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Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle

Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle 

Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

News
A Perfect Circle Add More U.S. Tour Dates perfect-circle-announce-more-us-tour-dates-support-new-album

A Perfect Circle Announce More U.S. Tour Dates In Support Of New Album

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The band plot more dates this fall after releasing their first album in 14 years, 'Eat The Elephant'
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Apr 25, 2018 - 8:24 am

A Perfect Circle are back. Last week, the band released their first new album in 14 years, Eat The Elephant, and now they've announced more U.S. tour dates this fall.

The run of shows will begin Oct. 20 in Salt Lake City and hit cities across the U.S., including Denver, Austin, Atlanta, New York, and Las Vegas, before wrapping up in Phoenix on Nov. 20. This fall trek comes after a short summer tour kicking off May 12 in Somerset, Wis. and concluding May 26 in Dallas. The band also has European dates booked in June and December.

Eat The Elephant was released April 20, marking the group's first album since 2004's Emotive. A Perfect Circle singer Maynard James Keenan explained the hiatus to Rolling Stone, saying, "Part of it was me having to step away for a while. Part of it was my winery and trying to get Tool nudged forward, and Puscifer. All those things were going on simultaneously and I just lost track of time, honestly… Anything's possible now, and we're able to blow the dust off that and go, 'Oh, yeah, we can do this.' And [guitarist] Billy [Howerdel] always has material up his sleeve."

Tickets for the new set of dates go on sale Apr. 27 via the band's website.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

A Perfect Circle

Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage/Getty Images

News
A Perfect Circle Talk Building 'Eat The Elephant' perfect-circle-influences-collaboration-building-eat-elephant

A Perfect Circle On Influences, Collaboration & Building 'Eat The Elephant'

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The influential rock group stopped by the GRAMMY Museum to discuss the impetus for their new music, their early influences and the creative process behind their big 2018 return
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Dec 25, 2018 - 7:30 am

A Perfect Circleis the kind of band fans wait with bated breath to hear new music from, no matter how long they are away. In the case of Eat The Elephant, the band's fourth album, the wait was a full 14 years. Still, the new material was met with much anticipation, a testament to the art.

A Perfect Circle Talk 'Eat The Elephant'

Back in October, we premiered a video for the title track from the album-length film the band made for Eat The Elephant. In the song, lead singer and songwriter Maynard James Keenan’s stark, haunting vocals creek and soar over lead composer and guitarist Billy Howerdel's dynamic backdrop. During a recent visit to the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles,as Keenan and Howerdel shared how they came to revisit the project after all these years away.

"I think it was just time," said Keenan. "I was really busy with Puscifer for quite a while. Then I was gonna get back into doing some Tool music, and they weren't ready, so I was like [to Howerdel], "Hey, what's up?"

The time passed since their previous album, 2004's Emotive, manifests itself on Eat The Elephant in the space within and around its songs, creating a new sonic environment from the band's previous work. This had everything to do with how the songs' foundations were built.

"A lot of times on this record we had the song kind of almost complete, and then he put the vocals on top. It was pretty amazing," explained Howerdel. "Maynard had a lot more input into the music this time, just to, you know, try to some things, because he knew where he was gonna go vocally. He wasn't in the room when I was working on the music, so we'd kind of lightly steer in that direction. And I think it worked out because he just had something in mind and then was able to throw the solid final performance on top of it."

When it comes to architecting a vocal, Keenan does it like no one else. The genesis of his genius instincts begin with responding to the music, as he revealed during the conversation. "First and foremost, it's a reaction to the melodies and structures and time signatures that the group of musicians are presenting me, whether it's Mat Mitchell, or Billy, or Tool," he said. "It's all a reaction melodically to those rhythms, constructing it in a way that feels like an actual conversation. And I of course react better when they're not in 4/4. I don't speak in 4/4."

"Then [I] figure out where that emotion is going, and then just look at your life experiences, what you're experiencing at the moment, and attach a set of words or a circumstance to that set of rhythms and melodies to see if it opens up a whole story, because you know, human interaction, human experience from birth to death, there's an infinite number of flavors and colors and bandwidths and emotions that come with those experiences."

