Whether helping brew the downtuned cosmic fury of seminal desert rockers Kyuss in the early 1990s or anchoring the hypnotic and tuneful heaviness of Queens of the Stone Age over the past decade, Josh Homme has established himself as one of the few alternative-rock musicians capable of writing both hook-filled tunes and monolithic riffs. Along with Jack White of the White Stripes, Homme brings the power of the classic guitar hero into a modern rock context without devolving into flashy solos. The prolific musician also showed a remarkable capacity for experimentation with his varied projects such as the Desert Sessions recordings -- which found Homme workshopping songs with a wide variety of players in a relaxed setting -- and the tounge-in-cheek hard rock of the Eagle of Death Metal.

Queens started out with a constantly fluid membership besides Homme and former Kyuss bassist and songwriting partner Nick Oliveri. With Oliveri's departure after the resounding critical and commercial success of 2002's Songs For the Deaf (which featured onetime Nirvana member Dave Grohl making a volcanic return to the drum stool and former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan guesting on several songs), some were concerned that the group would miss the balance between the two distinct writing and singing styles. Lullabies To Paralyze three years later proved that Homme could carry the weight, though some fans were dismayed at the album more somber mood. The band's latest effort Era Vulgaris returns to the hedonistic, harder rocking tone of earlier material while taking the band into a decidedly new direction with a heavier emphasis on distorted electronics and harsher drum sounds. KTVU.com spoke with Homme about the new album and his current musical collaborators as well as his recent war of words with Ozzfest matron Sharon Osbourne.

KTVU.com: The new record sound very much like Queens, but on some of the material you use a much different sonic template with a much grittier electronic element with more processed drum sounds than I've come to expect.

Josh Homme: The funny thing is, it's just one mike that's making all that explosion in the drums. It's not one processor; it's all actually genuine broken parts.

KTVU.com: So it's still mostly analog with no post-production fiddling that I might have imagined?

Josh Homme: There's a few broken computers in there, but mostly it's Troy [Van Leeuwen, the band's longtime guitarist/keyboardist]. He plays our resident drunken doctor broken robot.

KTVU.com: Are there reasons beyond Troy being good at breaking stuff that influenced you to go in that direction? I've read in other interviews about your admiration for Primal Scream, who have kind of done the same thing with an electronic element to rock, and I know you're a fan of Peaches…

Josh Homme: Well, I think the thing that both Primal Scream and Peaches do is that they do electronic terribly, you know? They truly use the worst, most square-wave sounds and use them incorrectly. And it's what gives it such a romantic sound for me. It always comes off like 'I don't know if this is working right. Is this plugged in?' It's always got this almost naively destroyed element to it.

I think what happened was this started -- not on purpose -- shaping up to be a modern record for us. For me and I think for Troy, that symbolizes so much technology, you know? I'm not a very technologically savvy guy and Troy has mediocre tech savvy at best. So it's me like the grampa going 'Well, I don't know. What the hell is this?' and him going "Well, I think that button does this…" I think knowing that we really haven't gone in that direction before and this started becoming more of a modern examination for us. Then, we stumbled on this dirty drum sound that sounded like little explosions all the time. I'm a fatalist; these things all started to converge, and I thought 'Yes. This is an omen.'

I also think on the last record, I kind of foolishly didn't understand that people were going to compare Joey [Castillo, the band's current drummer] and Dave [Grohl] because it had been so long since Songs for the Deaf, but of course they did. And I was asking Joey to hold back; it's what you don't play and using negative space, you know? So I really wanted this to be a record where people got a chance to see what Joey and Troy are really made of. One of the things was Joey deserves a sound that's identifiable; not just the band as a whole, but individually. My folks say you can see the dirt really clearly.

KTVU.com: To balance out the noisiness, it seems the pop element to the songwriting has been elevated. Your music has always had hooks, but here it seems you upped the ante on both ends...

Josh Homme: I think it's more opportunistic. When it gets that dirty and that kind of dirtiness feels comfortable, I felt like it gave us clearance to go this far. And I've always been a sucker for hooks. I guess in some ways it's less deliberate; I'd like to take more credit for recognizing that, but it just happened that way. To me it makes sense because when it's that broken sounding, you can inject it with more of a hook than ever. I don't like to feel that I'm in a pop band, but I also don't like to feel that I'm in some quasi punk rock, doom/heavy metal band either. I like to feel we're sort of defining ourselves each time. Sometimes it's been strange because we have to reintroduce ourselves to our audience every record. But it's obvious we wouldn't have it any other way. We just try not to do the same thing over and over.

KTVU.com: I've also been listening recently to the new Goon Moon album by Chris Goss [frequent QOTSA production partner and leader of the band Masters of Reality] and Desert Sessions regular Geordie White [aka Twiggy Ramirez, former guitarist for Marilyn Manson and current Nine Inch Nails member]. It seems there's a certain dovetailing of the approach with both albums, because it has a similar mix of totally harsh dissonance that gives way to the classic Chris Goss vocals and melodies…

Josh Homme: I always called Chris' singing a glass of milk (laughs)...

