Queens of the Stone Age’s Michael Shuman talks about catastrophic art ahead of KC show
"For some reason, all of our records are really hard to make? I'm not sure why. Some catastrophic thing is happening in our lives and we need the album process to sort it out."
Josh Homme and the fellas from the world’s most famous desert rock outfit hit KC as part of their “The End is Nero Tour” wherein—as appears to be the case across the new album In Times New Roman…—Homme has just discovered the joys of dad-joke portmanteaus. Naming goofiness aside, the new album marks the heaviest groove that the rockers have hit since the days of “Go With The Flow” and the nearly tribal grind of teeth-grit anger is a welcome return to form.
In an early interview with The Pitch, bassist Michael Shuman confirms that certain songs that have been out of circulation [since the untimely departure of previous members] are finally making their return to the rotation. We can’t wait to have God back in the radio.
Queens of the Stone Age play Starlight on September 20th as part of their The End is Nero Tour, with Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth in support. Tickets are available here.
Check out The Pitch’s conversation with Shuman below.
The Pitch: Tell us about the process of making this new album. What did you go in hoping/planning/dreaming of accomplishing?
Michael Shuman: Every album has a different process. Luckily for us, we were off-cycle when COVID hit so we didn’t have to cancel a bunch of shows. We knew we were going to go make a new record, but it got difficult to get us all in the same room. But we did it, without an outside producer, and honestly, it didn’t change the process for us that much.
Josh [Homme] would do these demos and send them around, and we would bounce ideas back and forth. The creation of much of it felt natural but it was thematically a difficult album to make. For some reason, all of our records are really hard to make? I’m not sure why. Some catastrophic thing is happening in our lives and we need the album process to sort it out. It’s an emotional album that took a lot out of us. Not that there weren’t plenty of laughs—there always are when we get together—but elsewhere we had to dig deep.
We tracked everything, which took about six to nine months. So we got into the studio and decided to do a lot of it live in one or two takes. If it happened that way, we’d say “cool” and move on. I like that the result, which is an album more raw and off-the-cuff than some of our other records.
With self-producing on this one, did that make things easier? Did that just make a different kind of problem?
The word “producer” has shifted so much throughout the history of music. In the 50s it was not what it is today. Now, you can write a kick and snare line and get producer credit on a song, as one of 20 credited producers on a track. It’s hard to say what the role means. On ... Like Clockwork we didn’t have a producer. On Villains, we brought in Mark Ronson, but I’d say his role on that was closer to ‘cheerleader’ in terms of helping empower us to make the best Queens album we could make. He self-described at the time as just being a fan that wanted to help make the kind of record he wanted to hear as a fan. That was his role. So more of a sixth member of the band.
So for this album, it was more like “We’ve done this a million time, and we’re five ‘strong-minded’ people—maybe we don’t need a sixth.” Just to make sure there weren’t too many cooks in the kitchen.
This one came together in one of the steadiest periods of time in terms of having the same members consistently in the band. Did that help?
Everyone felt comfortable in their spots. Not too many outside creative voices or guests.
Did that streamlining, along with doing things in a few limited takes, allow you to free up the creativity to try new things?
That’s a good point. We’ve been together for so long. I’ve known Troy for 20 years, and Dean for 16. John for 11 years. We’re such a tight unit. But looking back, on my first album with the band I suppose I did have a few reservations about where I fit in, even though there were such deep connections with the individuals.
Whereas this one comes partly from a place of being so comfortable together?
That yields the first record that I think you can hear everyone’s individual styles and choices really come out. That is what makes this record my favorite of the last three. When you get to the point of doing things at a certain level of quality, you’re no longer nitpicking every little thing. If you did something wrong, or tried something you hadn’t before, you keep it in there. We didn’t over-correct like a lot of records do today.
This feels like the heaviest record yet. Was that the idea going in, or was that what came out of the live group process?
It wasn’t the intention when we were writing and tracking the songs, but we did know we wanted to make a record and perhaps leave some songs off, for another time. We wanted something tight and direct so we pulled some of the slower things. It’s driving. In the middle of the process, we could tell where some of these tracks were getting cut off. Then the lyrics around those songs wound up lending themselves to matching the heaviness.
Are you guys in rehearsals now since you’re hitting the road soon?
We just did a month in Europe and a lot of rehearsing before that, so no. We’re in a great spot already.
We’re not. We just did a month in Europe and we did a lot of wrestling before that. We feel really, I mean, honestly, like, that last tour of the European tour was, I think the best we’ve ever felt. I think it’s the best we’ve ever played. And so we feel pretty confident to not really go rehearse too much. We’re gonna you know, we’ll rehearse a day before in soundcheck and, and maybe learn some new songs but we feel pretty tight and confident in what we’re doing right now.
Having taken the new songs out on tour, what’s the most fun song to translate live from the latest batch?
All of them. It’s hard though, because we pride ourselves on putting out a record and then touring in support of that record. A lot of bands put our new albums and then play one or two of those songs as part of their set, and when you do that you’re just selling tickets to have people out to see the greatest hits again. The feedback we’ve been getting from our fans is that this new album might be their favorite album of ours, so we want to give them that record live.
So that’s hard to choose, but we do try to mix it up every night. We started playing Straight Jacket Fitting toward the end of this tour, and I gotta say that might be my favorite live cut right now. It’s great to have fans involved doing a lot of back and forth. It makes us feel like a unit, doing work like that constantly.
When you’re mixing stuff up, what are you pulling from the back catalogue that you’re touring with right now? Anything that’s changed significantly in, say, your time with the band or something that’s taken on new context?
The one song I’ve always wanted to play was “God Is In The Radio” which hasn’t been played since Mark was in the band. So I’ve never played it live but it’s one of my favorite songs. With Mark’s passing, we needed to do a nod to him on this run, and that song—honestly—I teared up a couple of times when we played it. It has that perfect space for a Queens song, where things get really quiet, really creative and dynamic, then get back to the loud. I’ve been enjoying that. It’s approaching the song like I’m a fan, and it’s something that folks haven’t gotten to see live from us in 15, maybe 20 years. Feels good to be a part of that.
When do we get a follow-up to My Demons?
Great question. You know, I’ve been so focused on just getting our touring stuff really tight and just focusing on you know, being the best band we can right now. I’m working on more GLU stuff with the very little free time I have outside of that.
Can’t wait to hear more of it. Hope that your other project makes it to KC after QOTSA does.
I can’t wait to come back. Yeah, I think the last time we played in Kansas City was with Primus so we’re eager to come back and do that big outdoor amphitheater again.
Queens of the Stone Age play Starlight on September 20th as part of their The End is Nero Tour, with Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth in support. Tickets are available here.