You are invited to step into the eccentric and mystifying realm that is the Pusciverse…where the limits of your imagination will be stretched beyond their comprehension. The journey through the lifespan of Puscifer has been one that is ever evolving, the script constantly being re-written with new angles and characters introduced along the way. Their world building elements of auditory, visual, and illusory concepts creates a truly immersive experience for the listener. The most extensive and elaborate installment within the Pusciverse has been set into motion with their new album Normal Isn’t out now via Alchemy Recordings, Puscifer Entertainment, and BMG, along with a new graphic comic series Tales from the Pusciverse, and concert film, Normal Isn’t: Puscifer Live at the Pacific Stock Exchange.
This extensive project introduces three new characters, who appear as alter egos of the band’s three core members: Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell, and Carina Round. Keenan’s Bellendia Black emerges as the masked and mysterious persona who can always be seen accompanied by a sidekick named Memento Mori. Black is the protagonist of the new comic series and a prominent feature surrounding the new album, who will also be making appearances during their upcoming tour circuit this spring. Mitchell takes shape as The Synth Whisperer and Round embodies the pseudonym, Fanny Grey.
Mitchell offers insight into their conceptualization, “As much as Maynard’s writing music, he’s coming up with quirky characters. There’s characters that go back to the very beginnings of this project. For some, unless you were at one of the first two shows, you never saw these characters. He’s found an outlet where he can develop the storylines and introduce people to the characters he’s come up with over the years. Doing it right now is really smart because there’s new characters for this record. He can lead off with the introduction of who these people are and how they connect to the album and the rest of his stories.”
Puscifer has always leaned into eccentricities and never taken themselves too seriously. The concept for the band was born out of a ’90s comedy club act and later evolved into the theatrical composition it is today, always exploring new techniques, instruments, cadences, and applying any tool they can get their hands on. No matter what form, the project has always been nurtured by the oddities and observations taken in from the world around them. Their creative trajectory follows a stream of consciousness and Normal Isn’t was no exception, they have gone further down the rabbit hole than ever before to embellish what has become this multi-faceted storyline. This record, along with all their previous records, challenges the listeners concepts of “normality” and encourages them to question the status quo.
“I think some of it’s the idea that we always want to push ourselves in new directions and we don’t want to feel like we get stuck in something. That’s boring for us. We like to challenge ourselves and try to do things that just keep it interesting and keep it fun…You know, there’s no ego here and it’s kind of anything goes. If there’s more ideas in the pot for us to pull from, then we’re all happy,” Mitchell explains.
Round discusses some of the ways she ventured down new avenues, “I’ve always used this piece, but I really delved into it this time around, it’s called the Eventide 4500. It’s a vocal synthesizer and processor from the ’80s. This one was really fun for me to get into because the sounds are so crazy, that really informed what I was coming up with. Opposed to me just coming up with the melody and singing things a certain way and then putting effects on it. I was letting the extreme effects inform the way I was writing or what I was coming up with. Having always been kind of a songwriter purist in my own career, that was really, really fun and totally had me coming from a different part of my brain.”
Not unlike everything else they do, the band has a unique way of building their songs from the ground up and often, tearing them apart, rearranging the pieces and putting them back together again. With Round living most of the time in England and Keenan being on the road so frequently, juggling three different bands year-round, the initial stages of creation require that they write and build the fragments of each song separately before bringing them together. It all starts with Mitchell, who creates the musical foundation of the song. Once those are sent to Keenan, he begins to weave a story throughout the existing sonic lens. Round is then able to piggyback off the lyrical base laid by Keenan and after a few cycles, the final product will begin to take its shape.
Everyone involved with this project had the opportunity to explore new territory and push beyond the boundaries of anything they had done in the past. Keenan got his hands dirty playing around with Logic’s audio software to create some of his own rhythms, which in turn, drove his vocal direction and laid a jumping off point for his lyrics. This resource was one he hadn’t utilized as much in the past but decided it would be a way to optimize time away from his bandmates. However, just because the three of them are piecing things together in different spaces, doesn’t mean they are any less involved with what each other are doing during those initial stages.
Round explains further, “We’re all immersed in the process from the beginning…being inside the feeling of what’s going on helps me a lot to create. But the words, I love words, words are my passion. It’s very exciting for me to be able to jump on that and create a scaffolding between what he (Maynard) is doing or go over or under; elevate what he’s doing or carry it in a different direction from one section to the next…The thing about all of us in Puscifer, our work ethic is all of us are there. We’re all just fucking on it all the time, it’s kind of annoying. If you’re not that kind of person, it drives you to want to be that kind of person. Nobody wants to be the one in the room that doesn’t know their shit, so we all show up on top of our game and trust that everyone else is doing the same. It’s a matter of respect.”
While the key players in the band’s current lineup are the aforementioned trio, there are a handful more featured musicians that help to bring all the elements of their songs together for recording and live performances. In true Puscifer fashion, there are several layers woven into any given song, an array of instruments working in tandem with one another. An aspect unique to this album was when Mitchell met drummer Gunnar Olsen at their friend’s studio in Kansas City to track drum parts. In what ended up being a serendipitous circumstance, this particular studio happened to house a collection of 30-40 drum kits…the two wasted no time in taking advantage of the ample resources at their disposal. That’s why when listening through the album, you may notice certain songs featuring two or even three different drum kits intertwining.
“A lot of inspiration comes from the people that also play on the records, be it Sarah Jones, Gunnar Olsen, Tony Levin or Danny Carey. When these guys give you something, it’s inspiring, and it makes you want to do better as well,” boasts Mitchell.
Puscifer has never been afraid to draw outside the lines and dabble with the unconventional. Beyond their undeniable expertise and technique, is a group of musicians who are driven by curiosity and a unified desire to propel their craft every chance they get. The making of Normal Isn’t was a trek into the unknown for the band, as much as the final product will be for its listeners…all an integral part in the Pusciverse.
Normal Isn’t is out now from Alchemy Recordings, Puscifer Entertainment, and BMG and you can order it here. Follow Puscifer on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and BlueSky for future updates.
Photo Credit: Travis Shinn
