“WEED brOugHT uS TOgETHEr”

BRANT BJORK AND JOSH HOMME BONDED OVER THE HERB

It was kinda frustrating, because I don’t have anything against heavy metal, but I thought Kyuss was a punk band.”

Producer Chris Goss was a key part of the Kyuss jigsaw. Chris, who fronted Rick Rubinproduced blues rockers Masters Of Reality, didn’t just capture the oh-so-heavy sound of the band, he captured a vibe – a fuck-you attitude born of playing to people who hated them. But most of all, he captured the environment the band came from. Listen to it now, and you can almost feel the desert heat rising from the likes of Thong Song and Freedom Run.

“Yeah, but alongside the heat, even more than the heat,” says Brant, “what contributed most was playing outside. When you play outside, you hear things in an entirely different way; the guitars and drums behave in an entirely different way. If it ain’t dialled in right, it’s gonna sound real wanky and thin, so it was like, bigger drums, bigger guitar sound, because of the environment.”

Ironically, the parties that had contributed to Kyuss’s unique sound in the first place had become too big. What had started as a chance for a bunch of likeminded kids to let off steam had become a giant free-for-all.

“When it got bigger, a lot of people gave up, because more and more people showed up who weren’t necessarily into punk rock or music – they just wanted something to do,” says Brant. “When you bring all those people together from different parts of the desert, it turns into tribal warfare! You get a lot of guns and stabbings, and that’s what really ended it.”

Blues For The Red Sun was released in June 1992, but despite rave reviews from the metal press, it was far from an out-of-the-box success. Sales were poor. ‘You don’t seem to understand the deal’, sang John Garcia on the first line of the opening track, Thumb.

It seemed strangely prophetic.

But the impact the album had to those who were listening was huge. It swiftly spawned a thousand imitators and an entire scene. Suddenly, it seemed like every other band was tuning their antenna to a low-end rumble and wreathing themselves in dope smoke.

Still, a buzz surrounded Kyuss, helping them bag tours with Metallica, Faith No

More and Danzig. But like a badly rolled joint, they were destined to fall apart before they reached full potential. Nick Oliveri quit once again before Blues

For The Red Sun was even released. Brant

Bjork wasn’t far behind, departing after

1994’s no-less-brilliant Welcome To Sky Valley. Kyuss themselves fell apart in 1995, following their swansong album, …And The Circus

Leaves Town.

“The writing thing is what made the band implode,” says Brant. “We had a publishing company and everyone got 25%, whether I came with more material or Josh did, which was pretty much the case. It came to a point where Josh wanted to break up the publishing individually, and by doing that you are breaking up the spirit of the band. That’s exactly what happened.”

All four members would go on to different things. Josh put together Queens Of The Stone Age, soon to be joined by Nick. John Garcia formed Slo Burn and, subsequently, Unida and Hermano. John, Brant and Nick have played together – most notably as Kyuss Lives!, until Josh forced them to change their name to Vista Chino.

With the guitarist still holding out, a full-blown Kyuss with all four guys looks unlikely. But their influence remains huge – echoes of Blues For The Red Sun can be heard in everyone from Orange Goblin to Mastodon.

“I love Welcome To Sky Valley, and …Circus is a good record,” says Brant, “but Blues For The Red Sun captures what that band really was in its most natural, most organic state. I didn’t know if anyone would like it, but I thought it was badass. I think you get these eras when there’s bands doing stuff that’s not really in line with where culture’s at, especially back then with the grunge thing blowing up. It took a good 10 years for people to catch up.”