The latter, in particular, are particularly prominent right now. Bassist Nick Oliveri has just visited, guitarist Josh Homme will be in the country in a couple of months with Queens of the Stone Age and this week sees the band’s drummer, Brant Bjork, back for his umpteenth visit after nearly 25 years of day-long flights from the States to come and perform. As far as Bjork is concerned, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love Australia, man,” he enthuses in his unmistakable laid-back Californian accent. “I really feel like Australians, generally speaking, really enjoy rock’n’roll music. It’s always a pleasure to take something I’ve worked on over to a place that loves it so much.
“I was very fortunate to come down with Kyuss in 1993, when we supported Metallica. It was one thing to be sharing a stage with those guys, but I was equally as excited to visit Australia and travel there for the very first time. It was a real double-whammy of radness. It was everything I expected it to be and more. I couldn’t wait to get back down there.”
Bjork is currently touring in support of Tao of the Devil, the 11th album to bear his name and the first with the current incarnation of his backing band. Having previously played with The Bros and the Low Desert Punk Band, Bjork says that there’s nothing greater than having a band work cohesively to generate their own unique energy. From the perspective of someone who’s gone from being a key backing player to a leader, one gets the vibe Bjork knows exactly what he’s talking about.
“I’m always in pursuit of a feel, whether that’s through music or through performance,” he says. “As much as songwriting is important to me, it’s all about having a band with a real chemistry. It’s about taking that to the stage and bringing that feel to the people. The songs are just there for us to exercise that.
“This band is all about celebrating the songs that we created together, tapping into our chemistry and getting that feel going. This record is the first that we’ve done with this particular lineup, and we’re really excited about it. We’re playing a lot of tracks off this record, and even on some of the oldies that we play you can still get that feel in there.”
You may have raised an eyebrow at Bjork having released 11 solo albums. The best part is that’s not even the half of it – he’s also got four LPs with Kyuss, one with Kyuss spinoff Vista Chino, four Fu Manchu records, a Mondo Generator album and even a record with Ché. That’s not even counting the various split releases, EPs, 7”s and live albums to his name. A 30-year veteran, having started playing music in high school, Bjork still has the energy of a teenager at the ripe old age of 44. Can’t stop, won’t stop – that’s Brant Bjork for you. “I love creating fresh music – I’m always after new things,” he reasons.
“If anything, it’s about trying to slow down rather than speeding up my process. We’re already making demos for the next album. We just finished mixing the live record that we’re gonna release. I even have about three or four records on the shelf that I haven’t released.
“I got a record that’s got all these songs with no vocals. I got a record called Jacuzzi, which we’ve been talking about releasing for years. I’m hoping I get to a point where I’m able to take the time to go back and properly look at them. I might even put out a compilation of all this stuff. Until then, I’m always movin’ and groovin’. Let’s go. Let’s do this.”
By David James Young
