Tool drummer Danny Carey has revealed he’s got plans for a solo record in the future, with the album set to follow in the vein of recent track ‘Chocolate Chip Trip’.
If you’re a Tool fan, then you would likely recall how this past August saw the release of Fear Inoculum, the band’s first album in 13 years.
While it contained absolute belters like ‘Descending’, ‘Invincible’, and the absolutely astounding ‘7empest’, it also included the enigmatic instrumental ‘Chocolate Trip Trip’.
An almost five-minute affair, the tune was a solo track from drummer Danny Carey and featured a lack of the classic guitars and vocals Tool are known for, trading it in for gongs, bells, ambient sounds, and mesmerising synths and drums.
Speaking to Modern Drummer recently, Carey revealed just how this interesting track actually came about in the studio.
“We were tracking another song, and we had a break in between, and some of the guys were eating,” he explained. “I’d been doing something similar to that live, and I got a good sequence dialed up.
“It took me an hour or so to fine-tune it, and I thought, This is cool. The other guys were still gone, but I was ready to play, so I just turned it on, and it was one take, live.
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“The bell-y things at the beginning, I dialed those in with four different faders on my synthesizer, and once I got that groove established, I sat down and played to the seven groove over the top of it. And that was it. It was a spur-of-the-moment improv.”
Check out ‘Chocolate Chip Trip’ by Tool:
“It was kind of my ode to Billy Cobham. like a real conga,” he added. “I’ve always loved Billy’s playing, it really inspired me. So I put my little twist on it and went that way with it. And I think it came out pretty good. It was nice because when you’re mixing a record, everybody gets their space.
“You have to carve out frequencies for each other to make it work. And I got the best drum sound on the whole record on that track, because I didn’t have to make room for anybody else. I could just make my shit sound huge, and our engineer Joe Barresi did a great job on it. I’m really happy with the drum mix on that.”
However, while Tool have been out on the road in support of the new album (including teasing us Aussie fans with an impending tour announcement), it seems that Danny Carey already has plans for when he has some time off, revealing a solo album in the same vein might just be on the cards.
“I’m going to try to do an album with Jamie and Pete Griffin, because I really enjoy doing that,” he explained. “And I’ll start working on an album that’s based on the idea of ‘Chocolate Chip Trip,’ with a synthesizer, maybe have it more melodic and have actual tunes.
“I had a lot of fun doing that. I’ve been increasing my synthesizer arsenal to a crazy level, so I’ve got lots of directions I can go with it. I’m looking forward to experimenting and traveling off into that world.”
While it remains to be seen just when Carey might get a chance to work on his solo record, we’re just hoping that it too won’t take another 13 years to finally surface.
Check out ‘Descending’ by Tool:
