Queens of the Stone Age

Nardwuar: Who are you?

Josh Homme: I'm Joshua. Who are you?

I am Nardwuar The Human Serviette. Josh, Queens Of The Stone Age.

Yes I am.

Josh, Queens Of The Stone Age, you might remember me as the guy whose breath, quote, "Smells like the ass of a…"

Apple. But today you seem fresh dude. Are you ready? You were ready today.

I've been drinking water.

Thank God. Well water's good for you, man

So Josh, why do my clothes [Nardwuar is dressed in all plaid] make you puke?

No, no I didn't say (referring to a previous interview) they made me puke. Is that what I said exactly?

Yes, you did.

No, no, no I didn't say that. What I said is the plaid-on-plaid, that you're supposed to know better. And then, and then I said, uh, "I know I'm not Elsa Klensch 'cause see, look how I'm dressed."

I thought that—

It's not, it's not like I'm doing anything special either.

And I love the way you say Elsa Klensch as I had no idea who that was and you made me do the work and find out that Elsa Klensch was…

Dude, she's like the CNN style girl or something, she's an old school style girl.

I mean that was a great reference to drop on MuchMusic to the kids.

If I got you that was a good one.

Elsa Klensch! You learned me on Elsa Klensch.

Finally dude, that's it. That’s the only thing. It's like it's great that on a music show I got you on a style girl. What's wrong?

Nardwuar & Josh

Josh, Queens Of The Stone Age, I was confused though, because you have a song called "Tangled Up In Plaid."

Yeah, well I didn't say I didn't like it, I'm just, I'm not so sure if you should do plaid-on-plaid-on-plaid. That’s what I was saying. Y'know who else does that? Dave Catching. You know Dave Catching right?

No, I do not, please inform me.

Well, you know who he is right?

No, I do not.

He's been in the — he's in The Earthlings, he's playing in Eagles Of Death Metal, he was in Queens and he's got like a "snow hawk". He's about 40 years old and he's got this kind of baby huey "snow hawk". But he'll do plaid bell-bottoms with a different plaid top. It's just gutsy. That's what it is.

So this does not make you puke, then?

No, it doesn't make me puke. It just, it tells me you got big balls of steel.

Thank you very much Josh of Queens Of The…

Of The Stone Age.

Josh, Queens Of The Stone Age, your song, "Burn The…"

Witch.

"Burn The Witch" That’s really garage-y. Did ya know that?

What, the song is?

Yeah. I think it's really garage rock.

I think it's kind of blues-y. So it's, to me it's like blues that ain't retro, blues that’s sort of now-ish.

I find it very garage-y and I think that’s a thread of your new album. Much garage rock. For instance, you have Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top on your new record.

Yeah but is he garage-y?

Oh is he garage-y? Check this out. [Nardwuar shows Josh a picture of a band] This is his first band right here—

I bet I know what it's called, The Moving Sidewalks?

The Moving Sidewalks!

I'm a, what'd I tell ya? I'm doing good today.

Known for their song "99th…"

I dunno.

Were you aware of Gibbons garage connection?

And actually this, lets lean this up against the wall because this kind of makes us look cool for a second. But a...

Thanks, I need all the help I can get.

So do I dude, this ain't easy, um, he was so into Roky Erickson and The Thirteen Floor Elevator, therefore he called his band the Moving Sidewalks … .and I just remembered the "99th Floor," they're all tips of the hat to Roky Erickson and The Elevators.

So you have "Burn The Witch," you have Billy Gibbons, and also Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age, you, a long time ago, had Gene…

Gene Troutman.

Gene Troutman and he use to play in a garage band too. The Miracle…

Workers. This is like match game.

Well, it's also really garage-y, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, they're a bad ass garage band.

Out of Portland, Oregon

Yeah, they were. That's true.

Courtney Love was a big fan.

