Post by Halo on Mar 15, 2005 22:13:59 GMT -5
Maynard James Keenan's band A Perfect Circle and Tool have sold millions of records, but he’s notoriously secretive. He treats interviews with the enthusiasm of a Fear Factor contestant. Onstage he performs in near darkness. His experimental vision has made him one of the most important rock gods since Trent Reznor, but you might not recognize him if he placed his latest album into your hands himself.
A sprawling piece of work that compulsively rounds on the theme of addiction as often as it recalls the epic elegies of the Cure and the techno blasphemy of Depeche Mode, "The Thirteenth Step" is Keenan’s second record with A Perfect Circle. He first met his partner Billy Howerdel, then just a lowly guitar tech for Fishbone, in 1992. Howerdel played Keenan some of his songs, and the singer promised they would work together some day. When Tool went on hiatus after a protracted legal battle with their label, Keenan made good on the deal.
Tool relishes algebraic complexity and hammering noise; A Perfect Circle lets Keenan and Howerdel explore other textures. Their "Mer du Noms" debut became a surprise hit, and suddenly the team was high profile enough to draft the likes of Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Marilyn Manson’s Twiggy Ramirez into their ranks. Although Howerdel and Keenan’s working relationship is often argumentative, "Thirteenth Step" is tender, dreamy - even funny.
No surprise, then, that Keenan, 39, is all of those things. Hit the right topic and he’ll dazzle you. Try to dig deeper into the enigma of his art, and you’re going to hit a brick wall. And leave any expectations you might have at the door. The elusive singer opened up to VH1 about how A Perfect Circle avoided turning into Styx, his love of Isaac Asimov, his problems with light, and why you can’t beat Australian wine.
- What does the title, Thirteenth Step refer to?
MJK: It’s kind of a puzzle. I can’t really give away the farm on that one. That’s meant for people to kind of decipher for themselves.
- Is the album a concept record?
MJK: I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a concept record. You start treading on dangerous prog rock/Styx’s Paradise Theater ground when you start talking about concept albums. But it does have a lot of common dynamics going on throughout.
- Were you shaping the material towards that end?
MJK: It’s what’s going on in our lives at the moment, what your band gets exposed to and what you’re seeing. It’s trying to work out your own stuff and reporting on life in general. It’s best to look at things from many perspectives. A lot of the songs, being from different perspectives, help you to see things in a clearer light.
- So how much of it is you, and how much of it is creating characters in the songs?
MJK: I dunno. It’s a tough one. I never really thought about it.
- Is there a strong sense of humor running through your work?
MJK: Absolutely.
- Does the audience sometimes miss out on it?
MJK: The songs are written so that you can take them many ways. A song that normally isn’t humorous can become humorous that night if we have a wild hair up our butt. We kind of go with the mood; that’s pretty much what the live shows are about, being in that moment. If our mood is a humorous one, then, they get the benefit of that. If it’s more serious, then they get to be more introspective that night.
- For you, is the song always evolving in that way?
MJK: In a way, yeah. There are a million heartfelt books and stories about the Titanic going down. But there are also a lot of jokes, where all of a sudden these people realize they’re on the Titanic. With any of these songs, all of that humor is in there. As a writer, you should recognize that comedy and tragedy are the necessary element; otherwise you must’ve failed your Shakespeare class.
- Do you draw on The Bible for a lot of your imagery?
MJK: I draw on spirituality. I don’t draw on The Bible for much of anything.
- What kind of spirituality?
MJK: Personal spirituality, universal spirituality, other people’s… It’s a quest. A quest for truth and understanding of human nature, and why we’re here - good and evil struggles.
- Why do you think we’re here?
MJK: Don’t know. That’s why I’m writing the songs. I’m trying to figure it out.
- What writers interested you as a youth? Were you a big reader?
MJK: John Crowley and Isaac Asimov. I liked the layers in the stories. It wasn’t just a quick read. You really had to understand a whole gamut of other concepts. There was more to it than just what was on the page and more to it than just the characters moving through time and space. Even if some minor thing was mentioned, generally it was about a whole other subject that you can go and research.
