Jesse Hughes, Eagles of Death Metal. Photograph by Sylvia McFadden
Over the years, the Arch has proven a dramatic backdrop to a variety of concert series. Jack Daniel’s is providing a one-night event with this weekend’s JD-branded Live at the Landmark concert, featuring Eagles of Death Metal. The band will play on Saturday, May 18; ticket information is at the end of the piece.
The EoDM have released three albums since 2004, with a fourth slated to be recorded this year. The project’s largely the preserve of guitarist and songwriter Jesse “The Devil” Hughes, who records with Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh Homme. After those sessions, the live setting’s largely a place for Hughes and a wide-ranging, revolving cast of support players, minus Homme. In recent years, Hughes has also kept himself busy with the more electronically-geared Boots Electric, which released a debut album in 2011.
Though under the weather for the past few days, a raspy-voiced Hughes was on the other end of the line yesterday, for an interview that was... well, let’s just say that it’s the interview that follows:
This is a pretty different kind of one-off show. How’d Jack Daniels come to you to do it?
They wanted everyone to be properly drunk and horny, so they called me.
You’ve got an interesting place to play. Any relationship to it? Have you ever been to the Arch on your way through?
Yeah, I have been to it. And I love St. Louis. It’s really going to do me good, to get out of California and go to a place where people are more real.
Talk a bit, if you would, about splitting time creatively between your two projects.
It’s really easy, man. I live and breathe music 24 hours a day. And I have the hottest, 23-year-old ex-porn star girlfriend. I’m always horny and always inspired to write music.
Boots Electric is all you?
It’s solely me. On the first album, I got a chance to work with Money Mark, which was amazing for me. Eagles of Death Metal is a way for me to flex my rock ’n’ roll muscles. Boots Electric is my way to flex muscles like George Clinton and Parliament/Funakadelic.
Did you grow up on that music?
I grew up on that music.
I was just watching your Rock am Ring performance from 2008. It looks like every show done at that venue, that festival, is an amazing one to play.
Well, Rock am Ring is in Germany. And the Germans are actually some of the most fun-loving rock ’n’ rollers you’d ever want to meet. And you have engineers that know what they’re doing. Everything’s set up for everyone to enjoy the music. It’s almost impossible not to have a good show. I love Germany, anyway.
Josh Homme will not be with you for this show?
I’m not going to get on stage with that dude. I want people to look at me, motherf—ker.
Will there be some new material at the gig, or all songs from the three albums?
You might hear some new s—t. In fact, I think we’ll throw something together just for you, dude.
Not that you’d care, but I’m going to a wedding that night. Missing the whole thing.
I’ll come by for the after-party, then.
Okay, sounds good. How about recording? Is either band in the studio these days?
I’ve got studio time booked, and we’ll go in just as soon as Josh comes back from Europe. We’ll bang this record out in a couple of days, probably. I always write the songs in advance to make it easy on myself. When you write songs in advance, you can spend your time improving them, rather than coming up with them in the studio.
You ever been a part of a process in which you’re in the studio for too long, taking all the fun out?
I’ve been in danger of it, but I’ve never done it. I’m not going to be in there with the low lights and the Christmas lights and the incense just to have a place to hang out. Unless there’s a reason, I don’t wanna be there.
Eagles of Death Metal play the Overlook Stage under the Arch at 7 p.m. Tickets are required to attend, and will be distributed without cost until the show via radio remotes and at on-premise venues via the Jack Daniel's promotion team. For more info, go to Twitter.com/JackDaniels_US.
