Feature _____________ L
tool îïiakg a mm in tik hktorii O ì ROOT
TI he CI ac I ìamas P rìnt
WEdNEsdAy, NovEMbER 14, 2001
In honor of their recent visit to the City of Roses, I have
taken it upon myself to provide some of the less fortunate
people who know little of the band with useful information. 1
have taken this information from both their official Web site
(www.toolband.com) and another Tool site, which the band
itself recognizes as a credible source of information
( toolshed.down.net).
The history of Tool
ISAIAH CREEL
Staff Writer
Tool has continually pro
duced high quality albums since
theirl992 debut with Opiate.
Their following has grown sub
stantially with each subsequent
release. Their sophomore release,
Undertow, has achieved double
platinum status, selling 2,000,000
copies as of May 14, 2001. In
fact every Tool album has gone
gold with the exception of their
live album Salival.
While remaining a prominent
musical figure in the metal and
hard rock scene, their music has
been largely misinterpreted by
the general population. The
metaphors and symbolism used
by the band have had mostly
sexual undertones, and it has
been speculated that members of
the band have been molested
sexually or are perhaps sexual
predators. The truth is that while
sexually oriented, their music is
full of open-ended metaphors
whose true meanings are highly
debatable, and known only to
vocalist and
songwriter
Maynard Keenan himself, who is
on good terms with his father and
visits him at least yearly.
Tool’s music is not easily de
fined. It would be easy to hear it
on hard rock radio stations and
classify it thusly, but to do so
would mean the band is in the
same boat as Metallica and AC/
DC. It would be more appropri
ate to put them in the same cat
egory as Led Zeppelin, whose
members, especially guitarist
Jimmy Page, have been associ
ated with the occult and black
magic.
The music of both Led Zeppe
lin and Tool has had an out
standing effect on music in gen
eral. Both groups appear to hold
some fascination with the work
ings of mysticism and thought.
A cover of the Zeppelin classic
No Quarter can be heard on
Salival, and some of the drum
beats and guitar riffs are reminis
cent of Zeppelin.
In 1990, Danny Carey (drums)
and Paul D’Amour (bass) met
Adam Jones (guitar) and Keenan.
“I met Adam through Tom Mo
rello of Rage (Against the Ma
chine),” explained Carey in an
interview appearing on one of
the larger Tool related sites on
the Net. "And I was living be
side Maynard. I never auditioned
for them (Keenan and Jones). I
felt kinda sorry for them, because
they would invite people over to
play, and they wouldn’t show
up, so I’d fill in.” Carey had
played drums for bands such as
Green Jelly, and was letting
Keenan and Jones use his prac
tice area.
D' Amour had moved to Cali
fornia to work in the film indus
try, which was Jones' profession.
Jones had already contributed
his special effects talents to such
films as "Terminator
2," "Jurassic Park"
and "Predator 2".
After
they
formed, they
toured
with
Rollins Band,
Rage Against
The Machine and
Fishbone
and
eventually took
center stage at
Lollapalooza in 1993,
stealing the show and
transforming the music
scene in general. In
September of 1995, D'
Amour left the band due
to “creative differ
ences,” and has since
been in a number of
largely unsuccessful
side projects. In early
November however, the
band took on Justin
Chancellor, formerly of
the band Peach, which
had recently broken up.
Justin’s unique bass
style added a new ele
ment, which is apparent
on their later albums
/Enima and Lateralus.
Above: The Lateralus album,
the long awaited new release
from Tool, features twelve
songs.
Clockwise from top
left:Maynard James
Keenan, Adam Jones,
Danny Carey, and Justin
Chancellor.
INFORMATION COMPILED BY
ISAIAH CREEL
Maynard James Keenan: vocals
Bom to a Baptist family in Ravenna, Ohio, James Herbert Keenan was a Kiss fanatic at age 12. He
attended Brown Jr. High followed by Ravenna High School through the 10* grade. His family relocated
to Michigan, where he attended Mason County Central High School in Scottville, MI. By the time he
entered the army in 1982, he had lived in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Kansas
and Texas. He attended the United States Military Academy (“West Point”) prep school class of
1984, and he refers to West Point's honor code “I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do,”
in the song "Intolerance" from Undertow.
He quit the military to study spatial design art, which led to a job using feng shui to remodel pet
stores in L.A. He studied at the prestigious Kendall College of Art & Design in Michigan-
Adam Jones: guitar
Adam Jones is the mind behind the intense videos and electrifying guitar riffs that make Tool the
band it is. Jones, originally from Illinois, played the violin from elementary school through his
freshmen year of high school. In addition to playing in an orchestra, he played bass for Tom
Morello’s high school band Electric Sheep. The two learned from one another, and never had
traditional instruction in guitar theory.
Jones received a music scholarship to go to college but attended Hollywood Makeup Academy
instead. He learned “straight make-up,” thinking it would help him out, and then started sculpting
and becoming involved in other special effects, such as the stop-motion effects seen on many of
Tool’s music videos. After graduating, he went to work at Ric Lazzarini’s The Character Shop
making creatures for such films as "Ghostbusters 2". After two years of character design, he
settled down in a quiet band with his friend Maynard, ¿nd the rest is history.
Danny Carey: drums
Carey, arguably the finest drummer in history, had his first musical experience
when his father took him into the music library at the University of Kansas where
he heard The Planets by Gustov Holst. He started taking snare drum lessons at
age 10, and got his first drum kit at 13. He received a scholarship in high school
to go to the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City. He had offers to play
•1 basketball at smaller colleges, but knew he wasn’t good enough to play major
4/ college or professional basketball.
In 1986, he moved to L.A. and spent four years there before any major
y changes took place in his life. He worked in a tape duplication house and as a
session player for Green Jelly, Pygmy Love Circus and Carole King. He sat in on
a few sessions with Jones and Keenan when their scheduled drummer didn’t show
and ended up forming the Tool we all know and love.
Above: The Toolwrench is a
Justin Chancellor: bass
older logo used by the band
Last but certainly not least is Justin Chancellor. Justin, a native of England, met
Left: The /Enima album cover
Tool in New York, and kept in touch with its members; his band Peach contributed
featured four interchangeable
to their 1994 European tour. When Tool’s original bassist quit the band, the remain
holographic covers, the rolling ing members immediately thought of Chancellor, Peach having broken up six months
eye, the white flames, California previous. Justin felt very loyal to his Peach guitarist, with whom he had played
falling into the Pacific Oceanfnot since age 14, and refused Tool’s offer. Eventually, however, he flew to the U.S. and
pictured) and a man preforming auditioned for the band. He beat out some difficult competition and was accepted.
a body contortion (notpictured). He has played on three of their five records.