The music Josh Homme thanked God for: “Three minutes of nothing to worry about”
As the tectonic plates of rock have shifted in the past 30 years, there have been but a handful of musicians standing in between them, desperate to provide some level of musical consistency.
While he’s an innovative musician in his own right, Josh Homme has provided that stability, with a guitar in one hand and a plectrum in the other, ready to deliver raucous riffs that channel the true spirit of rock.
Britpop and grunge fell away in the 1990s, to a new era of indie sleaze in the noughties. Then came the 2010s, which almost disintegrated rock altogether, as the musical landscape became awash with bland electronica. But throughout it all, Homme remained, releasing music under several projects, with different legends, to continue his rock and roll worship.
Right beside him in that endeavour has always been Dave Grohl, a kindred spirit from the same era of rock and roll, they’ve kept the spirit burning together. “He’s one of the longest romances I’ve had that’s worked,” he said. “He’s such a good guy, but I also love his dark side.”
Later, he added, “I love mixing our watercolours together like that, just in conversation. We go to this place – that I won’t name – just to eat breakfast and waffles and talk about times.”
Their kinship is largely built on music, but strengthened by the trauma of existing through the same heady music scenes – one that, for a brief moment, Grohl reigned over with Nirvana. Homme swam in the punkey sludge with Nirvana, as a friend but even more so as a fan, watching how the band could create hard-edged, melodic punk songs that somehow spoke to the masses.
But perhaps more importantly for his own career, Homme watched as the commercial expectation of a band as authentic as Nirvana ebbed away at their true rock and roll spirit. It’s no wonder Homme has cracked the nut of rock and roll consistency in his career; it’s because he had a front row seat to how quickly it can be derailed.
“Being close to that world as it was going down, I met Kurt and Dave and Krist,” Homme began. “I watched Kurt get more bummed about how big everything was getting – and yet the songs just got more acidic and better.”
Adding, “Being famous was obviously overwhelming for him and too complex for him to understand how to deal with it, but he didn’t make the music pay for it. That was wonderful. Even now, whenever a Nirvana song comes on, I’m always like, ‘Thank you! Three minutes of nothing to worry about.'”
Fast forward three decades, and Homme has carved out a career whereby his name is referenced by future generations as the musician who paved the way for melodic heavy rock. Albums with John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl, and Iggy Pop all cement his legacy as a modern-day great.
But none of that would have existed without the musical stewardship of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and their brand of innovative grunge in the ‘90s.
