{"id":387764,"date":"2026-10-30T11:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T11:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/387764\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T11:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T11:10:11","slug":"queens-of-the-stone-age-the-goal-of-music-for-us-is-to-be-able-to-play-things-that-are-difficult-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/387764\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens Of The Stone Age: \u201cThe goal of music for us is to be able to play things that are difficult to say\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Josh Homme<\/a> Week! Or at least that\u2019s how it feels when NME meets Queens Of The Stone Age<\/a> in a fancy London hotel during a wild headline-grabbing few days of supporting System Of A Down at Spurs Stadium<\/a>, dropping mad collabs with Mastodon<\/a> and *checks notes* Shania Twain<\/a> as well as their own eyebrow-raising launch single \u2018Easy Street\u2019, personally serving the music media tequila at a playback party for weird and wonderful new album \u2018Perfecth<\/a>\u2018, and even finding time for the frontman to shoot an episode of Celebrity Gogglebox<\/a> with his pal and Scissor Sisters<\/a> frontman Jake Shears<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrinking and watching telly with your mate? It\u2019s a piece of cake,\u201d shrugs Homme. We chat briefly about the frontman and bandmate Michael \u2018Mikey Shoes\u2019 Shuman\u2019s love of dry but WTF leftfield British TV comedy (namely Monty Python, The Mighty Boosh, Garth Merenghi\u2019s Darkplace, and the work of Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, and Philomena Cunk) and the surreal nature of the band timeline and diary right now make a lot more sense. \u201cI do have a fondness for world-jumping,\u201d the frontman admits. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes me happy: wherever I\u2019m not supposed to be, there I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about the afterworld? One place the desert rock icons never thought they\u2019d find themselves was among the bones of six million souls beneath the streets of Paris, capturing the once-in-a-lifetime performance in the stark but stunning Alive In The Catacombs<\/a> and Homme\u2019s own tandem dance with death via a cancer battle and tour-cancelled \u201cmedical emergency\u201d in the accompanying documentary Alive In Paris And Before<\/a>. Both felt like a sharp intake of breath in the face of mortality. A stripped-back and more theatrical tour followed<\/a> in the same vein last year, with QOTSA out of their hard-rocking comfort zone and seemingly taking stock and trying to reconfigure everything about them.<\/p>\n

\"QueensQueens Of The Stone Age at Royal Albert Hall (Photo by Jim Dyson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn your own life, you search for stability and a sense of peace in your own home and things of that nature, but when it comes to performing music I never look for that, at all,\u201d says Homme. \u201cI want chaos and uncertainty. Those are moments to experiment and almost feel underwater with those emotions. It\u2019s the right place for that. The \u2018Catacombs\u2019 shows were terrifying to do because there was nowhere to hide. That\u2019s exactly the sort of thing we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

That search led them deep down the rabbit hole for their ninth album, the cheekily-titled \u2018Perftech\u2019 \u2013 something far more expansive and soulful that you\u2019ve ever heard from the famously jagged \u2018No One Knows\u2019 arena-rattlers before, exploring all the different incarnations of love with the many wonders, unknowns and spaces between that come with it to reach the very human conclusion that \u201cthere is no perfection, and that\u2019s OK,\u201d explains Homme. \u201cIt\u2019s perhaps an ideal you strive for, but not something to expect,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n

Watch our full interview with the band at the top of the page, or read on below as Homme and Shuman open up about letting music say what the heart can\u2019t, why love is such a funny thing, covering \u201cthe motherfucker\u201d Iggy Pop<\/a>, and the joy of\u00a0sitting back and enjoying the wild ride of the unknown. \u201cI think our consistency is in our volatility,\u201d says Homme, \u201cwhich I know sounds like jumbo shrimp or central intelligence, but that\u2019s what we have to offer: the uncertainty of an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QueensQueens Of The Stone Age, 2026. Credit: Andreas Neumann<\/p>\n

NME: Hello Queens Of The Stone Age. One thing that really came through the \u2018Catacombs\u2019 film and documentary was the family bond in Queens. Do you think that everything you went through with your health issues, being given the all clear \u2013 did that tighten up your chemistry heading into this record?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cObviously there are all types of bands and the relationships they have. We\u2019re sort of like a gang. That\u2019s where our desire is: to figure out how to communicate and understand each other better. When we start making new music, we get to skip a bunch of steps because it\u2019s already understood. The goal of music for us is to be able to play things that are difficult to say. It requires that bond to get closer to the essence of playing how you feel about something, whatever that topic is. It\u2019s become a necessity for us as a band where, if we have any differences, we have to figure them out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that topic is chaos, we need to know that we\u2019re ready to go. This is an experiment in trying to do something that you think is cool, if you\u2019re really trying to simplify it. It\u2019s better if we\u2019re on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we last spoke<\/a>, you said that previous album \u2018In Times New Roman<\/a>\u2019 was you \u201ctrying to write your way out of your troubles\u201d. Where were you at this time? What was music to you?<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cHonestly, this is a record about all the facets of love. I don\u2019t think that we could have or I could have written about that exclusively in the years previous, but we\u2019re here now. I think writing about family, friends, significant others, insignificant others, the immense soul-crushing brutality of heartbreak and how love is the only conduit to some semblance of hope \u2013 there are so many facets to the mental health issue that is love. It\u2019s nice to be able to finally participate in something as simple as that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QueensQueens Of The Stone Age In Conversation with NME. Credit: NME<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that you\u2019ve been on the road with System Of A Down and Foo Fighters<\/a>; they say there\u2019s something of a rock renaissance going on, and yet you\u2019ve come back with an album that\u2019s so weird, heartfelt and nuanced\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cWe always seem to be in the wrong spot with all this trending shit. We really need to pay attention more and capitalise on our market share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shuman: \u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019d already made the record, but we were late to the party, but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re trying to do when we make a record. We\u2019re trying to challenge ourselves, go past the boundaries and past the walls. Josh talked about getting over the wall of fear, and that\u2019s exactly what we did. We discussed that as we went past it. It felt like the right record to make, especially as we were living in The Catacombs world for a year. It just felt the most natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of conversations were you having about making such an atmospheric record?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cIf what you\u2019re doing is enjoying trying to figure out how to sonically play an emotion, then you get obsessed with that, and that\u2019s your art project. How do you play what it feels like to let go? How do you play heartache and make it sound as close to that as possible?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re getting swept away and figuring out those things, then you don\u2019t really give a fuck if there\u2019s a rock renaissance going on. That just sounds like a sticker someone would put on a piece of ham to try to sell it before it goes bad! I think it\u2019s OK to allow yourself to enjoy the gift of doing this as a job. I think there\u2019s an obligation to mine the bizarre recesses of your personality and the experiences that we all go through. People die, people are born, people walk away, people come close. Examining that stuff feels interesting and complicated. The rest of the parts of this really melt away when you focus in on those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mikey, you\u2019re a named producer on this album. What led to you going all-in?<\/p>\n

