Kyuss Lives! Feature Interview with The Band    By Steve Jones

Kyuss. Simple syllables. But such syllables mean the world to all right thinking music fans. They’re not just one of the influences of stoner rock, they ARE stoner rock. If you haven’t spent a blessed out day rocking along to ‘Hurricane’ or ‘Thumb’ or ‘Green Machine’ or any number of other songs, you haven’t lived and if you don’t like them you don’t deserve to. So when Soundshock got the chance to meet John Garcia; the rich, respondent  voice at the forefront of Kyuss and numerous other projects - including the mouth-watering Garcia Vs. Garcia, more details of which later – we were down there quicker than West Ham dropping out of the Premiership. With a soundcheck like a tropical storm,  they promisingly shake the entire Manchester Academy backstage area, causing half-empty bottles of water to shiver and the contents to slosh up the sides, Soundshock settles down to chat to a legend.

In a calm confident voice that belies years being the voice of stoner rock, and in direct contrast to the excitement felt by the interviewer, the time honoured question you ask any influential band after a long hiatus is thrown out: What’s it like to be back in Kyuss, after all these years? As you expect, John is excited too: “It’s great, you know. It’s different, it’s not, with everybody you know, it’s minus Josh, who was a major player. It’s something that’s special to me, dear to my heart. I’m just lucky to be on stage with Brant, Nick and Bruno. So I’m excited.”

Ah yes, the Josh question. The maestro himself may not be here – his long-standing opinion is that Kyuss is a closed book – John saying “I love Josh to death, but even if I asked, he would probably say no; that’s why I didn’t ask him” and he can’t speak highly enough of him throughout, but they have an immensely talented guitar player in the shape of Belgian Bruno Fevery, who proves to be every bit up to the task during a thunderous performance a few hours later. Asking how they found a guitar player worthy of taking the mettle to take the mantle John explains “I did a side project-this band from Belgium [Arsenal] had contacted me because they wanted me to sing in on their record. I liked them, I sang on them [the songs]. They released it and invited me along to their record release party. Bruno was one of their guitar players. John says “We just hit it off perfectly. He’s a very very mild mannered, cool, technical, technically a bad ass guitar player and he’s so easy to get along with. He’s very easy, very cool, he’s calm cool and cordial, he’s got a mellow head on his shoulders. He’s just an all-around good guy. He’s not around to butcher any of these songs, he’s here to play them well.”

The rest of the Kyuss Lives! line-up was completed in a similarly laid back way, during a summer when the paths of Nick Oliveri, Brant Bjork and John crossed when they were on the same bill at a French festival, and proved to be the catalyst that would see them currently causing a shiver of excitement that rates on the seismic scale. As John remembers…“We all got on the same stage together and that’s the feeling I wanted to mirror; that feeling of the very first band I ever played with was with Brant. So it just made perfect sense.” Here, it is veritably proven–Kyuss Lives! are just as potent and vital as they are on record, playing with all the exuberance and joy you’d hope from such legends. Talking to John, there’s a sense of quiet and immense pride that comes forth. “We got jobs we gotta do and we try to do ‘em well. The last thing we wanna do is get up there and not do our jobs, not sound good” is a typical sentiment from the man. And while John says Kyuss Lives! is a way of bringing attention to his Garcia Vs Garcia project, there are certainly plans to continue the Kyuss legacy with a new album. But in the spirit of Kyuss, nothing will be forced or rushed: “We’re not exactly sure when it’s going to come out, or when it’s going to happen, but one thing we know for certain is that we are going to do another record...”

Now talk turns to the Garcia Vs. Garcia project. John alone has lent his pipes to numerous projects, notably Slo-Burn and Unida, and judging by what he has to say, his side project looks to be another stunner, John promising “it’s gonna be a fucking rock record, it’s gonna be a heavy record, it’s gonna be mean, it’s gonna be melodic, it’s gonna have a lot of style.” The musicans? Is Scott Reeder good enough for you? Of course he is. John also mentions Linda Perry as a potential collaborator, whose name rings a faint bell, which becomes louder than the bass still rumbling through the floor as John treats us to a rendition of the “hey-ey-ey-e-ey-ey-ey-ey” yodel from the now-remembered 4 Non-Blondes hit ‘What’s Up?’ Despite this curveball and potential blip, it looks to be another full-on classic from the man Garcia, although he doesn’t let the name of the guitarist slip, only revealing he’s a “no-name” from Atlanta who’s a “fucking guru.” With the unearthing of Bruno, you can’t doubt his ear for talent. At this stage, speaking with a man who clearly looks ever forward, it seems churlish to ask him what he thinks of Kyuss when he looks back, but ask him Soundshock does: “I look at it as a whole, from the beginning of Kyuss to the end of Kyuss, and everywhere in-between, and I’m very proud of my past. I’m very very lucky to have played in a band with Brant Bjork, Josh, and Nick,  Scott and Alfredo and also Chris Cockerill. I’m very very lucky!” So are we John, So are we.

Kyuss have just wrapped up their U.K tour, but keep the eyes peeled for future dates and releases.

Feature written by Steve Jones for Soundshock