Ed Masley

The Republic | azcentral.com

Talking to Maynard James Keenan, you can't help but get the impression that one of life's great joys for him is knowing that a relatively high percentage of the population will not see the humor is the darkly comic sensibilities through which he tends to filter his iconoclastic world view.

I've interviewed him twice in less than six months, both times in connection to Pusficer's "Money Shot" album and tour. And in both interviews, the man has put forth public spanking as one possible solution to that which ails us as a species, this time suggesting a system of vouchers allowing professors to spank a modest number of overly sensitive college students per semester.

Maynard James Keenan on Puscifer and public spanking

Another possible solution? He may have mentioned the hope of an Ice Age.

Keenan also talked about his art, which thrives on those same darkly comic sensibilities. But the singer, who lives in Jerome, where he also pursues a career as a winemaker, having established Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards in 2004, seems to loosen up more when the conversation turns to "us" instead of him.

And I have no problem with that. It's why I didn't bother asking him about his other projects, especially Tool. I knew his answers wouldn't be as entertaining as his thoughts on sitting college students in a corner in a dunce cap.

Question: I interviewed you right before the album was released. You were about to play that festival in Tempe. How has the “Money Shot” music been translating live for you since then?

Answer: It takes about a week to really find the groove and make some adjustments. At first, you can kind of regurgitate it and try to remember it and find your way through it. You know the songs and you’re just trying to find that happy medium of feeling it rather than thinking it. It’s hard to do at first..

Q: Are there songs on the album that stood out more for you when you started performing them live?

A: I think they all kind of stepped up from the recordings just because now it’s a living, breathing thing, when you’re doing it live. It’s always going to be different than the record. So everything kind of took on an interesting quality. I’m very happy with how it progressed.

Q: Is the set focused primarily on this record?

A: I would say it’s split 60/40.

Q: Has the album shaped the overall direction of the show?

A: Well, you know, the live show, we definitely focus it a lot on entertainment. Of course, that entertainment has to wrap around the music but for the most part, the show is the show. As long as we can pull the songs off live, we can wrap the show around the music or vice versa. But as far as the actual presentation of the show, there’s definitely a common theme through it. It is a stage presentation. There’s more of a performance than just a band playing live.

Q: I know you don’t like spoilers, but is there anything you can say about what people can expect?

A: Well, anybody who saw the Prescott show or has seen the show around the States other than Tempe, those are the people we have to rely on through word of mouth to tell their friends to take a chance. I think now, after many years of touring, people have a little faith in us, to give us the benefit of the doubt to know you’re going to be entertained.

Q: The overall tone of "Money Shot" seems a bit darker previous Puscifer albums. I know there’s humor on it but it seems a bit darker or more serious. Is that something you hear? Or is that something people are imagining?

A: I think there’s an equal balance of the comedy and tragedy. I always try to keep that in perfect balance. So maybe you’re just kind of responding more to the second half of the album, which is a little louder and more aggressive. There’s not much negativity at all in the first half.

Q: Did you have a particular type of individual in mind as you were writing ‘The Remedy?’

A: Always. There’s always a couple icons or a moment you observe that ends up being the seed that you water for a song like that. But nobody specific. That’s the beauty of metaphor. If you’re accurate with the metaphor, many people think it’s about them when it’s just a classic Jungian Joseph Campbell metaphor.

Q: You’ve talked about "Money Shot" as a calling out of where we are as a species. I was wondering, you’re out there touring, what your take is on where we are as a species as we make our way through this election season.

A: It’s like a minefield, right? I mean, the good news is that the people who come to our shows tend to be pretty solid. So in a way, we’re kind of living in our own little terrarium at that point, in our own little closed environment because it seems like the people that are coming to our shows are just there to enjoy the art. In our little setting, our little world, our fiefdom we’ve created for ourselves in those shows, it’s like we escape from all that, so we’re just enjoying our space. So I don’t necessarily see beyond those walls all the ridiculousness that’s happening in the States. I try not to.

Q: Do you pay attention to the news, though, when you’re not on stage?

A: A little bit. But again, it depends on what station you’re watching and what their bent is and who they support and who they don’t and who’s paying who to say what, who’s being wound up for what reasons. It’s a pretty crazy time.

Q: There’s been a lot of talk lately about the dumbing down of the culture. Do you feel that we are getting dumber as a species?

A: I don’t know if you’ve seen that documentary? It’s a pretty intense documentary called "Idiocracy," which used to be a comedy and now it’s a documentary. And that Nostradamus film called "V For Vendetta?" I don’t know what’s happening out there. What’s gonna happen next? Is it zombies? I’m ready for anything now.

Q: You also mention trolls in “The Remedy.” Do you feel that online culture has contributed much to the sort of things that have taken us to where “Idiocracy” can feel more like a documentary now?

A: Yeah, I think maybe just that entitlement, the ability to immediately express an unfounded opinion that’s not based on any kind of data or fact or research. It’s just your opinion. I can see how that can be kind of unnerving. It’s like the darkest version of Yelp. It’s unfortunate. What I think would help is some borderline extinction-level event. I think that would kind of set everything pretty straight.

Q: I’m sorry, what?

A: An extinction level event? Something… something gorgeous. A meteor, a few tidal waves, maybe a rapid Ice Age, something to kind of make you worry more about food, clothing and shelter, rather than tweeting.

Q: Right. But obviously, you do tweet. You are involved on social media. Is that something you try to do as little as possible?

A: If we’re building something, trying to move forward and make progress in some way, whether it’s community, art, cuisine, winemaking, those things. But generally speaking, social media for me is just comedy first, always. If there’s a joke to be told, you’ve gotta retell it.

Q: Speaking of jokes, I know you feel we’ve become a bit too hung up on political correctness, that people are afraid to make jokes. Has that affected your approach to art or comedy?

A: Not at all. Look at ‘South Park.’ Every single episode they do, they try to turn that offensive button up louder and they’ve been successful with it. No one’s shooting at them. I think there’s a misconception out there about how offended people actually are and why you would give credence to anybody who was offended by anything. So what? So you’re offended. And? You’re still breathing. You’re still walking. Nothing’s changed about what’s going on with you. I think it’s silly.

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Q: Now you have college professors worried about what they’re teaching because they can’t afford to offend the students in their class.

A: Expel them. Shoot them. I don’t know. Spank them? You’re not allowed to spank them. I think at the college level, each teacher should have a pack of vouchers and they’re allowed to spank 12 students over the course of the year. College students. Not children or babies. If they’re over 18, you’re allowed to take that student, put them over your knee and spank them in front of the class and embarrass them. Put them in the corner with a dunce cap. But you’re only allowed to do that 12 times a year. See how that works.

Q: I’ve always thought one of the problems with online culture is people go on there and say things under the cloak of anonymity that you used to say those things in a bar. And then, you’d get punched. And you learned.

A: Yeah. Right in the mouth. But you know, I’m Italian and I’m Irish. The wine-making and the food-making side of me is the Italian side and the s—t-talking, offensive, fairly thick-skinned side of me is the Irish. It’s because we have to be. That was just our nature, coming over here, being treated like rats. We’ve kind of built thick skins. Over there, it’s just playground banter, going at each other hard. And you don’t offense to it. It’s not hurting you, what’s being said. Come back with something clever. It’s dialogue. It’s friendly banter. It’s fantastic organic writing is what it is.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Twitter.com/EdMasley

Puscifer

When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 18.

Where: Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix.

Admission: $38-$68.

Details: 800-745-3000, livenation.com.

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