Vocals
Birth Name - James H. Keenan
Maynard was born to a Baptist family and grew up with an older sister in Ravenna, Ohio; which is described by one of its residents as a "lower middle class town with no purpose". Maynard attended Brown Jr High and then Ravenna High school through the 10th grade until he moved to Michigan. There he attended Mason County Central High School in Scottville, MI. By the time he entered the army, in 1982, he had lived in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
Maynard was a member of the United States Military Academy ("West Point") prep school class of 1984 (which means he was there from the summer of '83 until May '84). He was member of the cross country and wrestling teams, the glee club, and the "Knight Crier" (the student newspaper?)
Maynard quit the military to study art, which eventually led to a job in LA applying spatial design concepts (called "Feng Shui") to remodeling pet stores. While Maynard was in Michigan, he attened the Kendall College of Art & Design, which is one of the best in that area. His artwork is rumored to be very interesting, symbolic, and bordering on abstract. Maynard was friends with Gillian Anderson while he was at Kendall.
Before Tool, in the 80's, Maynard was in Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty (C.A.D.) that released an independent cassette called 'Fingernails'. He was also in another band called TexAns.
Maynard attended West Point Prep School and United States Military Academy Prep School, hence references to the Honor Code "I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do"; and to the term 'tool.' Tools are seen as sellouts. They follow the regulations to the letter and will turn even their best friends in for the slightest violations.
Maynard was drummer Danny Carey's neighbor in LA.
Maynard's father is a retired high school teacher from Mason County Central Highschool in Scottville, Michigan. They get along fine and Maynard visits home every year.
Other Points of Interest
Birthday April 17th, 1964
Facts - Maynard was a Kiss maniac when he was about twelve The first concert that Maynard remembers was Rick Springfield. Maynard was voted by his senior class as most "artistic." Maynard has a son named Devo who is about two years old Maynard is into Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (Brazillian Jujitsu, he studied under Rickson Gracie).
Guitar
Birth Name - Adam Thomas Jones
Adam Jones is the creative mind behind the amazing guitar riffs and the intense videos of Tool. Adam seems more comfortable as an artist than as a musician, but he does a great job for a non-guitarist.
Adam is originally from Illinois, and played violin in elementary school. He was accepted into the Suzuki program, and continued to play violin through his freshman year in high school. He then played a stand up bass for three years in an orchestra.
In addition to playing in an orchestra, Adam played bass in a band called Electric Sheep with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine in high school (Libertyville), and while he never received traditional guitar lessons, they learned from each other. Adam also studied film, and received a scholarship to go to film school.
Adam began by learning "straight make-up," because he thought it would help him out. He then began work as a sculptor and special effects designer where he learned the stop-motion camera techniques he would later apply in Tool's videos Sober, Prison Sex, and Stinkfist.
Adam went to school at the Hollywood Makeup Academy. After he graduated, he went to work at Rick Lazzarini's "The Character Shop." He was there for quite a while, 1-2 years, and worked on a TV show called "Monsters." He designed and fabricated a Grim Reaper makeup and a Zombie head on a spike (later used in Ghostbusters 2.) Adam worked on several commercials, and was one of the designers. He worked on a salad dressing commercial (it was never aired), Olympic stain (Albert Einstein makeups), Duracell (Boxers and Taxi cabs), Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5 (He did the Fredy Kreuger in the womb makeup), and Ghostbusters 2. At the time that Adam had a pet chameleon and a Great Dane. After that, Adam went to Stan Winston's. There he worked on Predator 2, where he sculpted a unique looking skull for the Predator 2 space ship interior.
Adam is a great drawer, and is brilliant at charicatures. He was a big Devo fan (the music group). He used to really be into skateboarding and had an empty pool in front of the house he rented.
Adam worked on several other big films in Hollywood doing makeup and set design, including Jurassic Park and Terminator 2. He also helped Green Jello with their costumes, and actively sculpts and paints.
Other Points of Interest
Birthday January 15th 1965
Facts - Adam has three dogs, two cats, and two pigs - one is on the back of undertow Equipment - Adam uses Silverburst 1978 Gibson Les Paul Customs, 3 Different Stacks (A vintage Marshall head: a non-master volume bass amp from 1976, a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier, a Diezel VH-4 head amp), Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck bridge position humbuckers, Delay and EQ effects pedals, supposedly an Epilady and a harmonizer on the beginning of 'Third Eye,' and a whole lot more. Email me if you know for sure what else or more specifically he uses.
Drums/Percussion
Birth Name - Daniel Edwin Carey
Danny Carey grew up in a very typical, middle-class American house in Paola, Kansas. His father was a manager for a large insurance company and his mother was a school teacher. Danny has one older brother and one younger brother. Danny's earliest musical memory was when his father took him into the music library at the University of Kansas and played The Planets by Gustov Holst. Danny started taking lessons when he was ten or eleven, just on the snare drum in school band, and then again when he got his first kit at thirteen. Danny received a scholarship in High School to go to the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City.
