Nick Steven Oliveri was born in Los Angeles on October 21, 1971, and was then raised in Palm Springs at the age of 11.[5] His first instrument was a guitar but he later moved to bass. His major influences were Kiss, Black Sabbath, Ramones, Rush and Van Halen.[14] Oliveri was described by lifelong friend Brant Bjork as having a Spicoli-esque lifestyle growing up in his youth.[3]
He began his career in 1987 as a guitarist, when he formed Katzenjammer with bandmates John Garcia, Josh Homme, Chris Cockrell and Brant Bjork. In early 1989, shortly after Oliveri's departure, the band changed its name to Sons of Kyuss, and after self-releasing an EP in 1990, the band re-recruited Oliveri on bass to replace Cockrell, and shortened their name to Kyuss.
Oliveri left the band following completion of Blues for the Red Sun and was replaced by Scott Reeder, who had been approached about joining Kyuss five to six months earlier during a West Coast tour with The Obsessed. Following his departure from Kyuss, Oliveri joined the Dwarves as an on and off again bassist under the moniker "Rex Everything".
Nick Oliveri (under the moniker "Rex Everything") formed Mondo Generator in 1997 and with friends Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Rob Oswald, Karl Doyle and others, recorded the debut album, Cocaine Rodeo. The album wouldn't be released until three years later due to Oliveri and Homme being full-time members of Queens of the Stone Age. The album was released by cult-favorite Southern Lord Records in 2000. There was little support of the album by the way of live shows, and the band gained cult status among the most devoted Queens of the Stone Age fans.
As of April 2007, Mondo Generator was scheduled to appear on the 12th annual Ozzfest tour (otherwise known as the "FreeFest" tour), but officially dropped off the tour on July 26, 2007 after appearing at four Ozzfest dates. Oliveri stated, "This year it was free for the crowd, which was a great thing, but essentially the bands were playing for free too and we just couldn't afford to do that."[15]
Oliveri was a core contributor to Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004, playing bass and providing backup and lead vocals on two of the band's biggest albums, Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, in addition to co-writing most of the album's songs with bandmate Josh Homme. He first appeared on the band's self titled debut album in the form of a voicemail confirming his commitment to the band on the album's final song, "I Was a Teenage Hand Model".
Oliveri's lead singing can be heard on songs such as "Auto Pilot", "Tension Head" and "Quick and to the Pointless" from Rated R and "Another Love Song", "Gonna Leave You", "Six Shooter" and "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar but I Feel Like a Millionaire", from Songs for the Deaf.
In January 2004, following a string of dates touring in Australia, Oliveri was fired from the band, with reasoning at first being aggressive treatment of the band's fans, later being accusations of possible abuse to his girlfriend. Oliveri has said to have come to the conclusion himself that during a soundcheck at a show in Spain in 2003, he acted too aggressively to Josh Homme over his relationship with then-girlfriend Brody Dalle after getting too drunk on wine, raising tension between the two.[16] In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio 1, Homme stated that he had approached Oliveri about the abuse rumors and told him, "If I ever find out that this is true, I can’t know you, man." He also revealed an incident that occurred in England involving Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan where the former "almost didn't make it out of the country."[17]
Post-Queens of the Stone Age
Since his firing from Queens of the Stone Age, Oliveri has recorded an acoustic LP entitled Demolition Day that was eventually released as a second disc in the limited edition of the Mondo Generator album, Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails. In September 2006, Oliveri stated "I feel that Queens is something I can contribute to and Josh Homme needs me to do it."[18]
There was speculation that he would return in Queens of the Stone Age during their summer tour due to Josh Homme's dedication of "New Fang" to Nick for "new beginnings". However, this proved to be false. In March 2011, Oliveri stated: "The last time I saw them play was a benefit for Brian O'Connor in L.A., from the Eagles of Death Metal. I was down there and I mentioned to them, "Why don't I come up and do "Millionaire" or something, and sing it and not play bass?" [Josh] was like, "Nah, I don't think that's a good idea yet." It's kind of in his court for stuff like that. I don't think he wants to give anybody the wrong idea. I don't necessarily know if that would happen. And he's got a good band—he's taking the band in the direction he wants it to go."[19]
In late November 2012, Oliveri contributed vocals on the track "If I Had a Tail" for his former band Queens of the Stone Age on their album …Like Clockwork. Upon hearing fellow former Queens member Dave Grohl would make a return to drums on the album, Oliveri inquired to Josh Homme if he could play bass: "I actually put in a request with Josh. I heard Dave was playing on the record, and I was like, 'Dude! I wanna play bass on it!' I'd be a fool not to ask. If Dave Grohl was playing drums, then I want in. He's an amazing drummer. I never had a better time in my life than when Dave was in the band."[20] Homme instead opted for current bassist Michael Shuman.