KTVU.com: Were you guys listening to each others stuff while you worked on the two albums?

Josh Homme: They were done independently, but I think in a lot of ways they both owe themselves to the Desert Sessions, which [in turn] owes its credit not to one person at all. There's something about the desert - and I don't think I mean that in the way that everyone else does. There's just something about the space and the ability to do something without comment by anyone else. I don't think that Chris or Twiggs feel they have to dress to impress with Goon Moon. I think it's pretty obvious that they're sort of like 'We're doing this for ourselves and it sounds like this.' It sounds utterly confusing with moments of epiphany at the same time.

KTVU.com: It definitely has what ranks as the most grating opening to an album I can remember hearing recently…

Josh Homme: It's also 'What are you trying to do to me?' I've always felt that way about the Melvins and various Patton projects and my own self sometimes. There's a certain amount of fire walking that each fan has to do. I try to do that less nowadays because I just feel like I'm done making the walk myself. But I sense that element in Goon Moon.

KTVU.com: Lyrically, the album is distanced from the darker, moodier material on Lullabies and kind returns to the hedonism and seduction of Rated R. At the same time, the lyrics touch on superficiality and obsession with the cult of celebrity; lying and deception in general come up throughout. Songwriters usually indict this kind of human behavior, but your lyrics if anything seem to revel in these flaws.

Josh Homme: This is more of taking a bath in it than anything else. I've realized that my sense of humor and what I think is obviously funny sometimes isn't. If I had a nickel for every time I turned and went 'Right?' and everyone else was like 'No!' I'd be a rich man.

The best way for me to say it is there's Generation X, Generation Y and I think my generation is Generation 'Oh Yeah? Is That Right?' At the same time, I also wouldn't want to be part of any other generation so far. Because I think it's a generation where people take advantage of the opportunity to do whatever without necessarily feeling too bad. There's an extreme side to it, where some people want to be famous for doing something that's totally shameful that normally would get them banished from town. But on the other side of it, there's this real chance to define yourself by what you really want to use to define yourself. It's not so much a finger in the face as 'Wow. Would you look at this?'

KTVU.com: What a mess we've become…

Josh Homme: Yeah, 'What a mess we've become. Isn't it kind of cool?' There are so many aspects of it that I wouldn't change, and they're woven into the parts that I might want to change. I would opt to leave it alone. I also thing this is a pretty beautiful generation in a lot of ways too. We're not as naive, but I don't feel cynical by any stretch. Things that would make someone that's cynical go 'Look at these kids!' just make me go 'Look at that!' I enjoy a good laugh out of it. And its not from a better than position either; I do it standing right next to that person. I think there's something funny in everything. Even the worst of things. Maybe not in the moment, but shortly thereafter I bet you and I can find something funny there."

KTVU.com: Well, given the album art, I don't think anyone would ever question your sense of humor or say you take yourself too seriously...

Josh Homme: It needed to be that. I honestly think it's probably the single best album art we've ever had when you see the rest of it. And I also I think its possibly the dumbest artwork I've ever seen for a record at the same time. I started getting into the '50s, that naive generation. They used Drippy the Oil Drop to sell Exxon Oil and Troy found out that Fred Flintstone used to sell cigarettes. That's as satanic as it can get. Having Fred Flintstone -- a cartoon -- sell cigarettes. That's from the devil himself. So we wanted a good idea to have someone sell Queens for us. Conceptually it works great for us. Era Vulgaris sound very serious. I think, initially the reaction to the title helped push the artwork this way. It's not a serious as it seems.

KTVU.com: I had a couple of questions about the credits for who's actually playing and singing on specific songs. I'm figuring from what you said earlier that Joey and Troy are your principle songwriting partners on Era Vulgaris for the most part…

Josh Homme: With the exception of "Into the Hollow" - which came right after Lullabies had been completed - and obviously "Make It Wit Chu," everything else was just pieces that were brought in and mashed together in the studio. And there was a lot of stuff that was just written in the studio. It made it very collaborative. Even if not every part was written by all of us at the same time, the construction and how to glue them all together was very collaborative.

KTVU.com: Something that's been puzzling me ever since I got the album has which songs might have guest vocalists. Certain tunes like "Turning on the Screw" and "Into the Hollow" sound like they could be you singing, but not in a way I'm accustomed to hearing you sing…

Josh Homme: You're making me so happy. That's me. I'm singing every vocal that's on there. One of the main reasons to ask Chris to produce this album with me – other than because I love him and he's one of my dearest friends – is that I knew I was going to try to sing in ways I never have, and that involves a whole buttload of failure. It involves being totally embarrassed even in front of your closest friends. It doesn't define your character, but it sort of reveals it a little bit. If you have the guts to keep pursuing something that is utterly embarrassing and makes you feel like going 'I suck at this.' In the beginning I never really wanted to be the singer. Hence, I had other people sing. Now they’re not here and at the same time I really love to sing now. So if there’s not going to be some sort of ginger on the palette tonally, then I need to find spots in my throat that I've never used, and now seems like the right time.