Keenan also named an intriguing roster of early influences, providing a glimpse into his stylistic DNA. His early exposure to everything from Roberta Flack to Black Sabbath to Joni Mitchell led to an appreciation of Minor Threat, Killing Joke, Swans and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which in turn led him to Gillian Welch and PJ Harvey.

"To me, there's a sadness that's captivating in that writing that's essential," Keenan says of Welch, Harvey and his tastes as they've evolved over the course of his life.

A Perfect Circle has evolved, too. At its core, it's a dynamic collaboration, which means Keenan and Howerdel cannot say what will come next.

"It's a marriage of sorts," says Howerdel. "You have to make this more than just the sum of its parts, more than the sum of the two of us. That comes from the unknown of collaboration… Having collaboration is the magic of never knowing what's coming next."

A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel On New Music, Touring Again & More

A Perfect Circle

A Perfect Circle

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage/Getty Images

News
Premiere: A Perfect Circle "Eat The Elephant" exclusive-video-premiere-perfect-circle-eat-elephant

Exclusive Video Premiere: A Perfect Circle "Eat The Elephant"

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The supergroup returned with a new album 'Eat The Elephant,' 14 years since their last. They filmed a special album-length video for the release, and today we premiere the video for the emotive title track
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 11, 2018 - 3:15 pm

A Perfect Circle released their fourth studio album, Eat The Elephant, on April 20, 2018, 14 years after they put out their last album, Emotive. Their latest video for the album's title track is an emotive opening to the new album, with lead singer and songwriter Maynard James Keenan's haunting vocals supported by flowing, piano-filled notes by Billy Howerdel, the group's lead composer and guitarist. The group shot an innovative album length film for their new release, for which we see the first segment of in the new video for "Eat The Elephant."  

Always ones to put exquisite attention detail in their art, the rock group didn't hold back on their return to making music as A Perfect Circle. They worked with innovative filmmaker Steven Sebring to create a 58 minute film for the full album. The film was shot with Sebring's high-tech 360 degree circular camera system, creating what they are calling the "world's first hologram album." The latest video for "Eat The Elephant," premiering here today exclusively on GRAMMY.com, is a piece from the storyline of the new film.

The video is strange and intriguing, fitting for Keenan's piercing vocals, which begin with him singing; "Looming, omnipresent/This task ahead/This task at hand/Ominous and daunting." In the video we see a young girl sitting on a rotating bed, looking into a handheld projector. It gives you taste of the content of the album's full film, albeit in 2D, which takes you on a journey through the eyes of the same young girl across all 12 songs of the album.

"It's not so much a music video, so much as a companion piece to the song. I mean it is a video, but it's not," Howerdel recently told the Recording Academy. "Steven [Sebring] has this amazing loft in New York City, he's got this 360 degree camera array in there. We shot the album cover photos of Maynard and I there, and then he did the other video content. It's just amazing…It was an interesting process to see of how that booth worked."

The hologram film can only be viewed in 3D through a special prism placed on top of a smartphone. Watching it through the small silver pyramid-shaped device, which is available with the deluxe box set of Eat The Elephant, is next level visuals, like a live message being transmitted from another dimension, or from someone otherworldly.

"Having Maynard and Billy’s trust to create this for A Perfect Circle was a true artist's dream," Sebring shared on his site. "Their 14-year break allowed technology to catch up with their groundbreaking music and gave me the chance to apply new ideas of dimensional capture to this stunning album."

"It's incredibly refreshing to meet someone as bananas as I am," Keenan told Revolver. "Steven Sebring is my kind of eccentric. Top notch, Mr. Sebring. Top notch."

https://twitter.com/GRAMMYMuseum/status/1050503451770318856

Last night @aperfectcircle joined us for a special conversation and intimate performance 🎶 pic.twitter.com/DNUjUoXy2s

— GRAMMY Museum (@GRAMMYMuseum) October 11, 2018

Last night, at An Evening With A Perfect Circle at the GRAMMY Museum on Oct. 10 Keenan and Howerdel discussed their creative process on the new album, the new film and played some new material to an intimate group of fans. Keenan shared "it was just time" to make music together again.

