Us billboard charts with unconventional, cumbersome music and your last record Lateralus.
Keenan: That’s not our goal. Tool is a matter of four humans who meet again after three or four years to try to meld and express all their experience, all their emotions their way. Four personalities, who went in four different directions meet again to see where their lives cross. We unite our strengths in this… tool. We search for moments and capture them. And if we are honest to each other and try hard, then we have a nice snapshot of how we ticked on that day. That’s all we can do – music and some conversation. Hopefully we help others with that. It would be nice if we could straighten the focus a little bit. But that is beyond our power.
VISIONS: Would you say that you also coquette with the Tool-myths which was born out of your awe for media? Why isn’t there a single high resolution photograph of you without disguise?
Keenan: I do that in order to protect my private life. Do you have kids? You would understand. And if this where a perfect all-inclusive marketing plan (leans back) we would sell much more records. Then Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson would have to camp in front of our studio. We are not relevant.
VISIONS: Another side effect is that your psychedelic visual style and your image do fire your fans’ imagination. There are people who say you have to listen to Lateralus beginning with the centred song Parabola towards the outside, others see occult…
Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them.
VISIONS: Where do YOU find truth?
Keenan: In a room with this band. With these people. Within the music. When those moments come in which everything fits. When sound and words fit, space opens and the path to a pristine place is clear, from which one – at least metaphorically – can see future and past simultaneously. A higher truth. (thinks) It is these moments which all artists want to reach: hard to explain, hard to achieve and they don’t last long.
VISIONS: Yet they’re worth it.
Keenan: Definitely.
VISIONS: If this is your goal and you even have to protect your work from the public, wouldn’t it be just consistent to say: We don’t release our music anymore at all? We discharge ourselves of any commercial necessities?
Keenan: (lifts finger) I as an American, no matter how hard I would wish - in my ideal version of myself – to be like that: I can’t. There is just too much of that culture in me. I want to show and sell. Show how I feel, what I do or how I find my own peace. (shrugs) I believe however that Tool have come relatively close to this point. I think that we, without compromises and restrictions set said snapshots to music. And I believe that this commercial superstructure over art, be it music business or whatever, will implode very soon and we will be at a point again where the greatest will be shared at smallest level.
VISIONS: Who speaks like that is considered a culture-pessimist.
Keenan: I’m not pessimistic just because I see the end of music business like we know it! I see it as an opportunity for change. How did we make it this far? Through change! And now we feel fear? I say: Everything will collapse and reinvent itself from this misery, as always.
VISIONS: And what does that mean to you?
Keenan: I will try to be in a beautiful place on that day, from where I can watch.
VISIONS: The chorus from the first song on your album fits well: “ I like to stand aside and watch things die from a distance” is the only line which I can remember from the first listen.
Keenan: That’s right. It fits. But it actually is in sarcastic context. Wait a second…
The door opens, and the promotion lady gives a sign to cut off. 25 minutes, 44 seconds. Maynard does not notice. He raises from the armchair, nuzzles in his pocket, takes out a brown wallet, searches for something. “Maybe I still have it” the promotion lady comes closer. “Here it is!” he shows a small note on which is written: SCHADENFREUDE. “See?” He folds the note, puts it back to his wallet and sits down. That’s what the first song is about. Now he noticed her. “There’s much to do. Come to the concerts, I will be one of the four guys on stage.” He shortly laughs and leaves the room.
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04-22-2006, 07:11 PM
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
__________________
give me a place to stand and i will move the earth
04-22-2006, 07:11 PM
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#4
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Level 12 - Scurrilous
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE IMO
Posts: 5,320
Bincount™: 8627
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
__________________
give me a place to stand and i will move the earth
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04-22-2006, 07:11 PM
You got to love MJK. Thanks orange. AWESOME!
04-22-2006, 07:11 PM
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#5
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dorkus maximus (the t.d.n crybaby)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Jackson Mi
Posts: 3,810
Bincount™: 832
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
You got to love MJK. Thanks orange. AWESOME!
