Maynard James Keenan may be known for fronting dark, ambient art rock groups Tool and A Perfect Circle. But this fall, the renowned vocalist and songwriter is spending his days on the road with Puscifer, his electro-industrial, comedy-flavored project, promoting the band’s sophomore full-length, Conditions of My Parole.
What makes Puscifer different from both Tool and A Perfect Circle is the fact that Puscifer are doing everything completely DIY. Keenan says that concept might be a hard thing for people to wrap their heads around, because “they’ve heard of larger acts saying ‘Oh, we’re independent.’ Well, no, not really, because they might not have a label, but they definitely have a staff that’s basically a label,” he told the Phoenix New Times. “They have all the same pieces in place, and then they go through a major distributor to make sure their records get out into the stores.”
As for all those bells and whistles, Puscifer doesn’t have any of them. “… We’re going through – no label, no funding, no underwriting, no sponsors. We got through an independent distribution called Junketboy, which deals with local record stores, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, [and gets the record to] places like Amoeba, and all the places around Phoenix where you can still get vinyl. Hot Topic won’t even take Junketboys calls to distribute records – that’s how independent it is.”
Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based reporter and radio host. She is an award-winning writer and has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne regarding Audio Ink Radio at anne@audioinkradio.com.
Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based reporter and radio host. She is an award-winning writer and has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne regarding Audio Ink Radio at anne@audioinkradio.com.
