One of the great (if largely unknown)
masterminds of
modern rock, Josh Homme is the man driving rock and roll
juggernaut Queens of the Stone Age. Some musicians have developed reputations as "
band whores," jumping from band to band and never staying put. If this is true, it would make Josh Homme a big-time
band pimp. He is known for constantly changing the lineup of his bands, and always finding
major musicians to fill the holes left by others. For evidence of this, check out the (INCOMPLETE) band line-up posted by
blandoon here. You get the idea.
Homme's rock career started in
Palm Springs, CA in the late 80s with a band called
Kyuss. For those of you unfamiliar with Kyuss, they sound kind of like
Soundgarden's hyperactive little brother. Kind of. Although Homme seemed to avoid the
limelight with Kyuss, hiring frontman John Garcia to split
lead vocals with bassist
Nick Oliveri, Homme was the
brain behind the beast, writing the vast majority of the band's songs, as well as many of the lyrics. Despite the success of similar sounding bands in the early 90s, and probably due in part to the incredible but indescribable mix of punk, shred, psychedelic rock, and heavy metal they produced, Kyuss never achieved
radio success. The band eventually dissolved in 1995 after tensions between Homme and Garcia reached a peak, leaving behind four albums, a bunch of disappointed
underground fans, and a plethora of contacts which would become useful to Homme in the years to come. If you're only ever going to get one Kyuss album, make it
Blues for the Red Sun.
Kyuss Albums:
- Wretch (1991)
- Blues for the Red Sun (1992)
- Welcome to Sky Valley (1994)
- ...And the Circus Leaves Town 1995)
Okay, now things get really cool.
In 1996, vocal deity
Mark Lanegan asked Homme to join
Screaming Trees on tour to promote their mind-boggling album
Dust. The two became friends, and Lanegan have made frequent appearances on each other's albums since. The tour was also crucial to Homme's career, as it led not only to appearances on other band's albums (including, but not limited to
Wellwater Conspiracy,
Gamma Ray, and
Mike Johnson's solo work), but also to the foundation of the
Desert Sessions. Now a 10-volume set (and counting...), the Desert Sessions were begun at Rancho de la Luna studios, outside
Joshua Tree National Park, and became an instant phenomenon in the underground rock scene. Volumes I and II were released in February of 1998. Each session included a whole new crew of musicians, each song often having a wildly different lineup. Members of
Monster Magnet,
Soundgarden,
Goatsnake,
Dinosaur, Jr.,
Screaming Trees,
Hole,
Masters of Reality,
Mondo Generator,
Marilyn Manson,
A Perfect Circle, and others have appeared on the sessions, which often make use of
unorthodox recording techniques and seem shot through with psychedelic
drug references. Due to their limited release, early sessions tend to be VERY hard to get a hold of and often sell for $60 or more on ebay.
Around the same time as the first sessions, Homme was assembling a new rock band from the ashes of Kyuss. With help from several Dessert Sessions collaborators, Homme released the first album under the name Queens of the Stone Age. The self-titled album received unanimous rave-reviews, including four stars from
Rolling Stone. In 1998, former bandmate
Nick Oliveri joined QOTSA, and the band released its second album,
Rated R. Mark Lanegan also took part in the project, and has appeared on every album since.
The album gained them a spot on the
Ozzfest tour that year, and gained the attention of
Nirvana/
Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl, who joined the band to record QOTSA's third album--the monstrous
Songs for the Deaf. The album's second track "
No One Knows" was an enormous hit, and the album was a huge success. Ex-A Perfect Circle/Ex-
Zwan bassist
Paz Lenchantin and her sister Anna supplied strings for the album, and
Alain Johannes, who would join the band later, banged the keys. After a short tour, Grohl left the band to return to the Foo Fighters, and was replaced by former
Danzig drummer
Joey Castillo, who looks pretty much like a human
Harley and plays like a demon. They also picked up their best-dressed member, the tie-wearing, guitar-shredding ex-Perfect Circle wildman
Troy Van Leeuwen
In 2002, Homme was asked to write the score for the movie
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, which he did with help from Oliveri. Soon afterward, Oliveri left the band to pursue other ventures**, including another Homme/Oliveri creation:
The Eagles of Death Metal. Alain Johannes was added to the full-time roster, and in 2005 the new lineup (with help once again from Lanegan,
Chris Goss, and others) released the monumental
Lullabyes to Paralyze.
Listen to this album in the dark.
November of 2005 saw the release of the band's first
DVD, titled
Over the Years and Through the Woods. It, of course, rocks. There's a great clip of Josh Homme talking about missing a concert in
London, and then footage of the doctor actually coming to see Homme. The conversation goes something like this:
DOCTOR: So, you've been coughing up
phlegm...
HOMME: (hhhhhhochhhhhh) Yeah...
DOCTOR: Eh, what color is it? Green? Red?
HOMME: Yeah. Some green, some red.
DOCTOR: Ehm, right. And
do you smoke?
HOMME: (after a thoughtful pause) .... Yes. I
love it.
** fscker has informed me that this was not, in fact, the case--Homme kicked Oliveri out of the band after learning that Oliveri was beating his girlfriend. A more complete story can be found
at http://www.thefade.net/transcripts/radio12005.html
good lookin' out, bro.
SOURCES:
http://www.mattsmusicpage.com/qotbio.htm
http://www.mp3.com/kyuss/artists/31451/biography.html
http://www.hiponline.com/artist/music/q/queens_of_the_stone_age/
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Queens-Of-the-Stone-Age-Biography/723456CA6AEF589848256B9F000AD522
http://mudrac.ffzg.hr/~lranogaj/bio_page.htm
http://www.hardrock.com/live2/stats.asp?Action=Bio&hdnEventId=7467
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/bio/0,,445284,00.html#bio
http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=882052&TMPL=LONG#bio