Tool Frontman Maynard James Keenan on New Album: It’s a Long Process

2013-11-15

Story by Anne Erickson

Maynard James Keenan, frontman for prog-rock band Tool, offers an update on the band’s new album

Tool fans aren’t the only ones noticing that it’s taking a while for the band to release its follow-up to 2006’s “10,000 Days.” Maynard James Keenan, lead singer for the prog-rock group, says his band mates are taking a long time to get him new instrumentals, and that’s the first step for Keenan to start adding vocals and lyrics to the music.

“I wait for them to bring music to me,” Keenan told Rolling Stone. “They tend to go back over and over stuff. It’s a long process. For a person like me, it can be a very tedious process.”

So, what’s taking so long? Keenan says his band mates spend a lot of time analyzing everything they’ve written, which the frontman says can be trying and add lots of time to the songwriting process. “In some ways, they are bigger perfectionists,” he said. “They don’t have to go through it 700 times. They can trust that first thought. But that’s their process, so you gotta let them do it.”

Tool have yet to announce an album title or release date for their upcoming album. Meanwhile, one of Keenan’s other bands, A Perfect Circle, recently released their first new single in years, “By and Down.”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.