This week on Steve-O's Wild Ride! podcast, the Jackass star goes full fan-boy mode welcoming his guest, TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan, into his mobile studio.
LISTEN NOW: Wild Ride! with Steve-O: Maynard James Keenan
Amid their discussions surrounding Ultimate Fighting (UFC), record labels, wine, and more, host Steve-O, a huge fan of the projects he has been involved with over the years and obviously relatable, discusses with Maynard the rigors of touring and how time can take its toll on the body after giving fans incredible albums and stellar performances, albeit sporadically, since the early nineties.
Known for his impressive vocal range showcased in his groups TOOL, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, Keenan and Co. under the banner of TOOL will be hitting up several festivals this year (including the impressive Aftershock and Power Trip line ups) to bring songs from their 2019 album Fear Innoculum and more to rabid fans always hungry for a chance to see the group perform live. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of TOOL's major label debut, Undertow, and they just celebrated their inception with a reimagining of one of their very first tracks on "Opiate2." With just five albums to choose from when creating a setlist, diving deep into the band's past material can sometimes prove to be a challenge for Maynard, he admits.
Asked about taking some of their nostalgic, and arguably heavier tracks for a spin while on the road, Keenan likened the personal experience of belting out his screams, growls, and pitch-perfect operatic vocals to that of an old school dragster, “like an old Barracuda man, just tearing up the streets.”
"You try to do that with an old Barracuda now, and it’s gonna break," he adds. "You just can’t do that. So, I think with age you find ways to sing the thing where it’s not creating damage. You can actually recreate it without having to pick a scab, emotionally and literally, like hurting yourself."
Maynard explained how his process of writing songs over the years has evolved, bringing forth the more psychedelic-flavored iteration of the group that can be heard on later albums like 10,000 Days, Lateralus, and their latest as opposed to earlier works on Undertow, Aenima, and Opiate. “I think my writing has changed over the years… I can’t do a whole set of those songs,” he says. “I can pepper them in, so I can still do some of those things, but you can’t… If you’re actually sitting down and thinking about it, you can’t expect some of those dudes, back in the day, to do the thing they did 30 years ago, 40 years ago. You can’t expect that out of that body. Your body doesn’t do those things forever,” he admits. “Your body is not going to allow you to perform the way you used to perform at certain ages. You can apply that to pretty much anybody.”
Listen to the full conversation with Steve-O and Maynard from TOOL above, and listen to more from the comedian and jackass star on his hilarious and honest Wild Ride! podcast.
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