Oh gross. [laughs]

And you are Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age, but it doesn't end there. Recently, or I think this past Halloween, did you play with garage rockers, The…

Oh, The Cramps, man.

What was that like? Playing with The Cramps?

Dude, I love that band, in the first five records I got, Off The Bone was one of them, with the 3D cover, y'know? And I just love The Cramps. I love what they stand for too, because so much of their stuff is covers as well. And so they're helping to, to bring to life bands and performers that you wouldn't have known, like Hasil Adkins and, I mean, the list goes on. Do you know about that comp—

Nardwuar & Josh

Songs We Taught The Cramps.

Yeah, they're awesome. Like all the original versions. Y'know, that you guys should go get.

And you played with them on Halloween! Did you guys headline? What was it like playing with them? Because it was like Queens Of The Stone Age and The Cramps, together!

Dude, It was, I was, that's one of the few times I've ever been in total awe, where I was just like "aww shit," because I just love that band. They're still so vital, because they've been playing since, y'know '76 and to be more vital now more than ever it seems for me, really cool. And they’ve been doing, they've been headlining at the Warfield in San Francisco for 15 years. It was the first year in 15 years, so I was eternally beating off.

What'd they think of you guys? Did they actually check you guys out? 'Cause I think you are garage-y.

[laughs] Yeah, they did, man. They're great people. Actually the next year Eagles Of Death Metal opened for them at the Warfield on Halloween. So it was a double Halloween.

Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age, it's interesting, The Cramps are getting up there in age aren’t they?

Yeah, but you know what? They, they tear it up and throw their body on their bodies, their collective body on the line harder than most of these bands do today. It was unbelievable to watch Lux Interior break, like, five mic stands, have the mic in his mouth, while he took a broken wine bottle and he grabbed his pants and went [swooshing noise]. I mean, he could have cut his balls off. And to watch them tear it up like that and just throw it all on the line, I had my notepad out and I was hoping a bunch of other people did too.

Promo Pic with Older Lady

And you have much appreciation for older people. For older woman, don't you there, Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age?

Older women? Yeah.

Like, your most recent promo pics. Who's that older lady in the promo pic?

Yeah I hit it, big deal.

[laughing] Who is that woman in the promo pic?

That's a friend of the photographers and, uh, I think she—

Maybe you could explain it to people.

Well, we didn't have a bass player at the time, so we thought it might be cool if we had this, this granny (in the photo) and all of a sudden we're all playing bass. So that's what we did.

I'm kind of angry because a few newspapers have cropped her out. Have you noticed that?

[laughing] No. Really?

Yeah. There was a review of one of your gigs and they cropped her out

The, the... how dare they. Don't they have senior appreciation? What's wrong with the newspaper? That’s why I don't read.

Promo Pic with Older Lady in Middle

Well, I think you should probably learn about how to take a promo pic Josh, because if you put her in the middle they wouldn't have been able to crop her out so much. You put her on the edge.

Dude. Yeah, that’s true. Y'know you learn something new. Next time, next time I need an old woman, I'm going to shove her in the middle, like I usually do.

Josh, you are from the band Queens Of The…

Brown Age.

Josh In Grade 3

Brown Age. Let's go back. Let's go way, way, way back. What can you tell me, if you can hold this for a second, about this photo right here Josh? [Nardwuar shows Josh a picture of a very young, well, Josh Homme!]

You're a—you're amazing.

What is this? This is a photo of you in grade three, in Mrs. Yeggi's class.

Yeah, that is. And, uh, that's Anna Marie. Anna Marie Frost right next to me. I went out with her for a second. Not the teacher, uh, Anna Marie.

I think this is a great photo. Like, look at that wristband you're wearing.

Dude, I know. The thing is, I've always dressed the same, the way I dress now. So…

And look at that hair. That’s total rock hair as well.

Dude, I wasn't in Skabba The Hut. I've always been doing this.

[laughing] Skabba The Hut? That's an allusion to The Bravery, isn't it?