Shuman: \u201cJosh and I just spent a lot of time together in the studio coming out of \u2018In Times New Roman\u2019 and into this record. We spent a lot of time discussing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cWe also recorded all over the place, so the songs needed to be tied together. We just spent a lot of time figuring out to pull together all of these disparate corners of music. Ironically, there\u2019s a lack of consistency, so we\u2019d just say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s just sort of a quilt of things. It\u2019s bringing this patchwork of different sonic things\u2019. It\u2019s not like there\u2019s one sound all the way through; in fact, it\u2019s more like a Beastie Boys record where it feels like listening to a mixtape. If you just allow that, it\u2019s fine. It needed to be brought together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Easy Street\u2019 was a very surprising introduction single to the record. What does it tell us about the world of \u2018Perfecth\u2019?<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of gallows humour in the song, but it really is just a wish to end up on \u2018Easy Street\u2019 yourself, and that you can share that location with the people you care about. A girl\u2019s gotta dream, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell us about this new version of \u2018Sunday\u2019 \u2013 why did you decide to revisit that song from your 2016 Iggy Pop collab \u2018Post Pop Depression<\/a>\u2019 for this record?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cI was walking away from recording that song at night from one building to the next when we were in Joshua Tree. I liked that song so much I thought, \u2018I\u2019m gonna keep it to myself\u2019. For I realised something for the Iggy session, and in the morning I said, \u2018I came up with this song last night, and I almost kept it to myself, but that\u2019s not the point of this. I want you to know that you have everything that I have to give for \u2018Post Pop Depression\u2019. The way of proving it was saying, \u2018It\u2019s not mine or yours, it\u2019s ours. And if we ever need to, we\u2019ll just cover it\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a roadmap there in \u2018China Girl\u2019 [an Iggy and David Bowie<\/a> collab recorded by both artists] that already showed this pathway. The record really needed something jiggly that bubbles like \u201870s French disco. That song really does that thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QueensQueens Of The Stone Age In Conversation with NME. Credit: NME
\n\"QueensQueens Of The Stone Age In Conversation with NME. Credit: NME<\/p>\n

What does Iggy think of your version?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cHe fucking hates it\u2026 No, we got his blessing. In all of rock n\u2019 roll, Iggy is really something special and individual. I think it\u2019s amazing that he\u2019s the one who outlasted them all. There\u2019s something of a roadmap there in being yourself, and how even when that is a very lonely journey, you must move forward. He\u2019s the motherfucker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did reworking this song give you the hunger to work with Iggy again?<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cMy door is always open to Iggy, but these things can\u2019t be forced. They happen when they\u2019re supposed to happen, and that\u2019s the way it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Catacombs and with this album being such a different vibe, what do you have in mind for the upcoming tour?<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cWell, there\u2019s a lot to cover. I think the Catacombs have changed us forever, and so there is no going back \u2013 there\u2019s only forward. I think we\u2019re going to do something that\u2019s beyond what we\u2019ve ever done before. We learned something about the theatrics of all that, almost Vaudeville and magic. We\u2019re going to do something I really don\u2019t want to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh, you\u2019ve said that this album is the beginning of the band\u2019s third act. What does that mean to you, and how do you approach the music from here?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homme: \u201cWell, I just felt that if the Catacombs should ever happen, then it would signal a moment to pivot. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s right or wrong, but I\u2019ve always felt that every artist has three phases that you go through. It\u2019s important not to rush through them. When you\u2019re starting out and you think you\u2019re doing things that the world has never seen before, which is a thought that only someone in their twenties could have. Then the second phase of this you understand where you\u2019re at and you start to understand what\u2019s possible and start to push boundaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, that second phase was war and attack, to push buttons and look for chaos and thrive in that. That third act is about searching for peace somehow, and taking part in being a part of not just your own peace but others as well; allowing things that were maybe terrifying previously to just be terrifying and accept them, but what do I know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Perfecth\u2019 by Queens Of The Stone Age is out now.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Happy Josh Homme Week! Or at least that\u2019s how it feels when NME meets Queens Of The Stone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[140965,9,24,63,122,124,123,601],"class_list":["post-387764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-in-conversation","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}