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Rock My Monkey: Hello, you are listening to the Rock My Monkey netcast on RockMyMonkey.com. Today we are speaking with Nick Oliveri of the band Mondo Generator. How are you doing today, Nick?
Nick Oliveri: I’m doing good. Doing good.
Rock My Monkey: Cool. Now, how important do you think it is for an album to have a mixture of harder songs like Basket Case, as well as mellower songs like Paper Thin?
Nick Oliveri: Well, this should be important for everybody, but I kind of like to, try to kick the hard stuff, and then have something that has a little bit more of a groove, or something, you know?
Rock My Monkey: What do you think of the controversy about labels pushing for albums to be overly-compressed simply for the sake of making them louder with a hotter recording? And how do you think that style of producing might affect a band like Mondo Generator?
Nick Oliveri: I feel we’re pretty compressed, man. (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: Some bands, a lot of times the labels push-
Nick Oliveri: They’ll shrink it down to nothing to make it more in your face kind of thing?
Rock My Monkey: Basically a hotter signal as opposed to an album with more depth sonically.
Nick Oliveri: I hear ya. I hear ya. I hear ya.
Rock My Monkey: And it that something that you wanted to make sure this album didn’t have?
Nick Oliveri: You know, there’s some compression on it, but it’s not, I don’t think-I put some compression on some bass and stuff. It’s not so much on there. But yeah, some records really shrink down to-yeah, they are hot, hot levels, and in your face and stuff. Yeah, I kind of feel like you can shrink it down to-but it you do it too much on guitars I think it gets really-it gets louder, but it gets thin, you know?
Rock My Monkey: Right.
Nick Oliveri: I don’t know. What do you think the record sounds like? Do you think it’s too much compression on there, or what? Is that what you’re saying?
Rock My Monkey: That’s why I brought it up with you, because your album does have a little bit more variety to it. Some of those softer sounds, some of the harder songs. With an album like Dead Planet that has a little bit more diversity musically, I think over-compression would have affected it a little bit more, than it would be, say, a total old school black metal band, or something.
Nick Oliveri: Are you compressing me? (laughs) Are you compressing me?
Rock My Monkey: Why did you drop off Ozzfest? Was it a money issue?
Nick Oliveri: You know, it was just many different things. I feel like it was a lot of fun, and we got to do the West Coast. I did Ozzfest with Queens in I think it was 2000, or 2002? I think it’s 2000. We didn’t do the West Coast. We did it on our own. It was actually quite cool to do the West Coast with the band. With it being Mondo it was a lot of fun. It was cool. But, yeah, I think everything wa going quite smooth. I think it was there for stronger, metal bands like Behemoth. That really isn’t our vibe. And it wasn’t that people were hating us, and we weren’t hating it, hating them. It was a really good time. But yeah, it seemed like it was maybe not our scene. Maybe if there’s metal in Mondo, I don’t know if there is, but if there is, there’s a different style of metal, then. More on the rock and roll side, maybe Motorhead’s style than Judas Priest, or something, I guess you can say. I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t know. And there’s nothing against that. Whatever floats your boat. I’m down with similar music. I like a lot of metal stuff. But I don’t know if they necessarily, if they really got Mondo. Not that we were ran off because of that. I’m saying-I don’t know if it was really a fit. I don’t know if it really made sense.
Rock My Monkey: So you don’t think that the reaction you were getting, the positive response that you were getting from it was worth maybe say the expense of what it took to stay on that tour?
Nick Oliveri: Yes and no. I mean, yeah, it was pretty expensive to stay on that tour. It’s a great thing for Ozzy’s fans and stuff to have a free gig. It’s cool, man. Right on. He’s done a lot of cool tours. That’s probably the coolest thing that he’s done is that he’s gone out and played for people for free. That’s quite cool, you know? I think a free ticket is a great thing. But for a smaller band, it could be harder. It’s harder to go out for free. Not to say like, ‘oh, it’s about the money.’ But if you got a band, it costs money. It’s a little bit about money.
Rock My Monkey: Right, right, right.
Nick Oliveri: If you’re doing it at home with your mom, and you’re sixteen, and you got a cool band, you’re like ‘Let’s go on tour, it’s rad!’ It doesn’t matter. You go home and you’re broke, but you had a great time and you played music, and you got to do what really matters is go out and rock. But you know, my guys have lives and mortgages and shit like that.
Rock My Monkey: A lot of the younger crowd may not understand bills to pay.
Nick Oliveri: I feel ya bro.
Rock My Monkey: How do you feel that the band has progressed from Sonic Slow Motion Trails to this new album that’s titled just Dead Planet?
Nick Oliveri: I’m sorry?
Rock My Monkey: You’re last album was Sonic Slow Motion Trails, correct?
Nick Oliveri: It’s the same record, it’s just a U.S. and a European release. It actually came out a year ago.
Rock My Monkey: Oh, okay!
