Queens of the Stone Age have just released their latest sonic adventure, Alive in the Catacombs. It finds Josh Homme’s outfit stripping back an intriguing mix of songs for an acoustic film captured in the depths of the Paris Catacombs.
However, discussing his songwriting approach with Uncut reveals that these songs likely started in such bare-bones formats as they’re presented here – pun intended. Homme believes every guitarist should sow the seeds of an idea on an acoustic guitar before even thinking about going electric.
“Most of our songs start by sitting on the edge of the bed, playing acoustic guitar. If something works there, it works everywhere,” he believes (via Guitar.com). And so peeling off the layers of their songs for a rare audience with the dead wasn’t a daunting task; it’s one they were made for.
“There’s been talk of secret meetings and late-night raves, but we’re the first people to legally play there,” Homme says of their performance in the French capital’s unique underground maze of ossuaries, which holds the remains of more than six million people. “The catacombs is the star of the show, so all the decisions we made were about respecting the space.
“You can’t plug anything in – we had an electric piano that was hooked up to a car battery. The floors were wet in some areas like you were in this living, breathing thing. It felt like we’re not supposed to roll out the hits, we’re not supposed to play loud.”
The songs presented during the film – we won’t give the game away for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet – certainly show QOTSA in a very different, slightly morbid light.
While watching, this writer – already a huge admirer of Homme’s lyricism – found himself awe-inspired by his wordplay and the emotional depth of the songs all over again. Writing in a far less electrified and gung-ho manner, he believes, helps those elements shine.
“I feel that [in this setting] these songs really change their intensity,” he muses. “When things are stripped away, lyrics step forward, emotions run much hotter and higher. We’re a band that always had a lot of emotion on its sleeve, but somehow we’re not as known for our softer side as maybe we should be. I could not have enjoyed it more.”
Homme’s unique approach to mastering the guitar can also be attributed to the often left-field ideas he cleverly weaves into more catch-all song formats. As a guitarist, he was polka first rather than rock.
“I took guitar lessons from nine years old till about 11, and I never learned any barre chords, all I’ve ever learned was oompah oompah,” he told Q last year. “I was always hearing sounds in my head. That’s why I wanted to play guitar… to get that out.
“When left to my own devices, there are no rules. There are blind spots [referring to his guitar playing] that I know nothing about, but I can play you something that is ultimately off-kilter.
“I wouldn’t have had the chance to find who I am and do the right thing the wrong way if I hadn’t had that beginning from polka.”
The band’s ringleader is typically outspoken, his on-stage attitude so often swaggering backstage with him after every encore. But when he got to play George Harrison’s one-of-a-kind Rosewood Telecaster, he was rendered speechless.
Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs is out now.
Head to Quote to download or stream the film.
