Well I just stimbled upon this interview in which Maynard is talking about the new albulm, check it out! It might clear some things up.


Maynard James Keenan: The man with 10,000 faces

by Jeffrey Rawwin
4/29/06

For all his critical acclaim, Tool's Maynard James Keenan is perhaps the only front man in history who has been able to maintain a high level of mystery. It's an impressive feat, given that he's the lead singer of two wildly popular rock bands (he served as front man for Billy Howerdel's project A Perfect Circle) and has been pursuing a career as an actor in his downtime.

Five years after the multi-platinum selling "Lateralus", Maynard is back in full force with Tool on their fourth full length LP "10,000 Days." The album shows Tool once again evolving while keeping a firm grip on the signature sound that brought them to the dance. I had a chance to catch up with Maynard recently at one of the few listening parties the band gave the press.

Jeffrey Rawwin: Was it difficult coming back to Tool after spending so much time with A Perfect Circle?

Maynard James Keenan: You might want to ask the other guys that question. (laughs) No, if anything it feels like coming back home.

JR: I suppose that would be difficult for some people though. How did the band initially react to you becoming a part of APC?

MJK: They had some reservations. (pauses) They're not quick to admit it but... when you look at some of the other bands that started out when we did, you don't see too many familiar faces left. So I guess... yeah, naturally you have to be fearful. Us, Pearl Jam and one or two others are pretty much the only ones left.

JR: Is APC done?

MJK: On my end.

JR: Listening to the new album I felt like, lyric wise, this was a more personal affair for you than previous releases.

MJK: In many ways it is. Just like anything, as you get older you start seeing things in a different light. Especially when you're raising a family and have new interests, hobbies, needs.

JR: How long exactly did it take to record the album?

MJK: About five or six months.

JR: I think a lot of people assume that the records take longer to make because of your breaks.

MJK: I guess part of maintaining some semblance of mystery means that a lot of people won't take into account that we're older now and have families and need to spend tme on that. It's like when Metallica's fans freaked out over "Some Kind Of Monster." They didn't want to seem them demystified on that kind of level to where they appear** human. They wanted the larger than life Metallica. And when your music manages to stay pretty much timeless over the years, they forget that you've grown up.

JR: On the opening track ("Vicarious"), the last few lines, if I'm hearing them correctly say "Better you than I." It has a sort of 'live and let live' vibe.

MJK: There's only so many times you can scream warnings at people before you realize "Okay, at least I gave a kaka enough to try and make some positive difference. By now the only ones meant to hear it already have and I need to move on." A lot of the new material focuses on that. That's life. You can only try to help others so much before you need to help yourself.

JR: I detected a bit of Pink Floyd influence on the talk box solo. (From "Jambi", the record's second track) Who had the idea to use it?

MJK: Adam. We wanted to use it on the last record but there was really no place for it.

JR: A lot of the longer songs on your records take place near the end of the album but you chose to put a 17 minute monster ("Wings for Marie" and its counterpart "10,000 Days") near the beginning of the record and surprisingly it doesn't wreck the flow of the album at all.

MJK: Originally it was going to close out the record because of its length but we didn't think it gave the record a really cohesive flow. On this album more than others, we tried to construct it as if it were one long composition. (pause) Yeah, the order of the songs was way different a month ago.

JR: I think a lot of people will be surprised by the song that follows. ("The Pot")

MJK: It's probably going to be the first or second single.

JR: With an album that flows together, as you said, like one long song, is it hard to pick the lead single?

MJK: In a way, yeah. I mean we always try to pick the song that best represents the album as the lead single. On "Lateralus" it was tough because the songs basically revolved around one specific theme. But on this album things are spread out a little more.

JR: What was with the Indian skit? ("Lipan Conjuring")

MJK: Heh heh heh...

JR: The other long piece ("Rosetta Stoned") was wild. I think I heard "Sunkist" in one of the lyrics...

MJK: "Tang" didn't fit.

JR: It resembles what a cover of "Third Eye" by The Mars Volta would sound like.

MJK: Thank you.

JR: The last technical song on the album ("Right In Two") sounds like the most political stuff you've written.

MJK: I'm not so sure if I would say political. But a lot of the record is. We have an idiot in the White House whose actions are going to affect our children’s futures so of course it's on our mind. But we've always walked that line on our past albums.

JR: "Intolerance."

By now, Maynard informs me that the interview has been going on longer than expected. I beg and plead for just one or two more questions and after walking outside for a brief moment, he returns and sits back down on the sofa.

JR: In Tool's downtime, a lot of imitators have come out of the wood work. What do you think about bands like Earshot and Chevelle who seemingly break their backs to sound like Tool?

MJK: I don't mind that we influence other bands so long as they use the influence in the right way. The bands you just mentioned lack a great deal of emotional depth. (pauses) I remember Fr** Durst listing us as one of his major inspirations in an interview and all I could think of was "How can you say that? How can you take what we've given and use it to further what we've been fighting against?"

