The members of Kyuss saw the desert as a key ingredient of their music that couldn’t be found elsewhere. Singer John Garcia told the LA Times in 1994, “The desert is the key ingredient in our sound. We’re always trying to work the desert vibe into our music.”
Kids From the Palm Desert Form Katzenjammer
Kyuss’ roots date back to the Palm Desert, when a 14 year old drummer named Brant Bjork, formed a band with his best friend, bassist Chris Cockrell. They started jamming with a metal-loving schoolmate of theirs, Nick Oliveri. They soon added a second guitarist, Josh Homme and called themselves Katzenjammer.
Katzenjammer Becomes Sons of Kyuss
The band eventually changed their name to Sons of Kyuss after they added vocalist John Garcia.
Located two hours from Los Angeles, there weren’t a lot of venues for the band to play. The band packed up their equipment including a generator, a light, and a keg and played in the middle of nowhere for free and had their own party. These gigs were referred to as generator parties.
“If people don’t like you, they tell you. You can’t suck.” – Josh Homme
While these generator parties were free gigs, Josh Homme stressed that crowds could be hard to win over, revealing to Billboard, “If people don’t like you, they tell you. You can’t suck.”
While many in the media seemed to romanticize or glamorize these gigs, the generator parties started to get bigger and soon changed for the worse. Brant would tell Loudersound the reality of the parties, revealing, “It was like Altamont every weekend,” referring to the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones gig.
“…That’s what’s so ironic about people romanticizing those parties. You had a lot of fun, but it was primal and dangerous.” – Brant Bjork
“There was no security, no nothing. That’s what’s so ironic about people romanticizing those parties. You had a lot of fun, but it was primal and dangerous. When it got bigger, a lot of people gave up, because more and more people showed up who weren’t necessarily into punk rock or music – they just wanted something to do. When you bring all those people together from different parts of the desert, it turns into tribal warfare! You get a lot of guns and stabbings, and that’s what really ended it.”
The band changed their name from Katzenjammer to Sons of Kyuss in 1989 and it was around this time that Nick Oliveri left the group and the band shrunk to a four piece temporarily.
The following year they released their self-titled EP on their own label, Black Highway Music. Following the release of that EP, Chris Cockrell left the band and former guitarist Nick Oliveri came back into the fold, but transitioned over to the bass.
Kyuss only made about 500 copies of their EP and started selling them to local record stores, but it was a woman named Catherine Enny who managed the recording studio where the band recorded their first EP, who took the band under her wing and started booking shows for the group in Los Angeles.
“…Actually a lot of people hated us. I think we got into fights 13…14 shows in a row.” – Josh Homme
By 1990, Kyuss started playing clubs in LA . Initially, they weren’t well received. Homme would tell Billboard magazine, “It was weird. There were still a lot of hair bands around. Actually a lot of people hated us. I think we got into fights 13…14 shows in a row.”
The band would sign with independent record label Dali who put out their debut album Wretch in September of ’91. Several of the songs that were found on their first EP would reappear on Wretch, in a rerecorded form.
While the album didn’t sell a lot of copies, the band’s fortunes in LA soon changed with Kyuss becoming a well respected act around the city. They caught the attention of a writer named Chris ‘Hot Rod’ Long who wrote for a publication named Hollywood Rocks. Long was also a club promoter and he would later go on to become an A & R man for Chameleon Records.
Chris Long admitted to Billboard magazine, “I did tons of stuff on them. I wrote about them in every issue for two months and by late 1990 and early 1991, major labels started showing interest in the band.” They eventually signed with Chameleon Records.
The band’s first release through the label was Blues for the Red Sun in 1992. The album was produced by guitarist Chris Goss, who was also from the Palm Desert and had struck up a relationship with the group after attending several of their generator parties. He understood the band’s music and knew how to capture their sound in the studio.
Scott Reeder Replaces Nick Oliveri
Following the record’s release, Oliveri once again left the group and was replaced by Scott Reeder.
Blues for the Red Sun immediately gained traction, picking up major airplay in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, and Chicago. MTV also added “Thong Song” and “Green Machine” to their lineup for Headbangers Ball. Spin Magazine labeled the record as one of the top 10 most underrated albums of the year.
“There’s a commitment to being genuine that I love about Kyuss.” – Chris Goss
MTV wanted to come out to the Palm Desert and film one of their generator parties, but the band declined. Goss revealed to the LA Times why the band said no to MTV, “I thought that was the coolest thing. There’s a commitment to being genuine that I love about Kyuss. Those parties are something that the local kids really enjoy. Why make it flavour of the week?”
Kyuss Tours with Faith No More, Danzig and White Zombie
To support the record, the band toured with the likes of Faith No More, Danzig and White Zombie, but awareness of the group really took off when they opened for Metallica in early 1993 in Australia.
While Blues for the Red Sun was hugely influential, it wasn’t a big seller. It only moved about 39,000 copies but they were on a small label and according to Billboard magazine at the time, they had the biggest awareness of any band whose last album sold close to 40,000 copies.
Chameleon Records Previews Welcome to Sky Valley
Chameleon Records was excited about the band’s follow-up record, Welcome to Sky Valley, and soon started previewing it for some of the biggest names in the rock and the metal press in late 1993.
Then, Chameleon records folded. Homme told Billboard, “It was a pretty big shock. I kinda think that I knew that it was going to happen someday, but we could be the label’s saviour band. The morning before the closure, I’d had great conversations with the people at the label.”
