Nick Oliveri Quits Kyuss Lives, Talks Court Case and Queens of the Stone Age Exit

Former Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri explains why he recently jumped ship on the Kyuss reunion, explains his side of the story concerning his legal troubles stemming from a standoff with LAPD last July and briefly touches on the circumstances surrounding his exit from QOTSA.

In a new video interview with Antiquiet, Nick Oliveri gives a very long-winded update on all the hot topic issues surrounding the bassist -- of which there are several.

First there is the matter of Kyuss, who reunited without former guitarist and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme as Kyuss Lives. A lawsuit has recently been brought against the band by Homme and former bassist Scott Reeder regarding the use of the name Kyuss. Oliveri says that when Kyuss Lives was just a touring thing, Homme was fine with it -- it wasn't until there was talks of a new album that it became an issue.

"Josh is a key player and songwriter in what Kyuss was and is. I don't know that without Josh there -- it will be what it should be," says Oliveri of his exit from the partial reunion. "I don't want to let anyone down. I don't want to let myself down. I figure walk away with my head up high and do my own thing is the respectable thing and I think I need to do that."

Oliveri is also facing up to 15 years in prison after a standoff with police at his apartment last July ended with the bassist facing multiple drug and weapons charges. "Basically at the end of the day I screwed up cause I didn’t open the door," Oliveri explains. "I was like ‘I’m not going to open, I don’t have to open the door.’ I didn’t think you have to open the door [laughs]. You have to open the door. A robot came and knocked down my door [laughs].

Oliveri also talked about being fired from Queens of the Stone Age over eight years ago. Though his explanation was a bit vague and hard to follow, his termination stemmed from an incident at a Queens show where Oliveri was so intoxicated, Homme refused to go back on stage with him.

You can see the entire 20-minute video interview at Antiquiet, where Oliveri covers all those subjects in detail and talks about the new record from his alter-ego Mondo Generator.