In the leadup to the release of Money Shot (now streaming on Pandora in case you missed it) Maynard James Keenan has had an interview with AZ Central about Puscifer and the the making of the new album. Nothing especially revealing in the interview, but is a good read regardless (the website is a bit shit though). Here’s a cut:
Question: How do you know when it’s time to start putting an album together?
Answer: (Lead guitarist) Mat (Mitchell) and I are always kind of throwing around ideas. We always have stuff up our sleeves. A lot of it comes down to scheduling. What’s going on with other projects? What’s going on with harvest? When we hit critical mass with ideas, we just want to pull the trigger and get ‘em done.
Q: Do you and Mat get together sometimes and play music just to mess around and songs come out of that?
A: Not really jamming so much as reading articles online, watching films, “Adult Swim,” listening to music, playing a song you really like, and trying to put together juxtaposed things. I might say, “I really like this show ‘The Newsroom’ and some of the speeches on that. And I also really like this Helmet song. Or this Joni Mitchell song.” So we’ll start sticking that in our brain and letting it rattle around until something comes out. Or a book. Or an article. Or a view. Just elements.
Q: Did “The Newsroom” actually inspire a song?
A: Oh yeah, that crazy speech in the first season is pretty much the song “Money Shot.” Loosely related. But similar energy as far as we can do better.
Speaking of Puscifer related stuff, I read the other day on Instagram that there will be a sale happening at the Puscifer store in Jerome over the Halloween weekend. Sale items include a range of rare and signed posters from various MJK related acts, including Tool and A Perfect Circle.