Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick

Queens of the Stone Age Interview — Josh Homme on Jimmy Iovine, Interscope, the Grammys and Hollywood

Queens of the Stone Age lead singer Josh Homme melts San Francisco faces tonight and tomorrow night at the Warfield — a momentous occasion for Bay Area fans of crushing, pounding riffs, a party atmosphere and the possibility of some ass. A lower class kid from the bum-fuck desert who became a world-famous rock god, Homme is equally as stoked as his fans to be up in San Francisco this week. “It's very much a 'yeah, baby' situation,” he says during a half hour talk with the SF Weekly.

Feast thine corneas on some interview excerpts about playing drug songs to rehab patients, the fallout from telling his label to suck his dick, and crazy Grammy after-parties. —David Downs

Tell me about the rehab story from November.
"We played just for little bit. I had a friend that was on the 'road to recovery' and he asked if we would play the place he was staying [cough] sort of the place where you can ride horses on the beach and leave and other stuff. We went there — what with all the Lindsey Lohans of the world — we wanted to do our part. I thought it would be good to do “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” [ featuring the lyrics “nicotine valium vicodine marijuana ecstacy and alcohol” and chorus of “c-c-c-c-c-cocaine!”] during a set, 'cus the thing is — people take it wherever they want to."

"If you think it's negative and endorses drugs then it's negative. Ultimately it's a list. A manipulative list. The only other word in the song is “No.” So it could be anti-drug. This kind of Nurse Rachet figure was really not into it and all hell broke loose."

Queens of the Stone Age - Avon

interview with Queens of the Stone Age

An evolved version of the pioneering stoner rock band Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age is not-so-quietly being credited as the most refreshing hard rock band of the decade on the strength of the band's highly-acclaimed 2000 release Rated R and August's Songs for the Deaf. Comprised of Josh Humme (guitar, vocals), Nick Oliveri (bass, vocals) and an ever-rotating cast of available musicians - recently including Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and currently including Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan - the band non-chalantly personifies sex, drugs and rock and roll by heavily indulging in each without apology, regret or need for an audience. Recoil spoke to an incredibly polite and well-tempered Humme as the band prepares to hit the road with ...Trail of Dead.
Recoil: Queens of the Stone Age and …Trail Of Dead seems like a concert bill sent directly from God Himself - how did it get put together?
Josh Humme: It actually came together because we'd drank together a few times and we got along really well. We've played festivals in Europe together and we just sort of hung out and had a good time. I think this is the sort of bill that people want to see. It's a bit eclectic in a way, but it makes a lot of sense as well. I sort of look at it as a double-headlining bill: we're both showing up and we're both playing for as long as we feel like.
R: Are you guys going to rehearse a lot for the tour or just kind of wing it?
JH: We got a new drummer so we have to rehearse a little bit, but I don't think it pays to beat [the music] into the ground. It's cool to be tight, but it's not cool to be sick of the songs.
R: What's going on with your personal label Rekords Records?
JH: Well, I'm kind of like a one-man army with it, so not that much, really. I have to like, go to the plant and pick up the records myself. We're releasing the new Flotsam & Jetsam record on September 28 and we'll be putting out The Eagles of Death Metal record, which is kind of a strange band from the desert full of crystal meth addicts. Also, at the end of the year we'll do another The Desert Sessions record.

Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age is a hard rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States. The band is frequently labeled stoner rock, although they reject the label. QOTSA developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy music which the band’s founder and mastermind Josh Homme described as ‘robot rock’, saying that he “wanted to create a heavy sound based on a solid jam, just pound it into your head”. Since then, their sound has evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences.

While in high school, Josh got together with locals Brant Bjork, Chris Cockrell (later replaced by Nick Oliveri) and John Garcia resulting in the formation of Kyuss (firstly known as “Sons of Kyuss”). QOTSA formed in 1997, rising from the ashes of Kyuss and began playing together during the now legendaryDesert Sessions. Homme has drawn all of the members from that diverse group of musicians for QOTSA. The band originally formed under the name Gamma Ray, but almost faced a lawsuit from the European metal band of the same name.