This past July, Justin Bieber expressed his admiration for Tool's song "The Pot" and in typical Maynard fashion, he responded to a story about it on Twitter with a simple hashtag, "#bummer." I feel like if you actually follow Tool, and understand Maynard's sense of humor, it seemed to me he was mocking "hashtag culture," so to speak and giving the response that people would expect him to have. I can't imagine he genuinely has any emotion for whether Bieber or anybody appreciates his music. Unfortunately, Bieber's girlfriend wasn't too amused.
Turns out though, I was right about what Maynard meant. The Tool frontman was on Zane Low's Beats1 radio show and was asked about the Bieber situation, here's how Maynard reacted:
“He’s probably a good kid. It’s the crap that surrounds him. He was never armed with the tools to handle it. And the people surrounding him are monsters. He’s living in an ocean of … Am I allowed to swear on this show? Okay, never mind. I was going to say … but I’m not sure I’m allowed to. So he’s, God bless him, he’s a product of those things that we’ve spoken about numerous times on every project I’ve ever done.”
Keenan added, “So, when I make a statement like ‘#bummer,’ it has nothing to do with him. It has to do with, I know that the ocean of shit that’s going to follow because he couldn’t just be a quiet Tool fan, he had to say it out loud, and now I know the flood’s coming from the people that don’t get it, and the people that think they do, and they’re going to argue with each other. And it’s going to be stupid. And it doesn’t matter. And this poor kid’s caught right in the crosshairs, as he was, as he is.”
You can watch the entire interview below. They also discuss the new album and Tool's debut on streaming platforms.
Tool's tour kicks off soon and tickets go on sale tomorrow. Get in there!
October 13 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival [Tickets]
October 15 Denver, CO Pepsi Center [Tickets]
October 18 Salt Lake City, UT Vivint Smart Home Arena [Tickets]
October 20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center [Tickets]
October 21 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center [Tickets]
October 23 Glendale, AZ Gila River Arena [Tickets]
October 25 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center [Tickets]
October 27 Houston, TX Toyota Center [Tickets]
October 29 Tulsa, OK BOK Center [Tickets]
October 31 Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum [Tickets]
November 2 Indianapolis, IN Banker’s Life Fieldhouse [Tickets]
November 3 Chicago, IL United Center [Tickets]
November 5 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena [Tickets]
November 6 Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse [Tickets]
November 8 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena [Tickets]
November 9 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena [Tickets]
November 11 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena [Tickets]
November 12 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena [Tickets]
November 14 Boston, MA TD Garden [Tickets]
November 16 Newark, NJ Prudential Center [Tickets]
November 18 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center [Tickets]
November 19 Brooklyn, NY Barclay’s Center [Tickets]
November 21 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Casino Arena [Tickets]
November 22 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall [Tickets]
November 24 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena [Tickets]
November 25 Washington, DC Capitol One Arena [Tickets]
Tool's new album, Fear Inoculum, is out now. Listen to it here.
