Queens of the Stone Age recruit Mark Ronson to stop them becoming a 'parody'

Bang Showbiz

30 July 2017

Queens of the Stone Age wanted Mark Ronson to stop them becoming a "parody", and they recruited the music producer to help them find a fresh new sound

Queens of the Stone Age wanted Mark Ronson to stop them becoming a "parody".

The 'No-One Knows' rockers brought in the 'Uptown Funk' hitmaker to produce their new album 'Villains' because they thought he could help them find a fresh take on their classic sound.

Frontman Josh Homme explained to MOJO magazine: "If you're lucky enough to have found a sound for yourself that's individual, you need to be careful by the time you have seven records, you could easily become a parody or a cartoon character.

"Not everyone is blessed enough to be AC/DC or the Ramones. It was time to look hard at what was important about how we sound.

"In the beginning, I thought if all else fails Ronson could just serve as a talisman to remind me to be modern, our way."

And Josh admitted he relished the idea that working with the producer would "confuse and dismay" people.

Explaining how the collaboration came about, he said: "I knew him casually and I knew he was a fan of the band.

"If nothing else, I thought, 'This will confuse and dismay people'.

"My son was really into the song 'Uptown Funk', it's so tight and vacuous and beat-centric. I thought, 'Man, that could be a really good idea'."

Before working on 'Villain', Josh produced Iggy Pop's latest LP 'Post-Pop Depression' and one of the tracks on his own new record was originally intended for the veteran rocker's album.

He explained:" 'Feet Don't Fail Me' was one of the songs we began to work on for the Iggy record.

"We just felt we had enough songs in enough time, it didn't ever get fully formed.

"In fact, Iggy wrote the lyrics, 'Feet don't fail me now'. So I said, 'Is it cool I use that song and take that lyric?' He was like, 'Go for broke'.

"So, in that respect, there is a baton passed from the Iggy record to this."