Maynard James Keenan has been out on the road with Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Primus celebrating his 60th birthday as part of the Sessanta tour. And then once that’s all wrapped up, Keenan seems to be set on writing new music with all three of his bands.
In a new interview with Revolver, Keenan said he plans on getting together with Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle over the next year and a half to nail down some new material.
“I’ve got three bands that need to write songs, so I’m going to be doing that,” said Keenan. “But I’m also expanding out in Arizona, opening up a fried chicken place in Cottonwood. When it comes to winemaking and growing our own grapes, we’re planting vineyards and strapping in for four or five years of waiting to see what’s going to happen there. That’s the one that takes the most planning and patience.
“But other than that, the path is kind of laid out for you. Like Les [Claypool of Primus, also interviewed] said, he’s a bass player. I’m a singer, I’ve got to write songs. That’s what I do. So the next year and a half to me is writing songs I’ve got to write.”
Keenan even mentioning new Tool (albeit in a roundabout way) is a pretty big step, considering his comments to Loudwire in 2023. In that interview, Keenan was asked if there were any concrete plans for Tool to work on new music, to which he gave a very grounded response: “I never mention anything until we actually have it in our hands, because every time I say it out loud it runs further away like Groundhog Day.”
When asked if there’s ever a conversation within the band after one of its members brings up potential new music, Keenan added: “To get people wound up and excited about something that doesn’t exist, I think it’s irresponsible.”
Puscifer and A Perfect Circle each released a new single on the new Sessanta E.P.P.P. Outside that, A Perfect Circle hasn’t done a new record since Eat The Elephant in 2018, Puscifer since Existential Reckoning in 2020, and Tool since Fear Inoculum in 2019.
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