Josh Homme
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| Josh Homme | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joshua Michael Homme III |
| Also known as | Carlo Von Sexron (King) Baby Duck The Ginger Elvis The Vulture of Culture JHo |
| Genre(s) | Stoner Rock Hard Rock Heavy Metal Alternative Metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Producer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar Vocals Bass Lap Steel Piano Drums |
| Years active | 1987-Present |
| Label(s) | Dali Records Elektra Records Roadrunner Records Bongload Records Loosegroove Records Rekords Rekords Interscope Records Southern Lord Records |
| Associated acts | Kyuss Queens of the Stone Age Eagles of Death Metal Mondo Generator Goon Moon Masters of Reality The Desert Sessions Screaming Trees Fififf Teeners |
| Website | http://www.qotsa.com/ |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Gibson Marauder Custom Maton MS503 Maton MS524 Epiphone Dot Maton BB1200 "Betty Blue" Motor Ave Bel Aire Maton MS526 Maton MS500 12 String Homme Signature Gibson Barney Kessel Signature Yamaha SA503 TVL Teisco '68 V-2 |
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Joshua Michael Homme (born May 17, 1973[1] in Joshua Tree, California) is an American Rock musician. He was a founding member of the desert rock band Kyuss, as well as the founding and only continuous member of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA), in which he generally sings and plays guitar. However, Homme is a multi-instrumentalist and is also known for contributing bass, drums and keyboard. He co-founded and occasionally performs with Eagles of Death Metal as its drummer, and continues to produce and release a musical improv series with other musicians, mostly from the Palm Desert Scene, known as The Desert Sessions.
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[edit] Early life
Homme was born in Joshua Tree, California and grew up in the suburbs of Palm Desert. He learned to play guitar at age nine. His earliest musical influences included crossover hardcore punk bands Black Flag, GBH, and Discharge, as well as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top among others. According to an interview with NME in the summer of 2007, thrash metal band Slayer also had a profound impact on his career.
[edit] Kyuss
At age 14 in 1987, Homme formed a local stoner rock act in Palm Desert called Sons of Kyuss (later shortened to Kyuss) as their lead guitarist. The band became a cult phenomenon through the early nineties. Homme often preferred that the band drove for hours out to isolated locations in the desert and plug into generators to perform, and these events, known as "Generator Parties" became urban legend among rock sub-culture.
In concert with Kyuss, Homme would frequently toy with his equipment in order to gain a more psychedelic tone, often playing his pawnshop Ovation Ultra GP jazz guitar through old Ampeg bass amplifiers and an array of pedals while tuning his guitar two steps lower than normal, thus adding a heavier mood to the songs. When heckled or booed, he would frequently point out the heckler to the crowd and unleash a slew of profanity that included encouraging or challenging the heckler to a fight, something that has continued in his shows with QOTSA as featured in their DVD release Over the Years and Through the Woods.
[edit] Queens of the Stone Age
Kyuss split up in 1995 and Homme went on tour with grunge act The Screaming Trees as their second guitarist to fill spare time. He and vocalist Mark Lanegan became close friends during their time touring, and Homme would later recruit Lanegan as an additional vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age. Disliking the band's constant arguing and lack of progression, Homme left the group after less than a year. He assembled a group more centered to his unique style and tastes in founding Gamma Ray which later became Queens of the Stone Age in 1997. QOTSA released their eponymous debut album in 1998. Originally, he had asked a number of singers, including Lanegan, to perform as lead vocalist for QOTSA, but ended up singing lead for the first time in his career.
Following their debut, the band released several singles and EPs. With the next album, Rated R, Homme sought a more conceptual approach. His lyrics centered around the media of the 1990's. Despite differences from the band's debut, Rated R became the band's first mainstream hit. The next release, 2002's Songs for the Deaf , however, would gain even more buzz from the music community and fans alike. In Deaf Homme continued his filtering of stoner metal and hard rock through the progressive rock aesthetic. The album centers around Homme's memories of an uncomfortable ride through the California desert, where he had performed in his days with Kyuss, and where there was little else to listen to but Spanish radio stations. Deaf was the first album with QOTSA in which Homme used more graphic language and toyed with multiple genres.
