Metallica’s Lars Ulrich recently interviewed Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) for his Beats 1 show “It’s Electric!.” You can check out the full chat below, along with some excerpts [transcribed by Blabbermouth]:
Keenan on the long lengths of time between new A Perfect Circle and Tool albums:
“There’s a lot of timing issues with TOOL getting to the studio, I always try to gauge where they’re at, how things are going, and if I see a window where, ‘Okay, doesn’t seem like things are going to get done any time soon…’ The window might expand based on me going ‘I’m gonna go do something then.’ That’s why you had a lot of PUSCIFER for many years.
“I felt like if I was to go back and I do another PUSCIFER record, someone was gonna sneak into my bedroom and slit my throat, so I figured I’d go and call Billy [Howerdel, A PERFECT CIRCLE guitarist] and see where he’s at with music.”
Keenan on staying creative without chasing trends or consciously trying to appeal to the youth:
“Just be okay with not being part of the future, if you can get your head around the fact that you’re not going to be part of the next generation’s focus.”
“It gets easier to get lazy, so the only way to really do that is to always try to figure out some way to take yourself outside of your comfort zone. If you can get outside your comfort zone, you can then tap into things that are in a way fresh. I guess you could chalk it up to staying relevant. At our age now, you see a lot of artists coming out of the woodwork trying to clearly desperately trying to remain relevant, that stinks. That’s just stenchy.”
The first part of the “It’s Electric!” episode featuring Keenan will officially be released on April 22, while the second part will officially be released on April 29.
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