TOOL Members Open Up In Their 'Longest, Most Revealing' Interview

Elusive art-rockers TOOL recently opened up in an exclusive interview with veteran journalist Bryan Reesman (web site). The seven-page cover story spearheads the relaunch issue of Metal Edge magazine (web site),and according to the band itself, is the longest in their 17-year history.

Reesman, who has written for the New York Times, Playboy, and Billboard, spent two hours backstage cross-examining all four members of the multi-platinum group about their music and individual personalities, capturing the animated interplay between the usually secretive musicians.

Frontman Maynard James Keenan sounds off on Hollywood studio shenanigans and his love for painfully bad movies, guitarist Adam Jones addresses being labeled "difficult" and surfing with METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, bassist Justin Chancellor discusses sailing and his store Lobal Orning, and drummer Danny Carey talks about his occult interests and playing celebrity basketball. The group also banters about pranking each other, what they really think of Keenan's wine, and far-flung TOOL rumors, including cannibalism.

TOOL on media manipulation:

Q: You don't seem to mind if you rile up the media.

Carey: A lot of times we don't even have to do it. It just does it itself. All these rumors… We've all died in car wrecks by now.

Keenan: Howard Stern has been keeping me out of his studio for years. I'm not even in New York, and he's talking about how I'm in the lobby, wanting to come up to talk to him, and he says, "Get that guy outta here!” And I'm in L.A.

Jones: It also reflects – at least from my perspective – how sensationalized the media is that you can f**k back with that. You can do your own little spin on stuff back to the media.

Chancellor: It kind of protects the music as well. It's like a distraction. People can think about all this rubbish, and in the meantime we can concentrate on doing music. It's like a smoke screen.

Jones: It's so funny that people say that the TOOL guys are difficult. We're not difficult. We're just not going to put up with the journalistic dogma of "build you up, chop you down." There are a lot of journalists who don't [care]. They're just trying to get their next paycheck, and they'll spin it any way the magazine wants them to spin it.

The September 2007 issue of Metal Edge is currently available at newsstands nationwide.