Carina Round of Puscifer Talks About Recording ‘Money Shot’ and Working With Maynard James Keenan

Matt Matasci

Maynard James Keenan fronted band Puscifer has been kicking around for some time now. The rotating outfit is dropping their third studio album, “Money Shot,” on Friday, Oct. 30 and are once again joined by principal collaborators Mat Mitchell and Carina Round, as well as a gamut of guest musicians. While it is impossible to ignore Keenan’s now-iconic vocal style, they are layered over the most experimental music he has ever produced. A true collaboration between seasoned musical professionals, the 10 songs on the album find an excellent balance between the core members’ strengths. Entertainment Voice had the opportunity to sit down with Carina Round and learn about her role within the band and the unique recording process for “Money Shot.”

Prior to “Money Shot,” Maynard James Keenan recruited you to contribute to 2009’s EP “C is for” and “Conditions of My Parole.”What was it about Puscifer that made you decide you wanted to join?

Actually, it was Mat Mitchell that initially reached out to me; he had seen me play in L.A. years prior and I guess he was impressed. He had asked me to join – I don’t think it was necessarily permanent back then. It was a little of a changing cast of characters so to speak, a potentially temporary arrangement.

They sent me the record and I was initially quite skeptical. I knew about Tool obviously, and I guess at that point it was – the word “side project” was still being bandied around by people, in terms of Puscifer. And I heard the record and I was really pleasantly surprised. I thought it was good and he [Keenan] is kind of like a mystical creature, initially, which interested me. I had a conversation with Mat, and we got along really well, and spoke the same language. I went up to Jerome to meet Maynard, and sang on “The Humbling River,” and the rest is history. I actually fell in love with his cat, which is the main reason why I joined.

As your second go around with Puscifer, did you find anything different about the experience this time around? How have you found that your role has grown within the band?

Well, initially when I joined, I was singing somebody else’s part for the most part. This time I wrote my own part, which is a very different experience for me. And I think after working with these two in particular, Mat and Maynard, for so long we’ve developed a camaraderie and a certain level of trust for each other’s strengths and we just have a mutual respect and it makes for much easier and a much more fluid working environment. There’s no pressure in terms of, if I come up with an idea and it changes the next time I hear it, it’s usually weirder, more interesting than before. Because everybody just trusts each other. So in terms of that I think just we got to know each other a lot better and trust each other.

Maynard mentioned in an interview that the two of you bounce off each other during writing and recording. What are the different qualities the two of you, and the other contributing members, bring to the Puscifer table?

Well you know Mat has a lot; his hand is heavy in terms of the music and what the music sounds like and how it all feels, et cetera. And Maynard will come up with harmonies for it – the first thing that comes out of his mouth would be just this strange, beautiful harmony. It’s something that I would not necessarily have gone to and the first thing that comes out of my mouth is something that’s completely different to what he would have ever gone to. In that way, we can pick and choose what we use and then work off of each other’s ideas and come up with something that’s strange and beautiful.

In terms of the drums and stuff, that’s mostly Mat’s choices. He has different drummers come in and play, and sometimes he uses one drummer on a track, and sometimes he uses four (laughing) on one track. Sometimes he edits them all to be different to what they initially played. You know, like I said there’s no set in stone idea, there’s no pressure. What you play or what you think could be completely turned upside down the next time you hear it.

“Money Shot” is being described as the most open “Maynard James Keenan” in the band’s discography. What do you think of that characterization, and do you feel like he was more open to reaching into his past with this release?

I don’t know you’ll have to ask him. In terms of lyrics, with this project, I don’t have anything to do with it and I don’t dare ask. So most of it is open to interpretation. I think personally just from listening to it and the feelings that I get from listening to it, I feel like it certainly delved into a more personal aspect of what’s going on with us right now, and I would say somewhat more of a – joyous celebration? If that doesn’t sound too hippie-like (laughs). Yeah, it’s more celebratory. To me. I think. There are some mean songs on there…

You are playing some fairly large venues on this tour; do you have a preference in venue size/type?  

Honestly, I feel like these are the ideal size venues for me. Just in terms of the balance between the audience intimacy and feeling like you are playing to a larger audience. So you know, like 3-4,000 is ideal. But playing to, you know, 50,000 people every now and then is cool too.

The album was recorded between a studio in North Hollywood and Keenan’s winery, Caduceus Cellars in Jerome, Arizona. What was it like getting out of the traditional studio setting and recording somewhere that is a little bit unorthodox?

It’s great! I mean, it brings a completely different hue to what you’re doing. With this project and this record in particular, you know, some of the live vocal parts are recorded in my house or other people’s houses, we recorded stuff in Maynard’s cellar, we recorded some stuff at the studio in North Hollywood, and we recorded some stuff in a different studio. Like I said sometimes, there are four different drummers on a track, sometimes a song is recorded in four or five different locations.

Sometimes that can make for a disjointed sound but I think with this record somehow we managed to harness that energy into one thing. So it created the sound for the overall record, and I think it’s made for a very unique sound overall. You know, going through the creative process and getting out of the studio environment, sometimes go and sit on a mountain in Jerome and look out a window while you’re coming up with vocal harmonies.

Because the album is essentially being self-released through Puscifer Entertainment, does it make the creative process any easier?

It doesn’t change the creative process; the part that it is different is in the end. Our creative process is free flowing, there’s not a suit sitting in a studio saying ‘Well, I think the chorus could be stronger’, which is an experience I’ve had before. You know, if anything, the people in this project, they’re their own hardest critic. We all have a certain quality control about us, that’s why we’re all in this band. So, we all just want it to be the best and the most interesting that it can be and the best version of this project. So, it doesn’t change the actual creative process itself, but yeah for sure, it makes the outcome more interesting and more true to who we are as people, as artists.

Puscifer has dates throughout the United States and Western Canada. Does the band have any plans for an international tour so overseas fans can get a taste of your live show?

I can’t tell you that! Sure, I mean you think we’re just going to tour the US for the rest of our lives? Obviously, we’d like to branch out; it’s dependent on finances. It’s a self-financed project so it has to be made worth it financially

“Money Shot” releases Oct. 30 on Apple Music.