There have been some allegations leveled towards Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan in the last few days regarding sexual misconduct that we aren’t reporting due to their anonymous and completely unverified nature, but Keenan recently did an interview with NME (prior to this story which he hasn’t yet commented on) where he criticized the nature of social media and internet reporting. The quote is very eerie especially with what’s going on right now. The discussion moved to this topic after political issues were discussed.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” he says. “I am a snowflake. I am that liberal Democrat that wants to embrace people and help people. I’m sat here trying to work out what the fuck is going on in my country we’re they’re separating children from families. And of course, my military and law enforcement Republican friends are, like, ‘there’s the snowflake’. I’m, like, ‘how am I snowflake for questioning children being separated from families?’”
He burst into laughter.
“And of course, there’s also the question of whether it’s actually happening, because can you trust social media? Clickbait is the currency. Something doesn’t have to be true, you just have to click on it. You just have to be incendiary. It’s such a fucking rabbit hole…”
He also discussed making art during turbulent times.
“It’s a hard balance to strike, right?” he says. “Because there’s so much horseshit flying around. I don’t believe that total isolation is healthy for any artist, especially if you’re an artist that’s had some sort of success, because that can be quite posh, and you can lose touch with things. You have to get your hands dirty, and find a way to work through the noise. At the same time, I think you have to find that quiet time, the quiet room so to speak, because that’s where the work is done.”
He continues, “it’s like in martial arts. You learn to implement techniques you learn under stress. If you can’t do them under stress, you haven’t learned anything. And that’s where the writing comes in. Can you do this amongst the noise? Can you tune in and find out who you are as a writer.”
“Listen, there is a way out of this I believe, and it’s about not being caught in the drama and the distractions. Ignorance is your biggest enemy. The more the polarization of social media and other distractions draw you in, the less you’ll talk to each other…”
Alternative Nation has reached out to Keenan through his representatives about the allegations against him.
