In a short interview with Rock Radio Maynard commented that he likes to take time between Tool albums:

"Some new band, their first two records are the ones that are the freshest, ’cause they’ve had all their lives to write them. And then that third record ends up being all about the inside of a bus and something that happened backstage ’cause what else have they seen? And I’ve pretty much tried my best to avoid that album by taking time between writing projects to kind of absorb life in general — have some experiences, read a few books, get into a different headspace and then wait ’til the time is right."

Not much else of note in the interview…

Patrick Slevin from The Aquarian Weekly has this week interviewed Maynard about his work with Puscifer.  It’s one of the more interesting interviews I’ve read, so check it out.

Here’s a not so random quote:

The EP that was recently released was only available digitally, as well as the Lustmord dub mixes. Do you expect to continue releasing physical records?

Not yet. As this project develops and as it gains a little more momentum, we might eventually do some CDs. We’ll definitely do vinyl. But I’m going to rely on the digital sales to fund the making, because once again, we’re independent, so writing a check for a bunch of coasters seems kind of silly at this point.

I think people like to have the CD in their hand, but I don’t think they realize that to have one CD in their hand, I had to make thousands to make it worth making them, and then you’re sitting on all these coasters. I’m not going to do that until the sales of the digital stuff catches up with it. Then we’ll do another collection, maybe make it a part of the DVD. But we’re going to make vinyl, for sure. Vinyl format I think is more fun, you can put more images on the 12-inch surfaces. It’s great.

A quick post this morning before I head off to Soundwave.  Maynard did an interview with Movieweb recently, and it’s results can be found here.  Worth the read, though it only really covers his winemaking.

Here’s a random quote:

You usually have control of your artistic endeavors, but Page and Pomerenke had final cut on this documentary. How difficult was it for you to hand over the reigns on something that is so important to you? Were there aspects of this film that you didn’t necessarily want shown?
Maynard James Keenan: The cut that you see now is not the cut they presented to us initially. There was definitely a reedit before the final cut was approved. This is quite a different film from that first cut. I will say that. It was more about me than it was about wine. That was not my intention. And that should not have been the intention of the film. The intention of the film is to help explain what is possible with effort and due diligence. And focus and commitment.

A new message from Major Douche regarding the upcoming Puscifer tour:

Major Douche Eastern Assault. Spring 2010.
"In this war against complacency and the mundane, we the artists/insane must strive to re-invent, to shadowbox our paranoia, and to adapt to inevitable change while still maintaining a balanced diet. Multi tasking is at the very core of our assault. That is why we are very pleased to unveil a new level of combined art and utility during this Spring Campaign. Along with the comedic, visual, and melodic arsenal, we will also be introducing the latest form of whole body entertainment. By inserting a high fiber brown note to the equation, we will achieve not only an elevated sense of the theatrical, but also provide a non chemical, bio degradable, free range sonic digestif. Forward movement will be achieved. Bon Apetit’!!"

Major Douche,

Battalion Commander.

Maynard had a nice chat with Kat Corbett from KROQ recently, and the interview is available for streaming here.  I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, so let me know if it sucks.

There’s also another Blood Into Wine clip available as well on Youtube:

Maynard features in an article on Billboard this morning where he talks about how much Puscifer costs, as well as the possibility of a DVD:

Approaching the entire project more like a television performance troupe, Keenan says he hopes to release "Puscifer Season 1" later this year on DVD.

I think it was pretty much inevitable that we’d see a DVD of some of these performances, and I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Thanks to acousticphenomena for the tip.

In a recent interview on Metromix.com, Maynard makes a brief mention of the Live DVD.

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.

The article is really about the coming Puscifer tour, so don’t go expecting more Tool chatter than what I posted…

In a recent interview with Ryan Page (one of the Blood Into Wine directors) on Movieweb.com, Maynard will be playing the part of a villain on his upcoming movie Queens of Country:

Let me ask you about Queens of Country. Is that a reference to the real Nashville Queens of Country? Like Dolly and Loretta?
Ryan Page: It’s a comedy. It’s not a doc. We are shooting it on May 3rd. We are also shooting it in Arizona. Maynard is going to be in that film, too. It’s about a woman that lives in a small town, and she is obsessed with the queens of country. Dolly, Loretta, Patsy, Wanda Jackson. She even dresses like them. She is totally obsessed. She is in a bad relationship, and she finds an Ipod that has a Queens mix on it. The music really touches her, so she goes on a search to find them. It’s really funny. We are working with (names removed for contractual reasons). I don’t know if I’m aloud to say this. They did a rewrite with us. They helped us polish the script, really.

There are quite a few Blood Into Wine reviews coming onto the net, and I expect this to increase over the next week or so.  Rather than posting each review on Fourtheye, I’ve taken to linking them on the Fourtheye Twitter account.  I also use twitter for other bits and pieces I decide aren’t quite worthy of their own post, so if you are a twitter user, then make sure you follow that account.

A Country & Western version of Trekka – Spaghetti Trekka can be found in the Puscifer site. It’s a live version, I imagine recorded at one of the shows from the last tour.  Enjoy and thanks to Rolo on TDN for the find!