Maynard answers 11 Questions

Maynard James Keenan has answered 11 Questions with the AV Club recently, which gives us an interesting insight into his personality. There’s no real news of note contained within, but it is an intriguing read for Maynard completionists. Here’s one of the 11 questions:

7. What have you done so far today?
MJK: I processed three-and-a-half tons of fruit today for a rosé. It’ll be a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre Rosé which is probably going into the Merkin Vineyards wines. I actually racked off some Sangiovese Cabernet from the Marzo block here, so that’ll be a Caduceus wine. That was about two tons of wine. It was already fermented and is now pressed. I rearranged all the barrels, and in the morning I’ll be getting up around 6:30 to barrel down stuff that’s been pressed, so there’s been a lot of Tetris today with logistics. All of that to the sound of Joni Mitchell. Almost her whole catalog. Yesterday was The Chemical Brothers. There’s so much we had to deal with today, and it’s basically just me and my friend in the cellar doing all this, so we have to pick a soundtrack based on what we consider our puzzle level. If there’s a lot of logistics involved with moving the pumps back and forth and just trying not to get in our way or do things out of order which will just cause us more delays, we sometimes just put on Joni to keep us on track.

AVC: Is your work maintaining and operating your vineyards and making your wine something you find to be the most personally fulfilling creative outlet for you now?

MJK: I feel like with music there’s so much ego rooted in expressing your thoughts on the thing and your experiences with it. I feel like there’s no real innovation in having some music. It’s more just unique personalities and unique expressions, and you being able to tell your story, and I think I’ve done very well with that. I’ve done it three times where I’ve actually been able to change my perspective and come up with three completely different versions of me. With the wine it’s far more about getting out of the way and letting this place express itself, and I’ve done that well enough to where it’s changed the economic landscape for the state. So all the weird shit we hear coming out of Arizona, I hope what we’re doing is essentially changing a lot of that with our dollars and our votes, our economic impact, and our dissecting of how politics is done in Arizona. The art part of it, being able to express a place and establish something that over time will be passed on through generations, kind of takes it outside of the woe is me dude sitting in his corner boo-hoo lyrics. It’s less about me than it is about this area and that reconnection with food and shelter and clothing and things that matter and transcend time and ego.

Don’t forget that Puscifer are touring right now, playing tonight in Texas I think. You can find all the Puscifer tour dates here!