Tool’s Maynard James Keenan on TikTok and bands who “reek of desperation” trying to stay relevant
Tool and Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan has shared his thoughts on TikTok, commenting that bands should focus on “maintaining their art”.
In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Keenan said he wasn’t bothered about being relevant to TikTok’s audience, in the same way other big name bands have adopted the platform.
“I won’t be relevant to the Tik-Tokers of the world because it’s just not on their radar” Keenan said. “Those people that listen to the things they listen to and the things they respond to now, I’m not necessarily relevant.
“But there’s an entire generation of people that’s not just my generation. There’s people older than me and much younger than me that have grown with this thing. So as they’re ageing, they’re discovering it.”
When asked by Rogan whether he thinks about whether or not he’s relevant, Keenan replied: “You can’t because you’ll start being desperate and getting plastic surgery and looking like a fucking alien and trying to insert yourself into some stupid fucking thing. I’m not talking about anybody. I’m not talking about my peers.
“It turns to desperation very quickly, it reeks. So just maintain your art dude.”
Last month, Puscifer shared two Halloween concert films that feature music from their 2007 debut ‘V Is For Vagina’ and its 2011 follow-up ‘Conditions Of My Parole’.
The band staged a behind-the-scenes performance as they reinterpreted and re-recorded songs from their early days as well as dramatised ‘Conditions Of My Parole’. The ‘Conditions Of My Parole’ film also featured surprise cameos.
The second film, Parole Violator: A Puscifer Concert Film Featuring Conditions Of My Parole, follows a storyline involving the band’s cast of so-called “Pusciverse” characters. “Billy D is in jail, Hildy is on the war path and Peter Merkin, as usual, is up to no good,” read a teaser.
“Those with creative minds are restless,” Keenan said of the band’s newer venture in making films. “Lockdown was only physical, not mental. The Pandemic was the perfect springboard and opportunity for us all to flex our creative muscles. Here is more evidence.”
Puscifer are currently on a North American tour, which wraps up in Prescott, Arizona on November 22. Find any remaining tickets here.
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Arusa Qureshi
NME
