Tool‘s bassist Justin Chancellor on writing new songs for the band. Justin Chancellor shared Tool‘s approach to composing new music. He also added that one of the biggest problems is not to over-expand the ideas each band member brings. In the latest interview, Justin Chancellor explains how they write new Tool music. 

Justin Chancellor, a former member of the band Peach, joined the band in 1995, replacing the band’s original bassist Paul D’Amour. As a result, Chancellor included it on the band’s second studio album, Ænima, in 1996.

Aside from Tool, Justin Chancellor has appeared on Isis’s songs Altered Course and Weight and the title track from Intronaut’s album Valley of Smoke. Chancellor also narrated Primus‘ song The Valley and contributed bass on Disappointed off Death Grips’ album Year of the Snitch.

Tool band is not famous for recording new music constantly. But at the end of the day, Tool members create and write from scratch for each musician’s instrument and vocals.

During a recent interview with Dean Delray on Let There Be Talk podcast episode 71, Chancellor explains how Tool is writing new songs and albums:

“After those early years when we were a new band, it’s a little easier, stuff comes a little more naturally, when you’re writing music. And obviously, it’s gotten famously labored, our creative process.

“Adam Jones has bunch of ideas, we keep it very simple. We try not to over-develop our own ideas, when we bring them in for Tool, so that we can present them as a building block, and then bounce it off each other. And then, we just learn each other’s stuff, and start playing around with it.

Some days, at the beginning of the process, we’ll play for hours on one riff, and it’s really enjoyable, and then it can get to a point where it’s really enjoyable, like a week. We do record everything while we’re doing this. Being that we all live in LA, there’s a lot of traffic driving home, so we would make CDs every day, sit in the car and carry on working basically. I’d listen to it all the way home. That way you’re absorbing everything, listening to what you did from a different perspective from when you’re actually performing it.

And then come in the next day with some ideas that stood out. But yeah, you can find stuff from bouncing around like that, but often there’s a lot of worth in the pure, original idea.”

They experimented immediately by fusing their various approaches, producing the first MTVoid album, “Nothing’s Matter,” after quickly becoming friends and Peter’s following journey to California. The CD showcases Peter’s gruff voice in his native Polish before gradually changing to Justin’s English lilt.

With the help of various guests, Justin’s bass playing, other instruments, and Peter’s rhythms and noise scapes. 

With vocalist Peter Mohamed, Justin Chancellor’s project MTVoid has resurfaced after a nine-year absence, with a new album named “Matter’s Knot” set for release on November 10th, 2023, via Lobal Orning Records. 

Here are some guest musicians for these albums:

• Brent Hinds (Mastodon)
• David Timnick (Intronaut)
• Andy Morin (Deathgrips)
• Isabel Munoz-Newsome (Pumarosa)
• Aric Improta (Fever 333 & Night Verses)
• Shelee Chancellor
• Bobby Carlson
• Nick Dias
• Debbie Ryder

Listen to “Scanner Void” songs from the “Matter’s Knot” album below!

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