During this time, Homme allegedly had a falling out with bassist and friend Nick Oliveri over his hard partying and domestic violence. Following the release of Deaf , their relationship deteriorated until Homme fired Oliveri from the band in 2004. Enjoying the fame that QOTSA had accumulated for the last few years, Homme began writing their next album, Lullabies to Paralyze. Based on a lyric from a Deaf song, the album was another concept piece, this time focusing on the occult and folklore common in children's storybooks. As Deaf had been symbolized by the image of a sperm entering an egg (depicted as a stylized "Q", a recurring moniker for the band), Lullabies was in many ways a sequel to the album, with many songs oriented to the folklore nature.
Homme's latest work, QOTSA's Era Vulgaris was released in early June 2007 and received generally positive reviews from critics. It too is somewhat conceptual, portraying modern Hollywood and celebrity excess in the 2000's.
[edit] Side projects
Other acts with which Homme has collaborated include Mondo Generator, Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey, Fatso Jetson, Mark Lanegan Band, Trent Reznor, Masters of Reality, Millionaire, Wellwater Conspiracy, U.N.K.L.E., Melissa Auf der Maur, Paz Lenchantin, A Perfect Circle, Death from Above 1979, Earthlings?, Mastodon, Peaches, and Local H.
Homme was featured on Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen in the song "Stone Cold Crazy", on Blood Mountain by Mastodon, in the song "Colony of Birchmen", and on Impeach My Bush by Peaches in the song "Give 'Er".
Homme, along with friend and Kyuss/QOTSA contributor/producer Chris Goss performed as "The 5:15ers" at the inaugural ArthurBall (an offshoot of the ArthurFest festival) in Los Angeles on January 26, 2006.[2]. The two were credited as "The Fififf Teeners" when they co-produced QOTSA's second album Rated R and their latest disc, Era Vulgaris.
[edit] Personal life
Homme and his wife, Spinnerette frontwoman Brody Dalle have a daughter named Camille Harley Homme, born on January 17, 2006. They live in Palm Springs.
| "I learned nothing through anger management." Josh Homme, June 2007[3] |
In 2004, Homme was involved in a scuffle with Dwarves frontman Blag Dahlia at an L.A. club. Homme taunted Dahlia, poured beer on his head and struck him with the empty bottle. Homme was ordered to remain at least 100 yards (100 m) away from Dahlia and the club, was sentenced to 3 years probation with community service, and was forced to enter a rehab program for 60 days. [4] On The Dwarves' 2004 album, The Dwarves Must Die, Homme is mentioned in the song "Massacre". "This one goes out to Queens of the Trust-Fund, you slept on my floor, now I'm sleeping through your motherfuckin' records." This jab may have been behind the fight between Homme and Dahlia.[5]Coined "Queens' rough rider" by the Los Angeles Times, Homme collects motorcycles and rides a rare, post-war Falcon Motorcycle.[6]
In a radio interview[7], Homme and Nick Oliveri agreed to give the LAPD permission to use the song Feel Good Hit of the Summer in anti-drunk driving films in return for a reduced sentence.
[edit] Name and pseudonyms
Homme's surname is of Norwegian origin, and is believed to come from the town Valle, Norway. Homme is known for never giving a straight answer as to how his last name is pronounced, but on several occasions (the BBC radio documentary "Time For Heroes: The Pixies" and on his secret "fan letter" on the final track of Mastodon's album Blood Mountain), he pronounced it as rhyming with "mommy", and this has been generally accepted as the proper Norwegian pronunciation amongst the fanbase, however according to the most commonly used Norwegian variants the right pronunciation would be [hummə]. When Homme was interviewed in 2005 he again pronounced his surname as rhyming with "mommy". Josh Homme pronounces his name, 647k OGG file [8] Despite this, his surname is most frequently heard pronounced in an American English interpretation of the spelling, rhyming with "home".
[edit] Pseudonyms
Homme adopted the pseudonym "Carlo Von Sexron" to credit his playing of bass, keyboard, piano, and drums on such albums as the self-titled debut Queens of the Stone Age, Desert Sessions Volumes 3 & 4, and Peace, Love, Death Metal from Eagles of Death Metal.[9]
Homme is also known as "(King) Baby Duck" to Dalle and the members of Eagles of Death Metal.[10] He is also referred to as "J.Ho." and "The Ginger Elvis"[11] Among fans and the music press, he is largely considered a modern sex symbol, and is nicknamed "The Ginger Elvis".
