“He will go down as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. I can bring him a bass riff in seven-and-a-half and he’ll be right on it”: Justin Chancellor explains how bass fits into Tool’s challenging brand of prog

Some bands write music that is catchy, other bands write music that is intellectually challenging, but very few manage to successfully combine the two. Tool is one of that elite.

With their uncompromising blend of stop-start syncopation, brain-melting guitar riffs and formidable time signatures, singer Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey are among the most accomplished progressive rock musicians in the modern era.

In the specific case of Justin Chancellor, there’s an unusual contrast in that he’s a Brit in a band of Americans. Either way, his basslines sit beautifully against the often complex music that his band makes.

“There’s a vulnerability to our music that attracts people,” Chancellor told Bass Player. “Maynard is up there with the greatest vocalists, I think Danny will go down as one of the best rock drummers of all time, and Adam and I have our own styles. We’re not the greatest, but we try really hard, and there’s an honesty that comes through. People can hear that and relate to it on a deeper level.”

After joining Tool in 1995, Chancellor redefined heavy bass playing with his Wal Bass-driven tone, complex riffs, and ability to make difficult time signatures sound easy. A true juggernaut in both ability and creativity, his bass playing dominates in a powerful band where drums and vocals were previously king.

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“I still feel like I’m trying hard to be in a good band, I really do. And I think that’s a healthy approach. If you start to believe the hype about yourself, then you start to lose the bigger picture, and your focus is in the wrong place. You get to enjoy that kind of gratitude when you play your live show, so you don’t need to spend the rest of your time thinking about it.”

So, the million-dollar question: how does Chancellor come up with Tool’s bass parts, which are often complex even when they’re in unison with the guitar?

“A lot of times a riff will come to me when I’m walking my dogs or driving around, and when I go to count it out it’s usually in an odd meter, but you can make anything straight time when you put four beats behind it. That’s something we take full advantage of in our music. And we’ll even overlap time signatures, or take an odd meter and straighten it out within a riff.”

“But then again, I have the advantage of Danny being our drummer, so I can play anything and he latches right on and makes it better. I can bring him something in 7 and he’ll be right on it. Even if something sounds a little uncomfortable, Danny finds a way to groove through it and make it come alive.”

Part of Tool’s cult appeal is that their working methods often remain shrouded in mystery, and unpicking the details of exactly where one idea begins and another ends is something that drives their many obsessive fans with curiosity.

“We have a whole treasure chest of ideas on our phones that we record on our own. Basically, Adam and I have riffs and Danny has rhythms or different time-signature beats, and we try to keep them basic before bringing them in to see what the other members will do with them.

“My role is to marry things together – that’s the duty of bass guitar in general, as the glue in the lower register. It’s something you feel that merges the kick and the guitar strings and the voice. It has melody, but it’s deep down there so it can support everything.”

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“We establish a riff so we and the listener can identify it, and then we say, ‘Okay, now how far away from it can we go on this journey?’”