Nick Oliveri has called out former Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme and Scott Reeder for not allowing use of the “Kyuss” band name.
During his stint in the band, Oliveri played alongside guitarist Homme (whom he would also play with in Queens of the Stone Age), singer John Garcia, bassist Scott Reeder, and drummer Brant Bjork. This lineup would release the band’s debut, 1991’s Wretch, and the seminal 1992 desert/stoner metal album Blues for a Red Sun before Oliveri left the group in 1992. Bjork stuck around for one more album, 1994’s Welcome to Sky Valley, while the entire band would break up two years later in 1995.
Homme has since achieved international fame with Queens of the Stone Age, while Oliveri (who exited QOTSA in 2004) and Bjork recently formed the far more Kyuss-esque group Stöner. Previously, Oliveri, Garcia, and Bjork had announced plans to tour in 2010 under the name Kyuss Lives!, but that was shot down after Homme and Reader took legal action. Instead, they recorded and toured under the name Vista Chino.
In a new interview, Oliveri offered fans a status update regarding a the possibility of touring under the Kyuss name again. Calling Kyuss a “fan’s band,” Oliveri told Goetia Media: “[The fans] wanted us to play. I wish we were able to play. But I don’t have any ownership or stake in the name. [Bjork] came up with the name; he didn’t have ownership in it. He left the band at one point. The existing members registered the name. So it’s just as simple as that.”
He continued: “I kind of feel a lot of different ways about it. I feel like why do you wanna own the name if you wanna kill the band? Let us run with it and have a good time. We’re playing [the songs] with all respect to the music that we can, as close to it as we can. And the fans, we owe it to ’em.”
The idea of a Kyuss reunion has even been tossed around by Homme himself, when he expressed interest in a 2020 interview. However, Brant Bjork said in a 2021 interview that he reached out to Homme and got no response.
“As far as a Kyuss reunion happening, that was my attempt at not necessarily getting the band back together but at the very least developing some communication with Josh,” Bjork told the Hobo on the Radio podcast. “And it seemed at first that it might be time and [we] actually [might] be able to connect. But it didn’t happen. That was months and months and months ago, so it’s clear that it’s not gonna move forward. And who knows? Maybe he puts Kyuss together and puts his own version together or whatever. I don’t know what he’s gonna do. We’ll have to just see.”
As of now, it appears the ball remains in Homme’s court. In related news, Bjork recently announced a new solo album and offered up the lead single “Bread for Butter,” which features guitar work from Oliveri.
Check out the new interview with Oliveri below.
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