The Original Name of Puscifer

MJ Keenan has often described Puscifer to be his "creative subconscious," and before naming this part of his subconscious Puscifer, he had given it the name Umlaut, a term used in linguistics. Umlaut was "a premiere improvisational hardcore band" which “lasted about a day.”

The current name was created on the first episode of Mr. Show. In this episode, Puscifer was a fictional band, but Keenan has said that he “used the name for Mr. Show because it just made sense to put it on the map,” and that “it was always a little project that [he] had going on.”

When it comes to Umlaut, Keenan says that “It was fun but it quickly evolved into Puscifer, [which] has basically been my little baby...I was inspired by all these tunes on the radio like oldies, Motown stuff, and hip-hop...I have [Tool’s] introspective, torturous, painfully organized, and arranged music that takes years to create and cuts really deep. But Puscifer does not do that. It’s something that I want to have fun with...”