It's one, I dunno, it's one of them (The Bravery’s Sam Endicott) that was in some sort of…. like he had do-do braids or something.

Yeah, what's wrong with ska anyway? I love ska.

No, I do too, I'm just saying I've always been in a rock band.

And you look damn cool. It pains me to say this, but back then it looked like you could kick my ass and you look pretty damn cool there, Josh.

Well I was never a bully. Even if you were rocking the plaid-on-plaid-on-plaid, I would have been like, "What's up?"

Yeah, I think this is a great picture. And this is from Palm Desert right? This is you in grade three.

Yeah, what I like is that … how .I don't like talking about my personal life, but you got it up here on the screen.

I'm sorry, but it's just from the yearbook.

Yeah, it is, it's from the yearbook.

OK we'll now drop that if you like, Josh, Queens Of The…

This is, this [Josh holds up the back of the cardboard that his Grade 3 picture is mounted on] is actually me in the fifth grade. I was wearing all brown.

Ba-boom!

Ba-bang! [laughs]

Josh from Queens Of The Stone Age. I was curious, how tough is Sharon Osbourne?

Uh, pfft, I dunno. Have I wrestled her or something?

No, how tough is she? Cause you were saying you went on Ozzfest and she was pretty tough and I was just curious, to know about the behind-the-scenes Sharon Osbourne, that people, maybe don’t get the chance to see.

No, I mean, she was always sweet to me, but they kind of treat you like dirt on that festival you know… it's like, and it wasn't actually in reference to me. It was, uh the, the guys that work all day, Y'know, that put up all the rigging and stuff? You would go in to eat and it would just be like dog food. And I always felt like, "God man, these guys are here, they're here at six in the morning and they're leavin' at like two at night" and I was like, "Pfft, y'know, some water and, and maybe a salad..."

Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age, you've done much recording, haven't you?

Yeah. Yeah, much.

Much recording. You're always in the studio. Who've you run into? Didn't you guys run into Christina Aguilera? And as a result, Dave Grohl was linked to Christina Aguilera?

Yeah, that's funny too. Yeah, she always had these bottles of Cristal Champagne, like five cases of... I dunno if it was cases, it'd be like five, somewhere between five and twelve a day and she would leave at like eight o'clock and we would just drink the rest. I'm not so into champagne, but that stuff’s all right.

She was linked to Dave Grohl. There was a rumour that Dave Grohl was going out with her. You started that, didn't you Josh?

Yeah, I did like the Kevin Bacon thing. And you know what she did that was funny one day? She was talking on the phone and she started getting pissed off, and then, I'm walking through this area where there's trees and stuff, and I heard a cell phone ring and I stopped and looked this way and I looked this way and I looked up and she had thrown her cell phone in the trees. So now, y 'know, like some of the trees can make a call.

Ba-boom! What do these people think about you when they see you Josh? Like, do they know you from the Stone Age? Did she know that?

I dunno. I dunno. Is she into rock? That's a good question.

Josh, also Rob Halford, wasn't he hanging around a studio as well? Like, whose been hanging around studios that you've bumped into? Christina Aguilera, Rob Halford, anybody else?

Well, y'know that’s part of the... that’s part of the interesting part. It depends on what studio you go to. I normally go to a studio where there's only one other room and so there's only the chance to see or be around one other band and that was where Rob Halford was. And he was a great guy. That all came about by just talking and hanging loose, y'know?

He has a dungeon. He really has a dungeon in Phoenix.

Dude, do you want to go there?

I'd love to go there. Pansy Division have actually been to the Dungeon.

I, I don't doubt it for a second. Yeah, a good dungeon is hard to do nowadays, so, hats off.

Nardwuar & Josh

Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age, winding up here, "Feel Good Hit Of The..."

Uh, "Summer."

Was that really used by the police?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, about, um—

Because there was some controversy about the song and the police kept using the song. And I don't mean the band either.