The group continues their tour in support of the new album, with dates across the U.S. ending in Phoenix on Nov. 20, then crossing the pond over to Europe in December. More information on the tour as well as the special album box set can be found on the band's website.

A Perfect Circle Announce More U.S. Tour Dates In Support Of New Album

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Photo: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images

News
Elvis Costello Announces Fall Tour, New Album elvis-costello-announces-north-american-fall-tour-new-album

Elvis Costello Announces North American Fall Tour, New Album

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Costello and his band the Imposters will hit the road in support of his forthcoming new album
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jun 18, 2018 - 11:49 am

Big news arrived today for Elvis Costello fans: the genre-jumping singer/songwriter is heading out on the road this fall with his band the Imposters. Even better yet, Costello has teased a brand new album to coincide with the tour.

The 20-date tour, titled Look Now And Then … It's Elvis Costello & The Imposters, will commence Nov. 2 in Bethlehem, Pa., and conclude Dec. 4 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Meanwhile, Costello has signed to Concord Records and will reveal details on his upcoming album, including the title and release date "very shortly," according to a statement.

The new album follows Costello's 2013's Wise Up Ghost, a collaboration with fellow GRAMMY winners the Roots, and marks the songwriting icon's first solo album since 2010's National Ransom. More recently, Costello's audio performance of his dynamic autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, earned him a GRAMMY nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for the 59th GRAMMY Awards.

https://twitter.com/ElvisCostello/status/1008733576248999936

Elvis Costello & The Imposters To Tour In November!
Costello signs to @ConcordRecords
Announcement of release date and title of new album imminent.
Read More… https://t.co/7wktTamJDf pic.twitter.com/o7WXee53Vu

— Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) June 18, 2018

Costello and his crew are currently on tour in Europe through mid-July. Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale June 22, with presale starting June 19. Fan who purchase certain dates can also purchase a special pre-order package that includes the new album. For full details, visit Costello's website.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Post Malone

Post Malone

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images

News
Music Midtown 2018: Find Out Who's Headlining post-malone-kendrick-lamar-imagine-dragons-headline-music-midtown

Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons To Headline Music Midtown

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Fall Out Boy, Khalid, Kacey Musgraves, Gucci Mane, and Janelle Monáe will also perform at the Atlanta music festival this fall
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jun 11, 2018 - 8:33 am

Get ready, Atlanta. The lineup for Music Midtown has arrived, and it does not disappoint. Headliners for this year's festival include Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, and Fall Out Boy.

Additional performers for the two-day festival in September include Khalid, Kacey Musgraves, Gucci Mane, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Portugal. The Man, Janelle Monáe, Foster The People, and many more.

https://twitter.com/MusicMidtown/status/1006146110677630976

We're back with Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, Post Malone, Fall Out Boy + many more! Visit @Complex for all of the details: https://t.co/Fkbx5wmz0N
🎫 on-sale Friday at 10am 🙌 pic.twitter.com/qNDhbBAmyH

— Music Midtown (@MusicMidtown) June 11, 2018

Post Malone has been shattering streaming records this year with his sophomore album, Beerbongs & Bentleys. The album landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and Post Malone continues to tour the U.S. with 21 Savage through the end of June.

Not to be outdone, Lamar is coming off being recognized with a music Pulitzer Prize for his latest GRAMMY-winning album DAMN. Lamar became the first non-classical or -jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize, and DAMN. earned five GRAMMYs at the 60th GRAMMY Awards: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video ("HUMBLE."), and Best Rap/Sung Performance ("LOYALTY." with Rihanna).

Kendrick Lamar, 'DAMN.': For The Record

Imagine Dragons released their third album, Evolve, in 2017, while Fall Out Boy are enjoy a strong comeback, releasing their latest album, Mania, earlier this year.

Music Midtown will take place Sept. 15–16 at Atlanta's Piedmont Park. The festival began in 1994 and ran through 2005 before taking a six-year hiatus and returning in 2011. Tickets for this year's Music Midtown go on sale June 15 via the festival's website.

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.