The lawsuit that Tool have been dealing with for nearly a decade has come to a close and in their favor – here are some details surrounding the lawsuit courtesy of The PRP. Guitarist Adam Jones was recently interviewed by Yahoo where he provided a synopsis of the legal drama and some insight into what’s next for the band:
“When you try to be ethical and sleep well at night and try to do the right thing, and people around you are not doing the right thing and trying to take advantage of you, it really affects your creativity and your sleep and your relationships with people and everything you do. We would have had an album out a long time ago, we would have been taking more tours. But we’ve been discouraged and distracted by this major lawsuit, which is the worst thing that’s ever happened to us. It reminds me of one of those ads you see on TV where a guy goes, ‘Have you been in a car wreck? Call us!’”
An additional toll was taken on the band as a result of a lawsuit on behalf of their insurance company that was supposed to handle the claims dealing with the initial lawsuit by artist Cam De Leon over licensing of artwork. The guitarist states:
“It got really ugly and shameful. This is a real simplification of the matter — but imagine paying auto insurance, getting into a wreck, and expecting the insurance company to cover you. And they come back to you and say, ‘Well, you drive an SUV and we don’t consider that an auto so we’re not going to cover you.’ And then they turn around and sue you because you want them to cover you. It’s crazy.”
Jones also mentioned health issues that one of the other members was suffering as a contributing factor to the delay in the band’s progress on their new album:
“I’d rather let the person who dealt with the illness talk about it out of respect. But one thing was a really scary do-or-die, serious illness and that was really scary. When you’re trying to write music and you have that eating away at you – this person you’re married to and you love and hate at the same time has something they’re dealing with that’s out of their control – it’s distracting.”
On a positive note regarding the new album, Jones says that one song is complete with another ten to go. With the legal matters taken care of, he thinks that progress on the record will advance more quickly:
“Our greatest strength is jamming and coming up with stuff. We’re doing that really well now and I’m excited about everything we’re working on. Some of it’s really heavy, some of it’s complex and some is more atmospheric, but it’s definitely Tool. I think having this lawsuit out of the way should really speed up the progress of getting the album done.”
The guitarist hopes to have the album out by the end of the year, but you never really know with Tool. You can check out the entire interview over at Yahoo.