Stuff Essay, Research Paper

Maynard was a Kiss maniac when he was 12.

His first concert was Rick Springfield.

He was voted ‘most artistic’ by his high school senior class.

Maynard has a son named Devo who was born August 5, 1995.

He occasionally practices Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, under Rickson Gracie.

Has paintings by Ramiro Rodriquez hanging on his apartment walls.

One reason Maynard was drawn to L.A. in the early 90’s was to explore the possibilities of sacred temple architecture and regeneration. Thus it is perhaps easiest to sketch a brief history of Maynard through some of the elements within his living space. The floor has a formation that’s round on both sides and hi in the middle that is best measured with the equation DV/D = I (I being incidence); and a pack of gum, mo’ happiness, and the apostle. Examining the wall introduces art pieces by Ramiro Rodriquez and themes best grasped through being Jung in Michigan. At the window frame a hairless cat stares intently outside at squawking irish parrots swaying drunkenly. Coast to coast some things never change. In another direction is a calendar of crossed out squares with A Perfect Circle scribed on May 23rd and “NIN tour” written under April 12th.

Maynard was born to a Baptist family and grew up with an older sister in Ravenna, Ohio. Maynard attended Brown Jr. High and then Ravenna High School through the 10th grade until he moved to Michigan. There he attended Mason County Central High School in Scottville, MI. By the time he entered the army, in 1982, he had lived in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.

Maynard was a member of the United States Military Academy (”West Point”) prep school class of 1984. He was a member of the cross country and wrestling teams, the glee club, and the “Knight Crier.” References to the Honor Code “I will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do”; and to the term ‘tool’ probably came from this experience.

Maynard quit the military to study art, which eventually led to a job in LA applying spatial design concepts (called “Feng Shui”) to remodeling pet stores. While Maynard was in Michigan, he attened the Kendall College of Art & Design, which is one of the best in that area. His artwork is rumored to be very abstract. Maynard was friends with Gillian Anderson while he was at Kendall.

Before Tool, in the 80’s, Maynard was in Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty (C.A.D.) that released an independent cassette called ‘Fingernails’. He was also in another band called TexAns.

Maynard met Danny Carey in LA when they were neighbors. Danny let Maynard and Adam use his practice space, and ended up playing with them a few times.

Maynard’s father is a retired high school teacher from Mason County Central Highschool in Scottville, Michigan. They get along fine and Maynard visits home every year. Maynard is rumored to reside near Sedona, Arizona.

Maynard is currently involved in a second project called ‘A Perfect Circle,’ though he is still very much a part of Tool. He has also become engaged to his girlfriend, Jennifer Brena Ferguson.