Kyuss Lives!

The well worn descriptor, 'If he were any more laidback he'd be asleep' readily applies to Brant Bjork. That said, discussing recent legalities surrounding the Californian stoner-rock pioneers he co-founded ensures a marginal lift in intensity within the tub-thumper's voice. After 15 years of inactivity, in 2010 vocalist John Garcia, bassist Nick Oliveri and Bjork announced they would tour as Kyuss Lives!, Bruno Fevery substituting for original axeman Josh Homme. However, Homme and ex-bassist Scott Reeder eventually cried foul and filed a lawsuit, citing breach of trademark infringement and consumer fraud.

“I describe the experience as like surviving a storm that you weren't anticipating. Metaphorically it was blue skies and the green grass, and then this super gnarly cloud came up and dumped a bunch of shit on us. It was a heavy experience, but we got through it and part of getting through it was having to change the name [following Soundwave 2013]. There's a feeling of relief, but also this feeling of, 'Wow, we lost our shoes in that experience'. But at least we're still rocking.”

The Music inquires as to whether a legacy rooted in generator parties, accidentally birthing a sub-genre, and eventually degenerating into lawsuits and media shit-talking remains a source of consternation. “It was extremely disappointing. Music has always been my passion and my love. It's always about those things in life that you love and get excited about, and you're able to celebrate. So to have to experience that conflict; that beef, especially those that you worked with, were close with and grew up with, it was surreal. I'm still shocked by the whole thing. There were always differences in Kyuss. In my opinion that's why Kyuss was such a short-lived experience first time around. I feel it was proved with this whole new level of beef that happened with the lawsuit.” 

He's determined not to wallow, though. After releasing last year's Peace LP, they'll perform at the Big Day Out, enlisting bassist Mike Dean (Corrosion Of Conformity). They'll predominantly play Vista Chino material alongside smatterings of Kyuss classics. “We're going to come down to Australia, rock out, have a good time, then we'll re-group and see what we want to do with Vista Chino. The first country Kyuss really experienced outside of the States was in '93, coming to Australia [supporting Metallica]. That was a really awesome experience. Australia is just a place where we feel comfortable; we feel like our music is understood. It's a little foggy – I remember travelling around in a little Toyota van, seeing the countryside, going to a couple of zoos and going in the water. I remember being really high – like, just being high on the whole experience of it. I hadn't seen the world really at all at that point. I was 18, 19 years old, so it was a really intoxicating experience.”