Every once in while we get to hear an opinion of specific singer on individuality of another. Most of the time these are personal love or hate comments. However, frontmen rarely getting asked about what they think of vocalists in general. In this article three well-known non-rock’n’roll cliché lifestyle vocalists talk about people of their profession.
Maynard James Keenan
Despite having a lot of impatient yet loyal fanbase, MJK has always been a sarcastic, cynical and honest person. In spite of having three successful bands (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) he is also well-known for his passion to a viticulture. In documentary about his journey in the world of winemaking “Blood Into Wine” he shared his thoughts on the music industry. He explained the vicious career circle of regular famous musicians and singers in particular.
“The problem with the music industry in general is that artists get into it because they have a desire to be desired and they have desire to scream their heads off for whatever issue happened to them in the past… They weren’t armed with proper tools to move through any trauma… What they do is scream their heads off. And at some point they get popular. Now they are part of the industry that is rum by people who are uneducated, emotional people. In the way it’s kinda dead-end in this society we expect those artists to continue screaming to the end of their days . If you don’t eventually feel better, I’m not sure how effective your screaming was and how your screaming will help somebody else… I didn’t necessary want to scream my whole life. If the songs don’t help me, how are they gonna help you?”
Mike Patton
Audience knows Patton as a lively, strange, diverse, 6-octave voice multi genre musician with numerous side-projects behind his back. Mike Patton always had attitude to collaborate with different musicians. That being said, his desire and experience of working with musicians makes him a credible source of information.
The interview was recorded around 1992-1993, after Faith No More’s “Angel Dust” release. By that time FNM toured with such acts as ZZ Top, Billy Idol, White Snake, Guns’n’Roses, Metallica, Beastie Boys and many others. Mike states the following
“I think singers and guitar players are the fucking stupidest most overrated piece of the band. Singers are horrible. They just want to pat themselves on the back and be heard. Maybe a lot of singers have been ignored as children or something… but the same goes for guitar players!”
Henry Rollins
In the light of events after death of Kurt Cobain, iconic punk-rock vocalist Henry Rollins was interviewed about the suicide of legendary Nirvana frontman. In his commentary Rollins spoke about realities successful musicians have to face in their career. Because of the tragedy of grunge musician, unlike vocalists mentioned previously, Henry talks about the subject in almost empathetic way.
“I think maybe in the situation where all these people want a peace of you where you’re being pursued by tabloid newspapers… To be in these weird situations might drive one to extremes… When that around you so excessive: the money, the attention, the hype, the hysteria… perhaps something in your own life might rise to that occasion and that might get out of your control. Also a lot of people they’re brilliant. They are very sensitive and perhaps they’re not ready for the brutality of the mass acceptance.”
About the Author:
Zack Hargrove is a professional editor. Most of his topics are dedicated to music, rock scene and unusual ways of strengthening your scientific curiosity. He is also willing to assist anyone with coding help. You can always find him on Twitter @zackhargrovejr.
Four years and six days to the date since last descending upon Nashville, genre transcending and now three time Best Metal Performance Grammy winning band Tool returned to Music City to fascinate their ever loyal fan base and captivate the uninitiated. Along for the ride and opening was Author & Punisher, who, as with most Tool tours, was an eccentric choice that most Tool fans wouldn’t necessarily encounter when shuffling ‘Tool Radio’ on their streaming service of choice.
