The Wiz: Desert Rock Pt. 3
Desert Rock Week, part three. What connects a German hangover, Dungeons & Dragons and a generator? "Kyuss"!
The band that took desert and stoner rock out of the desert and into the world.
The beginning
In the small Southern California town of Palm Desert, 14-year-old skateboarder and drummer Brant Bjork decided to form a punk-rock band named "Katzenjammer", a German word associated with a hangover.
He joined forces with his friend Chris Cockrell on bass, fellow "Black Sabbath" fan Nick Oliveri on guitar and another guitarist they knew, Josh Homme. With singer John Garcia aboard, the band became "Sons of Kyuss", after a Dungeons & Dragons creature.
Like any small scene, the teenagers worked with what they had. With nowhere to play, rather than have neighbors call police or parents silence them, they took a generator into the desert.
Bjork said music sounded different there. Drums and guitars had to sound bigger, which helped shape the band's identity.
For all their romantic appeal, these generator parties became increasingly unregulated and dangerous as crowds grew, with fights, guns and fires.
Oliveri left before their 1989 EP and later returned on bass in place of Cockrell. The band shortened its name to "Kyuss" before releasing its debut full-length album, "Wretch", in 1991.
The turning point
Their next producer, Chris Goss, recognized and refined the direction. He had already worked with his own band, "Masters of Reality", alongside Rick Rubin. He heard both the musical potential and the spirit behind it.
While some rock listeners mourned the passing of 1980s hair metal and others embraced grunge, stories of California desert generator parties and their heavier, stoner-infused punk spirit spread. The ingredients came together on the breakthrough "Blues for the Red Sun" (1992).
Many began imitating the sound, but "Kyuss" had something special. Suddenly the desert generator band was opening for "Faith No More" and "Metallica". Here they are in Australia in 1993.
The crisis
Despite their growing reputation, Oliveri left before the third album, "Welcome to Sky Valley" (1994), and Bjork departed after it. Homme and Bjork had written much of the music, with royalties shared between the four members. Bjork said conflict over writing and the band's direction damaged its spirit. They made one final album, the prophetically titled "...And the Circus Leaves Town" (1995), before splitting.
A temporary revival and the members' futures
Their influence, and that of the genre, arguably became clearer once the grunge and post-grunge clouds lifted.
Homme experimented further through "The Desert Sessions", with Bjork appearing on some recordings, before refining his approach into the arena-filling "Queens of the Stone Age".
For more about Homme and the band, explore the excellent "Queens of the Stone Age Israel" page. Happy 47th birthday today, May 17, to the great redhead!
A roughly 15-minute interview from a film about the desert scene, with Homme discussing "Kyuss":
In 2011, Bjork, Oliveri and Garcia briefly revived the music as "Kyuss Lives!".
At Pinkpop in 2012:
Following a legal dispute with Homme over the name, Bjork and Garcia continued as "Vista Chino". Oliveri soon returned to "Mondo Generator". After an album and touring,
More about Bjork in my separate piece, part two of Desert Rock Week:
Oliveri spent several years with "Queens of the Stone Age", describing the period with Dave Grohl drumming as a wonderful time, before being dismissed over behavioral problems. He has made solo records and is particularly active with the more metal-influenced "Mondo Generator".
A few extra details
Bjork and Homme disliked the stoner-rock label. Ironically, Bjork once noted that although they differed in many ways, smoking together was something they shared.
In one desert-scene documentary, Homme recalls Oliveri arriving at school already thoroughly stoned. He also gave him the nickname Pierre Pressure, for persuading others to do things they perhaps should not.
Bjork is part of the California Desert Wizards Association, producing shows and festivals, including bigger-generator gatherings in their home desert.
In the image, counterclockwise from upper-right: a generator, a generator party, a German with a hangover, the Dungeons & Dragons Son of Kyuss, the classic lineup of Homme, Bjork, Garcia and Oliveri, Chris Goss and "Kyuss Lives!".
Wishing everyone a good and blessed week!
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