In June 2010, former Kyuss members Oliveri and Bjork joined Garcia onstage to perform "Green Machine" and "Gardenia" during a headlining appearance by "Garcia Plays Kyuss" at Hellfest in Clisson, France[24] and they also appeared onstage with Garcia in other concerts on the tour.
In November 2010, Oliveri joined Kyuss Lives! with fellow ex band members Garcia and Bjork. The band initially toured Europe, Australian and New Zealand markets in early 2011, and later toured North America.[25] A new studio album was also being planned following the tour.[26] Due to Oliveri's ongoing legal problems resulting from a July 2011 incident, he was unable to leave the US and Scott Reeder filled in for him on several international dates. After touring domestically in the US with Kyuss Lives! during 2011, Oliveri decided to leave the band in favor of returning to working on Mondo Generator.[27]
However, in March 2012, it was revealed that Josh Homme, after persuading bassist Scott Reeder to support him, had filed a federal lawsuit against John Garcia and Brant Bjork alleging "trademark infringement and consumer fraud" over the use of the Kyuss name despite the fact Brant Bjork had originally created the name. Nick Oliveri left Kyuss later that month after it was revealed that Garcia and Bjork had tried to take control of the Kyuss trademark.[28]
In December 2012, he announced his return to Kyuss Lives!, however all touring and promotions since have not featured Oliveri.[29] In August 2013, singer John Garcia said that the band "is a three-piece band with [himself], Brant [Bjork, drummer] and Bruno [Fevery, guitarist]. It always will be." and described Oliveri as "an honorary band member".[30]
In 2020, Oliveri formed the stoner rock trio Stöner, along with former Kyuss bandmate Brant Bjork and Ryan Güt, touring member for Bjork's live band. The band first appeared on Oliveri's solo album N.O. Hits at All Vol.666. Stöner performed on the fourth volume of the Live in the Mojave Desert concert film series and live albums later in the year.[31]
In 2021, the band released their debut album, Stoners Rule and embarked on a US tour alongside Clutch.[32][33]
In 2022, Stöner released their sophomore album Totally....[34]
In 2023, the band released their debut EP, Boogie to Baja.[35]
Additional projects and contributions
In 2005, Oliveri appeared on the Turbonegro album Party Animals as guest vocalist on the song "Final Warning". He joined the band on stage for performances of the song during their US tour in 2007, which included Mondo Generator as support.
In early 2008, Oliveri joined a West Coast offshoot of Moistboyz dubbed Dickie Moist OTC, on bass.[36] In June 2008, he joined Los Angeles-based rock band, The Knives, on bass.
On August 7, 2008, Oliveri appeared on stage with Turbonegro at Øyafestivalen in Oslo to sing "Back to Dungaree High" and "Nervous Breakdown", the former being a song that Queens of the Stone Age had previously covered on the Turbonegro tribute album Alpha Motherfuckers and the latter a Black Flag cover. The band's performance at the festival was the 10th anniversary celebration of their album Apocalypse Dudes. On April 19, 2009, Oliveri again joined Turbonegro on stage for the song "Dungaree High" during their Coachella set.
In 2010, Oliveri appeared on Slash's debut solo album, Slash, contributing vocals to the track "Chains and Shackles" that was included on the Australian edition of the album.
Oliveri co-wrote the song "TNA (The Nihilistic Army)" with members of Turbonegro for their 2012 album Sexual Harassment.
In July 2013, while on tour in Alaska, Oliveri met members of Men With Guns, Lowell George Granath and Cody Kniceley, resulting in the formation of a band called The Situationalists and the recording of two demo tracks. An LP was planned, but did not materialize.
