Justin Chancellor (person)

Born Justin Gunnar Walte Chancellor on November 19, 1971 in England. Justin spent his childhood playing soccer and began playing guitar when he was eight. By the time he was fourteen, he had begun playing with the friends that he would go on to form a band with by the name of Peach, with whom he would release the album Giving Birth to a Stone in 1993. Tool's official website suggests that Peach will re-release this album "sometime soon," but it was already re-released in 2000. Adam Jones of Tool did the cover art on the re-release.

Prior to the release of Peach's album, Justin met Tool for the first time in New York, and kept in touch with the band members afterwards. A few years later, Justin went on tour with Peach, opening for Tool on their first European tour during 1994. Peach breaks up the following year. Tool will later release a few live Peach covers, one of which (You Lied) appears on their DVD/CD release, Salival.

When Tool needed a new bassist in 1995 after Paul D'Amour left the band, they gave Justin a call. He refused at first, because Peach had just broken up about half a year prior, and he was forming a new band with the guitarist. How could Justin back out on a friend he had been playing with since the age of fourteen? Well, we are talking about Tool here. He knew that he couldn't let an opportunity like that pass him by. So, he flew to the US and auditioned.

As the story goes, he then beats out the stiff competition, which includes Filter's Frank Cavanagh, Kyuss's Scott Reeder, Zaum's Marko Fox (the voice of Tool's Die Eier von Satan), and Pigmy Love Circus's E. Shepherd Stevenson, and joins Tool just in time for their (at least in some peoples' minds) greatest release, Ænima. He's been with the band ever since.

After settling down in the US with Tool, Justin married Ariadne Philippoussis, on top of Mingus Mountain in Arizona, on January 12, 1997.

Justin plays a Ernie Ball/Music Man bass with Mesa Boogie cabinets while touring and recording with Tool. He is a major part of Tool's sound, often holding the groove on his own while Adam Jones does his own thing. His bass lines are often mistaken for guitar lines to the untrained ear.

Giving him a uniqueness and guitar-like sound, Justin plays with a pick and often strums more than one string at once, which is a bit unorthodox for the bass guitar. This is probably attributed to the fact that he played guitar at a young age. He also uses several effects while playing, such as a whammy pedal, a flanger, and heavy distortion.

He has even been cited here on e2 as a player of the most difficult music in modern Rock. Quite an achievement.

Currently, Justin is busy with the rest of Tool, sans Maynard who is touring with A Perfect Circle, working on their followup to 2001's Lateralus.