[edit] Musical equipment
Homme's traditional setup has been Ovation Ultra GP guitars (3 different finishes, though the wine red one is rarely seen) played through a collection of Ampeg Vt-22 combos. The Ovation guitars were part of a limited production run, with less than 1000 made in 1984. Homme is evasive about his guitar equipment, choosing to either change the subject or even lie when asked about his setup in interviews. However it has been established that Homme owns three 1984 Ovation GPs (one sunburst, one black, and one red),[12] and that he often downtunes his guitar to C standard.
In the early days of Kyuss, Homme used Peavey amps and was also seen with a B.C. Rich Mockingbird but by the time of "Blues for the Red Sun" he was back using his Ovation GP along with Marshall amplifiers and Ampeg bass cabs. On this tour he was also seen using a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop and a cream-colored Gibson SG. Towards the end of Kyuss he moved from Marshall amplifiers to Tube Works amps, still supplemented by Ampeg bass cabs. Homme was sometimes seen playing an ultra rare cream-colored Gibson Les Paul double-cut that was owned by latter-day Kyuss roadie Dave Catching.
[edit] Queens of the Stone Age-era gear
During the tours up until Lullabies to Paralyze, Homme used the following:
- Gibson Marauder Custom
- Maton MS503
- Maton MS524
- Epiphone Dot
For the Lullabies to Paralyze tour and record, he retired the GPs, and played almost exclusively semihollow guitars, including:
- Maton BB1200 "Betty Blue" in Black, Blue, Red Wine and a Tobacco with Scroll Tailpiece
- Motor Ave Bel Aire - Black with Silver scratchplate
- Maton MS526 with Bigsby
- Maton MS500 12 String Homme Signature (Josh Homme's signature guitar)
- Gibson Barney Kessel Signature
- Yamaha SA503 TVL in Black (Troy Van Leeuwen's signature guitar)
- Teisco '68 V-2
- Epiphone Dot
In addition to guitar Homme frequently plays bass guitar, such as on "Burn the Witch" and "Long Slow Goodbye," as well as every track on QOTSA's debut album except for "You Would Know" and "Give the Mule What He Wants." Homme also plays the drums with Eagles of Death Metal, on The Desert Sessions as well as on some QOTSA tracks.
Additionally, an Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexiglass guitar is featured in the video for "Sick, Sick, Sick".
Pedalboard:
- Dunlop QZ-1 Crybaby Q-Zone
- Electro Harmonix POG
- Fulltone Ultimate Octave
- BOSS GEB-7 Equalizer
- Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
- SIB Echodrive (x2)
- Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah
- Fulltone Fat-Boost
[edit] Discography
- Further information: Josh Homme discography
[edit] Queens of the Stone Age
- Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age (1997)
- The Split CD (1998)
- Queens of the Stone Age (1998)
- Rated R (2000)
- Songs for the Deaf (2002)
- Stone Age Complications (2004)
- Lullabies to Paralyze (2005)
- Over the Years and Through the Woods (2005)
- Era Vulgaris (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ IMDB entry: Joshua Homme [1]
- ^ The 5:15ers with Josh Homme and Chris Goss. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
- ^ Queens' rough rider: as Josh Homme cleans up his act, his band gets raves for a new album. (article). Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ QOTSA's Homme Gets Probation for Fight - Aversion.com
- ^ The Homme/Dahlia Beef (blog post). Coolfer.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ Queens' rough rider: as Josh Homme cleans up his act, his band gets raves for a new album. (article). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
- ^ http://nardwuar.com/stream.php?url=http://serviette.ca/radio_show/nw20070914.mp3
- ^ taken from an interview with KBZT radio station, May 19, 2005. 27 seconds in length
- ^ Allmusic.com entry for Carlo von Sexron
- ^ Montgomery, James. "QOTSA's Josh Homme, Brody Dalle Expecting Their First Child", MTV News. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ Queens Of The Stone Age: Homme's 'haunty' new axe ((web posting)). Kerrang!. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Equipment", Thefade.net. Includes short interview on guitar playing
[edit] External links
- Feel Good Hit Of The Queens Feel Good Hit Of The Queens - a German fansite
- Queens of the Stone Age official site
- Eagles of Death Metal official site
- Desert Sessions official site
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Homme, Joshua |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Homme, Josh |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American rock musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 17, 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Joshua Tree, California, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