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04-22-2006, 07:13 PM
Good stuff...
__________________
T00LARMY: BJ
04-22-2006, 07:13 PM
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#6
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Watch the Weather Change
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Room 237
Posts: 6,717
Bincount™: 4444
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Good stuff...
__________________
T00LARMY: BJ
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04-22-2006, 07:16 PM
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
__________________
give me a place to stand and i will move the earth
04-22-2006, 07:16 PM
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#7
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Level 12 - Scurrilous
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE UNBAN SHADE IMO
Posts: 5,320
Bincount™: 8627
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
__________________
give me a place to stand and i will move the earth
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OFFLINE |
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
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I don't know. But calling Viginti Tres a "song" doesn't seem to fit the context.
04-22-2006, 07:19 PM
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#8
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On Probation
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AZ
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
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I don't know. But calling Viginti Tres a "song" doesn't seem to fit the context.
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04-22-2006, 07:19 PM
you're welcome. was fun to translate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
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either that or Viginti Tres. But VT basically can only be the last song. It IS an outro at the end of it. So probably he means Right In Two.
04-22-2006, 07:19 PM
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#9
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Banned.
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: outside your pixel universe
Posts: 1,745
Bincount™: 932
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
you're welcome. was fun to translate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
the last track fits better now?
is he reffering to Right in Two?
|
either that or Viginti Tres. But VT basically can only be the last song. It IS an outro at the end of it. So probably he means Right In Two.
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04-22-2006, 07:20 PM
awesome. interesting. thanks. kudos.
04-22-2006, 07:20 PM
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#10
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sweden
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
awesome. interesting. thanks. kudos.
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nice
fuck
i'm starting to believe it's not just a b-sides album
fucking bitchheads
04-22-2006, 07:21 PM
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#11
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Blacklick, Ohio
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
nice
fuck
i'm starting to believe it's not just a b-sides album
fucking bitchheads
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OFFLINE |
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very nice. thanks for posting that.
04-22-2006, 07:21 PM
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#12
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Level 4 - Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Indiana
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
very nice. thanks for posting that.
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Awesome interviews. Thanks a lot for posting.
04-22-2006, 07:22 PM
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#13
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Level 5 - Deep Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: NC
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Awesome interviews. Thanks a lot for posting.
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04-22-2006, 07:25 PM
by the way, what does SCHADENFREUDE mean?
04-22-2006, 07:25 PM
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#14
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sweden
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
by the way, what does SCHADENFREUDE mean?
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OFFLINE |
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Quote:
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
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Hmmm. "The Pot" maybe? Take that you naysaying, hoax believing bitches!
Thanks Orange. Good read.
__________________
Not all martyrs see divinity.
04-22-2006, 07:25 PM
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#15
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Level 4 - Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Arizona
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
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Hmmm. "The Pot" maybe? Take that you naysaying, hoax believing bitches!
Thanks Orange. Good read.
__________________
Not all martyrs see divinity.
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OFFLINE |
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stinkfish
by the way, what does SCHADENFREUDE mean?
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Taking pleasure from another's misfortune. Synonym: epicaricacy.
04-22-2006, 07:26 PM
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#16
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On Probation
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AZ
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stinkfish
by the way, what does SCHADENFREUDE mean?
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Taking pleasure from another's misfortune. Synonym: epicaricacy.
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 07:28 PM
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#17
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Level 5 - Deep Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Big Sur, CA and Austin, TX
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
nice read
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04-22-2006, 07:29 PM
SCHADENFREUDE: Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
__________________
Blotter got ontop of me, left me playing.. tool constantly....
04-22-2006, 07:29 PM
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#18
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Level 9 - Obstreperous
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: -_-
Posts: 1,396
Bincount™: 107
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
SCHADENFREUDE: Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
__________________
Blotter got ontop of me, left me playing.. tool constantly....
