Puscifer mainman Maynard James Keenan says the band have fought an uphill battle to get noticed because of the decline of the music industry.
He reports there’s no formula to achieving recognition these days – and it’s forced the group to rely on their own initiative.
The Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman tells Metal Hammer: “From the time we started recording our first album until we released it, the industry disappeared.
“So Puscifer, as an independent band, we’ve fought an uphill battle to develop an identity. Because there’s no longer that machine to plop us in front of you to say ‘this is a thing.’
“You don’t see it because there’s no longer that beaten-path formula. We’re not in Billboard, so we don’t exist. We don’t exist to most people because we don’t appear in those boring, archaic spaces.”
He comparers the situation to that of his wine company Caduceus Cellars, who’ve been a success without outside help.
Keenan continues: “People are looking in Whole Foods or on some wine searcher thing online and they can’t find them – but I’m selling 8000 cases of wine a year.
“But because people are looking in the wrong places, they don’t know where to find it. Well, it’s because we’re independent. I could sell it directly to you.”
Puscifer will release third album Money Shot on October 30 and will tour the US next month. Tool will appear at the Monster Mash festival in Tempe, Arizona on October 31 and are continuing work on the follow-up to 2006’s 10,000 Days.
The full interview with Keenan appears in the latest edition of Metal Hammer, also featuring Slayer, Slipknot, Clutch, Marilyn Manson and more, out now in print, digital and via TeamRock+.
