In an essay recently shared to his personal website, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan opened up about his journey to becoming a professional musician – from learning how to tell stories as a child, to joining his first band, to starting Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle.
“Circa 1985-1987. My first foray into the world of a Performing Musician. Started as the bass player in TEX & the Anti Nazi Squad aka The TexANS. I was the opposite of good,” he wrote.
“So I started Children A.D. as singer/songwriter. Already had the Hohner bass (Junior Varsity Steinberger) a Peavy amp and cabinet, and a RAT distortion pedal. Bought a Tascam 4-Track, Korg SuperDrums, and a BOSS delay pedal. The results of which were also not good.
“Tex-A.N.S. and Children A.D. released 2 cassettes each. Quite a few lessons learned, but mixed feelings about all of it. So I hung it up and decided to put the idea of being in a band behind me.
“Until late 1990-early 1991.”
Keenan continued, explaining how Tool “started on a dare”:
“While hanging out at some Hollywood Alternative rock shows during the year 1990, a stranger grew weary of having to listen to my cynical criticism of the many many mediocre local bands.
“He said, ‘If you think you can do better, why don’t you try?’ So I did.”
