Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan recently spoke with 101 WRIF about performing live and whether or not he still experiences stage fright this far into his career. Keenan talked about the nerves he combats on a nightly basis.
“That’s terrifying,” he said of stage fright. “Every night is terrifying. You don’t know how it’s going to go, and so it’s a challenge. But that’s what live music is, right? That’s why you’re going to see it. We’re literally alive right now, we might not be alive tomorrow, so that’s why I would encourage you to come to the show, because you don’t know what you’re getting tomorrow. We’re alive today, come see us today while we’re alive.”
Keenan added that “you’re literally having to pay attention to every second, so that you don’t f*ck it up,” and that performing is “equal parts fear and excitement.”
He continued: “I don’t want to call it my job, because that sounds cold, like I don’t want to be here. But I do want to be here. ‘Job’ is not the word…’responsibility.’ If I’m going to take on this task and I’m going to write these things, then it’s kind of part of the package that you’re going to, in some way, share them with someone, and I would think that the goal is to do them accurately.”
Check out Keenan’s full interview below.