In late November 2013, Oliveri announced that he would be touring with, and playing bass for Moistboyz, the punk/rock project of Dean Ween, which featured then Mondo Generator drummer Hoss Wright, Guy Heller, and Stephen Haas. Oliveri later announced that he and Hoss were also providing the rhythm section for the reunited California thrash outfit Bl'ast!.
In 2015, Oliveri collaborated with Russian punk rock band Svetlanas and occasionally toured with the band. Their album, Naked Horse Rider, featured Oliveri and was recorded at Josh Homme's Pink Duck Studios in California.[37] Oliveri later appeared on the following Svetlanas releases, This Is Moscow Not L.A. in 2017,[38] and Disco Sucks in 2020.[39]
In 2019, Oliveri joined Desert Rock veterans Bob Balch (Fu Manchu) and Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Ten East) in the band Big Scenic Nowhere for the group's debut EP, Dying on the Mountain.[47] He again played for the band on their debut full-length album, Vision Beyond Horizon.[48]
In 2020, Oliveri collaborated with the Italian rock band Gunash for the recording of the single "Predators" which appeared on both N.O. Hits at All Vol. 7 and the Gunash album All You Can Hit.[49][50] Gunash supported Nick Oliveri on his European "Death Acoustic Tour" and Mondo Generator on some dates in Italy and France.
Legal issues and controversy
On July 10, 1999, Oliveri and Josh Homme were involved in an altercation with English rock band Terrorvision while Queens of the Stone Age were on tour in London. Oliveri was arrested as a result, but was released several hours later without being charged.[51]
On January 19, 2001, Oliveri was arrested after a performance at Rock in Rio III in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for performing nude on stage. He apologized for the incident and stated that he was not aware that it was a crime in Brazil.[52]
On July 12, 2011, Oliveri was arrested for suspicion of felony domestic violence after a standoff with police SWAT team. He allowed his girlfriend to exit the house two hours into the standoff and two hours before the SWAT team made entry into the home and arrested Oliveri. Drugs and a loaded rifle were found in the home.[53][54][55] In August 2012, Oliveri's lawyer reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in his case. His lawyer, Freddy Sayegh, told TMZ, "Oliveri agreed to plead to one count of possession of cocaine and a dismissal of the remaining six felony counts." Oliveri's record in the case will be expunged as long as he completes court-ordered community service, anger management, and remains out of trouble for six years.[56]
Pseudonyms
Oliveri adopted the "Rex Everything" moniker after shattering a vase at a former Dwarves bassist's house, upon which he replied to Oliveri with "Rex Everything". The nickname "Rex" was originally given to Oliveri by Blag Dahlia, but a last name, which became Everything, was needed to go along with it.[1]
"Pierre Pressure" was a nickname given to Oliveri by lifelong friend Josh Homme, to which Homme stated Oliveri pressures people into doing things they should not.[2] "The Great French Manipulator" also came from Homme.[2]
"Rock & Roll Komodo Dragon" originated from an interview with Revolver where Homme states that Oliveri's "a bit like a rock and roll komodo dragon, it's been that way for thousands of years".[3]
"Nikolai Svetlana" was given during Oliveri's tenure with Svetlanas, as each band member uses the band name as their stage last name.[4]
Kyuss was an American stoner rock band formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987, and considered one of the pioneers of the genre. After disbanding in 1995, a number of band members have gone on to form or play in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees, Fu Manchu, Dwarves, Eagles of Death Metal, Mondo Generator, Hermano, Unida, Slo Burn and Them Crooked Vultures.
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lineup changes. Since 2013, the lineup has consisted of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.
Blues for the Red Sun is the second studio album by American rock band Kyuss, released in 1992. While the album received mainly favorable reviews, it fared poorly commercially, selling only 39,000 units. It has since become a very influential album within the stoner rock genre. It was the last Kyuss album to feature bassist Nick Oliveri, who was replaced by Scott Reeder shortly after recording had been completed. The album is dedicated to Oliveri's father who died in a car accident in 1991.
Joshua Michael Homme is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he formed in 1996. Homme is the band's primary songwriter and mainly sings lead vocals and plays guitar. He also plays drums in the rock band Eagles of Death Metal, which he co-founded in 1998.
John Garcia is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the vocalist and founding member of stoner rock bands Kyuss, Slo Burn, Unida and Hermano. Garcia also performed in Vista Chino, formerly Kyuss Lives!, with former Kyuss members Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri. Garcia has since decided to pursue his solo career, having formed his band, John Garcia and the Band of Gold, in 2019.
