Billy Gibbons Josh Homme, and Dave Grohl

Josh Homme is up to something, and it apparently involves Dave Grohl and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons.

In a new interview with eonmusic, Gibbons revealed that he was in the studio with Homme and Grohl last month.



“We had gone to the desert to work on just a couple of tracks,” Gibbons explained. He went on to recall one particular instance in which “I was outside, and Josh came out of the studio, and he had this box, and it was making some strange noise, and I said, “Hey, what is that”, and he goes, ‘I dont know, I just found it’; I said; ‘Don’t touch a thing; were going to use it for the song!” So that’s how it started.”

Gibbons said the trio was working on a new Queens of the Stone Age album, though as several QOTSA fans have since pointed out, it’s much more likely they were actually recording a new installment of his Homme’s famed Desert Sessions. Homme hinted at such a project just last month, and over the weekend, while appearing on Homme’s The Alligator Hour radio show, Grohl joked with Homme about having “always want[ed] to” participate in a Desert Sessions record. “I just don’t want you to,” Homme quipped in response.

Further ruling out the likelihood of a QOTSA-specific project, band members Jon Theodore and Dean Fertita are currently tied up with other commitments; Theodore recently embarked on a tour with Mini Mansions, while Fertita is gearing up for a similarly expansive summer outing with The Raconteurs.

Whatever the case, Gibbons said Homme is planning to release the project before year’s end. “He’s completed it. I think that he said he wants to put it out Halloween. It’ll be good,” Gibbons commented.

The last installment of The Desert Sessions came in 2003. Meanwhile, QOTSA released their most recent full-length, Villains, in 2017.

We’ve reached out to QOTSA representatives for additional information.

During a break from the recording sessions, Gibbons said Grohl also hosted a big barbecue during which the group exchanged stories about late Pantera members Vince and Dimebag Darrell. “We spent one hour telling stories, great stories remembering these lovely guys,” Gibbons recalled.