Nick Oliveri: This record is new for The States, and that’s cool. I’m down. I’m glad Suburban Noize is cool enough to put it out and provide an avenue that is cool for a record that I like. I like the record. I’m down with the music that I’m making, and stuff. So it was very cool that they came forward and were cool enough to put out this record, because I had it put out in England and in Europe. Yeah. I kind of just wanted to focus on Europe, and especially England, there for some time. I wasn’t really focusing on The States until there was an avenue to put it out. I wasn’t really sending it out too much. I was kind of just focusing on Europe. So yeah, it was great that those guys came forward to put it out. It was awesome, actually. It’s a year later, and it’s cool, and it kind of adds new life to it. I hope it’s new for some people here in The States. I know we have a small cult following that may have already got it on the U.K. release. So until we do the next record, hopefully after this next tour coming up, we’ll have something new.
Rock My Monkey: Why the change in the album title? Before it was called Dead Planet: Sonic Slow Motion Trails. Now it’s called just plain Dead Planet. What was the reason for the shortening of the album title?
Nick Oliveri: That was actually, I was going along with Kevin Zinger from Sub-Noize wanted that. It made sense. He was like ‘It seems a little bold’ and he explained why, and I said, ‘You’re right.’ It was cool. It made sense.
Rock My Monkey: You recently announced that the band is now sponsored by DragonAlliance.com Sunglasses. What does this mean for the band, and who approached who first?
Nick Oliveri: I don’t know. I guess that was-is that’s what’s happening? (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: Yeah, you guys are now sponsored by DragonAlliance.com. Yes.
Nick Oliveri: Okay. Cool.
Rock My Monkey: Didn’t even know about it, huh?
Nick Oliveri: Nah. It’s cool.
Rock My Monkey: It’s right on your website.
Nick Oliveri: I met those guys two or three times. They’re cool. Invited them to my house. It’s all cool. I had them over for barbecue and stuff. Yeah. They’re really cool. I didn’t know that we were sponsored by them. That’s cool. I’m down with them. They’re cool. I had no idea.
Rock My Monkey: Now, in June, Bulgaria’s Pro Rock Magazine reported on a show that you played with The Exploited, and it was said to have a small riot between skinheads and punks. Was it as bad as they made it out to be, or was it totally overblown?
Nick Oliveri: You know what? I know that it went down, something went down. I know that there was something going down in the front of the venue place that we were out. I wasn’t that interested, to be honest, but the promoters that brought it out there, quite a nice guy. He actually went to jail for it. So something real must have definitely gone down. I didn’t witness it. I was watching The Exploited myself. I wasn’t in front. I was at the side. I was actually checking them out. So I missed whatever I was told happened. To be honest I didn’t see it. But I would have loved to have seen it, though! (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: What was there about Suburban Noise Records that made you want to sign with them? What did they have that no one else did?
Nick Oliveri: Interest! (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: Really? Nobody else came to the table?
Nick Oliveri: It seemed like it. Nah, it wasn’t like that. (laughs) It was, you know, it was somewhat like that, yeah. I didn’t really shop it around in The States. I thought it was kind of cool that a label, that a lot of people said to me, ‘Does that make sense?’ I thought it kind of did, because their style of records that they put out, Mondo doesn’t really fit that. In a sense there’s some attitude in our music that maybe coincides with the same type of vibe. But I don’t have any hip hop stuff in my music. But that’s cool. It shouldn’t always be the same. And I think that’s one of the reasons why I thought it was kind of cool to go with them is it was a different style, and maybe it would get a, there would be more attention to it. They’re doing great. It’s awesome. It’s all good, man.
Rock My Monkey: Your video for Lie Detector is pretty simple and to the point. Was that an artistic thing, or a budget thing?
Nick Oliveri: I think it was-that was something-The Subnoise guys had a crew of people, they kicked ass. The video turned out really good. It was like four in the morning, five in the morning, up in the desert. I don’t know where the hell we were, but it was great. It was a lot of fun. We just kind of set up and actually played this little power converter, those converter things in your car, just plugged in and played. It was actually quite fun. Yeah. I think the video turned out kind of cool. What do you think, man?
Rock My Monkey: I think it was, like I said, pretty simple, to the point, blunt. Sometime you can get kind of confused when people try to make the concept a little bit too artsy fartsy. You guys had no concept-
Nick Oliveri: You think it’s too artsy?
Rock My Monkey: No, I’m saying in contrast to some videos that are way too artsy and fartsy, you guys just went simple and to the point. This is the band playing. This is us. This is our music. And there it is. I think there’s actually some good qualities to a video with that approach.
Nick Oliveri: Cool.
Rock My Monkey: What is it about The Dwarves that keeps bringing you back?
Nick Oliveri: I don’t know, man. I think it’s whenever Blag wants to jam I guess. I’m a fan of the band, to be honest. I’ve always liked The Dwarves. I’ve always been down with the music. Whenever Blag is digging on me and not hating me, and asks me to do something, it’s always my pleasure to jam with The Dwarves, man. I love the songs. Yeah, I’m down. I love The Dwarves, man. It’s good stuff. The songs have got attitude. It’s just to me what I think rock and roll and punk should be. It should have some attitude whether it’s fast or heavy or slow, or whatever. It should have some sort of balls behind it, or something. I don’t know.
