Justin Chancellor Discusses Future of Tool’s Next Album

As he continues to celebrate the release of MTVoid‘s latest album, Matter’s Knot, Pt. 1, Justin Chancellor joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday night to discuss everything happening with the project as well as share the latest updates on the future of new Tool music.

“I feel great,” he told host Chuck Armstrong. “I feel great, I’m a little tired, a little rough around the edges, but all in all, I feel great. It’s really nice to actually let [Matter’s Knot, Pt. 1] out into the world.”

Chancellor explained to Chuck that he and his MTVoid partner-in-crime, Peter Mohamed, took their time to make sure the release was, as he put it, “really beautiful.”

“It’s a treat to have it coming out right now while I’m in the middle of this [Tool tour] — it’s just a little extra sparkle in my life. It’s nice whenever you do a record, it’s always great when you release it to the world.”

The Future of Tool’s Next Album

MTVoid’s first album, Nothing’s Matter, came out in 2013, and Chancellor was quick to joke that he is very comfortable talking about long breaks in between records. Even so, his perspective on the future of Tool’s next album seems to be optimistic and maybe even a little aggressive.

As Chancellor considers Tool’s tour next year, he said that once they wrap up their Europe shows, the band will be ready to start working on new music.

“At that point, we’re looking at a bit of a break, but we’re also looking at a long stretch at home when we’re going to be ready to start meeting up again,” he said. “But, we’ve already started. We’ve got a few things on the table. It really starts with sharing the ideas with each other, going through what we call a listening party and just sitting at the loft where we write and just kind of re-familiarize ourselves with what’s available to us that we’ve already come up with.”

The longtime Tool bassist admitted that he and his bandmates are always sharing new stuff with each other; it’s nice to actually take those ideas and sit down to see what connects.

“We never throw anything away and we have plenty of material, it’s just going through that process and then starting to nail down some songs,” Chancellor said.

“We’re all getting older, so we’re determined to get this one cooking a bit quicker this time. That’s my pledge.”

During a recent soundcheck, the band worked on something new for about 30 minutes.

“Danny [Carey]‘s been working on this beat everyday. It’s amazing, but I hadn’t really played with it, but we had a good half-an-hour and I just really sort of got it. Of course, there’s like three different things going on top of each other, but yeah, it is very exciting. It was like everyone just kind of stopped and we were just working on this thing. Some days you get that vibe and it’s very creative, you know?”

Bringing Justin Chancellor’s First Band, Peach, Into Tool’s World

Chancellor was in the band Peach before he joined Tool in 1995 and he was very open on Loudwire Nights about how much of a fan he was of Tool prior to becoming their bassist.

“I was so into them, I mean, I was the biggest fan of Tool,” Chancellor said with a smile on his face. “We were friends with them, too.”

READ MORE: Maynard James Keenan Discusses Puscifer, Wine + Tool

Because of his personal love of the band, it was particularly weird for Chancellor when Tool decided to cover Peach’s “You Lied,” which ended up being part of the box set, Salival.

“I didn’t want to do it but the other guys, I think Adam [Jones] was like, ‘Come on, let’s do it.’ I honestly can’t believe they wanted to do it, but as soon as I started hearing Maynard [James Keenan] and his interpretation of the vocals, I was like, ‘Wow. This is going to be quite a different take on it’ … I got over it pretty quickly once we started doing it, but they had to twist my arm.”

What Else Did Tool’s Justin Chancellor Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why he considers MTVoid’s music to be reactive: “That’s the fun part of the process, to be surprised by what the other person sends you.”
• What it was about “Lateralus” that immediately clicked with him
• What it was like having The Melvins‘ Buzz Osborne sing Peach’s “You Lied” with Tool

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Justin Chancellor joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, Nov. 16; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand. Stream MTVoid’s Matter’s Knot, Pt. 1 at this location and check out Tool’s full tour schedule.