“I guess people just don’t think like we do”: Maynard James Keenan thinks Puscifer are in the “third side-project category” but is happy on the side of the underdog

(Image credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Maynard James Keenan has spoken out on Puscifer being “marginalised” and “relegated” compared to his other, more commercially successful bands, Tool and A Perfect Circle.

In a new interview with Kyle Meredith With…, Keenan laments that Puscifer, who release their new album Normal Isn’t today (February 6), seem to have been sidelined into the “third side-project category”. Of his three bands, they’re the only one to not reach the top 20 in the US album charts and have at least one album go Gold in America.

“Puscifer’s definitely been marginalised and relegated to the third side-project category,” Keenan observes (via ThePRP). “And people just don’t really… I guess people just don’t think like we do.”

However, this hasn’t shaken the singer’s commitment to the band. He continues: “And I’ve always been on the side of the underdog, that’s just kind of how I’m wired. The marginalised underdog is always going to get my vote.”

Puscifer reflect on and even celebrate their apparent ugly duckling status in their recent single Impetuous, which features on the Normal Isn’t record. Keenan explains: “That song kind of leans into, it’s OK to not think like everybody else. It’s OK … You’re an island. Great. If you feel like an island, then lean into it and just work with it. Don’t think of it as a flaw.”

Keenan founded Puscifer in the mid-2000s, initially as a solo project. They released their debut and most commercially successful album, ‘V’ Is For Vagina, in 2007; it reached number 25 in the US. In 2009, Keenan’s collaborators Mat Mitchell and Carina Round became official members.

Normal Isn’t, Puscifer’s fifth album and their first since 2020’s Existential Reckoning, sees the band switch from their past surrealism to more political and introspective themes. Keenan commented in promotional materials: “Normal Isn’t reflects this time we are living in. As storytellers and artists, our job is to observe, interpret, and report. We take in our environment and share what we see, and what we see around us does not appear normal. Not by a long shot.”

The album has received positive reviews from critics, including an eight out of 10 from Metal Hammer. Paul Travers writes in our newest issue: “Loaded with sarcasm, exasperation and what sounds like a genuine pinch of fear, Normal Isn’t is the perfect Puscifer album for the times.”

Puscifer will embark on a North American tour next month, with support from Dave Hill. The first stop will be at The Chelsea in Las Vegas on March 20.

Kyle Meredith with... Maynard James Keenan - YouTube

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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