Brant Bjork is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the drummer and founder of the influential Californian stoner rock band Kyuss. Bjork has also been a member of Fu Manchu, Mondo Generator and Vista Chino, the latter with former Kyuss members John Garcia and Nick Oliveri. He is currently the frontman and co-founder of the stoner rock power trio, Stöner. Bjork is one of the more notable figures in the stoner rock and Palm Desert scene and maintains a prolific solo career with over a dozen released albums.
Alfredo Hernández is an American drummer best known as a former member of desert rock bands Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork and the Bros and Yawning Man, and as a current member of the band, Avon.
Cocaine Rodeo is the debut studio album by American rock band Mondo Generator, released through Southern Lord Records on 18 July 2000. It was compiled of material recorded by vocalist/bassist Nick Oliveri with drummer Rob Oswald, vocalist/guitarist Brent Malkus, and his ex-Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme, Brant Bjork and John Garcia. Recorded in 1997, the material was shelved for three years due to disinterest from the band to release it and Oliveri's full-time commitment to Queens of the Stone Age.
Jalamanta is the stoner rock and Palm Desert scene musician Brant Bjork's debut solo album after leaving Kyuss and joining Fu Manchu. Originally released on October 11, 1999, through Man's Ruin Records, Jalamanta was later re-released on Bjork's own label, Duna Records, in 2003, 2006 and 2009. In 2019, Bjork's current label, Heavy Psych Sounds, released a remixed and remastered version of the album with new artwork.
Rancho De La Luna is a recording studio in Joshua Tree, California that was founded in 1993 by Fred Drake and David Catching. After Drake's death in 2002 to cancer, the studio was operated by David Catching and Drake's collaborators Tony Mason, Ted Quinn, Dean Chamberlain, Billy Bizeau and Fred Burke until 2004. It has since doubled as Catching's home, where he serves as engineer, producer, joins as guest musician and cooks for bands.
Mondo Generator is an American rock band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri. The band has released seven studio albums, four EPs, one live album and one video album.
Josh Homme is an American rock musician who has released 18 studio albums and collaborated with over 25 different artists. He started playing guitar in the 1980s and formed a band with Palm Desert, California schoolmates John Garcia and Brant Bjork, initially under the name Katzenjammer, then Sons of Kyuss, and later shortened to simply Kyuss. The band released an EP called Sons of Kyuss (1990) when Homme was 16 years old, before going on to record four critically acclaimed studio albums and a greatest hits release without breaking through to mainstream success. After the breakup of the band in 1995, Homme considered abandoning his music career, but was persuaded by vocalist Mark Lanegan to join the Screaming Trees on tour as second guitarist.
Vista Chino was an American rock band formed in 2010 by vocalist John Garcia, drummer Brant Bjork and bassist Nick Oliveri, all previously members of Kyuss, along with guitarist Bruno Fevery.
This is a compilation of the fifth and sixth The Desert Sessions releases. Queens of the Stone Age later performed "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" on their Songs for the Deaf album, and "Rickshaw" has often been included in their live set. "Like a Drug" has been re-recorded and features on certain special editions of Lullabies to Paralyze. "I'm Dead" was recorded by Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri in an acoustic arrangement and retitled "Day I Die" for the Mondo Generator album A Drug Problem That Never Existed. This pair of sessions featured a wider range of musicians than previous releases, including Dwarves singer Blag Dahlia.
Hell Comes to Your Heart is the fourth studio album by Mondo Generator, released on Nick Oliveri's vanity label, Mondo Media, in 2012 and distributed worldwide through Cobraside Distribution.
N.O. Hits at All are a series of compilation albums by American musician Nick Oliveri, released through Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The tracks used on these albums are from bands Oliveri has provided vocals for either as a member or a guest.
This article lists the discography of Nick Oliveri. Oliveri is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known for his work as a member of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. Oliveri frequently contributes to the work of other artists as a solo artist, most notably on ...Like Clockwork, a 2013 Queens of the Stone Age album, for which he provided backing vocals on "If I Had a Tail".
Stöner is an American rock band formed in 2020 by former Kyuss members Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, and Bjork's solo band drummer, Ryan Güt. The power trio has released two studio albums and toured extensively in support of both albums.
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