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Eagles of Death Metal gets heartfelt
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Homme, left, Hughes, righrt.
“Actually, right now I’m wearing one of those Russian snow hats that ties up at the top and this black and purple cape,” says Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes as the band’s tour bus makes its way though Iowa. “No [expletive], I bought this cape at a magic store last night. It’s a Harry Potter cloak. Ya know, it’s 16 hours on a bus. You’ve go to do something to keep it entertaining.” However, Hughes thinks the cape is interfering with his cell phone reception, so he takes it off. Remarkably, it works and the formerly troublesome line is clear as a bell. It’s early November and there’s already snow on the ground in Iowa. Hence the hat, which he keeps on.
“I live in the dessert on purpose because I hate cold weather. I like everything hot, you know what I’m saying?” It’s just days after “Heart On” was released, marking album number three for Eagles, which, when it first busted onto the rock scene in 2003, was mostly presumed to be a fun one-off side-project for co-founder, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. But here they are with another fine set of fist-pumping rock boogie. One that, despite a joke-y locker room title, Hughes says is rooted in deep and meaningful sentiments. Women, Hughes says, inspired the album. And not the usual Sunset Strip rock chick kind.
“Let’s just acknowledge that the key to everything lies in their hands,” Hughes says of women. Just when we think he’s going to go down the babalicious path he adds, “I have a wonderful mom. I come from an old southern matriarchy. Women in my family required that a man be a man and expect that they’re going to be a woman, and they don’t need to ask anybody’s [expletive] permission.”
“Almost every cool thing I’ve ever learned I learned from my mother and grandmothers,” he continues. It’s sometimes hard to pick out Hughes’ put-ons. But he’s being sincere. “I wish my grandparents were still alive,” he sighs. Both of Hughes grandmothers died during the recording of EODM’s debut, “Peace, Love, and Death Metal.” Oddly, one of Homme’s grandmothers died too, all within the space of a few days. “It was the weird thing. “Peace, Love, and Death Metal” was the beginning of my new life, but it also closed the voices of my greatest advisers.”
Homme and Hughes have known each other since they were 12-years-old. What with being a dad and heading Queens, Homme bows out of touring with Eagles, preferring to establish his pal as the band’s focus. This, as Hughes handles much of the song writing, makes sense. One particular song on the album , “Wannabe in LA,” is particularly personal.
“I’ve made some of the best friends with such integrity in LA. This makes songs like “Wannabe in LA” possible. The irony is I’m in the phoniest place in the world; the vacuum of vanity is the only reason anyone is in Hollywood. Here I am in this place and I’m finding the best examples of realness. Wow, that’s crazy.” Mmm, well, Hughes might well want to be in LA, but because of his association with Homme, the 36-year-old never had to be a wannabe, particularly in LA. That’s something he’s especially grateful for.
“Because I came into rock and roll in such a fairytale and sudden way, I guess I didn’t subtract or extract the soul from myself by being in the bump and grind of touring circuits and the obsession of trying to get signed,” he says with such verbosity that either his southern roots are showing or Hughes simply watches too much “Deadwood.” Still, the fact that he’s extremely lucky is not lost on him.
“There’s not a minute that I don’t feel like the luckiest hillbilly on the face of the planet. It doesn’t get any cooler.”
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