Queens Of The Stone Age‘s Josh Homme has expanded on his comment about “corporate assholes” setting rules at gigs.
During a recent show at Ford Field, Detroit, Homme defied the venue’s anti-smoking policy on stage by lighting up a ciagrette. Violations of the policy could be penalised with a hefty $10,000 fine. While smoking, Homme told the crowd: “Don’t let these fucking corporate assholes tell you what to do”.
Now, the QOTSA frontman has clarified his comments in an interview with Consequence of Sound. “It had nothing to do with smoking,” Homme told the outlet. “It’s about monopolies and corporations that charge you $85 for parking, and $30 for a beer, and tell you, ‘You can’t go here, but you can go here.’ It’s about controlling fun.
“The example of smoking just doesn’t matter,” he added. “That’s not important. It’s about being constantly told what to do when you yourself are paying for a moment of escapism. It’s like having to have fun with the hall monitors.”
Homme went on to say that “I kinda don’t give a fuck”, explaining: “You’re not supposed to smoke, but who cares? It’s about uniting people so they can do what they want… We’re already playing this big corporate thing. It’s like we might as well infiltrate it and have a good time. Turn these Mondays into Saturdays.”
Watch Homme make the remarks below:
QOTSA are readying to release their upcoming album, ‘Perfecth’. The record is scheduled to arrive on October 30 via Matador Records – pre-save/pre-order here. So far, QOTSA have released the singles ‘Easy Street‘ and ‘Insignificant Other’ ahead of the album.
“Nothing in this world is perfect, but everything seems to be ‘perfecth’,” Homme explained of the title. “And that title is funny when you’re in a group, but it ain’t so funny when you’re alone”.
The album is also said to be inspired by their experience of playing a stripped-back concert at the historic Parisian Catacombs back in 2024, which was captured for an accompanying concert film and live album. NME gave Alive In The Catacombs a four-star review, hailing it as a “moving and meditative concert doc”.
‘Perfecth’ will serve as the follow-up to 2023’s ‘In Times New Roman‘, which NME gave a four-star review.
“‘In Times New Roman’ is unlikely to win over those perched on the fence, though all-encompassing adoration perhaps doesn’t fit a period that has left so many deep scars,” we wrote. “They’ve pitched their comeback between an emotional exorcism for Homme, but with enough fan-service for the die-hards; this is up there with their darkest, knottiest material to date, and will be appreciated all the more for it.”
Meanwhile, we last spoke to Homme in 2023, where he told us about the band’s future plans.
“I think we should be making something,” he told us at the time. “The mantra of the last five years was, ‘It won’t be long now!’ That needs to pertain to making things too. I certainly think we should make more, faster-er, better-er.”
Watch the full interview with Homme and bandmate Dean Fertita above.
