It's not the most obvious way to endear yourself to your fanbase, but Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has called fans of his band 'insufferable' and 'retards'.

Keenan was interviewed by the Phoenix New Times about his side project Puscifer, and said that he had been 'conned' by the other band members into playing a gig at a festival in Arizona this weekend. The band had recently settled a lawsuit with an insurance company that had dragged on for eight years.

When he was asked about the humour in his lyrics, he said: "It's lost. Insufferable people . . . It's just ridiculous, retards. I'm sorry. Can't help them. Way too serious. Too much. Lighten up."

The comments went viral yesterday, but Keenan has since clarified them on Twitter, saying that the context was lost and that it was just Tool fanatics that were insufferable, not the 'core fanbase'.

Well, that's okay, then.