Formed in 1995 (as Umlaut), and filled with a very diverse and revolving group of musicians, Puscifer is a band fronted by veteran hard rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle).
The touring lineup is comprised of Maynard James Keenan (vocals), Carina Round (Guitar, Banjitar, Tambourine) , Mat Mitchell (lead guitar), Jeff Friedl (Drums, Samples), Mahsa Zargaran (Keyboards, Samples, Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Paul Barker (bass).
Labeled by Maynard as a product of his “collective subconscious”, the folks in Puscifer are currently gearing up for Round Two of their Money $hot Tour, bringing their highly stylized and theatric live show across the states for a second time. We recently had an opportunity to speak to the band’s Lead Guitarist, and co-songwriter Mat Mitchell about the tour and his thought’s on the band’s evolution and many other exciting topics. Also, in an AltWire first, we reached out to the band’s fans on Reddit and curated a range of questions to ask Mat during our interview.
Check out what Mat had to say below!
AW: It’s been almost five years since Conditions of my Parole and almost three years since Donkey Punch. Each album seems to take a very measured step forward. Does that come naturally?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: Yeah absolutely I think weโve learned from each record, and each tour and the relationships have kind of developed over time. Itโs a natural progression for sure.
AW: Branching off, do you see “Money Shot” as the progression of the sound that was expressed in “Conditions of My Parole” or something entirely different?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: A progression probably. There are certainly elements that are similar, but it wasnโt intentional. Anything that is similar or different [to Conditions of My Parole] was not intentional or deliberately thought about. It was a natural progression and a very organic step to where we are now.
AW: We’ve seen videos of the band recording in Maynard’s wine cellar. Does this mean that Puscifer writes and records year round?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: Itโs definitely year round but itโs not always there. Sometimes itโs in LA, and sometimes itโs at the wine cellar, but it all depends on whatโs happening in everyoneโs lives. Itโs really nice to work in that environment, just because itโs such a different environment than working in a studio. Being up in the mountains and away from a big city just puts you in a different head space and we find that itโs a real creative environment, and that we get a lot done when weโre out there.
AW: Acoustically, what’s it like to record in the Caduceus Wine Cellar?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: In a studio everything is controlled and out there itโs very wide open. Itโs made for something completely different, so it comes with benefits and drawbacks. The key is just finding where it benefits and taking advantage of it. The drum sounds are amazing because there are a lot of concrete and round wooden barrels so we get a pretty amazing drum sound out there.
AW: When recording, do you approach the programming with a plan already in mind for how to reproduce certain textures live with other instruments: i.e., guitar, bass, synth, etc.?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: I certainly have thought about it but I try not to write or produce thinking too much about how itโs going to be interpreted live. Because I donโt want to not do something just because of that. I donโt want to put those kinds of restrictions. When weโre making a record we just focus on making it as good as we can and exactly what we want it to be, and then we interpret it later when it comes time to do it live. It becomes a fun challenge and an exciting thing to do to listen to it and figure out how weโre going to interpret it and what things weโre going to try to reproduce and what things weโre going to change to make it more fitting for a live show. I certainly think about it on occasion but usually we try to keep it separate.
AW: During the songwriting process, does the music or lyrics come first usually? How long does it normally take from the initial writing to the final cut of recording?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: It varies. Sometimes Iโll present music and Maynard will write to it, and sometimes heโll present lyrics, or a line, or a story and then weโll work together. As far as time it really depends. Weโre kind of always throwing ideas down, but itโs not always with the intention of immediately turning it into a song. Thereโs ideas that may sit for two or three years before they get on the table for any sort of dissection. Then thereโs other songs where Maynard will be like โoh Iโve got a vocal ideaโ or Iโll be like โIโve got a guitar ideaโ and then the song is done in a day. So anything from 2-3 years to 24 hours!
“Iโm really proud of the show weโre doing now, and I really want to play this show in front of as many people as we can. It seems like people are enjoying it and I couldnโt ask for anything more…”
AW: How does having a revolving line-up of various musicians affect recording in the studio and live performances from the band’s perspective?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: I really enjoy it because we can do whatever we want. If thereโs someone thatโs going to bring something to the table thatโs different than what someone earlier brought to the table, thereโs no ego or no feelings that are going to be hurt. We know that itโs all about the bigger picture, so as a producer itโs great. I can call on this person for โthis thingโ and this person for โthat thingโ and the palette of artists becomes way bigger. I think it makes for better songs and for a better fuller โbig pictureโ, and I think itโs just a lot more interesting that way.