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04-22-2006, 07:31 PM
ty for this interview
__________________
Blotter got ontop of me, left me playing.. tool constantly....
04-22-2006, 07:31 PM
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#19
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Level 9 - Obstreperous
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: -_-
Posts: 1,396
Bincount™: 107
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
ty for this interview
__________________
Blotter got ontop of me, left me playing.. tool constantly....
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OFFLINE |
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Nice interview , thanx a lot for posting it
04-22-2006, 07:35 PM
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#20
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Level 2 - Poster
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Rancagua , Chile
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Nice interview , thanx a lot for posting it
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04-22-2006, 07:37 PM
Great, those were a nice read, thanks for putting the time into translating them for us!!!
04-22-2006, 07:37 PM
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#21
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Level 4 - Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Great, those were a nice read, thanks for putting the time into translating them for us!!!
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Yeah, good stuff.
Cheers.
04-22-2006, 07:38 PM
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#22
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Queensland, Australia
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Yeah, good stuff.
Cheers.
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 07:53 PM
This is really great. Thanks.
:D
04-22-2006, 07:53 PM
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#23
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Level 6 - Very Deep Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Wales/UK
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
This is really great. Thanks.
:D
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 07:54 PM
great read. thanks for going through the trouble of translating and transcribing it all, OJ.
__________________
everything is suspect.
04-22-2006, 07:54 PM
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#24
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Level 4 - Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: California
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
great read. thanks for going through the trouble of translating and transcribing it all, OJ.
__________________
everything is suspect.
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 08:03 PM
No matter what you toss at these guys they never break under pressure Like the Sex Pistols always do, But man I love how Maynard can take the interviewer on a fucking joy ride of stupid questions with quick answers, Thats why these guys WILL be remembered
04-22-2006, 08:03 PM
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#25
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Level 5 - Deep Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
No matter what you toss at these guys they never break under pressure Like the Sex Pistols always do, But man I love how Maynard can take the interviewer on a fucking joy ride of stupid questions with quick answers, Thats why these guys WILL be remembered
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04-22-2006, 08:08 PM
great interview. thanks.
04-22-2006, 08:08 PM
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#26
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: new york city
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
great interview. thanks.
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04-22-2006, 08:08 PM
the later part of the MJK interview is VERY interesting indeed.
SCHADENFREUDE....
04-22-2006, 08:08 PM
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#27
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On Probation
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New Zealand
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
the later part of the MJK interview is VERY interesting indeed.
SCHADENFREUDE....
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OFFLINE |
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04-22-2006, 08:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by orange.juice
actually there's two, spread across five pages of the latest issue of german VISIONS magazine. the interviews were held on February 15th, one day after the Munich listening session.
grammatical idiocy is copyrighted by... me.
No, i don't have any scans. You can't read german anyway.
Enjoy.
Interview with Danny:
VISIONS: Danny, how many copies of your new record do exist at the moment?
Danny Carey: Four. Only the four of us each own a copy. It’s like that: If anyone else will receive our music before the release, it will instantly be online. This devaluates our work. Our records are more than just data. I.e. they have artwork, which Adam is currently working on in L.A., together with Alex Grey. (thinking) However the record itself is just advertising for our live shows. The visuals and the sound – this cannot be substituted.
VISIONS: Once again, five years have passed since your last album, cause Maynard sings in two bands: Tool and APC. Is one album every five years enough for you as a musician?
Carey: I would enjoy to produce an album every three or four years. We’re usually on tour for two years, and an off-time of one year would be good. What should a band which releases a record every one or two years, and tours, have new to say? We worked on this record approximately one and a half year non-stop. We spent one year on writing, and a half on recording it.
VISIONS: Once more there are epic pieces on the record, over ten minutes in time, which apparently have more than one level of meaning. How does one write such complex songs?
