Music

Tool’s Maynard James Keenan: “Busy, busy!”

Maynard James Keenan recently granted an interview with the Phoenix New Times in which he gives everyone an update on what’s going on in his world.  An autobiography?  It’s coming.

If you’re a Tool fan, this is required reading.

Maynard James Keenan drives around Arizona’s Verde Valley in an oversize green pickup. The truck’s wheels kick up clouds of dust as he rumbles down the dirt road that leads to Four Eight Wineworks, the barreling room where wine from his nearby Merkin Vineyards ages in casks. From here it will be shipped to stores across the Southwest and to his Caduceus Cellars Tasting Room up the mountain in Jerome.

A bitterly cold wind blows as he emerges from the vehicle, thick, black glasses wrapped around his signature bald head. Wearing dark-blue jeans cuffed around dirt-caked boots, he sports a puffy down jacket zipped up to his chin. He checks in with members of his staff, bearded guys blasting RJD2 loudly from speakers that send the progressive instrumental hip-hop bouncing off tin walls.

Keenan wears one look as he maneuvers himself in front of New Times‘ cameras, and it’s intimidating: severe, dead-set, his dark eyes magnified behind the glasses.

“I only have the one,” he says of his expression, barely the hint of a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. Keenan is protective of his image, and he often performs with his bands — Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer — from the shadows, in elaborate costumes. Or from behind video monitors that distort and obscure his face.

His mystique translates to interviews as well. He has a reputation for being distant and is known to respond to interviewers’ questions curtly in one or two words. But he’s not always tight-lipped. Once you get Keenan going, he’ll happily expand upon and illustrate his ideas — he just has to be interested in doing it. He has little time for questions whose answers are apparent. No patience for “customer service.”

When pressed, he’ll explain his severity in simple terms:

“Busy, busy.”

Right now, Maynard James Keenan is very, very busy — and he would like to get back to work.

Read on.  It’s a long one, but a good one.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37945 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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