Bruce Fessier

The Desert Sun

Josh Homme, the desert rock star of Queens of the Stone Age, Them Ol’ Crooked Vultures and Eagles of Death Metal, was in his Los Angeles home recording studio, shortly after noon, when his cell phone erupted with a flurry of text messages.

Five minutes earlier he had texted someone at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris to see how the Eagles of Death Metal concert was going. Fine, he was told. Everything’s fine. But now, his life had suddenly changed. Gunmen had shot and killed 89 people while the band he co-founded was performing. His best friend, Jesse Hughes, a Palm Desert High School chum he called Boots Electric, was on stage when it happened.

“I was like, 'Oh, no,’” Homme said in a rare joint interview about the attacks with Hughes. “Other than the pure shock of it all, and the fact that I was supposed to be there, and fans I had seen in the front row for 15 years that I know are gone, I thought, ‘Oh my God. Boots is at the epicenter of this.’”

On another side of town, actor-director Colin Hanks, Tom Hanks’ son, was working on the CBS TV series, “Life in Pieces.” A news flash reported the terrorist shootings and, like the character in the Patsy Cline song, he did fall to pieces.

“I was a mess when I heard about the attacks,” he said. “I thought of the guys in the band, and the crew members that I had met the weeks prior. I was afraid they had been killed.

“It’s always heartbreaking to hear about a terrorist attack, but this was something else entirely. You desperately want to help, but there is literally nothing you can do – which made me immediately think of Joshua. Knowing the kind of person he is – he doesn’t complain; he goes out and gets it done. Knowing him and his relationship to the band and crew, I felt bad for him. I knew that he was here in L.A. and that he would do everything in his power, despite being across the world, to help.”

Q&A: Eagles of Death Metal open up about Paris

Hanks wanted to do something, too. He had met Homme at the Roxy nightclub in Hollywood following a concert by Them Ol’ Crooked Vultures, the Grammy Award-winning “super group” featuring Homme, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. He was already a fan of the dual nature of his Queens of the Stone Age music – the brute force combined with a feminine side, and the wit and honesty of his lyrics. That led him to Eagles of Death Metal: “So different than Queens. It was rock ’n’ roll that you could dance to.”

He went backstage and, “Josh literally welcomed me into the room by yelling ‘Hey man, get in here!’ We have been friends ever since. I met Jesse in much the same way. We saw each other at a show and we hit it off right off the bat.”

Hanks, 39, had made a documentary about the closing of the Tower Records chain (“All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records”) that resonated with people who grew up with those stores as their community centers. Homme called it a passion project.

“He’s such a big music fan,” Homme said. “I don’t think people understand that.”

“We see a lot of celebrities at our shows,” Hughes said, “but, when Colin comes, you know he’s coming because he really loves the music.”

Hughes and Homme weren’t eager to rehash the events or the repercussions. Hughes remains vulnerable, his nerves frayed. He gave some interviews, said some things he regrets and apologized. But it got him banned from attending the re-opening of the Bataclan in November, one year after the attacks. Hanks had to convince them the story needed to be told from their side. A documentary film had to be made.

“I’ve got to tell you, no one else would have been allowed to do this,” Homme said.

“No one else,” Hughes said.

BAN IN EFFECT? EODM manager says there wasn't one

The three made a pact to be honest and open, no matter how uncomfortable it got. But Hanks didn’t immediately know where the film would go.

“The only real ideas I had going into this project was that I wanted to make something to help my friends put an end to this chapter in their lives so they would never have to talk publicly about this stuff ever again,” he said, “while also showing the survivors, collectively, helping each other move on with their lives. I really just wanted to make something positive come from these horrible events and help shed some light as to the kind of people the guys in the band actually are.”

“Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)” ended up becoming sort of a buddy film. It shows how Homme felt compelled to get on a plane and come to his friend’s rescue, as he had done many times since meeting Hughes at 13 after some bullies threw Hughes in a pool and Homme pulled him out, daring anyone to stop him. But this documentary has a conflict. Homme’s wife was due to have a baby any minute. He couldn’t just leave her. That the story has a fortuitous end is something that still affects Hughes emotionally.

“The heart of the matter is, quite frankly,” Hughes said with his voice breaking, “I never could have gotten through this without Joshua. If all the people you could be friends with in a situation like this, the one person you really want on your side is Joshua – for me anyway. I feel like, honestly, the most tragically lucky person in the world to have had this process set before me and then get to walk in with my best friend, it’s a beautiful thing.”

“Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis” isn’t just the story of two friends. What gives the film more heart is the way the survivors come together with Hughes and his band members. Capturing that became the hardest part of making the documentary.

“The people that we spoke with for the film had not spoken to anyone else about the events despite the fact that they had been bombarded with interview requests for months,” Hanks said. “I went to great lengths to ensure that they were comfortable and that they also knew our intentions, which were to be open and honest, but not exploitive. I told each person that there were no wrong answers and that if they wanted to stop at any time, we could. I wanted it to feel like a conversation.”

The filming wrapped in about three weeks. It has its world premiere Saturday at the Annenberg Theater, making Homme feel he can finally move on.

“When this movie comes out, I will never speak of this again, except to the people that are survived by this,” he said. “I’ll never speak in the press about this because our music has to live and survive and thrive, and I’m not going to let any one thing define us. We have to play and create.”

But Hughes still has conflicting emotions.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said. “I’m proud of everyone that was there. We saw a few seconds of the most evil in the world and then nothing but the most beautiful of everyone I’ve ever known. But I would still rather have not had a reason to see it.”

Read the complete interview of Hughes and Homme here.