MJK: No idea who Tool fans are 2006-12-02 by Jom | 12 Comments | In a rather amusing interview, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan recently sat down with Aaron Burgess of AVclub.com, discussing 10,000 Days, the band's anti-image persona, and Maynard not having a clue as to who his own fans are.
Portions of the interview to follow:
The last press campaign you did focused as much on your political views as on the music. Given how outspoken you are, why don't you do more interviews?
Because I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for how to place things in history [that would let me] be a responsible leader. All I can do is be an artist, and basically waffle on about my feelings—which helps people, you know, get through a root canal, but it doesn't really help them deal with political stuff. All I can do is say I smell a rat. I don't know where it is or what kind of rat it is, but as an artist, I can express how [I feel about it]. But I couldn't responsibly stand up and tell people which way to go, because then I'm just as guilty as the people who are telling everybody else what to do and where to go.
On the tour behind 2001's Lateralus, you used the idea "Go get out there and do something positive, create something…" as a sort of onstage rallying cry. You don't seem quite so positive these days. Why the change?
Well, I think [the situation in America] is going to have to come to a head, because it's gone so far, and the people that have been duped are embarrassed, but they're not going to do anything about it. They're going to toe the line just to see if it pans out in their direction so they can say, "See, I was right." It really is imploding; it's getting nuts everywhere—and it's this crazy nationwide, if not global, push for this polarizing religious fanaticism that's just infecting everything. One of the Baldwin brothers is now preaching? Jesus fucking Christ... whether they're serious or not, it's difficult to say—but it's the kind of thing that only ends in bloodshed. You know what I mean? It's so polarized that there is no gray area, and it comes down to a religious war.
Do you feel out of touch with your audience?
For the most part, I have no idea who those people are—especially when we're traveling through Europe. And it's not all our fault; it's a whole series of events. [You play] heavy music, and your record company, which has never owned an album anything like what you're doing, immediately markets you to the obvious stinky kid with the dreadlocks and the B.O. and the urine on his shoes because he's been sleeping in his own filth in a festival in the middle of the rain. They basically market right to that guy. And then you realize the only people showing up to your shows are those primates—these weird, cretin people.
Then, let's say you're at a coffee shop, and you've got a friend sitting next to you, and you've been reading some Noam Chomsky, or you're reading The Onion, and you look over and see a bunch of kids [who] look like they could be made of cheese, because there are flies everywhere. And you go, "Hey, you want to go where they're going?" and everybody goes, "Fuck no." And they're wearing Tool shirts. Why would you want to go there? Why would anybody other than those kids wanna go see Tool if that's our representative in that area? So it ends up being a no-win situation. Of course, that's a completely extreme example.
Well, it is, but Tool exploded into the mainstream during the nü-metal era. Unlike Korn and Limp Bizkit, though, you're still vital. Why do you think that is?
We've stayed vital among people who got it. But in the areas of the world that weren't exposed to it, it's kind of weird to go back to those places.
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If reading long interviews from the Tool frontman is your bag, baby, feel free to visit AVClub's interview with Maynard James Keenan at the below address:
http://www.avclub.com/content/node/55757
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Tagged: Tool
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Ive always though that Maynard was an interesting guy. Hes just honest with himself and thats why he is such a great musician. Cheers Maynard!This Message Edited On 12.02.06
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AVC: It's amazing, the depth that people go into. The general idea seems to be that you're gradually revealing clues with each new album.
MJK: Isn't that great? They're playing it backwards, and they're like, "You've got to get a Slurpee, but only half-full, and when you're drinking the Slurpee, right at that last slurp, the rhythm of the slurp coincides with…" My God. Are you kidding me? :lol:
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what a douche bag.
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That was entertaining.
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What does the whole [ ] thing mean, that's something I never understood.
He seems like a pretty smart guy, but kind of an arrogant one at that.
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@2HB: That's what the interviewer/editor places into the interview for it to make a bit more sense. Like if the interviewee says 'he', and 'he' is not defined elsewhere in the question or answer, they'll do something like:
"He [Bob] was a prick..."
It's basically for clarification.
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Kudos to Jom for explaining it better than me. 
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Maynard only proves what a tremendously egotistical elitist prick he is in this interview
I seriously have no idea how the interviewer didn't just throttle him halfway through
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Always interesting! People probably take him a little to seriously just because he is in the most original and breath taking band of our generation. In my opinion his is an a grade piss taker!
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What? god damn Maynard does not know who his fans are, what the hell does he want a bunch of fans dressed up in suits or some sh**! what an a**!
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Manybe he just has a fetish for that kind of stuff, god lay off the man so wat if he has an ego, most memmbers of the big bands of our time do *puts on "some kind of monster"*
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hey you don't deserve to be on this page
HINDER SUCKS!!!!!!
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