Danny studied music for over three years at the University of Missouri. He had a couple of offers to play basketball at small colleges, but knew he wasn't good enough to play major college basketball or to go pro. Danny spent years working on his rudiments and doing drum corps. He always loved Billy Cobham and Buddy Rich because no matter how fast they played, you could hear every note. When he was in college he got a lot of classical training, doing recitals for three and a half years. He could have earned a degree if he stuck it out a while longer, but just wanted to play the drum set a little more, so he bailed on school when an opportunity came to go on the road with a band.
In 1986, Danny moved to Los Angeles , and spent four years there before anything really happened. However, at that time he was heavily into electronic drums. He was playing an electronic kit with real cymbals, and played the clubs. Then he got more into real drums, and attributes that to finally finding a quality set that sounded good. Danny also worked as a session player for Green Jello, Pygmy Love Circus, and Carole King. Danny's day job in LA was working in a tape duplication house. Then he met Adam Jones through Tom Morello of Rage (Against The Machine). Danny was also living beside Maynard. He never auditioned for them (Keenan and Jones). He felt sorry for them, because they would invite people over to play, and they wouldn't show up, so he would fill in.
Danny still loves playing jazz when he gets the chance. He is also working on a side project called ZAUM, which deals more in an electronic medium. Danny has also been involved in other side projects, including a TV sitcom called "Sibs" (that gave him the opportunity to play stuff from James Brown and Sly and Family Stone material).
Other Points of Interest
Birthday May 10th 1961
Facts - Danny Carey is 6'5" Danny's first concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd Danny is in another band called Zaum
Equipment - Drumset: Sonor Designer Series 8x14 bronze snare 14x14 floor tom 18x16 floor tom 18x24 bass drum 18x22 bass drum 8x8 tom 10x10 tom 14" RotoTom Electronics: Simmons SDX pads Hardware: Sonor Heads: Remo Emperor + Ambassador Pedals: Axis Cymbals: 14" Paiste Dry Crisp hi-hats 22" Novo China 12" S.F. Flanger Bell 13" Sound Formula Mega Cup Chime 8" Paiste splash 18" Sound Formula Thin crash 18" Paiste Full crash 22" Paiste Dry Heavy ride 20 & 22" Paiste Thin China 20" Paiste Power crash 6" + 8" Signature Splash 14" Signature Sound Edge Hi Hat 18" Signature Mellow Crash, Power Crash 20" Signature Full Crash, Thin China 5" Bell Chime on top of an 8" 3000 Bell Sticks: Trueline.
Bass Guitar, 91-95
Birth Name - Paul M. D'Amour
Paul D'Amour is originally from Spokane, Washington, and is actually a guitar player at heart.
Paul was brought into Tool by Adam Jones. Paul actually came to L.A. because of the film industry. He hadn't played music for a while and was thinking about giving it up. He was angry all the time, and Tool's music suited him perfectly.
Paul plays guitar in Kings of Oblivion (now known as the Replicants), a cover band that included members of Failure- they do songs by everyone from Missing Persons to T-Rex, and have a disc out on Zoo.
Paul left Tool because of a shift in his musical taste away from heavy, powerful riffs, and he wanted to do something more experimental.
Other Points of Interest
Birthday June 8th, 1968
Facts - Paul has his own band now called Lusk
Equipment - When Paul was in Tool, he used Ernie Ball MusicMan and Rickenbacker 4000 series basses, as well as Mesa/Boogie cabinets.
Bass Guitar, 95-
Birth Name - Justin Gunnar Walte Chancellor
Justin first met Tool in New York, and kept in touch with band members for a couple of years until Justin's band in England "Peach", did a tour with Tool in Europe in 1994. When original bassist Paul D'Amour left to play guitar in Lusk, Tool gave Justin a call. At first Justin turned them down. Peach had broken up about six months before, and he was forming a new band with the guitarist. Justin felt very loyal to his friend who he'd played with since he was 14. But then decided he couldn't deny himself the opportunity. Justin flew to the US, auditioned, and got the job. He beat out some stiff competition, which included Filter's Frank Cavanagh, KYUSS's Scott Reeder, Zaum's Marko Fox (who did the voice on Die Eier von Satan), and Pigmy Love Circus's E. Shepherd Stevenson.
Justin adds a different sound to Tool because he is a heavy bass player and added a lower end to the overall sound of the band.
Other Points of Interest
birthday November 19th 1971
facts - Justin was married January of 1997 Justin used to sing in 'Dinner Time Fido' - the band's name coming from a line in a Blackadder song.
Equipment - Justin uses an Ernie Ball MusicMan but prefers Wal basses (after being loaned one from Failure's Greg Edwards for recording Aenima), cabinets by Mesa Boogie, pre-amp by Demeter, and effects by Boss & Digitech (Whammy Pedal).
