Maynard James Keenan walked into Amoeba Hollywood and came out with a masterclass in musical DNA. The Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer frontman sat down for the iconic “What’s In My Bag?” series, pulling records that trace a direct line from his earliest influences to the artist he became. Ahmad Jamal and Joni Mitchell sit alongside Minor Threat and Black Flag, and somehow it all makes complete sense.
The picks span jazz, punk, no wave, hip-hop, and early hardcore. The Ahmad Jamal Trio’s ‘The Awakening’, Joni Mitchell’s 1976 U.S. Tour LP, Swans’ ‘Birthing’, Sonic Youth’s ‘Goo’, DEVO’s ‘New Traditionalists’, The Pretenders’ ‘Extended Play’, N.W.A.’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’, and a Puscifer record round out a selection that is as eclectic and deliberate as Keenan himself. He also grabbed a Pee-Wee Herman coffee mug, because of course he did.
The episode lands as Puscifer’s first new album in over five years, ‘Normal Isn’t,’ is out now via BMG. For anyone curious about what feeds one of rock’s most singular creative minds, this video is essential viewing.