Mondo Generator

by Greg Prato
Guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri have made quite a career out of playing with other musicians. They are joined by a rotating cast of supporting musicians in their main group, Queens of the Stone Age, in addition to playing in a variety of side projects, including the Desert Sessions and Mondo Generator, to name a few. Oliveri and Homme were originally bandmates during the early '90s with Kyuss, before Oliveri left (Homme remained with the group). With Kyuss on their last legs by 1997, Oliveri reunited with Homme and another longtime Kyuss member, drummer Brant Bjork, to form Mondo Generator. The trio recorded an album's worth of compositions, before ultimately deciding to shelve the tapes. Several years later (with Oliveri and Homme having launched another band together, the aforementioned Queens of the Stone Age), the bassist gave the tapes another listen, and was impressed with the results. A friend at the indie label Southern Lord Records offered to release the album, which was finally issued in July of 2000 - titled Cocaine Rodeo. Queens of the Stone Age has subsequently played several Mondo Generator songs at their own shows, including "Simple Exploding Man" and "13th Floor," the latter of which was re-recorded by QOTSA under a different title ("Tension Head") for their 2000 release, R. Although Mondo Generator was initially supposed to be just a studio project, the group has been known to play sporadic live dates, including one in April of 2002 at the Troubador in Los Angeles, which saw Oliveri and Homme joined by ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez.