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A Perfect Circle
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A Perfect Circle (APC) is the brainchild of Billy Howerdel, a former guitar tech for Nine Inch Nails. Wisely, he lifted Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, making him both his songwriting partner as well as the group’s lead vocalist. With the exception of drummer Josh Freese... the rest of the band’s line-up has been in an almost constant state of flux. After the release of its debut Mer de Noms, bass player Paz Lenchantin joined Billy Corgan’s now defunct ensemble Zwan, and midway through the recording of APC’s sophomore set Thirteenth Step, former Failure guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen departed, too. Jeordie White (a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez from Marilyn Manson’s band) was tagged to replace Lenchantin, and before touring began in support of Thirteenth Step, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha was added to the ensemble.
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A Perfect Circle is Maynard James Keenan's musically talented new group, it is not a side project. Tool is not gone for good though, Maynard looks forward to start recording the Tool album after this year's Canadian Somersault tour finishes. Maynard will have 3 weeks off at this point, and he will start to record the next tool album if the other band members are ready. Maynard has been trying to fire the other tool members up in recent interviews, so as to make sure they will be ready when he comes off from tour. FYI: Maynard wears a wig for APC concerts and photo shoots, he is still as bald as ever. As "Recreational Racism", Maynard and others played a series of covers country-style at the Viper Room in LA on August 15, 1999.
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A Perfect Circle started as a side project of Tool's frontman, Maynard James Keenan, and Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel but has transformed into an alt-rock supergroup. The band officially formed in 1999 with bassist Paz Lanchantin, guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and drummer Josh Freese filling out the lineup. In 2000 they released their debut album, Mer de Noms, which featured the hit "Judith." Jeordie White (formerly Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson) eventually replaced Lanchantin, who departed to join Zwan. Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha joined in 2003, taking over for former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Danny Lohner (who had replaced Van Leeuwen). That same year, they released their follow-up album, Thirteenth Step, which dealt heavily with the theme of drug addiction and sobriety.
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Due to Keenan's commitments with Tool, A Perfect Circle experiences a considerable amount of downtime during each Tool album recording, release and tour. This makes the band extremely dynamic in terms of its members. During the downtime, other members of the band seek other projects which can unfortunately mean they are unavailable when APC is reformed, which was the case with both Troy van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchantin. As of May 2005, Keenan is recording with Tool, Howerdel is planning a solo album, and White is touring and performing with Nine Inch Nails. Iha is currently touring with Vanessa and the O's in Europe. On December 6, Freese took over as drummer for Nine Inch Nails, replacing Alex Carapetis.
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A Perfect Circle's San Diego show has been rescheduled for April 6 and the Long Beach concert for April 7. However, in order to reschedule those gigs, the band has had to postpone previously booked concerts: April 5 in Boise, Idaho, April 6 in Spokane, Washington, and April 8 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is expected that those shows will be rescheduled shortly. All original tickets will be honored.
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A Perfect Circle has never been viewed as a side project for Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan since the band tosses in hints of melody with its underbelly of progressive alt-metal. Credit guitarist Billy Howerdel, the band's main brain, with keeping the music edgy and Keenan for keeping it spooky.
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A Perfect Circle