If you can’t beat ’em, make ’em weird
Dean Fertita talks about Perfecth, the ninth album by Queens of the Stone Age, the uncertainty left by the interrupted tour, “Insignificant Other” recorded at two in the morning and why the band owes Mexico a show of its own after more than a decade.
Queens of the Stone Age have been one of the most magnetic bands in rock for almost three decades: riffs that hypnotize, grooves that seduce and a strangeness that is never tamed. After a tour cut short due to health problems and live recording Alive in the Catacombsthe band’s future was unclear. perfecththeir ninth studio album, arrives on October 30 via Matador with nine songs reduced to the essentials, supported by “Easy Street” and “Insignificant Other.” Dean Fertita, keyboardist and guitarist of the band, talks about the album, his obsession with bringing together sounds that no one would expect to hear together and the desire to return to Mexico City without a festival in the middle.
Indie Rocks!: It’s nice to see you again. I think we talked when they took out Alive in the Catacombs. Now, more good news: congratulations on the new album. How excited is the band?
Queens of the Stone Age: A lot. There’s always a lot of anxiety before you put something out, because you’ve been keeping this secret for a while. And then you release it to the world and see what people think. Then the anxiety goes away and you just think: I hope everyone likes this one.
IR!: I remember, I think in an interview at Download Festival, that they said that their plan was to finish the tour and then come home to spend time with the family. But the tour had to be cut short due to health problems, so a new album didn’t look very promising. So we are very happy.
QOTSA: Us too. After the Catacombs, we weren’t sure what state the band was really going to be in until we had time to process what happened and see how everyone was doing. But I think it motivated us to get to work as quickly as possible.
IR!: There are nine new songs, and it is the ninth album. Is it a coincidence?
QOTSA: It’s completely a coincidence. I think we are all fans of albums, not so much the number of songs, but the length of the album. We try to be concise. The whole idea, even with the record, was a kind of conservation of energy: just the essentials. Very similar to what we did with Catacombs: reduce it to the most raw and emotional thing there is. And when it came time to order the record, it felt like those nine fit together really well and made the statement we wanted.
GO!: It comes out on October 30, just around the corner. I was lucky enough to hear the full album, but the public has already been able to hear a couple of singles. One is “Easy Street,” which I think you played live for the first time about a year ago, right?
QOTSA: Yes, it would be like that, because we started the Catacombs thing in October of last year. Correct.
IR!: So they had a chance to test the waters, as they say. And I think he got quite a few comparisons to weird things, like David Bowie. Did you hear that? Do you agree?
QOTSA: Yes I heard it. I can see certain elements that draw comparisons to other things, but I never spend much time thinking about it. We’re so into what we’re doing that we’re not referencing other records or anything like that.
GO!: At least it’s a good reference.
QOTSA: That’s what I was going to say.
IR!: I don’t entirely agree, but I think it’s a great track. And then there is the other one, “Insignificant Other”, whose name I think is great. Who came up with it?
QOTSA: I honestly don’t remember the conversation. But I vaguely remember that idea floating around for a while: what a great term, what a great thing to use in a song. And that song in particular I feel like it set the direction of the album a little bit. It was done at the end of In Times New Roman. Like on the last day, at two in the morning or something, we said: we have this last idea, let’s record it. And what’s on this album is the version we recorded that night. There are voice overdubs and things like that, but musically it’s pretty much that. It’s a real capture of all of us playing together and learning a song together. For me it’s something very cool.
GO!: It is. Of course, we also have to talk about keyboards, which is you. Did you try something new, something that you hope people will notice, even if it’s technical or sound?
QOTSA: In general for the album? I don’t think about it that much beforehand. When we’re writing and I start to understand the feel of the song, I just gravitate towards certain instruments that feel like they connect that way. On “Insignificant Other,” for example, the Wurlitzer felt like the right instrument. But we are of: something has to be a little strange there. So we found some cool synth sounds to layer on. I always like to pair sounds that you wouldn’t expect to hear together.
IR!: Would you consider that Dean’s hallmark?
QOTSA: Maybe one of them. I think for everyone. We’ve always said: if you can’t beat them, make them weird. Look for the thing or instrument that most people wouldn’t play on a record, other than those that always work, like a piano, Wurlitzer, or clavinet.
IR!: After releasing an album, the logical thing is to go on tour. I was going to ask if that’s the plan.
QOTSA: Yes, we are preparing to organize it. We’re going out in… when are we going out? November, December, to Australia, Japan and Singapore. It’s going to be exciting to play places we haven’t been.
IR!: Have you never played in Singapore?
QOTSA: No never. The only time I’ve been there was on a layover and I went to the night zoo. That’s where my experience ends.
IR!: Do you remember the last time you played in Mexico City?
