Maynard James Keenan is Puscifer
By Jay Hathaway
Apr 2, 2009
Maynard James Keenan thrives on the unpredictable. He's famous as the lead singer of two hugely successful, yet almost completely different bands: Tool and A Perfect Circle. His current band, Puscifer, released its first album, "V" Is For Vagina, in 2007, and followed it up with a remix album in 2008.
Earlier this year, the band -- which features shifting lineups, with Maynard as the only constant -- finally revealed its live show in Las Vegas. If you asked him, though, he'd probably say that they haven't revealed anything. According to Maynard, the thing people don't quite get about Puscifer yet is that they won't put on the same show or even feature the same musicians every time.
Maynard is also an up-and-coming winemaker. He owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars, based in Arizona, and he's heavily involved in producing and promoting his own wine. Wine is an odd choice of work for a rockstar, perhaps, but it seems to fit perfectly with Maynard's approach to life.
Suicidegirls had a chance to talk to Maynard about his music, his wine, and his love of the unpredictable as he was gearing up for two huge Puscifer shows in LA.
Jay Hathaway: How are the shows going so far?
Maynard James Keenan: Well, we did the two Vegas shows back in February, and now we're going to do two LA shows. They're coming together ok.
JH:
What's it like to put on shows during the recession? Do you think about it at all?
MJK:
That's why we're doing a little handful of them, so people who are around can enjoy, and there's not some kind of big pressure. You can come down and enjoy yourself. Tough times. Time to play.
JH:
How is it affecting you personally?
MJK:
It's affecting everybody. You can't make a move without all of those things touching us every day.
JH:
Yeah, that's very true. Is the winery going well?
MJK:
It's going well, yeah. It's a very expensive endeavor, a big black hole of expense that someday will all make sense and be worth the effort.
JH:
I read somewhere that you're spending more time doing that now than working on music. Is that still true?
MJK:
I'd say equal time. That requires more scheduled time, because grapes come on when they come on, and they need to be harvested when they need to be harvested. They're slaves to the wind and the rain and the sun, so we take our direction from the weather.
JH:
Is music that way, too, though? Does inspiration just come on when it comes on, and you have to act right then?
MJK:
In general, life occurs, and then you have to sit down and discipline yourself to bring that out. I think it requires more discipline than most people actually admit.
JH:
What are the differences between rock critics and wine critics? Now that you've had people writing about you in both arenas, do you have some observations?
MJK:
Well, generally speaking, if you have a column or a publication as a wine critic, you've established some kind of consistency in your views. You've actually come up with some kind of credentials. Not necessarily a sommelier's credentials, but you have a consistent palate, which is recognizable by other people with superb palates. So you can't really just riff and talk shit. You have to know what you're talking about. With rock critics, of course, it's all subjective. It ends up being more about the reviewer than it is about the actual band, and the reviewer looking clever by slamming some band that's been raised up on a pedestal, or keeping a band down that's trying to survive, or jumping on a bandwagon, so to speak, to support a band that everyone likes. There's not necessarily any kind of ... what's the word I'm looking for?
JH:
Objectivity?
MJK:
Well, yeah, but there's no recourse. They don't have anybody coming back that can actually say "five plus five equals ten, here's the math." There's no responsibility for your actions as a music critic. You just talk. Especially now, with blogs. There's no face. Nobody's going to show up on your door and actually set you straight. It's just people talking to talk.
JH:
Do you think that wine is also harder to get into? It seems like it would be hard to just start a wine blog.
MJK:
Exactly. It's more -- how shall I put it? -- adult. It takes time and focus and discipline. The difficult path you take to get there is respected by those who understand the path, understand how hard it was for you to get there. They respect your opinions. Likewise, they respect what you're doing with the wine. Although you might not be there yet, they can respect the entire hard road you've taken to get to a certain point. They're not going to be brutal 'cause they actually express this cool word that doesn't exist in rock critics -- it's called "compassion."
JH:
I don't really think of wine critics as having a reputation for compassion, either, though.
MJK:
Well, if the wine's bad, and they actually know their palate and they know what's going on, they're going to say there are particular flaws in the wine, the path this person took, etc. It's not necessarily just random statements. They have something to back up their statements.
JH:
From the perspective of the person doing the work or making the art, do you think it's harder for somebody just starting out in music or in wine?
MJK:
It's much harder in wine. Much harder.
JH:
If some kid just graduating high school asked you for advice, would you recommend going to art school?
MJK:
I would tell him to follow his heart.
JH:
Was that a good experience for you? Do you feel like it's something you would do again, given the choice?