Rock My Monkey: Josh Homme told Kerang Magazine lately that the rift between you and him is tearing him apart, and that he kind of misses you. And you have said that you could have added what was missing from this most recent Queens cd. Is that friendship on the way to being mended, and do I smell a reunion anytime soon?
Nick Oliveri: Dude, I had no idea that-I actually said that about Lullabies. I actually picked up the new record, and it’s much different than what I thought it was going to be. And I tripped out when I heard it. I was ‘Wow, this is different.’ And I think that’s what’s cool about it is that it is very, very different. It sounds weird at times. Some of it’s more in a heavy kind of Queens kind of vibe, and some of it goes into like new territory for something called Queens Of The Stone Age, or even Josh, you know, doing, if he got it under his own name, like his name, you know? But I think, I think it’s, you know, I don’t know anything about a reunion. I think reunions are kind of weird. But you know what? It’s Josh’s band. I always liked playing music with Josh. If it happens, It’d be up to him. You know what I mean? Give me a phone call.
Rock My Monkey: So basically the friendship-
Nick Oliveri: I’d say yeah. Because it’s fun to play music with the dude.
Rock My Monkey: So the friendship is definitely on the way to being mended, and if you guys were in the same room it’d be a cool thing?
Nick Oliveri: Yeah.
Rock My Monkey: Right on. Now, is there any song off of Dead Planet that you think could become Mondo Generator’s Ace Of Spades? That signature song that never dies, something that fans will demand for years to come?
Nick Oliveri: The Ace Of Spades? It would have to be All Systems Go, because it kind of has an Ace Of Spades riff bite on it. That’s the one I would say would be Mondo Generator’s great hit, Ace Of Spades. That’s the one I would say.
Rock My Monkey: Right on. Now, what do you think Nick brought to the cd as a co-producer that would not have been there otherwise?
Nick Oliveri: Nick, actually, what’s great about Nick is he, the first time they ever did anything over at Studio 606 that was like live takes. I recorded a lot of the music with the guys in the band. Ben Thomas and Ben Perrier with Nick at Studio 606. And it was great. We went to tapes, and we did a bunch of tapes of songs. Not too many where it killed us. But I think, you know, I don’t know, man. He kind of just let us do our thing. He brought his feel of tones and shit, and helped me find what I was looking for with tones. I’m pretty simple when it comes to stuff like that. I need more lows, I need more, I need the bass up, and I’m not real good with turning the knobs and stuff. Someone like Nick knows where to go for stuff like that. It’s a no brainer. He’s quick, and fast, and he’s fun to hang out with. I think he brought a cool vibe of mellowness to it, you know, like, you know, relaxed and play the tunes, you know? And I think the more jammy songs came out cooler at Studio 606 than at Donner & Blitzen in Arcadia where I finished the record. I think songs like “Like A Bomb” or stuff like that-I can’t think of something off the top of my head. It’s been awhile since I listened to the record. Stuff like that actually I think came out cooler at Studio 606 then the studio in Arcadia where I finished the guitars and stuff like that out there.
Rock My Monkey: Do you ever get tired of people asking about any potential Kyuss reunion?
Nick Oliveri: Heh. That’s another one up to Josh, bro.
Rock My Monkey: Really? Okay.
Nick Oliveri: Yeah. Well, Josh is, he was there with John. John and him basically did Kyuss for all four full lengths and the EP on Man’s Ruin. Those are the two guys that did all the records. I did the first two. Scott Reeder came in and he is a better bass player, and that’s the reason why-he shreds. Okay, fair enough. But he did the last two. But John and Josh and Brant did the first, he did three of them, and then Alfredo did drums on the last one. So it’s one of those things for me where it’s Josh and John. Without John singing, there’s no Kyuss, and without Josh playing guitar and who is the main songwriter for Kyuss, with Brant Bjork the first three, those are the guys. That’s, if Josh is involved, it would have to be up to Josh to make that happen.
Rock My Monkey: Before I ask my final question-I got one more question, but before that, is there anything you’d like to say to the Mondo Generator fans, or specifically the readers of RockMyMonkey.com?
Nick Oliveri: Yeah. If you want a Kyuss reunion, buy Cocaine Rodeo. Just kidding. (both laugh)
Rock My Monkey: Every year we do choose one final question, half just so that at the end of the year we can look back at the best answers, but part of the reason is to stump people, and maybe separate the men from the boys. So this year’s final question I’m asking people to look into their crystal ball and predict what political figure, world leader, musician, celebrity, anybody well known, who do you think might die before the end of the year?
Nick Oliveri: Me!
Rock My Monkey: (both laugh) You know I’ve asked this question to a lot of people over the past year, and you’re the first person to actually name yourself.
Nick Oliveri: That’s the only one you can predict, god damn it. Come on. Unless you go and kill somebody. What? I’m just kidding.
Rock My Monkey: In closing, anybody that’s listening to this through the audio portion can go to RockMyMonkey.com for the full featured version with clickable links, readable text, and many more wonderful features. I hope everybody clicks on the album cover above and below this interview to purchase Mondo Generator’s Dead Planet, and I do hope to see you on tour up in the Northwest sometime soon.
Nick Oliveri: Right on.
Rock My Monkey: Cool. Thank you very much for your time.