Carey: I think a lot of that are the results of jamming. Over the years, we have developed a high level of communication with each other. We are able to share quite abstract emotions and experiences in a musical way. This hopefully gives our music a certain depth which finds its way to the listener. The process however, which we all have to undergo for recording an album, is very time consuming. Often it actually starts with small ideas, which we work on in every possible way. This first phase takes months. We record almost anything on tape for being able to return to the good ideas.
VISIONS: You sit around in the rehearsal room, reeling tapes?
Carey: That is a very organic approach. Whereas the arranging is the most difficult part in my opinion. Jams are fun, you bend things just as much as possible. Arranging however means that we decide what has to be played for how long. The changes in rhythm alone were very difficult this time. Sometimes there are different time signatures flowing into each other. It is a painful, long process which can only be done in very small steps. But I believe it is worth the trouble. We normally are not the band which writes song in the studio, however we had planned to do so with one of the new songs. Studio experiments just don’t make sense because of financial reasons. We record on a very high sound level. The studio cost 2,000 $ a day. And at that price you can assume that we are very well prepared.
VISIONS: The new album sounds more offensive than its predecessor. There was almost no sonic space on Lateralus.
Carey: Yes, that’s why I wanted to open the drum sound this time. That’s not as easy as it sounds. If one instrument gets more room, everything has to have more room.
VISIONS: This time Joe Barresi did help you with the recordings. However, you always self-produce your albums.
Carey: Technical assistance is sufficient. A producer also tends to help out musically, or decides which take makes it onto the album. Who could do that job better than us? What use would be talent scouts like Rick Rubin for us, who put their name on the record and tell us that the first song will be the single?
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
VISIONS: Well, after one listen I did not recognize one single even measure.
Carey: Believe it or not! It’s a trick, almost a rhythmical illusion. I play this at the top (moves his hands) and that with my feet.
VISIONS: k…
Carey: A rare thing for a Tool song! Parabola too was almost straight forward, on the other hand… at the end not anymore.
VISIONS: Do you play after notes?
Carey: in Tool everything is controlled by emotion. It would also be a bit much to browse through.
VISIONS: Tool connect highly detailed arrangements and much emotion. Many musicians say that too much discipline kills creativity.
Carey: That’s a lame excuse! Perfect musicianship just means that in special moments you can do whatever you like. That I have an intuition and do not have to think about how I will realize it. I just react to my feelings. Technique only exists to do justice to your potential. Without technique, you slay the moment. You refuse your visions any chance. That of course does not apply for people who celebrate self- or system-destructiveness in a punk band. But what visions do they have? The visions of idiots who play in a garage? (lols) Sure: Often those bands do have political or social attitudes, but actually this is just themselves. It is not in their music. It’s much like with many expressional painters, who shit onto the canvas to reveal their innermost. That’s ok, but what is this in comparison to a Salvador Dali or a Rembrandt – people who worked hard on themselves, to make their work something big?
VISIONS: That sounds nice. But even for Tool there is this issue: would you be where you are now, if it weren’t for exact these “idiots in a garage”? Nirvana as an example.
Carey: Of course there’s always exceptions. But I think that we caught our chance mostly in that wave of bands like Helmet, Soundgarden or RATM. All of them being ambitioned musicians, but also good technicians.
VISIONS: So you would say that sober, hard, disciplined work…
Carey: …can lead to artistic freedom, yes. Discipline opens doors to places which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. During that three year break i used to exercise drumming every day and would not quit until moving into the rehearsal room. Because there, discipline would actually encumber me. Two years of practising, two years to let go – otherwise it constrains you. However I won’t be able to tell you if it worked like we imagined it to until the next five years.
VISIONS: So that means you know since of today what you would change in Lateralus!
Carey: I think, that album could have been more tough and airy. On the other hand, these are exactly the things we did right on the new one. It does breath more, is more powerful, more dynamic. Adam and Justin have expanded their fields in an amazing way. I however try to play my own melodies on the drums, to contrast the harmonic instruments. And when the band changes from a 6/8 beat to a 5/4, I play the 5/4 even before the 6/8 ends. Hopefully that all will be received by the listener. The song order is finally set as recently as two days ago. To be honest I listened to the album in its final version for the second time yesterday.