KTVU.com: That's impressive. I was going to ask if Mark Lanegan really sings on "River in the Road," since it sound more like him singing on "Into the Hollow." But I guess that's you too…

Josh Homme: The thing is that I've never needed to sing low while Mark is there. For singing down low and doing your best baritone, that's like doing your best god impression. Lanegan's got a voice that absolutely makes me go crazy. I'm like a teenage girl for his voice. I'm also not a screamer; with my voice it [screaming] just sounds like I'm going through puberty. But there's a spot that's me in both of those aspects too that's neither Lanegan nor Nick [Oliveri, former partner]. It's not baritone or screaming. If you know anything about me, you know I'd never try to sing like Lanegan, but if I'm singing down low, I'm down low...

KTVU.com: It's in the neighborhood...

Josh Homme: Yeah, here's me singing where this song is. Like I said before, it was one of those things where I knew I was going to try every flavor that my throat had available.

KTVU.com: To get gossipy for a minute, I've been reading about a bit of animosity between you and Sharon Osbourne ever since your open slagging of Ozzfest in an interview, but you recently played VH-1's Rock Honors special paying tribute to her husband. Was there some sort of reconciliation, or did the tribute have nothing to do with your feelings about her?

Josh Homme: It was a multitude of things converging at once. Like I said, I'm a fatalist and that was meant to be. What really happened -- just to gossip even further I guess -- is we were asked to do a tribute to Black Sabbath, and it got switched to Ozzy. And I thought that is true irony. People nowadays seem to think that opposites are ironic, like 'Look at the tall guy with the small guy.' But that was true irony. Only in America [affecting Yakov Smirnoff accent]. It just made me laugh. Blender basically asked me what my worst summer job was and I told them Ozzfest. And they asked me what I thought of the free concert [no admission is being charged for this summer's tour], and I told them what I thought. And I know that to be my truth for this new Ozzfest.

KTVU.com: Yeah, I look at the free Ozzfest and I think you might not pay to get in, but you will pay, one way or another.

Josh Homme: You'll pay, and there will be only one person who will make any dough. And with the music industry the way it is with downloading, to ask artists to play for free … I might as well skip through the English countryside with a flute. One of the things about my generation is that there's this punk rock guilt where people don't know what they're worth and they're embarrassed to ask for anything for what they do. And that's something that we need to get over. I don't need to be the Sultan of Brunei, but at the same time, would you get your hand out of my crotchpouch please? Or at least be sexy about it.

So we play this VH-1 Rock Honors. And they [the Osbournes] can't all be Jack or Ozzy, you know what I mean? The question is, do I actually care if Sharon likes me? And the answer is no. It's sort of like, 'Hitler doesn't like you.' Big deal. What's she going to do, breathe on me? The people that I've had troubles with are Rancid, the Dwarves and Sharon Osbourne. I definitely feel ok about it all.

KTVU.com: And really, Ozzfest needs to be taken to task for its abuses, and I'm glad that at least you and Iron Maiden haven't held back as far as criticizing her.

Josh Homme: I wrote 'G-U-N-T' on my arm during our performance at Rock Honors, because it's an uncensorable word. Censorship isn't about intent, it's just about words that we universally agree are bad. Since 'gunt' is uncensorable slang, they actually focused in on my arm. A friend of mine was standing right behind Sharon and she said 'Gunt? What the hell is that supposed to be?' I heard that and thought 'My work for the day is done.'

KTVU.com: One last question to wrap things up; outside of Queens and maybe Nine Inch Nails and the White Stripes, alternative rock seems particularly soft and 'testicularly challenged' these days. Any thoughts on the trend?

Josh Homme: This is a bigger topic. Jesse Hughes [lead singer/guitarist from Homme side project the Eagle of Death Metal] and I are always talking about this and we've come to the conclusion that socially in America, there's been a push for the last 20 or more years to get men to get to their sensitive side more. We call it the Emasculation of the American Male. With junk like Friends where all the chicks are upwardly mobile and all the guys are like "Booo-hooo!" And I'm just not having it man. I'm like 'Uh, not me, I'm good." I don't think there's any reason to be overly macho and hi-five everyone down the street, but I'm also going to keep both my testicles, thank you.

This is one of those things that I don't care what other people think. I don't want to arm wrestle, but I ain't in the cast of Friends. I think that's something that's sexy; being a man and letting a woman be a woman. There's a whole lot of things about women that I don't understand, but I think it's supposed to be that way. Bless 'em. I think its more empowering to celebrate the differences than to be emasculated by culture. I touch my feminine side every day and I beat my inner child and I think that's wrong [laughs].