- Has that approach carried over into your own writing?
MJK: I would hope.
- How is A Perfect Circle’s approach to presenting your material on stage expanding as the venues are getting bigger?
MJK: Well, it’s more a matter of using the light and space to kind of push the emotion of what’s going on onstage.
- You’ve been known for playing in darkness. Why decide to keep in the shadows?
MJK: I think it’s distracting. I had a problem with light as well. I’m the kind of guy that if I walk out into the sunlight, I sneeze. So, the flashing lights and stuff distracts me. I lose my place. Other than that, general movement is the most important element to the performance, not necessarily what my nose looks like or whether I have make-up on. You don’t necessarily have to see my face to understand the music.
- Does getting rid of that cult of personality change your relationship to your audience?
MJK: Onstage, I can totally see the audience. The lights are behind us. I think it’s important to connect on some level with the people that are there, to move with you. As far as an actual personal connection, I think that [if] you start dividing things up into individuals, [then] you start taking away from the bigger picture, which is the whole group of people experiencing something, together.
- The composer Richard Wagner had the notion that opera was the total artwork. Can rock music aspire to that condition?
MJK: No. Too many things are pitted against it. Western culture doesn’t really nurture the global aspects of things. It really does push heroes and idols. Then, [with] the music business in general, it’s so much easier to sell a personality and a smiling face and some dysfunction than it is to really nurture more global responsibility. Songs move people - music moves people. [We’ve] kind of lost touch with that.
- You seem to be an exception to that.
MJK: It’s because it’s all I can do. I can’t see it any other way. It comes naturally to me. It’s not something that I’m making an effort to do. It’s just not a part of most people’s upbringing, y’know?
- Who would you consider to be your peers in that sense?
MJK: I dunno. If they’re doing their job right, I don’t know who they are, really. I like Portishead, but I have no idea who in the hell is in that band. Massive Attack - I think there’s a guy named ‘’3D’’ but, other than that, I don’t know the other individuals involved. But I love the music.
- What are your hobbies outside of music?
MJK: Living life. Trying to learn how to cook better and bake better and read some books.
---Ultimate Guitar.Com 12 Jan 04
A sprawling piece of work that compulsively rounds on the theme of addiction as often as it recalls the epic elegies of the Cure and the techno blasphemy of Depeche Mode, "The Thirteenth Step" is Keenan’s second record with A Perfect Circle. He first met his partner Billy Howerdel, then just a lowly guitar tech for Fishbone, in 1992. Howerdel played Keenan some of his songs, and the singer promised they would work together some day. When Tool went on hiatus after a protracted legal battle with their label, Keenan made good on the deal.
Tool relishes algebraic complexity and hammering noise; A Perfect Circle lets Keenan and Howerdel explore other textures. Their "Mer du Noms" debut became a surprise hit, and suddenly the team was high profile enough to draft the likes of Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Marilyn Manson’s Twiggy Ramirez into their ranks. Although Howerdel and Keenan’s working relationship is often argumentative, "Thirteenth Step" is tender, dreamy - even funny.
No surprise, then, that Keenan, 39, is all of those things. Hit the right topic and he’ll dazzle you. Try to dig deeper into the enigma of his art, and you’re going to hit a brick wall. And leave any expectations you might have at the door. The elusive singer opened up to VH1 about how A Perfect Circle avoided turning into Styx, his love of Isaac Asimov, his problems with light, and why you can’t beat Australian wine.
- What does the title, Thirteenth Step refer to?
MJK: It’s kind of a puzzle. I can’t really give away the farm on that one. That’s meant for people to kind of decipher for themselves.
- Is the album a concept record?
MJK: I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a concept record. You start treading on dangerous prog rock/Styx’s Paradise Theater ground when you start talking about concept albums. But it does have a lot of common dynamics going on throughout.
- Were you shaping the material towards that end?
