Hey there! Happy Friday!
In the news today from The Pulse Of Radio, Tool is in talks to make the band’s music available for the first time ever on streaming services, according to a report at Bloomberg News. The quartet is one of the last remaining holdouts that has not made any of its catalog accessible for streaming, but private negotiations have reportedly taken place between the band and service providers such as Spotify and Apple Music.
The report suggests Tool wants the arrival of its music on streaming services to coincide with the release of its first album in more than a decade, although there is still no word on when fans can expect to hear the follow-up to 2006’s 10,000 Days. Tool, Spotify and Apple Music all declined Bloomberg’s requests for comment.
An update posted at Tool’s official website last month indicated singer Maynard James Keenan had finally begun working on vocals for some of the group’s new songs. The other three members of the band have been working on new material for the better part of the past year, but this is the first time Keenan has actively joined in. I was also privvy to info MJK was also set to do some vocal recording with A Perfect Circle, who are also based in LA, last month.
Meanwhile, Tool will head out on a late spring/early summer tour beginning May 24th in Fairfax, VA. It will include several festival stops in addition to headlining dates, with cities like Edmonton, Calgary and New York City getting their first Tool concerts in over 10 years. A Perfect Circle will also do some touring starting in April 6 at the Pearl in Las Vegas. That run ends on May 7th in LA at the Hollywood Bowl. Looking forward to catching up with Billy Howerdel and Mr Keenan at the stop at Fort Rock in Ft Myers, FL.
Hmmm, something seems to be “alive”…..
The Pulse Of Radio also reporting this morning former Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen has posted a photo of his drum set on Twitter, fueling speculation that he will perform with the band at next month’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Krusen, who played on the group’s 1991 debut Ten, is one of two Pearl Jam drummers who will be inducted, the other being current drummer Matt Cameron. The three stickmen who played in between them — Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese and Jack Irons — were all invited to attend but will not enter the Hall with the other members.
Krusen left Pearl Jam shortly after the completion of Ten due to his struggle with alcoholism, but he got sober and managed to continue a career that included stints with Candlebox and many other artists. He told us a while back what he learned from his time with Pearl Jam: “I learned to get my act together, as far as personally, you know? And take care of whatever demons I had that were kind of running my life at the time. And just to be, like, grateful that you get another shot at it. To get one shot is amazing, and to, like, get any other shots at it, you know, you should be glad you’re doing it and make the most of it.”
Asked on Pearl Jam Radio’s Faithfull Forum in January if he thought he would perform with the band at the Hall of Fame ceremony, Krusen replied, “I don’t even know if I’ll be playing with them, but if I do, I probably won’t find out until 10 minutes before.”
Krusen was also asked what his current relationship with the group was like, to which he said, “We don’t really have one, just because it’s been 25 or something years. I haven’t even been in the same room as these guys since 1991, and I believe I was hauled off by security guards at that. I’m just really looking forward to it, I think everything’s fine, I love them, hopefully they don’t hate me, and it’s all good.”
The drummer said he was “seriously shocked” to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, adding, “I obviously feel a little like I’m not so deserving, but I appreciate them going out and doing all of this, and me getting to sneak in at the end.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Apr 7th at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Pearl Jam will be inducted alongside Journey, Joan Baez, ELO, Yes and Tupac Shakur.
Whoa! Do NOT piss off Josh! Rolling Stone reporting Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has been sued by an autograph collector who claims Homme assaulted him following an Iggy Pop concert in Detroit last year. According to Rolling Stone, Jason Leckrone, a school teacher who collects autographs as a hobby, filed a lawsuit against Homme on Monday (Mar 20th), alleging that Homme verbally assaulted him and grabbed him “around the shoulder area.”
The confrontation took place outside the Museum of Contemporary Art, where an afterparty was being held following Homme and Pop’s concert in support of their album, Post Pop Depression. Leckrone claims he went to the museum to get Iggy Pop’s autograph but was not successful. When Homme arrived, he began taking pictures with fans but refused to sign autographs, which led Leckrone to make a remark to the guitarist.
Leckone alleges that Homme started to swear at him even as he finished taking pictures, then allegedly got in Leckrone’s face and screamed profanities at him. Homme then went to the party, but allegedly returned a short time later and confronted Leckrone again. The suit says that Homme was “screaming at (Leckrone) and pointing his finger inches from (Leckrone’s) face” and then “intentionally and physically grabbed (Leckrone) around the shoulder area.”