VISIONS: How was it?
Carey: Good. I think it has a very good flow that way, even if it visits many very different places. Also, I think the last song is now much more fitting.
VISIONS: There also have been electronic rhythms.
Carey: That was me. I listen to Aphex Twin very often and put some samples onto my drumpads. This will be hard to play live. We fuck up more often than people would believe. This probably will increase again, when I listen to the new album. Sometimes you just have two things in mind at the same time and totally fuck it up. (lols) And then people come and say: “Wow, how do you do that? Cool!”
VISIONS: Does this band actually consist of four members whose opinions each weigh 25%?
Carey: Yes… (thinking) Yes. With everything. Starting with career relevant decisions, up to writing. In my opinion, this also is the reason why we still exist. All of those who began at the same time as us – Alice in Chains, Helmet, RATM – they’re all gone. Because in such issues bands break up. Why do you ask?
VISIONS: Your release rhythm is defined by Maynard because he has two bands. Also, public focus lies on him as the singer. Plus, there is his aloof, almost arrogant appearance.
Carey: Yeah, what you say happens all the time. I have enormous respect for Maynard, how he does his best to not be pushed into the spotlight. No matter how introvert and stressful he seems to be: Even for him it must be kind of a temptation. In the end he is the singer. And he has another, successful, similar band. But we’re clever enough to watch over ourselves. We also had the luck to get signed very late. I was 30 back then. It sucked having to eat canned tuna until i was 28, but I thank God that we didn’t have to play in front of 50,000 people at age 21. Who knows what I had done to myself otherwise.
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Fuckin balls. Danny was THIRTY when Tool broke out. That gives me more hope at 21.
04-22-2006, 08:11 PM
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#28
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by orange.juice
actually there's two, spread across five pages of the latest issue of german VISIONS magazine. the interviews were held on February 15th, one day after the Munich listening session.
grammatical idiocy is copyrighted by... me.
No, i don't have any scans. You can't read german anyway.
Enjoy.
Interview with Danny:
VISIONS: Danny, how many copies of your new record do exist at the moment?
Danny Carey: Four. Only the four of us each own a copy. It’s like that: If anyone else will receive our music before the release, it will instantly be online. This devaluates our work. Our records are more than just data. I.e. they have artwork, which Adam is currently working on in L.A., together with Alex Grey. (thinking) However the record itself is just advertising for our live shows. The visuals and the sound – this cannot be substituted.
VISIONS: Once again, five years have passed since your last album, cause Maynard sings in two bands: Tool and APC. Is one album every five years enough for you as a musician?
Carey: I would enjoy to produce an album every three or four years. We’re usually on tour for two years, and an off-time of one year would be good. What should a band which releases a record every one or two years, and tours, have new to say? We worked on this record approximately one and a half year non-stop. We spent one year on writing, and a half on recording it.
VISIONS: Once more there are epic pieces on the record, over ten minutes in time, which apparently have more than one level of meaning. How does one write such complex songs?
Carey: I think a lot of that are the results of jamming. Over the years, we have developed a high level of communication with each other. We are able to share quite abstract emotions and experiences in a musical way. This hopefully gives our music a certain depth which finds its way to the listener. The process however, which we all have to undergo for recording an album, is very time consuming. Often it actually starts with small ideas, which we work on in every possible way. This first phase takes months. We record almost anything on tape for being able to return to the good ideas.
VISIONS: You sit around in the rehearsal room, reeling tapes?
Carey: That is a very organic approach. Whereas the arranging is the most difficult part in my opinion. Jams are fun, you bend things just as much as possible. Arranging however means that we decide what has to be played for how long. The changes in rhythm alone were very difficult this time. Sometimes there are different time signatures flowing into each other. It is a painful, long process which can only be done in very small steps. But I believe it is worth the trouble. We normally are not the band which writes song in the studio, however we had planned to do so with one of the new songs. Studio experiments just don’t make sense because of financial reasons. We record on a very high sound level. The studio cost 2,000 $ a day. And at that price you can assume that we are very well prepared.
