Bringing Back Tool: Maynard James Keenan

Maynard James Keenan, frontman of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, is also a winemaker and does stand-up comedy in his free time. With over two decades of committed music behind him, his once local cultist set of fans has expanded into quite a hardcore international niche of followers. With India seeing more and more musicians influenced by him, vis a vis the rise in progressive/psychedelic rock/metal, the world waits eagerly for the next Tool album.

Maynard the soldier

The early grunge phase saw a lot more lenience and acceptability among music crowds. A sort of “anything goes” attitude that saw several diverse bands springing up with radical USP’s to their act, either in terms of sound, or stage persona. With America entering the post-modern space, a flurry of multi-genre acts sprouted up among which Tool is definitely a widely heard name. Revolutionaries in their own right, a lot of their visual attitude and lyrical cynicism was brought out by their vocalist, a man whose experiences showed him just how deep sound can go.

Originally James Keenan, ex-soldier in the American army, he is the lyrical genius behind three of the biggest contemporary bands today. Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer all see him take up the singer’s mantle, with each band reflecting a completely different style, attitude and personality of music. The war saw him adopt the moniker “Maynard”, and thus he is known.

Tool, his earliest venture, was initially something more intense than the grunge sounds that were common at the time (late 1980’s early 1990’s). Working hard to create a niche ofunique sounds that included a metal vibe and off timings, today Tool has become synonymous with a sort of specific strain of psychedelic metal. Standing poles apart from their contemporaries, much of their sound was inspired initially from varied sources such as the book The Joyful Guide to Lachrymology by Ronald Vincent. Polyrhythmic drum and bass patterns, overlaid with intense lyrical motifs became a “Tool” thing. With some outrageously hallucinatory art by painter Alex Grey now a permanent feature of the band, their live shows are in huge international demand.

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A Perfect Circle, started in ’99, was able to achieve an unmistakeable vibe in the realm of progressive rock, with Maynard’s vocals standing out visibly against the backdrop of hordes of singer that contributed towards the genre. With three amazing albums and a host of remixes, they put out their first song in eight years in 2013, and have since followed it up with an official DVD release of their gig in Rio, titled Stone and Echo. The song, titled “By and Down”, is quite a metaphor for the journey the band has undertaken. Their famous album Thirteenth Step, has been a regular on international rock playlists since it came out, with tracks like “The Outsider” and “Pet”, which have even been used in feature films.

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Primarily a solo project of sorts since 2003, being the only unchanged member, Maynard says that Puscifer is simply a playground for the voices in his head. With a noticeably different groove than the first two bands, Puscifer includes tons more electronica and altered, unorthodox song structures. With a recent DVD release, fans can watch Maynard’s modern eccentric nature as he dresses up as a hillbilly punk rock musician and parade around as a delusion army veteran.

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Maynard has several other ventures he occupies himself with, including acting and wine tasting. Owner of Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars, his Arizona-based liquors are now quite well known, and he appears on the radio frequently to talk about grape farming.

He has also acted in several movies, lending his appearance to short cameos in Hollywood flicks, his debut was in the 2009 film Crank: High Voltage. In his early Tool days, in the early 1990’s, stand up comedy and recreational humour were heavily featured in most of his material, including some appalling April fool’s pranks by Tool.

His recent projects include a live gig with A Perfect Circle, and a Puscifer DVD/documentary. However, it has been 8 years since Tool put out their album, and with undoubtedly the biggest international following amongst the three acts, fans are restless for another album. Recently, a popular parody site put out a video titled “Hitler responds to Tool”.

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The ire of Tool fans is what he will have to endure as the band has the largest following compared to his other acts, and the effects of the band on the international psyche is quite profound. Very few people listen to Tool without somewhat being inculcated into the world of possibilities, psychedelics and visualisations. Thus, Maynard’s most pressing challenge is most definitely to come out with a good Tool album this year.