In a partial video of the incident taken by TMZ, Homme can be seen placing an arm over Leckrone’s shoulders after asking the teacher if he’d “come teach at my house for free?” Homme goes on to call Leckrone a “f**king loser.”
Homme has gotten into physical altercations in the past, although he told us a while back he prefers not to: “I don’t claim to be a tough guy or anything. I don’t start fights, but I do, I have finished a couple.” Hey, he’s a redhead! Don’t mess with the gingers! Along with Homme, Leckrone is suing TMZ for posting the footage, as well as the Museum and the foundation that runs it. He is believed to be seeking around $150,000. Frivolous? You be the judge!
Blabbermouth reporting Papa Roach will release their new album, Crooked Teeth, on May 19 via Eleven Seven Music. The disc will include ten songs on the standard release and thirteen on the deluxe version (which also comes with sixteen live tracks).
Frontman Jacoby Shaddix revealed in an interview with Albany, NY radio station Q103 that Crooked Teeth will feature guest appearances by rapper Machine Gun Kelly and American singer and songwriter Skylar Grey. The follow-up to 2015’s “F.E.A.R.” was recorded with Nicholas “Ras” Furlong and Colin “Doc” Brittain at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, CA. The band has already released two songs from the upcoming disc, “Crooked Teeth” and the single, “Help.”
Shaddix described the new disc as “very dynamic,” adding, “It ranges from heavy and in your face with songs like ‘Crooked Teeth’ and then it also is kind of a bit more of a pop sensibility in it… It’s all over the place.” He also revealed the band has done some early work on its next album, saying: “We went back in the studio and started creating some music again for a new, new record. We have such a good creative flow that we’re, like, ‘You know what, man?’ Let’s just jump in the studio.’”
Finally today, our friends, festival promoters Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP), who are behind the rock fest branding platform called “The World’s Loudest Month,” have posted an exclusive video interview with Korn singer Jonathan Davis and guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer in which they explain what drives them. You can watch the clip here. (Dudes! Music’s too loud, too repetitive! Argh!!! Let me reedit that thing!)
Said Munky: “In the beginning of our career, we were driven, and I was driven, just by inspiration. And that inspiration came from a lot of early artists, bands like Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers. A big influence and a band that really created a lot of drive for us was the band Mr. Bungle, who a lot of people still don’t know. But that was in the beginning of the inception of the band Korn, really. And that sort of inspiration from al those bands, like Sepultura and other bands that I mentioned, that really drove us to wanna become something unique like those bands and find something that really connected, ’cause those bands connected with us.”
He continued: “When you talk about KORN, I think even if people have never… if they’ve heard of the band, I don’t think they really get it until they see us live, and I think when they see the crowd and the energy, people… Our fans have been so dedicated for so many years and we’re so grateful for that. There’s no fans like KORN fans. We really appreciate that they have stood behind us for so many years, and we’ve had our ups and downs. When you fall down, you get back up and you dust yourself off and you look forward and you look for that drive inside yourself. And a lot of that drive comes from those moments on stage when you are connecting with the fans and you have that adrenaline and they see it and you’re in the moment and time doesn’t exist. And for us, I think mainly that’s what drives this band KORN.”
Added Jonathan: “The thing that drives me the most is watching the crowd expel their demons and have a good time. I’m going out, I’m going a full hundred and ten percent up there trying to get out and perform and do my thing, and the more the crowd’s feeling it, the more it’s gonna push me along. So I’ve always liked that interaction with the fans and the band. For me up there, it’s just a big old cathartic… I’m having a therapy session up there, basically. I can get out what I need to get out. I never get tired of it. It never gets boring. It’s euphoria, man — it just feels amazing. The lights, the crowd, the heat, feeling the music, all those things come together and make this amazing feeling that’s like no other; there’s no other feeling like that on the planet.”
He went on to say: “Just seeing how much [the fans] are into us and love what we’re doing and we mean something to them that helps them in a positive way, I mean, you can’t ask for any more than that.”
You can see KORN during “The World’s Loudest Month” on May 6 at Carolina Rebellion and on May 20 at Rock On The Range. They will also perform on July 15 at the Chicago Open Air. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!
BTW: the box set:
Celebrating life on Sunday, former Smashing Pumpkins and current A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha turns 49.