VISIONS: The new album sounds more offensive than its predecessor. There was almost no sonic space on Lateralus.
Carey: Yes, that’s why I wanted to open the drum sound this time. That’s not as easy as it sounds. If one instrument gets more room, everything has to have more room.
VISIONS: This time Joe Barresi did help you with the recordings. However, you always self-produce your albums.
Carey: Technical assistance is sufficient. A producer also tends to help out musically, or decides which take makes it onto the album. Who could do that job better than us? What use would be talent scouts like Rick Rubin for us, who put their name on the record and tell us that the first song will be the single?
VISIONS: Will it be? Because that song does fit into the expectations of a single the most?
Carey: (lols) Yes. The first one, and the song with an intro by Maynard and Justin still are the most single-compatible. The latter is the only one in 4/4.
VISIONS: Well, after one listen I did not recognize one single even measure.
Carey: Believe it or not! It’s a trick, almost a rhythmical illusion. I play this at the top (moves his hands) and that with my feet.
VISIONS: k…
Carey: A rare thing for a Tool song! Parabola too was almost straight forward, on the other hand… at the end not anymore.
VISIONS: Do you play after notes?
Carey: in Tool everything is controlled by emotion. It would also be a bit much to browse through.
VISIONS: Tool connect highly detailed arrangements and much emotion. Many musicians say that too much discipline kills creativity.
Carey: That’s a lame excuse! Perfect musicianship just means that in special moments you can do whatever you like. That I have an intuition and do not have to think about how I will realize it. I just react to my feelings. Technique only exists to do justice to your potential. Without technique, you slay the moment. You refuse your visions any chance. That of course does not apply for people who celebrate self- or system-destructiveness in a punk band. But what visions do they have? The visions of idiots who play in a garage? (lols) Sure: Often those bands do have political or social attitudes, but actually this is just themselves. It is not in their music. It’s much like with many expressional painters, who shit onto the canvas to reveal their innermost. That’s ok, but what is this in comparison to a Salvador Dali or a Rembrandt – people who worked hard on themselves, to make their work something big?
VISIONS: That sounds nice. But even for Tool there is this issue: would you be where you are now, if it weren’t for exact these “idiots in a garage”? Nirvana as an example.
Carey: Of course there’s always exceptions. But I think that we caught our chance mostly in that wave of bands like Helmet, Soundgarden or RATM. All of them being ambitioned musicians, but also good technicians.
VISIONS: So you would say that sober, hard, disciplined work…
Carey: …can lead to artistic freedom, yes. Discipline opens doors to places which you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. During that three year break i used to exercise drumming every day and would not quit until moving into the rehearsal room. Because there, discipline would actually encumber me. Two years of practising, two years to let go – otherwise it constrains you. However I won’t be able to tell you if it worked like we imagined it to until the next five years.
VISIONS: So that means you know since of today what you would change in Lateralus!
Carey: I think, that album could have been more tough and airy. On the other hand, these are exactly the things we did right on the new one. It does breath more, is more powerful, more dynamic. Adam and Justin have expanded their fields in an amazing way. I however try to play my own melodies on the drums, to contrast the harmonic instruments. And when the band changes from a 6/8 beat to a 5/4, I play the 5/4 even before the 6/8 ends. Hopefully that all will be received by the listener. The song order is finally set as recently as two days ago. To be honest I listened to the album in its final version for the second time yesterday.
VISIONS: How was it?
Carey: Good. I think it has a very good flow that way, even if it visits many very different places. Also, I think the last song is now much more fitting.
VISIONS: There also have been electronic rhythms.
