“You just do.”
Three words from Maynard James Keenan are still echoing in my mind, days after our conversation. Enigmatic. Surgical. Devoid of pretense. The elusive frontman of A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, and of course, Tool, delivered them during a reflection on legacy—the phrase felt less summational and more directional. Waiting for permission achieves nothing. You don’t chase meaning. You just do.
It’s a perfect frame for Sessanta V2.0, the second run of Keenan’s collaborative tour with A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, and Primus. Originally launched to mark his 60th birthday, the tour is a spectacle of musical transubstantiation, defying the linear narrative of a traditional three-act concert. The stage shape-shifts, the musicians rotate roles. The tone is both spiritual and slapstick—a surrealist circus designed to dismantle you from within, offering nothing in return but the experience itself.
We caught up with Keenan on the eve of Sessanta V2.0, not only to talk about the tour but also creative discipline, cultural absurdity, and what it means to stay grounded at a time when the world is spinning through chaos.
Sessanta V2.0 lands in Virginia Beach on May 11th at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater. Get your tickets here.
The Sessanta Tour is a fascinating concept. The musicians rotate between each band, instead of performing a traditional show in three acts. Is there any underlying philosophy that shapes the performance?
Well, first and foremost, it has to do with the individual band members. A collective that can handle this kind of new approach. You’re so used to just doing your own set that I don’t think there are a lot of people we could do this with.
It’s like being a great actor. Some of my favorite actors aren’t scene stealers. They just do whatever serves that scene and that’s what they’re there to do. If you’re of that mind as a musician, just to be part of the experience, then bring what you’ve got. But understand there’s a bigger thing at play. These three bands definitely understand that.
That guided the performance concept?
Absolutely. The collaboration, in some cases, meant we had to do a little choreography—just to make sure we weren’t stepping on each other.
This is also the second run of Sessanta, launching on April 24th. How are you thinking about the tour this time around?
I think it’s going to be fun. We’re going to cities we haven’t been to. There are people who are going to see it, and it’ll change their idea of what a show is supposed to look like. Hopefully, when you see something cool and you have the ability to execute your version of the idea, you’ll see a bunch of bands in the next couple of years doing things like this.
Are audiences responding to the tour concept?
Generally, people who are open to creativity have been fairly positive. There are always negative people in everything—nothing’s ever good enough, and it isn’t what they wanted. I’m doing everything I can, and if it’s not good enough for you, go find someone else who’s doing it better. Please do that—and fuck off.
Have you been finding new listeners on tour, are people getting exposed to bands they might not have got the opportunity to see?
That’s always been the thing, right? Festivals are built around that idea. I’m going to play at a festival where ABBA is, but Metallica is playing somewhere in there too. I might pick up some fans, but it doesn’t always work that way because they’re at another stage waiting for the band they came to see. They’re not in front of you.
But with this [Sessanta], you’re forced to see Primus, even if you might not have ever seen them before. So you get exposed to two other bands you hadn’t really seen play.
You released a tour video for Sessanta V.2, where you emerge from the grave and perform a vaudeville act in the afterlife. It was funny and ironic, but also nuanced and layered. Are moments like this parody, cathartic, or a little combination of both?
I would say both. You know, it’s all in there. Even just trying to coordinate the video was logistically challenging. For example, being buried under the soil—they put the final layer on me and then pulled the straw out of my mouth, but they forgot to change the battery in the camera. So I was basically suffocating under the ground while they were scrambling to get the battery back on. Then I had to be reburied again, so that wasn’t great.
Puscifer, which plays a big role in the Sessanta Tour, has always lived at the intersection of absurdism and introspection. Do you think that’s become even more relevant now, in a moment that feels both absurd and deeply introspective?
That was kind of the point. There are quite a few pieces that were predictive in a way, and then you follow that up with existential reckoning. Quite a few of those songs were “freshly” in a way—not a psychic ability, per se—just paying attention to what’s happening around you. Seeing where that can start, where that can go again—what you witnessed—and having a wide variety of interests. So you have a frame of reference in multiple directions.
I think the way we’ve suffered in the past couple of years is that people just want immediate gratification. They want their black belt in a particular martial art before they’ve earned their initial belts. They want to skip all the steps, and by doing that, you rob yourself of an absolute understanding of the world around you—and what your place is in it.
The first run of the tour was to celebrate your 60th birthday. Now that you’re 60-ish, do you think about your legacy and everything you’ve created?
I think legacy, in a way, is hindsight. You just do. You try to make sure that you are—but sometimes you lose track of that. I think you just have to do what’s right for each situation as it approaches you. When you’re recording a record. When you’re playing a show. When you’re making wine. You can’t go on autopilot, right? It comes from consistency and hitting the mark.
So when you look back in hindsight, what’s felt most transformative to you? You’ve had such a profound impact across both the mainstream and the counterculture.
It’s surrounding yourself with intelligent people who aren’t just yes men. Having a solid family and friend base. They’re not just paid friends, if that makes sense. I think it’s having somebody who can give you an honest opinion, which is invaluable—somebody who doesn’t risk losing their job by saying it out loud.
Are you finding those people are in abundance these days?
They’ve always been around. That’s the point. Staying grounded isn’t easy when you have extravagant things being thrown at you all the time. So having friends around who aren’t living in that crazy, perverted reality is important.
Are you drawing creative energy from what you’re seeing in the world today? Is the madness fueling your work or has that chaos just become part of the atmosphere?
You bounce back and forth, right? I’m sure you wake up going—I have to do my best to help make things better for everyone. And then at some point, you go: This guy doesn’t give a shit. Why am I making an effort for this person who refuses to educate themselves or just refuses to do the work, and then they want me to help them? Parts of you just say, “Fuck them.”
But then you snap back, since we’re all in this together in some way. I’ve got to share what I can share, and if you hear it—great. If you don’t hear it—I can’t let it drag me down, because I’m doing my part as best I can with whatever effort makes sense, right? I’m not going to set myself on fire. That doesn’t get anything done.
You’re a passionate winemaker. Are there any upcoming releases we should look out for?
Every couple of months. We do quarterly and biannual releases and iterations. I mean, everything is a liquid love letter right? It’s a time and a place and a bottle.
Before you go, are there any recommendations you can leave our readers. Any art, music, films, you’re following? What’s good in your world right now.
You know, just dusting off some music that I used to listen to before and then go see them play. I saw Blonde Redhead in Phoenix recently. It was great to see that.
There’s just so many upcoming artists that you’ll never hear of because they’re just basically online. They have a following that’s literally digital. But there’s also the pursuit of everything else—making coffee and wine. I’m inspired from multiple directions with multiple metaphors.
Thanks for your time, Maynard. I’ll see you out there in Virginia Beach.
Awesome. Thank you.
Main photo: Maynard James Keenan by Travis Shinn
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