"Tool still exists- we're still writing. The Tool process takes a while. In between Undertow and Ænima there was a three-year gap in which I could have done this record. And if I knew there would be this much time between Ænima and our next album, I would have started working on APC much sooner. But we need this time to write. We want the next Tool record to be something that's relevant for a long time - like Metallica's Black Album. That took seven years to complete, and it's incredible .... besides, if I wasn't doing A Perfect Circle, you still wouldn't have a new Tool record any faster. So it's not my fault."

[6/16/00] - Work and network problems kept this from being posted sooner: Q-101 FM and many people nationwide report that last week Maynard in an interview said "At this point, not to be insulting but ... I think Tool will become the side project." Whether this is due to his A Perfect Circle schedule or the other members of Tool, or if he is in fact correct, remains to be seen. Word on the street is that Tool is no longer with their management (Larrikin Mgmt). Though not fully confirmed, this may be a sign of other Toolish news to come. Thanks to Joe Mulligan (no_four_degrees@hotmail.com) for finding this on Sonicnet this week: "The only full-length album from British rock band Peach, the former band of Tool bassist Justin Chancellor, will be released in September by Washington, D.C.'s Vile Beat Records. "Giving Birth to a Stone" was released in the UK in 1997 but never released in the US." Tool have covered two Peach songs live in the past few years ("Spasm" and "You Lied").

[6/9/00] - Completely self-indulgent news today: prominent Tool netizen Tyrone Thompson and myself were at the APC / NIN show in Anaheim Tuesday night. The NIN site has video clips up of fan interviews from most shows on that tour. The last fan clip from that show is yours truly.

[6/2/00] - Just to clarify the story of Maynard saying Tool's album would be out in March: nobody seems to be able to agree if he did or didn't say so at the show. Amazing how literally half of the email about this subject is "yes he did" and half is to the contrary. Either way, a Tool release isn't coming for a while.

[5/31/00] - Last Wednesday, the day after A Perfect Circle's album came out, this site had over 10,000 visitors in one day for the first time. Thanks to everyone for your support! A bunch of people sent in this tidbit from Sunday's APC show in Kansas City, culled from reviews posted to aperfectcircle.org. "(Maynard) said that there was a 'very special guest' with them tonight from 'Paola, KS,' at which point it was very obvious that he was talking about Danny (who is from Kansas). Danny never came out ... Maynard also made the joke that if we wanted to know when the next Tool album would be out we'd have to shout at Danny and ask him. 'When will the new Tool album be out, Danny?' was the reply in unison from the crowd." Some reviews go on to say Maynard's response was "next March." Actually, our longtime friend Tim Cederman-Haysom (tim@cederman.com) points out that if you read Maynard's online chat from June 1997 (available in the Articles section), the singer said way back then that the album would be out in "2001." For further information on APC, check out the site listed below as well as the official site at www.aperfectcircle.com, heartily recommended by our favorite ubiquitous lead singer (no not Phil Collins).

[5/28/00] - As the APC / NIN tour rolls on, announcements are surfacing that APC will continue touring (with festivals / on their own) later into the year. How this will affect Tool's release remains to be seen. For all the latest news on Maynard's other band, including lyrics and all that other stuff you expect from a website, check out www.aperfectcircle.org.

[5/23/00] - A Perfect Circle, Maynard's other band, released "Mer De Noms", their debut album today. A whole lot of you sent in information about the coded words on the album covers, and though none of them are posted to this site (I mean, it still isn't an APC site), the submissions are appreciated. (And it reminded me how much mail I will get the day Tool's next album finally comes out). But yes, thanks. Also on the subject of the swarming t.d.n fans, t.d.n Vice President Shane Brouse's band Shunt is finally making it big, opening for Melvins on May 29 in Toronto at The Government. Go support them.

[5/20/00] - As some of you already know, there will be a chat with Maynard and Billy Howerdel from A Perfect Circle tomorrow at 5pm ET / 2pm PT, at the Virgin Records site. The official word is that "Maynard and Billy will be taking questions from fans about the new record, touring with Nine Inch Nails, the upcoming Tool album and more." Thanks to Monkey Fetus (monkeyfetus@hotmail.com) for the late-breaking news that "around 6 to 6:30 tonight ET, Maynard and Trent Reznor will have a interview live from the Atlanta Lakewood Amphitheater before the APC/NIN show on 99x-FM." Their website, 99x.com, seems to archive interviews, so if they don't have a live feed, check back later, they may have it posted.

[5/14/00] - Thanks to Jeff Natland (esatru@usa.net), original host of the MP3's years ago, for pointing out the announcement on the Official Site that David Bottrill is lined up to produce the next Tool album, due to start recording late this year. Finally, some kind of good Tool news.

[5/12/00] - The FAQ has been slightly updated, mostly to reflect happenings in the last two months.

[5/9/00] - For the first time, the Official Tool Newsletter has come out two months in a row! Check out the May issue; all older ones are posted to the Community section.

[5/7/00] - Some non-Tool news that will likely affect most of you: A Perfect Circle will be on with Conan O'Brien next Tuesday night, May 16. Maynard goes late night.

[5/4/00] - May the Fourth be with you! MP3's are floating around of the new Deftones' album, including the song "Passenger" which features Maynard on vocals. While studio MP3's are not posted to this site, you can probably find it somewhere if you look hard enough. As those of you who follow APC likely know, there is a 4-song sampler available for download from their "street teams" page. (You will need their free Liquid Audio player; you can get it from their site.) A chat with that band is scheduled for Sunday, May 21, and a live webcast of their Houston show is planned for the following night. Support the band, make the label realize you care (and that your support didn't stop once you got the whole album off the Net for free). The sampler is also available via the link to Virgin Records on the front of this site; that will also lead you to the new video for "Judith". The Biography section is online again - a server move had caused the link to die temporarily. And no, Maynard isn't 69 years old. Sarcasm, folks. He's really only 51.

[5/3/00] - While all has been busy with Maynard's other band, A Perfect Circle, not too much has been happening in Tool land. Though this site is now officially two weeks late saying Happy Birthday to Maynard (April 17th for those of you keeping track). This year he turned 69. It appears that most automated functions of this site, posting, etc., have been disabled for a few days, but the problem has been fixed. Oddly, I got no bug reports about it. Hmm.

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"Your pal" Kabir Akhtar (kabir@down.net)

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