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Nick Oliveri

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Nick Stephen Oliveri (born October 21, 1971 in Los Angeles) is an American musician from Palm Desert, California. He plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and is a vocalist. His main music project is Mondo Generator, which he has fronted since 1997. He is most widely known for his work with Queens of the Stone Age.

Biography

Oliveri began his career as a member of legendary Southern California "stoner rock" band Kyuss, with whom he released the albums Wretch and Blues for the Red Sun before quitting and being replaced by former Obsessed bassist Scott Reeder. Following his departure from Kyuss he joined The Dwarves as an on again off again bassist under the moniker Rex Everything. However he is perhaps best known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age from 1998-2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and frequent contributor to his friends' albums and tours, including Winnebago Deal, Mark Lanegan Band, and Masters of Reality. In the past he has been involved with The Desert Sessions and The River City Rapists. Oliveri is known for playing bare chested and sometimes naked at gigs. Most memorably, he was arrested in Brazil, after performing nude on stage and allegedly assaulting a woman at a performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro. He is also one half of the acoustic duo The Uncontrollable, with The Dwarves frontman Blag Dahlia.

Queens of the Stone Age years

Oliveri and Josh Homme were seen as the only two permanent members of Queens of the Stone Age. Being friends since childhood, the two meshed well together. Oliveri's punk background brought an element of danger, attitude and speed to the Queens' music, and live shows in particular. This often came to contrast frontman Homme, who often extended live versions of songs, with such 3-minute radio hits like "Go with the Flow" often pushed into 20-minute extended jams, featuring psychedelic guitar solos and metallic riffs. The combination of the two, however, often produced surprisingly complementary results.

Oliveri's unique screech-singing style adhering to the hardcore-aesthetic made him easily distinguishable on songs such as "Six Shooter" from the album Songs for the Deaf, as opposed to Homme's usually melodic grunge-style falsetto.

After recording three albums and six years of touring with Queens of the Stone Age, he exited the group in early 2004 due to a conflict between him and frontman Joshua Homme. Nick allegedly developed a pattern of destructive behavior that Homme couldn't handle. Homme stated: "Everywhere we go, Nick is like a whirlwind passing through. And I'm sick of being the one that has to clean up the mess all the time." Josh claimed that he was fed up with Oliveri's disrespect towards their fans and the destruction that he caused at gigs. Oliveri's last gig with the band was in Perth, Australia on January 11, 2004. During "No One Knows", Oliveri smashed his bass, then threw it into the crowd and stormed off stage. The rest of the band followed him off stage, only to return and finish the song and encore - minus Oliveri.

A year later, Homme told Zane Lowe from BBC Radio 1 that he and Nick had fallen out over several third party claims that Oliveri was violent towards his (Oliveri's) girlfriend. In 2005, Queens of the Stone Age released their first album since Oliveri's departure, Lullabies to Paralyze.

Post–QOTSA

Since his departure from Queens of the Stone Age, Nick has both toured and appeared on-stage with Brant Bjork, Motörhead, Winnebago Deal, Masters of Reality, The Dwarves, Mark Lanegan and Turbonegro. He also recorded an acoustic LP entitled Demolition Day that was eventually released as a second disk in a limited edition of Mondo Generator's latest album, Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails.

Although now concentrating on the Mondo Generator project, in September 2006 Oliveri stated "I feel that Queens is something I can contribute to and Josh (Homme) needs me to do it.

As of April 2007, Mondo Generator was scheduled to appear on the 12th annual Ozzfest tour (otherwise known as the "FreeFest" tour), but officially dropped off the tour on July 26, 2007 after appearing at only 4 Ozzfest dates.

In early 2008, Nick appeared with Moistboyz on bass at a show in Hollywood and planned to tour with them further.

Partial discography

Kyuss

Queens of the Stone Age

Mondo Generator

Nick Oliveri

Other

  • The Dwarves -- The Dwarves Are Young And Good Looking (1997, Epitaph)
  • Desert Sessions -- Vols. 3&4 (1998, Man's Ruin)
  • Desert Sessions -- Vols. 5&6 (1999, Man's Ruin)
  • Desert Sessions -- Vols. 7&8 (2001, Southern Lord)
  • The Dwarves -- How To Win Friends And Influence People (2001, Greedy)
  • Masters of Reality -- Deep In The Hole (2001, Brownhouse)
  • The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (soundtrack) (2002, Milan Records)
  • Masters of Reality -- Flak 'n' Flight (2003, Brownhouse)
  • Mark Lanegan Band -- Here Comes That Weird Chill (2003, Beggar's Banquet)
  • Eagles of Death Metal -- Peace Love Death Metal (2004, Ant Acid Audio)
  • Mark Lanegan Band -- Bubblegum (2004, Beggar's Banquet)
  • Winnebago Deal -- Flight Of The Raven (2006, Fierce Panda)

Trivia

  • Recorded guest vocals on the 2005 Turbonegro album, Party Animals.
  • Appeared in a Roxy Saint music video with Josh Homme for the song "Firecracker".
  • Appeared on stage with Amen in 2002 as part of a warm up gig for the Reading Festival
  • Formed a band with Homme, Twiggy Ramirez, Shannon Larkin, and Casey Chaos called The Headband, which never formulated.
  • Formed "Suicide Pact" with Chaos, which has also never gone anywhere.
  • Performs with Blag Dahlia in concert as The Uncontrollable.
  • Appeared in the Tomahawk filmclip for "Rape This Day".
  • In addition to his Rex Everything pseudonym, Oliveri is also known as "Pierre Pressure".
  • Played bass on the Eagles of Death Metal song "San Berdoo Sunburn".
  • Arrested in Rio de Janeiro in 2001 for playing on stage naked during the Rock in Rio festival.
  • Appeared on The Dwarves Come Clean as a guest vocalist ("River City Rapist").
  • While his picture is on the back of the first Queens of the Stone Age album, he did not play on it. He joined as the recording was being finished, and an answering machine message from Oliveri can be heard at the end of the album on the song "I Was a Teenage Hand Model" stating "I'm in." He is not credited in the liner notes at all.

References & Notes



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