Well, Nick (Olivari) and I got in a little trouble, and so for, in separate matters, and we used it as community service. For the San Diego Police, so it was to discuss drunk driving, to the kids. And so they played that tune. So, to me, that, that was punk…

Rock! Right.

It was, because it was like infiltration y'know?

Winding up here Josh of Queens Of The Stone Age. When you were in Kyuss John Garcia said "people came to see us fight more than to see us play."

Well, in the beginning when we first started playing outside of the desert, y'know, we were just 16 and 17 years old and it's at that time when you're angry and you don't even know why. I think it just has something to do with, my body, dammit, everything!

Do you remember the incident with TSOL at all?

It was actually, it wasn't with TSOL It was with, um, The Joykiller. When they were first getting together, it was at a place called Bogart’s and uh, I can't, I dunno, uh—

They shut off the PA on you or something. You guys kept going and fighting the soundman.

Yeah, it was at this time when we were, we really didn't want to take any shit and we were sort of angry and angsty. Teen angsty. And, uh, they shut off the PA and the monitors. And then they came on stage and tried to get us to stop. And, I mean, what would you do?

Can't stop Kyuss can you?

Not that way, no. You couldn't. So it didn’t turn out too good.

Has anybody tried to stop Queens Of The Stone Age similarly? Or was that just the one-off incident and it will never happen again?

No, I mean things are different now, y'know? Fighting's stupid, y'know? And trying to be a tough guy's stupid.

Lastly here Josh, do you know the name Jeff Hickey at all? Uber-roadie Jeff Hickey?

[laughing] Yeah, I do. He's got three balls.

He really does, doesn’t he?

Yeah, the first day I met him, he goes, "Hey, I'm Jeff and, uh, if you’re ever in a bar and you wanna make a bar bet for drinks, I have three balls and I'm willing to show 'em." And I was like, "I'll… talk… to… you… later."

But it was like deformed matter or something. Like one deformed ball right? Like two real ones and one deformed one.

Dude, your guess is as good as mine 'cause I never got the chance or the challenge to see 'em.

Now he is the ultimate roadie. I think he did stuff with you guys, didn't he?

Yeah he did, yeah he roadied for us a little bit.

So, what's it like when you have a roadie and he's on an airplane and he tries to score drugs from the stewardess?

While, being half-passed out, pinching his nipple? It's bizarre.

Did you get a bit scared thinking "What did I do hiring this guy?"

You know what though? At the time we were trying to get drugs from the captain. So it was like, what do you do, y'know? It was, it was at a strange time when we trying to figure it all out, y'know?

Josh, do you still collect corks?

Yeah, yeah. I have an enormous cork.

How many do you have now? Baboom. I don't want to see your cork either.

Really? You can win a bet with it.

How many do you have? Cause you really do collect corks.

Yeah, I have about seven thousand something. Seven oreight thousand. I don’t know. That’s a big variance, seven or eight thousand, so, like, somewhere between 7000 and 7020.

Did you really meet Frank Zappa, Josh?

No, I didn't. But, Alain Johannes played with him and Alain’s, you gotta meet Alain.

I mean, this is incredible Josh, you have members of Wasted Youth, members of Frank Zappa's band, members of proto metal band, Eleven, as well.

Well, the same people, yeah.

You get a lot covered by having those guys in the band.

Well, y'know, try to find the best people you can to play with and, and that way you can suck and they're really good and it makes you look good.

And that's why you had to take the family tree down on the website, right, it was just getting too big?

It was like family forest. It was getting a bit, um, we did some deforestation.

Josh, anything else you want to add to the people out there at all?

Listen to this man. He knows stuff that you don’t and if you listen to him you'll know stuff you didn’t know before.

Thank you very much Josh, that's very nice of you.

It's true man.

Well, keep on rockin' in the free world and doot doola doot doo...

Doot doo.