TOOL drummer Danny Carey shared an update regarding band’s massively-anticipated follow-up to 2006’s “10,000” days, telling Overdrive:
“It’s all coming together really well. We’ll be hitting the studio again very soon and have a couple of gigs in May [Coachella Festival], so hopefully, we’ll have the album out before that. It’s wishful thinking at this point. I actually think I said that this time last year. [Laughs]
Asked if the boys have “a lot of material for the album,” Danny replied:
“Yes, there’s a lot of material that’s already done so, we’re looking to go into the studio pretty quickly here and off we go! Things are just rollin’ along. We don’t just hang about here in Hollywood, we are pretty much working all the time.”
As reported, Danny previously told Kerrang about the new record:
“Whatever those guys play is how they express themselves. Adam [Jones] and Justin [Chancellor] aren’t musically educated, so they just come up with the weirdest s**t.
“I just try to anchor it down and make it simple. The cool thing is every time I think I’ve simplified it as much as I can, we’ll give it to Maynard [James Keenan] and he’ll do something even more simplified – to the point where practically anyone can sing it!
“It’s simple s**t and it’s coming out, man. The tracks are long… too long! Definitely too long for the radio! [Laughs]”
Asked if he could reveal any working titles of songs or discuss the concept of the album, Carey replied:
“It’s all still a work in progress. We don’t even go there until the record is done. It needs to have a voice of its own – just like this new Legend of the Seagullmen record. You don’t think about that until the project’s finished and it all comes together and connects.
“Everything has its own voice. It’s funny how people understand it all when it comes to concepts. I know from Pink Floyd, Yes, all these bands – there was no f**king concept. Those guys would just go in there and do it until it was done… and that’s when it takes shape. At that point, it will tell you what to do, just like any piece of art ever made.”
He also said during the same interview:
“All I can say is when you listen to ‘Opiate,’ ‘Undertow,’ ‘Aenima,’ ‘Lateralus,’ and ‘10,000 Days’ – to me they all sound like Tool records.
“We hope we’re getting better at what we do – it’s all an extension. [The new material] definitely sounds like Tool, but it’s an evolution. It’s one of those things that I leave to the journalists for when we release it – they’ll say it’s this or that.
“When people ask me what’s my favorite song or Tool record, I’m always like, ‘Dude, it’s all the f**kin’ same to me!’ The old ones are just from a different moment in time. But none of the songs would be on there unless I thought they were all equally badass.
“And it’s the same with Legend of the Seagullmen. I’m not going to play on no bulls**t – I don’t have to do that anymore. [Laughs] You get to a point as an artist where you try to refine your craft and get better at what you do. I choose to be as open as possible, increasing my vocabulary to do justice to each musical moment.
“But it’s a Tool record and therefore exactly the same thing – me, Adam, and Justin are all meeting up in a new place. There’s no preconceived thing about it. It will be another Tool record, just like this is a Seagull record. We’ll probably make more Seagull records by the end. [Laughs]
“You have to wait and hear it. I can’t judge it, I’m too far inside! Hopefully it will be a mind melter… otherwise I better quit!”
