Brant Bjork

Beyond his stints in Kyuss and Fu Manchu, two flagship stoner-rock outfits of the 1990s, vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Brant Bjork maintains an active solo catalog, produces other artists, and oversees his own imprint. His first taste of recognition arrived in the late 1980s when he founded and drummed for the durable West Coast unit Kyuss. Once Kyuss dissolved, Bjork remained a central figure in the Palm Desert rock community, powering a succession of groups that included Mondo Generator, Stoner, Fu Manchu, Ch'e, and Vista Chino. With the 1999 solo debut Jalamanta he preserved the raw, psychedelic edge of his band work while introducing a more introspective, subdued palette. Over the ensuing twenty years he sustained multiple solo configurations, issuing material under his own name as well as Brant Bjork & the Operators, Brant Bjork & the Bros, Brant Bjork & the Low Desert Punk Band, and the Brant Bjork Trio.

Rooted in Palm Desert, California, Bjork linked up with guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri, and vocalist John Garcia during their high-school years, giving rise to Kyuss. The band’s Sabbath-inflected approach aligned with the prevailing heavy sounds of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, yielding the 1991 independent debut Wretch before Elektra signed the group. Kyuss delivered what would become a defining metal statement of the decade, 1992’s Blues for the Red Sun, an album widely credited with igniting the stoner-rock wave. Bjork contributed two of its standout tracks, “Green Machine” and “50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up),” both written solely by him.

The original lineup soon fractured: Oliveri departed first, followed by Bjork after 1994’s Welcome to Sky Valley. In the wake of his exit, Bjork turned to production, helming Fu Manchu’s revered 1994 debut No One Rides for Free. He later joined that band on drums, appearing on 1997’s Action Is Go, 1999’s Eatin’ Dust, 2000’s King of the Road, and 2001’s California Crossing. Throughout the 1990s he also established the independent El Camino Records (later renamed Duna Records), guested on projects such as Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions series, and launched his solo career with Jalamanta. For a brief spell he participated in Homme’s post-Kyuss project Queens of the Stone Age, though he left before any recordings were made.

Entering the new millennium, Bjork assembled the trio Ch'e, which issued the lone album Sounds of Liberation in 2000; he also played with former Kyuss colleague Oliveri in Mondo Generator on 2000’s Cocaine Rodeo and 2003’s A Drug Problem That Never Existed, while continuing his solo output with 2002’s Brant Bjork & the Operators, 2003’s Keep Your Cool, and 2004’s Local Angel. In 2007 he shuttered Duna Records and founded Low Desert Punk Recordings, whose inaugural release was the 2008 collection Punk Rock Guilt, drawn from 2005 sessions he dubbed the “New Jersey Sessions.” Gods & Goddesses followed in 2010. That same year Bjork reunited with Bruno Fevery, Nick Oliveri, and John Garcia in Kyuss Lives!, embarking on a tour of Europe and Australia. The ensemble adopted the name Vista Chino in 2012 and delivered its debut album, Peace, via Napalm Records the next year.

Bjork returned to solo work with 2016’s Tao of the Devil and the psychedelic-leaning Mankind Woman in 2018. A long-shelved 2010 recording, 2019’s Jacoozzi, showcased an instrumental set steeped in jazz and funk; the self-titled Brant Bjork arrived the following year. His thirteenth solo effort, 2022’s laid-back Bougainvillea Suite, featured contributions from Stoner bandmates Nick Oliveri and Ryan Güt. 2024’s Once Upon a Time in the Desert marked the first studio outing for the Brant Bjork Trio, with Güt on drums and Desert Rock veteran Mario Lalli (Across The River, Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson) on guitar.