According to the same Billboard article, Chameleon Records had a relationship with Elektra who signed the band. It was Elektra Records’ Vice President of A & R, Steve Ralbovsky who initially showed interest in the group.
Kyuss Signs with Elektra Records
Ralbovsky started reaching out to Metallica and Nirvana as well as industry agents and managers about Kyuss and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Soon enough, the band was signed to the label.
Elektra released Welcome to Sky Valley in June of 1994. Welcome to Sky Valley is regarded by many fans to be the band’s finest work but the band underwent another lineup change which delayed the album’s release by several months. Brant Bjork was replaced by drummer Alfredo Hernandez.
“There was just a lot of politics involved at that point and the band had started to disintegrate from all the business and politics and all the stuff that’s just not fun to take responsibility for when you’re that young.” – Brant Bjork
Bjork told Louder Sound, “There was just a lot of politics involved at that point and the band had started to disintegrate from all the business and politics and all the stuff that’s just not fun to take responsibility for when you’re that young.”
In a separate interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, Bjork would say, “Josh and I were the creative force within the band and after the completion of our second record, Blues for the Red Sun, we developed opposing views on how the band should exist and operate.”
“I don’t think they knew what to do with us.” – John Garcia
Elektra struggled to market the group because they couldn’t be pigeonholed into one category. Something John Garcia shed some light on during an interview with Loudersound, “Elektra flew us out to New York, and we sat in a huge conference room and everybody ran around the table introducing themselves. We had a huge team of people… I don’t think they knew what to do with us. We got a little bit of airplay on MTV, but I don’t think they got it. They just didn’t know where to push Kyuss.”
Josh Homme thought the fact that the band couldn’t be pigeonholed was exciting, telling Billboard, ”We have a pretty cool audience and they’re pretty different from each other. Chances are, you’ll see a 20 year old next to a 60 year old speed freak.”
To support Welcome to Sky Valley, the band toured with Dinosaur Jr, Fishbone, Ween and Biohazard, bands who, just like Kyuss, couldn’t be more different.
“It was a horrible f’n record to make. Josh and I were clashing all the time and had creative differences.” – John Garcia
As the band turned their attention to what would be their final studio album, And the Circus Leaves Town, the recording of the album was not a positive experience. John Garcia remembered, “It was a horrible f’n record to make. Josh and I were clashing all the time and had creative differences.”
“…It wasn’t the way things are supposed to be. Everyone was a little too stoned.” – Scott Reeder
In a 2009 interview Scott Reeder claimed, “While recording Circus, so much money was getting thrown out the window. We were in one of the most expensive studios in Hollywood, just for recording overdubs. People running around to get you food, cigarettes, anything you wanted. There was also a bit of bickering going on and I was pretty stressed. Too many weird vibes. It wasn’t the way things are supposed to be. Everyone was a little too stoned.”
The group’s final record was released in July of ’95. Elektra wanted to promote the band across both alternative and hard rock/heavy metal formats in addition to skate, surf and snowboard shops as well as tattoo parlours, according to Billboard Magazine.
Kyuss Calls It Quits
The campaign was futile though. Kyuss did a short tour across the States and Europe before they called it quits in October of ’95. Kyuss was supposed to open for Monster Magnet the same month but it was over. The move even took their label by surprise.
“The writing thing is what made the band implode.” – Brant Bjork
Initially it was reported by MTV that personal reasons weren’t behind the split but Brant Bjork would tell Loudersound the final straw that broke the camel’s back, “The writing thing is what made the band implode. We had a publishing company and everyone got 25%, whether I came in with more material or Josh did, which was pretty much the case. It came to a point where Josh wanted to break up the publishing individually, and by doing that, you are breaking up the spirit of the band. That’s exactly what happened.”
Following his time in Kyuss, Homme would go on to play guitar for the Screaming Trees. It was around the time Homme was playing in Screaming Trees, that he formed his own hugely successful outfit, Queens of the Stone Age.
In 1997, a Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age compilation EP was put out. In 2000, a compilation record, Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss, was released by Elektra.
The other members of Kyuss pursued other musical projects. Nick Oliveri hooked back up with Homme in Queens of the Stone Age until his departure in 2004 and Alfredo Herndnez also played in the band.
In 2006, John Garcia joined Queens of the Stone Age on stage to perform a few Kyuss songs, fueling speculation of a possible reunion but Homme shot those down a year later.
Legal Trouble Surrounding Kyuss Lives!
In November 2010, Garcia, Oliveri and Bjork started touring under the moniker “Kyuss Lives!”. Josh Homme had no opposition to the name and was initially supportive. It wasn’t until Kyuss Lives! announced that they were going to record an album and release a live record, that the legal trouble started.
Homme filed a federal lawsuit against Garcia and Bjork, claiming “trademark infringement” and “consumer fraud” over the use of the Kyuss name, despite the fact Bjork had originally created it.
A judge ruled that the band could perform live using the moniker but not release new material under the name. Kyuss Lives! changed their name to Vista Chino and put out 1 record.
“There have been times I thought Kyuss cannot end that way, and the only real way to end it correctly now would be to play.” – Josh Homme
Regarding the possibility of a Kyuss reunion with Josh Homme, he’s always ruled it out but last year he seemed to change his tune, “There have been times I thought Kyuss cannot end that way, and the only real way to end it correctly now would be to play.”
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