Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Announces Surprising New Projects
Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan always has his hands in various projects, and now, he’s announced two new endeavors. – Author: Cat Badra, Photo via Tim Cadiente
Maynard James Keenan never sticks to just one creative outlet. He’s the vocalist in a handful of wildly successful bands: Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. He’s also deep into the wine business and makes delicious wine at Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards.
Now, Keenan has two new projects that he wants to start, and they have nothing to do with music.
Maynard James Keenan of Tool Talks New Projects
During an appearance on Bert Kreischer’s Bertcast podcast on November 6, Keenan announced two new industries he is planning to get into: gin and chocolate.
“We’re working on a gin project,” he said during the in-depth interview. “We have a whole profile, we have a patented recipe, we have a distiller, packaging, the name. We’re just not talking about it right yet.”
He added that Todd Fox had the idea to begin looking into cocoa beans, since wine and chocolate make for a delicious combination, so that’s why he decided to look into chocolate, too
At times, fans get tired of Keenan doing side projects that don’t have anything to do with music and instead want Keenan to stick to doing music. He has a message for those critics.
“Here’s the thing buddy — I have written, recorded, released and performed more songs than you ever [expletive] will. In fact, from this day forward, I will be writing, recording, releasing and singing more songs than you ever [expletive] will, ever,” Keenan said.
“But you can’t say that, because then you’re engaging and you’re getting sucked into the hole,” he added. “But just the idea of going out of your way to go… I just can’t understand how he types with his knuckles!”
Though not speaking specifically about any of the three individual bands ultimate downfall, the singer offered a broader explanation of why things didn’t work out for many bands at that time.
Maynard James Keenan Talks the ’90s Music Scene
Also in the conversation, Keenan talked about the music scene in the 1990s and Tool’s early days. He offered his thoughts on why it was so difficult for some bands to make it.
“It’s Hollywood, so there’s all the stuff that ends up infecting it,” he said. “There’s the stuff around town of like, ‘You’re gonna be huge, so you should do this now. Hire that guy and do this,’ and it just kind of imploded because of the external and internal pressures kind of colliding.”
He added, “They didn’t focus on probably what was the most important part which is don’t listen to any of those voices, just make your music and play your show.
Keenan was also asked to name his favorite Tool, which is a funny question. It’s obviously because of his band Tool.
After laughing at the question, because it was pretty amusing, he said, “A battery-operated pneumatic nail gun. I remember when it was like the canister and it would clog up and get all [expletive] up. The newer ones, you can charge the battery, and you can get some [expletive] done.”
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