MJK:
I don't really believe in going backwards. It's hard to sum it all up in one interview, but all those things that happen to you make you who you are. The good things, the bad things, they made up who I am. All those environmental influences direct my path, so I wouldn't be right here if it weren't for all those things. Changing any one of them could tip the apple cart. Just be here now, experience what's in front of you, make your choices, and build on them.
JH:
What do you think music is going to sound like in a decade? Will rock still be around, sounding basically the same?
MJK:
I don't think anyone knows the answer to that question. I think there'll still be people making music the way they know how to make music, so if there are people alive in ten years who are alive today, they'll be making music similar to way they're making music now. But there might be a whole new genre that we couldn't possibly predict, otherwise we'd do it now.
JH:
That's true. I've just noticed that a lot of people are reimagining and rehashing stuff that was around two decades ago, and it doesn't sound that different now than it did then.
MJK:
They're looking for the feeling. They're confusing it with the sound of that time, but they're really looking for a feeling. So a lot of people that made those sounds back then and expressed those emotions back then, they laid out a map for particular emotions from that time. So people now, they want to connect. They want to find something that's their voice, and they haven't really had any life experiences to express anything real. They're very sheltered. So they're looking back in time and looking at other people's experiences and expressing theirs.
JH:
As an artist, how do you make sense of this moment in history? It's such an interesting political time...
MJK:
If you're locking yourself in a room and cutting yourself off from the world, not experiencing anything outside your doors, I suppose you could be creating art that's not connected to what's happening, but I don't see how you could create art that isn't influenced by everything that's going on right now. I don't see how that would be possible.
JH:
How do you approach expressing your political opinions in your music?
MJK:
I'm an artist, not a politician. So what I express is the feelings that I have about my opinions, not necessarily my opinion attached to a certain event or occurrence. Those events and occurrences go on every day throughout history. At some place on the planet, things are happening now that happened somewhere. So, as an artist, I'm just here to express the feeling about those things, not necessarily the specifics of the conflicts and who did what to who, or who needs what, who's been slighted ... it has more to do with the feelings attached.
JH:
What does it take for a musical artist to stay relevant now?
MJK:
If you view music as being a kind of king of the hill competition, you're always going to lose. If you just evolve with your feelings and express those in an honest way, then you can't really lose -- especially if you don't really ask for anybody's approval. With Puscifer, for example, I'm expressing where I'm at, at the moment. I've done all the hard work, I'll continue to do all the dark work, but I'm also going to do some light work. It feels healthier.
JH:
That seems like a really mature attitude. Have you always felt that way, or were you involved in, like you said, this kind of king of the hill competition when you started out in music?
MJK:
If you read the story of the Iliad and the Odyssey, that was Odysseus' thing. He was going to go out and conquer the world. Look at the last Emperor of China -- great film -- he was thinking he was the shit. It's the great hero journey, and to understand these things before they actually occur to you, most people aren't aware of these processes. They have to live them to understand them, and look back with 20/20 hindsight to recognize their own patterns. So yeah, I'm sure everybody who's [had] a taste of a little bit of power, in whatever dose it is, or whatever arena it's presented, they'll be faced with the choice to abuse it or just use it -- positively or negatively.
JH:
Can you go out on stage without thinking you're the shit at least a little bit? Doesn't it take some of that just to be in front of that many people?
MJK:
The only reason those shows, or any shows, are worth going to see is because anything can happen. It's volatile, it can break down at any second. If you can look at that moment and understand that this is not a given, that's why it's volatile. That's why it's special. I just watched a friend of mine do a martial arts tournament, and he was supposed to be the best of the best of the best. He lost. Everyone was very disappointed, and his father is, I'm sure right now, all up in his grill, screaming at him for not having pulled through and kept the family name going. But the honest truth of it is, if he could win every time, why is it special? He had to be able to lose.
JH:
Right. Why compete in the first place, if the outcome is predetermined?
MJK:
Right. It makes it much more of a challenge for him now. He's not invulnerable. So losing is good. Failing is good. It's a life experience that helps you go to the next step.
JH:
What have you been reading lately?
MJK:
Just winemaking books, and boring chemistry stuff.
JH:
I hadn't thought about this, but wine and music both have their technical aspects. Is that part of the attraction?
MJK:
The most important part of any of these endeavors is to expand your awareness of the world that you live in, to become more a part of it, and to be able to express it more accurately.
JH:
Ok, kind of a goofy question: a lot of people know you as just Maynard, so have you ever thought about going by one name, like Prince?
MJK:
You can't really be famous as something as stupid as Maynard. I mean, Prince is almost as dumb as Maynard, but Maynard's pretty dumb.
JH:
I don't know, I think it's alright.
MJK:
It's a stupid name.
Puscifer performs April 4th and 5th at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Click HERE for ticket info.
Puscifer performs April 4th and 5th at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Click HERE for ticket info.
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