Tool Frontman Sees “A Lot of Changes” in the Future
“In these uncertain times” and “changes” seem to be on the tips of everyone’s tongues right now as the world plunges into a deep recession while facing arguably the greatest global challenge since World War II. Musicians, unable to tour for the foreseeable future, are staring down a hole of unknowable depth, and while many in our scene have commented on that of late — Robb Flynn, Lzzy Hale and Cristina Scabbia among them — the only thing that’s certain is that the world will be very, very different once all this is “over,” whatever over even means.
The latest to chime in on the inevitable widescale change we’re facing is Tool / Puscifer / A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan, who spoke with Zane Lowe on Apple Music for a video interview from his vineyard in Arizona.
When asked whether he’s hopeful for the future, Maynard related the experience of Earth’s inhabitants are in together and juxtaposed it with the work he’s been doing at his vineyard and farm for over two decades, saying:
“I feel like we’re going to go through a lot of changes; we’re going to go through a lot of growing pains – and not all of us are going to make it through those growing pains. That’s the hardest part, as a human being to really grasp: that you might not be a part of what happens over the crest in that new valley. You just might not be there because you didn’t pay attention to the basics. You didn’t listen to the wind, you didn’t smell the air… simple things.
“People have, I guess, complimented or acknowledge, or they claim, that there’s a lot of prophetic things that came out on Eat The Elephant, prophetic things on [Fear] Inoculum, probably prophetic things on [the new Puscifer record]. But it’s not really prophetic, it’s just understanding patterns, and understanding human nature and where we’re going. Although they might seem specific, they’re not. They’re human experience. At my age I’ve seen quite a few things and have tried to keep open-minded about things – not always assuming you’re right just because you’re successful, and kind of reevaluate those things.
“I mean, even right now: last night we had pasta with tomatoes and basil from our garden, drinking our own wine. It’s one of those things that didn’t happen overnight. We had to work for that. You had to pay attention to that. You had to be in touch because some things just don’t grow everywhere. You have to be in touch with where you are, where you’re going and I could claim, ‘Look how I was right 25 years ago when I planted that orchard and planted that garden.’ That’s absurd. I just like planting things.”
Check out a clip of the interview below and get the whole enchilada right here.
Puscifer are planning to release a new album soon, and while we don’t yet know when it’ll come out or what it’ll be called, you can listen to the first single, “Apocalyptical,” right here.
[via Kerrang!]
