In a live interview a few months ago, Tool frontman Maynard James Kennan revealed how a certain song by A Perfect Circle was a real pain in the ass experience early on. Alternative Nation reporter Mike Mazzarone transcribed Keenan’s comments.
Interviewer: I read that TalkTalk, in particular, changed dramatically in the course of finishing. Talk a little bit about what that process was and how did that come to be in the form that we hear it now?
Keenan: It was a pain in the ass. [Laughter]
I’d have some ideas that I’d tried to force some different sized pegs into different sized holes on that one. I had an idea on where I wanted it to go and it was a disaster. So, I had to go back and listen to what we actually had there [inaudible] and try to redirect it. I think it worked out great but it was a lesson for me.
Interviewer: In the process of doing this, you were effectively running kind of two studios. You were doing your thing here, you were working in Arizona, did that help the process in terms of speeding it along? Talk about that a little bit, does speed help the process? In other words, you’re not laboring over something; you’re kind of dealing with it, getting it done and moving on.
Keenan: I wouldn’t use the word ‘speed’; I would use the word ‘efficiency.’
Interviewer: OK.
Keenan: It used to be when we were working on something, I would come up with something that [inaudible] to what he was doing and he would spend a lot of time right there, in real time and it would just take extra time. With this process, he would give something to me and I would be working on it. Meanwhile he’s moved onto another thing and waiting on my reaction to his thing so it was just an efficient use of time.