JR: It's disheartening.

MJK: It is! I think that's part of what inspir** the album. A lot of these bands see what's on the surface. Like they listen to our albums at F***ing parties or something, when we make music that you need to properly digest by being alone with the album. And all they hear is the aggressive side of things and don't stop to realize that the aggression is there for a reason, not just to make music to smoke to or whatever.

JR: I guess we should be wrapping up. I only have one more question here on my sheet anyway. In one word, describe how it feels to be a living legend.

MJK: Thank you for the interview.

Thanks for posting that, im sad he didnt do more than laugh at the lipan conjuring question, ive been really curious as to their intent with that, and none of these tool fans have anything to say that satisfies me.

Nice. Thanks for the interview.

I think Tool talked about Lipan Conjuring in a recent audio interview.

I am not happy that they crossed the political line, but now that they admit it, I can deal with it.

where was that interview from, can i have a link please?

That's cool.

what line? they've always had it in there.




and I wonder what the other track list was though. I know some of the people who went to the listening parties said it started out quieter, did any of them say wings prt 1 and 2 ever end it?

Wow, good question. Funny MJK and Fred mentioning eachother.

If you listen to "Eat You Alive" by Limp Bizkit, there are TooL musical influences, as much as Fred could handle them.

Earshot is good, but Chevelle has some great tracks, not every band is about plowing the emotional depths, and musicians should be judged by their music.

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Duplicate post was here.

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Good stuff. Thanks. Best part...

Thanks for posting, enjoyed reading it.

Why is the ending "ed" missing from certain words in the interview? (I don't mind it missing on the end of Durst's first name. Someone needs to erase that mindless, corporate bastard from music history.) The "**" where "ed" should be is a bit annoying to read.

But, anyway, now that I'm done bitching about that, that interview was a good read. And I whole heartedly agree with what Maynard said about Chevelle (used to like them...but we all grow up, grow old, and sometimes a lucky few manage to pull their heads out of their asses and realize how things should be) and Earshot. Both are bands without soul; both are bands who, to paraphrase Adam from the "Guitar World" interview, probably hired producers to transform themselves into the next Tool and failed.

Nice. (Ha!)

What an elitist douchebag attention-whore, every thing this guy says in every interview written.

...

(Yawn.)

...

Oh, you're finished?

If you don't have anything much positive to say, just keep your mouth shut.

Anyhow, anyone have anything with relevance to add to this conversation?

Was doubting its authenticity until this part:
Typical Maynard!

i guess that confirms the end of APC. without maynard it wouldnt work.

HA

Maynard just pwned potheads.

i hope billy howerdel manages to bouce back from this setback, however i really wish he would put something together a little more quickly. i want to hear more of his work as i am absolutly addicited to this style of music. such a contrast to what i usually go for.

THANK YOU. Phew. Now we get some real light to shine on the album. This should put a lot of the dumb theories to rest. I like how he called it a very personal album, the songs do seem to be driven from their own encounters. Really makes you think about Rosetta Stoned huh?:D

"In one word, describe how it feels to be a living legend."

Maynard should have responded to that with "Vicarious."

About the copycats: I never really bothered with any of them, and Maynard hits the nail on the head as to why. They're all about aggression without depth or emotion of any kind. It's pointless.

Thanks for posting the interview. It was a good read.

Uh, not quite.

rosetta sounding like third eye covered by TMV>....WTF...other than that
good questions :)

this is very interesting. the interviewer should have followed up on this. why he didn't is beyond me.

and "kaka?" lol. haven't heard that word in ages.

Maynard and aliens?

I think they excluded the "ed" and replaced it with "**" because they used the Find and Replace tool in word or something to edit out the "ed" in Fred, so they didnt risk going over it a million times and still missing a "Fred" somewhere. Probably risked a few typos to avoid getting sued.

Good shit.

How so?

JR: It resembles what a cover of "Third Eye" by The Mars Volta would sound like.

MJK: Thank you.


awsome

That reminds me that I need to stop by the pawn shop. But you spelled it wrong.

is that even real

Exactly. There's nothing wrong with being inspired by a band, as long as you're not out to duplicate their sound in order to sell records. Take what you hear and build on it. What isn't there that you would like to hear? Find it and change it, make it your own sound, don't just dumb it down slap some riffs down and call it music. I say that if you "try" to be something it's not going to sound authentic and it's not gonna last. i've always considered music to be something that flows out of you. It's not something to be forced. I love tool's sound, but I would never intentionally sit down and say "all right, this is gonna be our Tool song" or something like that.

good interview. But why is MJk such an asshole?

Same thing I thought, sounds wacky.

a little late there buddy...

it's called being condescending....get it? :)

which makes him an asshole...get it? :)

no it actually makes the interviewer look more like an asshole, if anything.

yeah if i were mjk i would have said...*bitchslap*