Interview with Nick Oliveri of Mondo Generator
All photos by the supremely awesome Sara Eckman. Thanks Sara!
There are two types of Rock music fans: Those who would think that the Dead Planet, the latest album by Mondo Generator is completely badass, and those with really shitty taste in music. Most of you should already be familiar with their singer Nick Oliveri, who won critical praise and Billboard success with his previous bands Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age. I happen to love Mondo Generator, and wanted to tell our readers about the project, so I spoke with Nick about it, as well as his previous bands. Nick was quite humble and honest, and we're stoked to have him on the site!
Anarchy Music: Dead Planet is a bitter and ballsy album. Tell me about where you were mentally when you wrote this record.
Nick Oliveri: I think I was mad at a lot of things. I tend to write about a lot of stuff that I'm going through or have been through, relationships or whatever things I'm not real good at. If it seems like I'm angry then I probably am.
Anarchy Music: You've done Mondo Generator for years as a side project. What was it about this album that made you decide to make this band your main gig now?
Nick Oliveri: The reason I made it my main gig was that I was let go from Queens Of The Stone Age.
Anarchy Music: At the same time though, it seems like you feel more at home doing this anyway.
Nick Oliveri: Yeah! I love it. It's great doing it.
Anarchy Music: Throughout your career you've done projects that weren't geared towards the mainstream. Kyuss was very underground, but when Queens Of The Stone Age hit the top 40, you seemed to kind of shy away from that. Was it that you didn't like the lifestyle or what exactly caused that?
Nick Oliveri: I didn't shy away from it. We finished out a tour, and me and Josh decided not to play music together any more. It was as simple as that. He decided that he didn't want to do his project with me any more. I didn't shy away from it. It was a blast.
Anarchy Music: It just seemed to me that your interests was more with writing music that you loved as opposed to having a follow-up hit.
Nick Oliveri: I don't know. I'm not the one who has to worry about that, Josh is. I have a new project so I didn't have to stress that. That was stress he wanted to take on himself. It's cool. He might not have even stressed it. I'm just trying to make records man. I'm not thinking about a hit song.
Anarchy Music: The more I listen to Dead Planet, the more I like it. It's becoming possibly my favorite thing you've ever done. After the classics that you've done though, was there pressure to top those creatively?
Nick Oliveri: Wow, thanks man. No, I don't have any pressure to top that, whatever that is. I don't really understand the question.
Anarchy Music: Well, Kyuss is regarded as the apex of that genre. That stuff will be listened to forever.
Nick Oliveri: Well, I played on the first two records. It was a blast and very cool. That was Brant and Josh, they were the main songwriters in the band. That's really kind of you to say that but that credit should go to them. In the end it was those guys, Josh continued after Brant left. It was pretty much Josh's band.
Anarchy Music: I also think that this record is better than anything Queens Of The Stone Age ever thought of doing.
Nick Oliveri: That's very nice of you.
Anarchy Music: Well, I love guitar riffs and punky, kick ass rock n roll, and this record has plenty of that You're a real Punk kind of guy and I believe that you're into a lot of Hardcore. Do you feel like that scene needs to be brought back to basics?
Nick Oliveri: Well, I don't know if that's necessarily true. I was never part of that. I love Punk rock music. I love rock n roll, heavy rock and whatever lies under that umbrella of rock. I think of being more sincere. It's hard to double check when you're playing riffs or singing.
Anarchy Music: As far as live concerts go, is it still destruction every night?
Nick Oliveri: We never really did that. You mean like smashing gear?
Anarchy Music: Well, you have a reputation of being a wild man on stage. Maybe you'll wear clothes, maybe not. It's more of an old-school Punk mentality because you never know what Nick is going to do.
Nick Oliveri: I like playing nude, but I try not to do that because of the Warped Tour. It's kind of overdone. Iggy Pop did it first. It feels like shtick if you do it all the time. I don't think it's something i necessarily want to do. I'm making a conscious effort to not do it. It's more for being comfortable than anything. I sweat a lot and I don't want to have clothes on sometimes.
Anarchy Music: You did a few Ozzfest shows this year and then left the tour. What are your thoughts on how the experiment went?
Nick Oliveri: Ozzfest was fun. i don't necessarily think that it was the right crowd for us. We had some people that were into us and it was cool, but I don't think it was the right place for this band to be. There is Metal in Mondo, but it's not the same as what those kids wanted to see.
Anarchy Music: Not to kiss ass, but you're a respected guy. Any major label would want to sign you. What made you go with Suburban Noise?
Nick Oliveri: I don't really think that this is a major label type of record. It came out in Europe and Suburban Noise enjoyed it and it was cool. I wasn't shopping for a deal or anything. I was stoked that those guys were into it. It's out in the states now and we're out playing. They're really cool.
Anarchy Music: There is a quote that you made a few years ago that you think Queens Of The Stone Age needs you, and that you would be willing to work with them again. What are your thoughts about Josh now.
Nick Oliveri: That was three or four years ago. There's been some time now. I'm sure at first I said a lot of things. I was pissed off. I'm it's something that anyone would have gone through. I don't take back anything, but it's been a few years and I'm with Mondo now and it's cool. It's great. Maybe we'll cross paths one day.
Anarchy Music: I hate to say you've matured, but it seems like you've changed over the past few years as a person.
Nick Oliveri: Well, with the Queens thing, I wasn't trying to force my way back in. You can't force somebody to play with you. We were always doing music things together at the same fucking time. We needed a break. It's pretty much as simple as that. I don't know or care what the feelings are to his end. It's his band and I'm happy that he's doing it and it's great.
Anarchy Music: Since Dead Planet was out in Europe for awhile before it came out here, have you started working on something to top this?
Nick Oliveri: We're going to start working on the next record, unless some reason comes up to go out and play, which would be great to do. I'd definitely like to work on a new record.
HOT DAMN! Thanks to Nick for taking the time to speak with us. Mondo Generator fucking rules! Go check out the band at MondoGenerator.com and Mondo on Myspace