Carey: That was me. I listen to Aphex Twin very often and put some samples onto my drumpads. This will be hard to play live. We fuck up more often than people would believe. This probably will increase again, when I listen to the new album. Sometimes you just have two things in mind at the same time and totally fuck it up. (lols) And then people come and say: “Wow, how do you do that? Cool!”
VISIONS: Does this band actually consist of four members whose opinions each weigh 25%?
Carey: Yes… (thinking) Yes. With everything. Starting with career relevant decisions, up to writing. In my opinion, this also is the reason why we still exist. All of those who began at the same time as us – Alice in Chains, Helmet, RATM – they’re all gone. Because in such issues bands break up. Why do you ask?
VISIONS: Your release rhythm is defined by Maynard because he has two bands. Also, public focus lies on him as the singer. Plus, there is his aloof, almost arrogant appearance.
Carey: Yeah, what you say happens all the time. I have enormous respect for Maynard, how he does his best to not be pushed into the spotlight. No matter how introvert and stressful he seems to be: Even for him it must be kind of a temptation. In the end he is the singer. And he has another, successful, similar band. But we’re clever enough to watch over ourselves. We also had the luck to get signed very late. I was 30 back then. It sucked having to eat canned tuna until i was 28, but I thank God that we didn’t have to play in front of 50,000 people at age 21. Who knows what I had done to myself otherwise.
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Fuckin balls. Danny was THIRTY when Tool broke out. That gives me more hope at 21.
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04-22-2006, 08:13 PM
Quote:
If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that.
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Fucking win.
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"If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that." - Maynard James Keenan
04-22-2006, 08:13 PM
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#29
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: CA
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that.
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Fucking win.
__________________
"If Paris Hilton needs to be a cheap and shabby public bitch for her personal evolvement, then I respect that." - Maynard James Keenan
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04-22-2006, 08:13 PM
Danny really interests me in his interviews, I love the line how he says he can slay it with his emotions and technical ability working at full potential.
04-22-2006, 08:13 PM
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#30
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frat boy extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Gold Coast
Posts: 4,486
Bincount™: 6242
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Danny really interests me in his interviews, I love the line how he says he can slay it with his emotions and technical ability working at full potential.
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04-22-2006, 08:22 PM
very cool :)
04-22-2006, 08:22 PM
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#31
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Level 9 - Obstreperous
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bequia
Posts: 1,671
Bincount™: 801
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
very cool :)
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wow I wish I could one day make a post that rocks this much. :)
1) makes me believe that the album is real.
2) i wanna hear where danny plays a different time signature compared to the strings.
3) why the hell would maynard have a piece of paper with schadenfruede written on it?
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
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Knowledge Is Power
04-22-2006, 08:35 PM
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#32
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Level 6 - Very Deep Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: noitacoL.......... Knows: All
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
wow I wish I could one day make a post that rocks this much. :)
1) makes me believe that the album is real.
2) i wanna hear where danny plays a different time signature compared to the strings.
3) why the hell would maynard have a piece of paper with schadenfruede written on it?
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
__________________
Knowledge Is Power
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04-22-2006, 09:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by drone007
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
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Lateralis was just a typo. I believe you know this. It's not like Ænima/Ænema.
04-22-2006, 09:00 PM
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#33
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: OKC
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drone007
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
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Lateralis was just a typo. I believe you know this. It's not like Ænima/Ænema.
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04-22-2006, 09:06 PM
wow that was awesome. i wonder if only four "albums" still exist or not.
__________________
Childbirth is no more a miracle then eating food and a turd coming out of your ass -bh
04-22-2006, 09:06 PM
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#34
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Level 8 - Vociferous
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: wny
Posts: 665
Bincount™: 762
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
wow that was awesome. i wonder if only four "albums" still exist or not.
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Childbirth is no more a miracle then eating food and a turd coming out of your ass -bh
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04-22-2006, 09:07 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalie Portman
Lateralis was just a typo. I believe you know this. It's not like Ænima/Ænema.
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That word Ænema looks like enema.
