A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel Interview: 'Don't Be Afraid to Write From Absurdity'

A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel joined Loudwire Nights on Wednesday (June 17) and dove into the band's career as well as their latest single, "Starless."

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

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"I started that song watching TV with a little practice amp sitting on my coffee table," Howerdel explained to Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong about creating "Starless."

"It's like when someone said, 'Hold on,' pause and go to the bathroom and then [I] threw something down. I do kind of remember it going that way, that riff. And I have to say, it's really been a cool way to be able to write, to not have to turn on your big rig and your amps and get inspired by that."

Howerdel said it's much easier these days to get his ideas recorded thanks to that practice amp and his cell phone.

"I just hit record on that and overdub track it and then go back to ingest it in the studio later and it's like, oh, there's something here," he shared.

"The beauty of writing a riff when you're in the middle of watching a TV show or a movie is, you're not overthinking anything."

As he talked about this process, he also dove into how he writes riffs and admitted there's no rulebook that he follows.

"You're just trying to get something down on the sketchpad before the person comes back from the bathroom or going to get popcorn in the kitchen — there's no time to overthink that," Howerdel expressed.

"Sometimes I'll bite or I won't, it kind of just depends. I'm not trying to be mysterious, but there is no real formula for me in that kind of way."

Well, there might be one formula Howerdel tries to follow.

"I try to not let myself be afraid to write from absurdity — write something that, okay, this is never going to make it, but it's just, it's different," he said.

"I think we all have a filter. I certainly have a filter of all the influences I've had growing up. So whatever that absurd riff was will probably go through my ultimate sniff test and then it's going to get that aesthetic put onto it."

What Else Did A Perfect Circle's Billy Howerdel Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

The future of new music and a potential U.S. tour for A Perfect Circle: "['Starless'] is pointing toward new music. New music ... I've heard rumors of that [tour]. It's probably safe to assume that. I've heard something about that. Maybe."
What runs through his head when he thinks about starting A Perfect Circle with Maynard James Keenan in 1999: "It's funny because I do feel extremely fortunate that it was right place, right time. The kind of music, the break Maynard had, his history with Tool, we had the right team together with the record company and everything fell into place. It's hard. It's really hard to do it. There's a lot of people trying to make music, trying to be at the right place at the right time. And I never know exactly what advice to give somebody except for if you love it and you can hang with not wanting overnight success, then give it your all. But you know, there's some people with a different mentality, 'I'm going to conquer the world' kind of mentality, which I just didn't have that. It's a different thing. I really love the game. We just kind of stayed in the game."
What he thought of Keenan's lyrics for "Starless": "Here we are. We're back at it. It feels familiar and it feels great. I don't take it for granted at all. Every time I hear something from Maynard, I am surprised at his output. Having three bands and having as many years he's been doing this, he wears a lot of hats. He wears a lot of creative hats and I think oscillates between them quicker than ever now, which is interesting. His bands have found their lane and he can operate within it ... I felt like this is really him with us."