Maynard James Keenan of Tool discusses his unique vocal phrasing on the episode of Sammy Hagar's AXS TV series Rock and Roll Road Trip which premieres Sunday.
Keenan recalls that he ran cross-country in high school and discovered that his breathing rhythms were different than most people's. "It wasn't just in-out, I was actually breathing to the steps, so if you're going over hills or down hills or in chuckholes or whatever, my breath would follow those rhythms."
He says it's made it easier for him to write songs in time signatures other than the "common time" of 4/4.