Mondo Generator

Guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri have built extensive careers through frequent collaborations with other players. In their core band Queens of the Stone Age they perform with a constantly shifting roster of supporting musicians while also pursuing separate ventures such as the Desert Sessions and Mondo Generator. The pair first worked together in the early ’90s as members of Kyuss, though Oliveri eventually exited while Homme remained.

As Kyuss wound down in 1997, Oliveri rejoined Homme and longtime Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork to launch Mondo Generator. The three completed a full album’s worth of material before setting the tapes aside. Years afterward, once Oliveri and Homme had already started Queens of the Stone Age, the bassist replayed the recordings and decided they deserved release. A contact at the independent label Southern Lord Records agreed to issue the project, which finally appeared in July 2000 under the title Cocaine Rodeo.

Queens of the Stone Age have since incorporated several Mondo Generator songs into their own sets, among them “Simple Exploding Man” and “13th Floor,” the latter re-recorded by QOTSA as “Tension Head” for the 2000 album R. Although Mondo Generator began strictly as a studio effort, the group has staged occasional live performances, including an April 2002 show at the Troubador in Los Angeles that featured Oliveri and Homme alongside ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez.