Maynard James Keenan spoke with Joe Rogan on his podcast this week, and covers a range of the usual topics you’d expect – wine making, fighting, discipline, the music industry, his love for cross-stitching and of course, Tool. Â As with Maynard’s other chats with Rogan, it’s an interesting listen, and great to hear him speak in a more relaxed, between friends manner than the usual defensive style taken with clickbait focused music journalists.
But let’s face it, Tool is what most of us want to know about (that bit starts at around the 1:22 mark on the video embedded below). Â Specifically Maynard discusses frustrations, but also understanding and acceptance of the current writing process. Â He also mentions that there are several tracks ready for vocals, and others in the works as well. Â Though nothing is complete yet, he does mention that he had worked on vocals for a track, only to find when he returned to the band it had changes so much they were no longer relevant.
I came away from the interview feeling pretty good about where the album is at. Â It appeared to me that Maynard feels good about what has been written so far. Â There are obvious frustrations, but he seems at peace with where it’s at. Â Some question if we’ll ever see another album from Tool, but for me this interview definitely made me feel it’s more of a “when” situation rather than “if”
So, my take on all this is that songwriting continues. Â It’s not going to wind up any time soon. Â I don’t think anyone should have expectations of Tool recording anytime this year. Â I’d go so far as to say we’re unlikely to see a Tool album before this time next year.
