Hanging out with Them Crooked Vultures

Wow, so that was a pretty crazy anniversary weekend, huh? First, Them Crooked Vultures rocked it out on Saturday night - more on them in a minute - and then the brand spanking new festival Laneway took up most of my Monday. Just quietly, I'm feeling pretty fatigued.

So yeah, as I said last week, I got to hang out with the Vultures for around an hour before the show on Saturday night. I use the term "hang out" loosely, because I was really only sitting in the same room as them and about 15 other media and label reps.

But it was interesting to see how much rubbish Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones had to put up with. They basically got ordered to sign albums, pose for photos, give people tickets to the show, then sit through the strangest interview ever with a bunch of Japanese guys and a framed photo of a presenter called "George" who couldn't make it here.

Maybe he was too busy having his body cryogenically frozen.

So I had a lot of respect for Josh, John and Dave. They joked and laughed the entire time, while I watched, smiling like the little fanboy I am. Here's an observation: Dave Grohl has arms as thick as my thighs. I wouldn't want to arm wrestle him.

I even got to spend 10 minutes with former Led Zeppelin rocker John Paul Jones. I'm not a fan of question-and-answer type stories - I'm looking at you, lazy journos - but after yesterday's short piece I've had requests for the whole interview, so I'll make an exception just this once.

Here it is:

Do you get down to New Zealand much?
"I was here in 2004 with the Datsuns, that was the last time. It's a long, long way from where I live."

How did the Wellington show go?
"Really well, it was a great show, the crowd was really up for it."

Did you know there was another big band - AC/DC - playing down there as well?
"Yeah, actually there was a nice quote from Josh. They were playing the night before us and the night after, and Josh said they were 'nice buns to our burger'."

Did you ever think you would be doing this again, on this scale?
"I did a couple of years ago, because after the O2 (Led Zeppelin concert) when Robert [Plant] decided he didn't want to do it anymore, Jimmy [Page], Jason [Bonham] and I were going to form another band - which everyone called 'Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant', which it wasn't because we had new music. So I was kind of up for it when Dave [Grohl] suggested it. I didn't have to think very hard. As soon as he said it was Josh [Homme], and we were building it around a trio, it didn't take me long to decide because the other project wasn't going anywhere."

Do you think Them Crooked Vultures has made it up to all the disappointed Led Zeppelin fans out there who wanted a full-scale reunion?
"They've been disapointed a long time, Led Zeppelin fans. They're getting used to it. I hope they like this. There seems to be a lot of Zeppelin T-shirts in the audience, I think they're enjoying it. It doesn't sound like Led Zeppelin but it's got a similar sort of vibe. It's a groovy, exciting rock band."

In Chicago last year there was a massive buzz around your first show after Lollapalooza. Have you been surprised by the passion?
"It was amazing considering nobody had heard any music by then. That was the first show, there was nothing on YouTube and nobody knew anything about it at all really, apart from who was in it. Obviously we've all got our own lot of fans who know each of our music. One interesting thing is a lot of people have come to me and said, 'I didn't really know about Queens of the Stone Age until Crooked Vultures' and said, 'This is really good stuff, isn't it?' All the other fans are discovering our other bands as well, which is really nice. 

Are the other guys in the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age annoyed that you've stolen their frontmen?
No, I don't think so - I haven't really stolen them. It's their guy - it's Dave's fault. But they'll get them back - one day.

Is the Vultures turning into a long-term prospect? Will there be a second album?
"We'll do a second album I think, yeah. This year? Yeah, I think so. By the end of summer, something like that."

How long did it take you guys to click in the studio? Days, hours, minutes?
"A good couple of minutes really. By the first jam. Dave started, I joined in and then came Josh. On the second day we started working on songs. No time at all, no trouble at all."

You're in a unique position to comment on what makes a great rock band. Is it all about your chemistry?
"Yeah, chemistry and good players helps. People who know what they're doing and are passionate about what they're doing and hard workers - we're all hard workers. You would think that because we don't need to do this - in a way we do need to do this, strangely, for ourselves we need to do it - but once we commited to it we worked as hard as a young band would. Put the hours in. It has got to be good obviously - we've got reputations to look after apart from anything else.

Has it turned out like you planned it to?
"It was a kind of plan. We took it one step at a time really, see what would happen. We knew we wanted to play some shows, that was the main thing. As far as Dave was concerned, we had to keep him in the studio. He said, 'Well let's go do some shows.' But we need an album first. 'Oh yeah, but let's go'. We'd do three songs, 'Let's go do some shows.' We need more than three songs, honest Dave."

He looks pretty happy to be behind the drums again.
"Oh yeah, he's very happy, but everyone's happy in that respect. When I was doing my solo stuff everything relied on me, and a lot relied on Josh as leader of Queens of the Stone Age and a lot relied on Dave as leader of the Foo Fighters. It's nice that you can all share the blame in this band. We're all equal."

Do you prefer bigger stadium shows or smaller, more intimate venues?
"I like both. We're a bit too big for the very small places. I don't mean big in terms of drawing power, the music's just a bit too much for a very small place. It was okay right at the beginning but it's outgrown some really tight places. I like 3000-4000.

What if you got as big as Led Zeppelin again. Are you ready for that?
"I don't mind arenas. Ten thousand to 12,000 is good. Stadiums I don't like much. I'm not very keen on those. Everything just gets lost. I remember the Zeppelin stadium shows. Everyone was there because they kind of felt they had to be, rather than to hear some music. It was an event that you should attend. It's okay, you can get them singing along but we're not really that kind of band. Stadium gigs are like karaoke moments where everyone sings along and the band just plays."

I read one great quote from you saying you wanted to "melt people's faces off". Do you think you're doing that?
"I think so, yeah. We certainly did in Chicago that night, they couldn't believe it - they didn't really know what to expect and weren't ready for the intensity of it. I think they just didn't believe it was going to be like it was. It melted their faces, pretty muchy."

Were you nervous before that show?
"Not really nervous. We wanted to get it right. We weren't as relaxed as we are now. You have an idea that people are going to like it, because we like it, and you're experienced enough to know that it's not weird and 'out there' but we want to make sure it's good, and it's as good as it can  be."

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