A PERFECT CIRCLE's BILLY HOWERDEL Announces Debut Solo Album, 'What Normal Was'

April 26, 2022

Billy Howerdel will release his debut solo album, "What Normal Was", on June 10 via Alchemy Recordings/Rise Records/BMG. The A PERFECT CIRCLE co-founder/guitar player has simultaneously released a video for "Poison Flowers", with the Rizz-directed clip offering both an aural and visual preview of what's to come on the 10-song, self-produced collection.

"This is me stepping back into my early teen self and making the record I would've made if I had the means and the knowledge when I first picked up a guitar — just in 2022," Howerdel explains. "It's that moment as a kid when you hear a record, close your eyes, and go somewhere else. That was the time I found my lane, so to speak."

"What Normal Was" track listing:

01. Selfish Heart
02. Free And Weightless
03. Ani
04. Beautiful Mistake
05. The Same Again
06. Poison Flowers
07. Follower
08. Bring Honor Back Home
09. EXP
10. Stars

The album news is accompanied by the announcement of a summer tour, kicking off on June 11 in Ventura, California. The six-week trek includes an appearance at Milwaukee's Summerfest and two shows where Howerdel finds himself on the same bill as his A PERFECT CIRCLE bandmate Maynard James Keenan, who will be performing with PUSCIFER: June 12 at the Greek Theatre (Los Angeles) and July 1 at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (Rochester Hills, Michigan). Tickets for all headlining dates are on sale this Friday, April 29 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

June 11 - Ventura, CA @ Ventura Music Hall
June 12 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
June 14 - -Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
June 15 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
June 16 - Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post
June 18 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
June 19 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
June 21 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
June 22 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
June 24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
June 25 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
June 26 - St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
June 28 - Chicago, IL @ Cabaret Metro
June 29 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
July 01 - Rochester Hills, MI @ Meadow Brook Amphitheatre *
July 02 - Toronto, ON @ Axis Club
July 03 - Montreal, QC @ Café Campus
July 05 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
July 06 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
July 08 - -Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
July 09 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
July 10 - Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
July 12 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
July 14 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
July 15 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall – Inside Downstairs
July 16 - Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
July 17 - Austin, TX @ Emos
July 20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom

* With PUSCIFER

Howerdel has quietly asserted himself as an alternative music auteur whose knack for massive hooks believes a keen emotional understanding and sonic acuity. Devoting his life to music after witnessing PINK FLOYD live, he acted as something of a behind-the-scenes journeyman, working as an in-demand touring and studio tech for the likes of David Bowie, GUNS N' ROSES and NINE INCH NAILS. Striking up a friendship with Maynard James Keenan when TOOL opened for FISHBONE (for whom Billy served as a tech),he occupied a room in a North Hollywood cottage with Maynard. Billy founded A PERFECT CIRCLE with Maynard in 1999. The group's seminal full-length debut, "Mer De Noms", went platinum and made history as the "highest Billboard 200 bow for a rock band's debut." They followed it with the platinum "Thirteenth Step" (2003) and gold "Emotive" (2004). The group made its return with 2018's "Eat The Elephant", marking its fourth consecutive Top 5 debut on the Top 200. In between, Billy's music has also appeared in video games and on the big screen. During 2008, he made his first solo statement under the moniker ASHES DIVIDE with "Keep Telling Myself It's Alright". In the next decade, the album quietly pervaded as a cult favorite with millions of streams and the odd sold-out "reunion" show. On his 2022 proper full-length solo debut, "What Normal Was", he inhabits a space that's reverent of his past, present, and future all at once. After all of these years, songs, and shows, Billy is ready to introduce himself.

Photo credit: Erica Weitz

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