OH SHIT
04-22-2006, 09:07 PM
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#35
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Level 7 - Loquacious
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Houston, TX
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalie Portman
Lateralis was just a typo. I believe you know this. It's not like Ænima/Ænema.
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That word Ænema looks like enema.
OH SHIT
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04-22-2006, 09:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by drone007
wow I wish I could one day make a post that rocks this much. :)
1) makes me believe that the album is real.
2) i wanna hear where danny plays a different time signature compared to the strings.
3) why the hell would maynard have a piece of paper with schadenfruede written on it?
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
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I'm pretty sure Vicarious has two time signatures over top of one another in certain parts. As do other songs, but I'm too lazy to go check.
Isn't Viarious 6/8 with a 5/4 guitar riff, at some point?
04-22-2006, 09:11 PM
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#36
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Banned.
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 949
Bincount™: 3710
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drone007
wow I wish I could one day make a post that rocks this much. :)
1) makes me believe that the album is real.
2) i wanna hear where danny plays a different time signature compared to the strings.
3) why the hell would maynard have a piece of paper with schadenfruede written on it?
4) maynard seems kinda bitter over people overanalysing his music. maybe that's a bit of what lateralis is focused on..
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I'm pretty sure Vicarious has two time signatures over top of one another in certain parts. As do other songs, but I'm too lazy to go check.
Isn't Viarious 6/8 with a 5/4 guitar riff, at some point?
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Very insightful about the inner workings of the band. Now I believe the three "musicians" (i.e. Danny, Justin, Adam) have a closer relationship with each other than with Maynard.
04-22-2006, 09:11 PM
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#37
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Level 2 - Poster
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Earth
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Very insightful about the inner workings of the band. Now I believe the three "musicians" (i.e. Danny, Justin, Adam) have a closer relationship with each other than with Maynard.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
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Yeah. A lot of people take that stuff, and Tool, too seriously and don't get the joke. Seems there were more fans who got the joke back in the Aenima days. I think Lateralus really drew in a certain subset of fans who are actually into this crap.
04-22-2006, 09:29 PM
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#38
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Level 6 - Very Deep Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Earth
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
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Yeah. A lot of people take that stuff, and Tool, too seriously and don't get the joke. Seems there were more fans who got the joke back in the Aenima days. I think Lateralus really drew in a certain subset of fans who are actually into this crap.
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04-22-2006, 09:34 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
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Care to elaborate Dracomordag?
__________________
"here i am,expecting just a little bit...mmm..too much from...the wounded..."
04-22-2006, 09:34 PM
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#39
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Level 9 - Obstreperous
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: canada
Posts: 1,317
Bincount™: 116
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dracomordag
"Keenan: That’s bullshit. That is all bullshit. Every human does search for moments in which all makes sense. And those who search in music, will find. People have developed countless theories about Tool songs and what they mean. Theories about the playing order on our albums or the lyrics which can be reduced to a numeric pattern. Occultism equals fear. Much like religions, radical people use the occult to manipulate others. Most people who are practising those strange disciplines want truth. Because they’re tired of the lies which are told to them."
interesting
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Care to elaborate Dracomordag?
__________________
"here i am,expecting just a little bit...mmm..too much from...the wounded..."
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04-22-2006, 09:37 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bonch
Yeah. A lot of people take that stuff, and Tool, too seriously and don't get the joke. Seems there were more fans who got the joke back in the Aenima days. I think Lateralus really drew in a certain subset of fans who are actually into this crap.
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makes sense, lateralus was a pretty pretentious cd - in both good and bad ways.
04-22-2006, 09:37 PM
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#40
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On Probation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1,110
Bincount™: 810
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Re: Interview. a quite good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bonch
Yeah. A lot of people take that stuff, and Tool, too seriously and don't get the joke. Seems there were more fans who got the joke back in the Aenima days. I think Lateralus really drew in a certain subset of fans who are actually into this crap.
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makes sense, lateralus was a pretty pretentious cd - in both good and bad ways.
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