February 18, 2004 11:18

RIFT OF THE STONE AGE

The star tells NME.COM it's more important to stay "brothers" than bandmates with the departed Nick Oliveri...

Photo Gallery: Queens Of The Stone Age
Photo: Phil Wallis

JOSH HOMME has spoken exclusively to NME.COM about NICK OLIVERI leaving Queens Of The Stone Age.

Josh, who has been friends with Nick since they were teenagers, told NME.COM last week that the split was the "hardest thing" but that he’d rather stay "brothers" with Nick than carry on with the band in its current state.

The day after playing his debut show with his other band Eagles Of Death Metal at the London Met Bar (February 10), we spoke to him backstage at Brixton Academy.

Josh explained that the split has come as the result of a "number of incidents occurring over the last 18 months" but refused to go into exact details. Rumours had been circulating that Josh has become unhappy with Nick’s partying and that things came to a head on the band's tour of Australia earlier this year.

Josh told NME: "For me it’s the hardest thing. I will never talk shit about my bro or anything like that. Nick and I are still definitely that. I love making music and stuff but it’s more important to me to be brothers with Nick.

"Queens Of The Stone Age is a family of intense individuals. Everyone in the band is an individual and that was by design. It was what we were all looking for, to harness the chaos. There’s events that always happen. The thing that always brought Nick and I together is that we have different styles of doing the same thing. Nick is probably one of the most unafraid people I know, and I’m not afraid either. And that’s the reason we’re friends."

For his part, Nick is thought to have given a statement to unofficial fan site www.mondogenerator.net. He said: "I'm going to try to talk him into playing music with me. I didn't quit. I just don't get it. I just need to talk to Josh, but now I can't get in touch with him. I didn't get married to get divorced, and I didn't join this band to quit it. I'm not a quitter, I want to make another fuckin' record, I think Queens is a great fuckin' band. It's crazy the band of no rules now has fuckin' rules. I just want people to know because I'm not a fuckin' flake and I didn't quit."

Now, Josh is concentrating on the fourth Queens Of The Stone Age album, which will be a return to his roots and inspired by the events of the last year. Recording sessions are due to start in spring, with the album scheduled to come out before the end of the year.

For more, see this week’s issue, dated February 21, out now.

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