Q&A: Maynard James Keenan

Talking with the Tool frontman about winemaking and his new band, Puscifer

By Kirk Miller

Metromix

Name: Maynard James Keenan
Occupation: Musician, winemaker, prankster, artist
Home base: Verde Valley, Ariz.
Latest projects: A new EP and U.S. tour with his current band, Puscifer; and a documentary film, “Blood Into Wine,” about his winery, Caduceus Cellars
You might know him better as: Lead singer for Tool and A Perfect Circle
Official Web sites: http://www.puscifer.com, http://www.caduceus.org, http://www.bloodintowine.com

“Humor’s been in all my projects,” claims Maynard James Keenan, the eccentric, usually reclusive frontman for Tool, A Perfect Circle and, most recently, Puscifer. Fans of those first two bands and their proggy, gloomy alt-rock may scratch their heads at that statement, but they’re in for a shock with Keenan’s new group—which actually started out as a fictional band on the HBO comedy series “Mr. Show” and whose live incarnation Keenan describes as a “variety show.” We spoke with Keenan about his new group, his old groups, and his other passion—wine.

How many people get the band name wrong?
It’s Puscifer, like in “Puss in Boots”…and everyone does. It’s kind of Yiddish, meaning “Evil, not so much.”

Why name your albums things like “V Is for Vagina” and “C Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here)”?
I just sat around coming around with titles with a friend of mine. Whatever one he rolled his eyes at or said “that’s stupid,” we went with it.

People may not know that you have a sense of humor, at least if they know you from your other bands.
It’s just a matter of what you see first. If you saw the Tool video for “Stinkfist,” it was scary and not funny. If you saw our actual first video, for a song called “Hush,” it was four naked guys foaming at the mouth with [parental advisory] stickers over our genitals. Then you would have seen that Tool had a sense of humor.

Puscifer is playing the Apollo in New York, Lincoln Center in D.C., the Berklee Academy of Music in Boston…why so high falutin’?
First and foremost, Puscifer is a troupe and this is a performance, not a concert. We want to establish that right away with the fans. We need a large amount of space to present everything. And we want to take the fans out of their usual setting and give them a whole new experience. It’s a new space for most of the audience—they won’t know how to behave. They’ll be on their heels. 

Your press release mentions a lot of guest stars on your tour, including “God.”
Yeah, not all of the people on our records will be on tour. There are a lot of names floating around. As for God—maybe if He gets some time off.

Any covers?
We do a Circle Jerks song during the country set.

Country set?
We’re a variety show, remember.

I have to ask: What’s up with A Perfect Circle and Tool?
Nothing I know of at the moment. There’s always writing, we’re always doing that. But as soon as I say anything…like, I mentioned 15 years ago a possibility of filming a live Tool show, and I still get asked about that! I made the mistake of opening my mouth.

When did you get into wine? And how are you able to grow it Arizona?
Way back in the ‘80s, I was exposed to the wine industry by a friend in Boston. Our wine, we grow the grapes out in Northern Arizona, and we actually have more problems with cold and frost than heat. The great thing though is that we’ve scored an 89 from Wine Spectator on five of our wines. Only one wine from Arizona had done that before us.

Have you tried Diddy’s vodka or Marilyn Manson’s absinthe?
To be honest, I’m a snob. I’ll only try it if I know a person worked on it themselves. If they’re in the distillery at 6 a.m., if they’re racking and pruning and doing all the work, I’ll look into it.