MJK: It’s what’s going on in our lives at the moment, what your band gets exposed to and what you’re seeing. It’s trying to work out your own stuff and reporting on life in general. It’s best to look at things from many perspectives. A lot of the songs, being from different perspectives, help you to see things in a clearer light.
- So how much of it is you, and how much of it is creating characters in the songs?
MJK: I dunno. It’s a tough one. I never really thought about it.
- Is there a strong sense of humor running through your work?
MJK: Absolutely.
- Does the audience sometimes miss out on it?
MJK: The songs are written so that you can take them many ways. A song that normally isn’t humorous can become humorous that night if we have a wild hair up our butt. We kind of go with the mood; that’s pretty much what the live shows are about, being in that moment. If our mood is a humorous one, then, they get the benefit of that. If it’s more serious, then they get to be more introspective that night.
- For you, is the song always evolving in that way?
MJK: In a way, yeah. There are a million heartfelt books and stories about the Titanic going down. But there are also a lot of jokes, where all of a sudden these people realize they’re on the Titanic. With any of these songs, all of that humor is in there. As a writer, you should recognize that comedy and tragedy are the necessary element
- Do you draw on The Bible for a lot of your imagery?
MJK: I draw on spirituality. I don’t draw on The Bible for much of anything.
- What kind of spirituality?
MJK: Personal spirituality, universal spirituality, other people’s… It’s a quest. A quest for truth and understanding of human nature, and why we’re here - good and evil struggles.
- Why do you think we’re here?
MJK: Don’t know. That’s why I’m writing the songs. I’m trying to figure it out.
- What writers interested you as a youth? Were you a big reader?
MJK: John Crowley and Isaac Asimov. I liked the layers in the stories. It wasn’t just a quick read. You really had to understand a whole gamut of other concepts. There was more to it than just what was on the page and more to it than just the characters moving through time and space. Even if some minor thing was mentioned, generally it was about a whole other subject that you can go and research.
- Has that approach carried over into your own writing?
MJK: I would hope.
- How is A Perfect Circle’s approach to presenting your material on stage expanding as the venues are getting bigger?
MJK: Well, it’s more a matter of using the light and space to kind of push the emotion of what’s going on onstage.
- You’ve been known for playing in darkness. Why decide to keep in the shadows?
MJK: I think it’s distracting. I had a problem with light as well. I’m the kind of guy that if I walk out into the sunlight, I sneeze. So, the flashing lights and stuff distracts me. I lose my place. Other than that, general movement is the most important element to the performance, not necessarily what my nose looks like or whether I have make-up on. You don’t necessarily have to see my face to understand the music.
- Does getting rid of that cult of personality change your relationship to your audience?
MJK: Onstage, I can totally see the audience. The lights are behind us. I think it’s important to connect on some level with the people that are there, to move with you. As far as an actual personal connection, I think that [if] you start dividing things up into individuals, [then] you start taking away from the bigger picture, which is the whole group of people experiencing something, together.
- The composer Richard Wagner had the notion that opera was the total artwork. Can rock music aspire to that condition?
MJK: No. Too many things are pitted against it. Western culture doesn’t really nurture the global aspects of things. It really does push heroes and idols. Then, [with] the music business in general, it’s so much easier to sell a personality and a smiling face and some dysfunction than it is to really nurture more global responsibility. Songs move people - music moves people. [We’ve] kind of lost touch with that.
- You seem to be an exception to that.
MJK: It’s because it’s all I can do. I can’t see it any other way. It comes naturally to me. It’s not something that I’m making an effort to do. It’s just not a part of most people’s upbringing, y’know?
- Who would you consider to be your peers in that sense?
MJK: I dunno. If they’re doing their job right, I don’t know who they are, really. I like Portishead, but I have no idea who in the hell is in that band. Massive Attack - I think there’s a guy named ‘’3D’’ but, other than that, I don’t know the other individuals involved. But I love the music.
- What are your hobbies outside of music?
MJK: Living life. Trying to learn how to cook better and bake better and read some books.
---Ultimate Guitar.Com 12 Jan 04
