The hidden jokes Maynard James Keenan sneaks into Tool songs: “It was very funny”
Last year, a friend of mine performed in London in front of over 5,000 people. The show came after a string of countless others from all across the country for crowds of varying sizes.
Up there, behind the dazzling lights, he made sure to include an inside joke or two, one that the audience wouldn’t register but one that would make the band members, and those in the know, crack a smile. It’s a way to differentiate the otherwise endless torrent of similar shows, to exercise your power in a small but mighty way. His band is relatively small, so the stakes were pretty low. Having said that, this isn’t just a characteristic of novice groups, who can afford a cheeky lyrical switch-up. Turns out, the greats do it, too.
Think about it this way: In most jobs, there is obvious variety. The project you are on might only have a life span of three months, the country you visit might change every year, or the clients you talk to might bring new, unique problems to the table if you do whatever the hell it is consulting really means. For musicians, when it gets down to the meat of the issue, there’s very little that changes.
Further, to be a solid touring musician, you must kill the beast of unpredictability. You must play everything exactly the same as you always do. Take Bob Dylan, who is still touring for his avid, fervent fan base, but who switches up any of the tunes he plays so that crowds can’t come to rely on him for a single one of his classics. It’s a talking point because it’s so wildly different from how the industry usually operates.
Maynard James Keenan of Tool doesn’t quite take the Dylan route, but he does embed inside jokes and easter eggs into the live renditions of some of his tracks to keep things fresh and exciting. The mastermind behind the tech for Tool, Chris Schleyer, shared with Guitar that Keenan has been sneaking names of crew members into the songs for years.
He shared, “It actually started out as ‘Nobby’ or ‘Junior’, Tool’s live sound engineer and lighting designer. Maynard would just slip one of their names into a song during a show to keep the crew and himself entertained.” And the tomfoolery wouldn’t go unnoticed by the crew.
Schleyer added of the jokes, “It was very funny because we all used in-ear monitors, so we could hear him very clearly. It became a running joke with all three bands.” Of course, Keenan is a member of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer.
Who better to share the best joke of all than the man behind the mic? “Part of the fun is finding those little gems yourself,” Schleyer added. “I remember Ænima was a good one – ‘Fret for your Schleyer’. There are a few out there. Maynard even threw one into a live BBC recording. I felt bad for the rest of the band because they had to stay focused and not mess up! Meanwhile, the crew is in the hallway cracking up!”
Move over, Taylor Swift, we might have just found the next best musical jokester.
