Tool's Rhythm Section Locks in at Berklee

When Justin Chancellor was writing the bass riff for the Tool song Forty-Six and Two, from the iconic album, nema, he wasn't even a member of the band. He'd recently auditioned as Tools new bassist, and while he took the audition extremely seriously, he didn't think he'd get a callback. Up until that point, he had been in another band in his then-hometown of London, but when they learned he took the Tool audition, they booted him. His response? He went back to his flat and wrote music.

I was just barreling on forward and not thinking about any kind of success, he said during a recent visit to campus, speaking on a panel with Tool bandmate and drummer Danny Carey. Steve Bailey, chair of the Bass Department, moderated the panel, which also featured bass faculty member Dave Marvuglio and visiting artist Lee Sklar, whose 2,000-plus album credits make him one of the most recorded bassists in history. Chancellor and Carey also performed rhythm section-only versions of some of Tools biggest songs, including nema and Fear Inoculum.

[Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan] used to scream at people outside the window. And I thought, Wow, that guy's got an amazing voice.'

-Danny Carey, drummer for Tool

According to Carey, there were plenty of other excellent bassists who'd showed up to the audition to replace founding Tool bassist Paul D'Amour, all of whom knew the tunes. When Bailey asked him what helped Justin make the cut, Carey mentioned Chancellor's prolific creativity. The final criteria was, Let's just jam,' he said. Justin had these great, creative ideas coming out. That's what set him apart Justin's easy to lock in with.

What It Means to Be Prepared Bailey made a point to impress upon the packed room of bass students the seemingly obvious lesson of being prepared for auditions. And you can go, Well, everyone knows that,' he said. But there are different levels of preparedness. And Sklar, with his near-50 years of recorded output working with everyone from James Taylor to Diana Ross, agreed that there's more to getting the gig than knowing the tunes. You live together on the road, so you really gotta find people that you can be with for months on end in a bus with them.

A Metal Cinderella Story Carey's origins in the band were fairly different from Chancellor's, and the way he tells it, it can sound a bit like a rock n' roll fantasy. He'd studied music formally through college in his home state of Kansas, And then I moved to L.A. and all my dreams came true, he quipped. He was gigging regularly throughout the club scene, but things changed when he met Maynard James Keenan, a vocalist trying to get a band going and who lived in the same building as Carey. He used to scream at people outside the window. And I thought, Wow, that guy's got an amazing voice.' Carey ended up sitting in on a practice when Keenan's drummer didn't show, things clicked, and they began rehearsing daily. We played six gigs [after that], and then we got signed, he said.

Now approaching three decades as a group, Tool have become one of the most successful rock bands of all time, with three Grammys and five albums to their name. Their latest release, Fear Inoculum, came in August 2019, 13 years after the previous record, and promptly unseated Taylor Swift's Lover to nab the no. 1 spot-a near impossible feat for a rock record in general, let alone one going up against a millennial pop titan like Swift.

But long before all this, back when Chancellor was in that moment of limbo writing bass riffs in his flat, kicked out of one band and not expecting to get the callback from Tool, perhaps the reason didn't fret about success is because he'd already peaked when he was a teenager, in a school rock band that used to cover rock hits including Bon Jovi and Survivor. I actually played Eye of the Tiger' for Princess Anne once at a charity event, he added with a laugh. And I knew I'd made it.

Related categories:

News

Related Reading

MJ Rodriguez Finds Roles That Reflect Her True Identity The Pose star and Berklee alumna talks about her journey as an actress and a trans woman.

Harry Gregson-Williams on Making and Remaking the Shrek Theme The A-list film composer went in-depth on his creative process, scoring tips, and mistakes during a campus visit earlier this week.

Dont Ask Ron Carter to Play a Root Note The legendary jazz bassist regaled a packed recital hall with stories about playing with Miles Davis and tips about his signature bass style.

More from Berklee Now

Most Popular

Four Berklee Guitarists Vie for Preeminent Jazz Prize Cecil Alexander, Fran ois Chanvallon, Lucian Gray, and Matt Sewell will compete at the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Competition in December.

Latest

Berklee Global Jazz Institute Celebrates 10th Anniversary, 100 Years of Charlie Parker The Danilo P rez-led program will premiere a new Charlie Parker suite at Bird Goes Global on December 13 at the Berklee Performance Center.

Berklee and the Institute for Sound and Music Launch MASS MoCA Workshop The cultural collaboration is a part of the Wunderbar Together initiative.

Toki Wright Named Chair of Berklees Professional Music Department Wright, an acclaimed MC, producer, writer, radio host, arts diplomat, and community organizer, had served as the department's assistant chair since last summer.

Read All

Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.

Berklee Blogs

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Snapchat

Soundcloud

Spotify

LINK:	https://www.berklee.edu/news/berklee-now/tools-rhythm-section-goes-dee...
	See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines