Stereo Warning: Josh Homme answers your questions

When we told you to ask Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age a question for our interview, we didn't know you would send 60, many of them actually good!

Well, we met the man, and first of all we'd like to report that he's one of the nicest rockstars we've ever dealt with. And probably the most polite. The fact that he's still touring despite his bum knee speaks volumes about his commitment to music and his fans. It was almost painful to see him limping about with the help of a walking stick (albeit a cool one -- dark wood with a silver cap) and grimacing at every other step.

Here are his answers to some of your questions and some of ours. Check back soon to see some exclusive pics on Stereo Warning of Josh rockin' with the Queens.

Stereo Warning: How's your knee?
Josh Homme: It's mesed up bad. It hurts. I gotta go home and have surgery again. On stage it hurts a lot. I have at least 3-4 moments a set where it feels like boulders underwater, when they hit each other. It's the only way I can describe it. But what do I do, go home? I gotta finish what I started. Everyone cancels all the time for hurting their finger and stuff like that, that's not me.

What's the stupidest question a journalist has asked you so far on this tour?
'Where did you get your album title?' I can't stand that one anymore. The other day I wrote down "because it sounds cool" 10 times on a piece of paper and ripped them up in long strips and every time someone asked me that I'd just hand them that and say 'next question'. Because who cares. The point is it's an interpretive thing and the title looks and sounds sexy. The next album is going to be called "album."

Some people only know you as the band with the song 'No One Knows.' Does that bother you, and if you could change it would you rather have more crossover hits or none at all but be a solid band with a cult following?
I wouldn't change anything. I'm totally happy if that's how somebody knows us. That's one of our songs. It's been awesome. I can't believe that I'm 34 and I'm still playing music. It's pretty rad, dude. That's why I'm in the mud with my messed up knee, cuz I love this shit, man. I'll do whatever it takes to keep it real and I don't mean that in a hip-hop way. Whoever understands that, come along, and whoever doesn't, I understand that too.

How do you challenge yourself musically, other than playing with a bad knee? (Dustin Aviss)
The challenge is not different than it's ever been. There's no destination point where you say 'I made it.' Most bands don't make it farther than this. Five records is a lot of records. The challenge now is too keep consistency and excitement in my own search for music so that's contagious. And I'm not worried about that. I love music and there's so much I haven't done. If you don't love your own music, the chances of someone else doing it are not so great. Tom Waits is still badass. I know I'm not gonna be f**kin' Tom Waits, but I can try. What else are you gonna do? I'm not much of a quitter.

There are some rumours of you recording new songs. Are you preparing a new album? (Jeremy Crick)
We're on fire right now. This band, how we're playing and what the chemistry is, it's pretty gnarly. What we're doing is we're walking around looking for holes in the gate, cuz we wanna break out. I'm not sure what that is yet.

How was it working with Trent on the bonus track from Era Vulgaris and why didn't you include it on the record? (Chris H)
I didn't include it cuz I though it would be funny and cuz I wanted to give a song to kids for free. I really like Trent. He's a workaholic like I am and his wheels are always spinning. I respect him. And he's a funny guy, man! He called me and I sang something on Year Zero that they didn't end up using. So I said ok, but now you gotta do this.

How's the tour been so far?
Fu**in' rad. It's been awesome. I love this s**t. It brings us all together. Everyone's making a sacrifice. You don't even know someone till you go through a little s**t with them. Until you get down in the mud with somebody, you don't know who they are. Everyone's gonna know each other pretty good after this one's over.

How does this compare to Ozzfest?
(Laughs) Next question. Nice try, though!

How's you relationship with Nick Olivari and will he ever play in Queens of the Stone Age again? (Andrus)
I don't have one, and no, he won't.

Some fans want to know why you don't print the lyrics in the CD booklet. (Smasher, Fiona)
Our lyrics have been available on our website. Just click a different button, would you? Look around for 5 seconds. You can print them.

The piece of cloth hanging out of your back pocket when you perform, do you use it for anything or is it just for style? (Jack)
It's both. Keith Richards is a bad motherf**ker. He's a badass. And he's always got something dangling. Every since I was a kid, when I used to go skating I always had something dangling. It's like a fishing lure. You gotta hang something in the water to catch something. But it's always something that I use, like a scarf or a bandana. If I'm sweaty as f**k, forget a towel man, give me a bandana, I know where that's been. I ain't the most stylish motherf**ker in the world, but I got my own style and that's what I pursue: my own style.

Is it tough being on tour without your family? (this answer should definitely smash Vanessa's hopes)
It's really tough, man. I miss my girls.

Tags: nine inch nails trent reznor josh freese nin year zero queens of the stone age josh homme ozzy osbourne ozzfest interview music entertainment