QOTSA’s Josh Homme Just Gave A Huge Shoutout To A Young Aussie Band
Turns out Homme loves a smoko.
Queens Of The Stone Age are currently halfway through Australia on a massive (and excellent) tour — and yesterday lead singer Josh Homme woke up bright and early to give some big ups to a newfound Aussie fave on Apple’s Beats 1 with Zane Lowe.
Joining the veteran broadcaster via phone (and first reported by Music Feeds), Homme started off swinging in the interview by immediately shouting out The Chats, the Sunshine Coast slack-rockers who went viral last year with their DIY and hyper-Australiana video for ‘Smoko’.
They’ve been supporting QOTSA across the country (and in our review, we said they’re worth turning up early for), but turns out Homme’s been a massive fan for a while: Dave Grohl, of all people, showed to him a while back. So he passed it on.
“They have an utterly Australian song called ‘Smoko’,” he told Lowe. “…Dave Grohl turned me onto it, and next thing I know I was showing it to Iggy [Pop] and I told them that and their mouths were just completely open.”
Homme also said The Chats’ love-or-hate reception was reminiscent of QOTSA’s beginnings.
“It reminds me of when everyone couldn’t stand us and then one thing happens — you sell 20 records and you never know who those 20 records went to, it could have gone to the strangest buffet of humans in existence that you can imagine,” he says.
“I think that’s what was always fascinating to me: not how many people liked it, but how much did they like it? There’s something about music — it’s never wrong. Show me what you think the worst music in the world is and I’ll show you 300 people who are ready to die for it.”
Listen to the interview below, where Homme and Lowe also talk about The Alligator Hour, Homme’s Beats 1 show, which starts its third season next week.