AW: How do you come up with the themes for the videos and live shows? Like the current running Luchador wrestler theme. Whoโs the wrestling fan in the band?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: [laughs] Well we all are, and thereโs kind of been a recurring theme from the last record and from the EP where we started introducing a bit of that, so we wanted to expand on it. As far as artwork and videos and things like that, Maynard and I both throw in ideas and we brainstorm on what things might be cool, and what stories we want to tell, and how weโd like the flow to go from act to act and how weโd want the show to progress. We just kind of weed it down and go from there. Again, working with other artists and kind of going back to your last question about the different musicians, itโs the same with different visual artists and people working on the different story ideas and with all the different additional talent we have working on the live shows, we kind of have just left our doors open. Weโve always been open to trying different things and weโve gotten lucky.
AW: What is it like creating a persona to have on stage? How much of yourselves (the band) is coming out?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: I think everyone is pretty much themselves. Thereโs certainly a bit of theatrical elements that we bring to make it a little more interesting than being ourselves, but I think everyoneโs pretty grounded in just doing their thing. Certainly Maynard and Carina have to bring more energy and theatrics because theyโre the frontrunners, so thereโs more of their personality being displayed.
AW: Can we get a rig rundown of your live setup, specifically which pedals you run through your midi controller, and if you select your Fender and Marshall one at a time or run them simultaneously?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: The main amp is the Fender. A lot of people think โFender clean, Marshall dirtyโ and thatโs not how I do it. The Fender is 90% of the sound, itโs a Fender Vibro-King and occasionally if I want something a little more โmidโ focused Iโll switch to the Marshall or blend the two. As far pedals go, I use a tube screamer and an old Boss Fuzz pedal, and just the normal stuff. A lot of Boss pedals, which kind of surprised me. We were working the Conditions record and over the years I had become a bit of a pedal collector like most guitarists. Iโve got all these boutique fuzz pedals, and all these things that I think are going to be amazing but then Iโm finding myself gravitating back towards a lot of the Boss pedals. Some of those things just canโt be beat. Even in my live rig, thereโs a couple of โboutiqueyโ things but the majority of them are Boss pedals. Then I have a Fender Esquire guitar, and a Jerry Jones Bass 6. A lot of people ask what the longhorn black guitar is and itโs Jerry Jones Bass 6. Itโs really good for that โspaghettiโ kind of stuff, the in-between an a bass and guitar octave โnoodlyโ type stuff. Itโs really cool for that.
AW: I hope you don’t mind me doing so, but Iโd like to go back to the Bataclan attacks last year. The band performed a show in New Haven, CT shortly after the ISIS attacks in Paris where your bandmate Matt McJunkins was held hostage. During the show Maynard said that he, “barely made it through the show.” Would you be willing to describe what it was like playing that show and performing those songs? Did the band ever consider cancelling the show?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: I donโt mind talking about it. [At first] there was the initial finding out that there is something going on, and knowing that your friends are in the city, and then actually finding out that there are things going on in the building that they are in. It was a roller coaster, because these are your loved ones and you want them to be safe, so we were all on the edge of our seats and trying to get any information that we could. We were very happy to find out that he was safe and that most of the band and their entourage were fine. So youโre happy, but also youโre shocked and it kind of hits you. I donโt think anyone was considering cancelling the show or anything, just because youโve got to keep moving. You canโt just stop because something bad happened.
During the show there were just certain songs and lyrics, you know, where youโre playing the song and youโre thinking about what your friend went through, or what the people who didnโt make it went through and itโs just an emotional thing. We never considered canceling and it wasnโt something where we went into it thinking about how it was going to affect us. We all just kind of dealt with it how we did, and I think thatโs part of the healing too. Getting through it and having those emotions, you know?
AW: Absolutely, and I just wanted to thank you for being willing to revisit that. I know a few of our readers wanted to know your thoughts on the incident, and your openness to discuss it is appreciated. Going back to your own musicโฆwill Puscifer continue to try and release something on a fairly regular schedule or do you see future projects coming to fruition if only the time is right for everyone?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: It kind of just revolves around whatโs happening at the time, and whatโs going on and whoโs doing what. Weโre constantly being creative and working on things, and itโs usually a year out or a few months out where weโll be like โhey why donโt we put out a record this yearโ, you know, and then weโll take all of those ideas and start finalizing and consolidating and developing things. As far as doing it any more regularly, I donโt know. It just depends on what kind of time we have, and what weโre feeling at that point. We donโt really have a schedule outside of this record, or this tour, and weโre kind of going from there. Maynardโs busy with his wine and he has a couple of bands that he does, so heโs super busy and everyone else has their own things too. It just depends on when everything aligns and when it seems like a good time for everybody.
AW: What’s something you would like to accomplish with puscifer? What do you hope to see in the year ahead?
Mat Mitchell / Puscifer: As far as what Iโd like to accomplish, Iโm very happy with the record we put out. Thatโs an accomplishment that Iโm really proud of and I just want to keep on making good records, and good music. Iโm really proud of the show weโre doing now, and I really want to play this show in front of as many people as we can. It seems like people are enjoying it and I couldnโt ask for anything more. I just want to keep on doing what weโre doing and hopefully people will keep on enjoying it.