QOTSA: Yes, it was a festival, if I’m not mistaken.
IR!: Yes, it was last year, at the Corona Capital, right?
QOTSA: Was? Gosh, I guess it was a year ago. My perception of time is, shall we say, put to the test.
IR!: It wasn’t a trick question.
QOTSA: I think everything is already a trick question for me. I no longer trust my memory at all.
IR!: I told you that I was lucky to be there and it was such a good show that I left with a very good taste in my mouth. But I felt like I needed a Queens of the Stone Age show as headliners, just them. So maybe this can be an excuse to cheer them up.
QOTSA: I agree with you. I think we need to spend more time in Mexico, and in South America too. We don’t go to that part of the world enough. For some reason, I think festivals are a big reason we can travel there, but we always prefer to do our own shows. So if we can find a way to string together three or four shows and go down there, we will definitely do it.
GO!: They must do it. I did some research before the interview, and the last time they had a Queens of the Stone Age solo show here in Mexico was over 10 years ago, in 2014.
QOTSA: Oh really? Wow.
IR!: Since 2014 they have only done festivals. I think in 2018 the Vive Latino, also Monterrey, then in 2023 the Coordenada, and in 2025 the Corona Capital.
QOTSA: Clear. Well, that arms me with good information that I’m going to take to everyone. Thank you.
IR!: Regarding the album, do you plan to release any more singles before the release?
QOTSA: Yes, I think there will probably be one more before October is over.
IR!: I know that numbers don’t matter that much, and you are a band that has been around for decades, and you have been a musician on other projects. But nowadays I can’t help but check the platforms, and I noticed that “No One Knows”, “Go with the Flow” and “Make It Wit Chu” are the most listened to, the most streamed. Do you ever talk about winning the battle against yourself, overcoming those songs?
QOTSA: Do you know what the battle against ourselves would be? Fall into the trap of feeling like you have to repeat what you already did. We love it, of course. People will always have a preference and lean towards one thing or another; We all do it with every band we love. But to function and move forward, I think we have to get into new territory. We talked a little about that with this album. I always feel like you need time to give yourself perspective on what you just did and where it fits.
Something I’ve noticed in the last year is that there seems to be a growing appreciation for Vulgar Era lately. That one starts to appear more, and we’re like, how cool, people are really starting to love this record. There is no logic. You can’t figure out why things happen when they happen, they just happen. So you have to trust yourself, and we have to walk away feeling like we made the record that we wanted or needed to make at this time. And it will settle itself. I have a good feeling.
IR!: I heard it and I think it may be there. You mentioned that this is happening a lot. And with the anniversaries of other albums we see concerts playing the entire album. Have they done it?
QOTSA: We did it in 2011, I think, with the first album. We’ve talked about it here and there, but it’s a matter of finding the time to do something like this. Recognizing the anniversary of things is very cool, but it’s: do we have time to put in an anniversary show, or a tour, or whatever? Don’t know.
IR!: Thank you very much for your time, these are the last questions. I always feel that there is an influence on my life through the music I am listening to at that moment. I do things differently, I think differently, I change some aspects of my life. And I think if I were a musician, I would make different music, different arrangements or different keyboard styles depending on what I’m listening to. Does that happen to you or any member of the band? Do you listen to music together on tour, other people’s music?
QOTSA: Clear. Before the shows, after the shows, we are listening to things, and we are filters of all that. It passes through you and, whether you know it or not, you are absorbing what is around you, and it finds its way out one way or another. Personally, and all of us, we consciously try to avoid doing something like this. I think it just happens subconsciously.
IR!: Can you mention, from memory, any song that you have heard with your bandmates?
QOTSA: Our pre-show playlist is like a big mixtape. It’s everywhere. It could be Os Mutantes going on to Black Sabbath, it’s everything. Let me think about other things. Do you know what I’ve been listening to lately? Ebo Taylor.
IR!: Wow, I don’t know him. What kind of music is it?
QOTSA: Go listen to it.
GO!: I’m looking for it right now. Ebo Taylor… Ah, that’s beyond classic, I guess. love and death. Incredible, thanks for the recommendations. Last question: do you ever go to concerts together?
QOTSA: We used to find opportunities to do it a lot. Now it’s more like a festival, going to see bands that we want to see together. I don’t remember the last time we went, while at home or in the same place, to a show on a free night. AC/DC might have been the last one I went to.
GO!: Good choice. Thank you very much, Dean. This is the second time we’ve talked, so I tried to change it up a bit. I guess we’ll talk again when they come to Mexico. Anything you want to say to the fans in Mexico who are looking forward to the new album?
QOTSA: I hope everyone comes on this journey with us. And as we talked about a while ago, we really hope to spend a lot more time there, maybe do things our way and give our full show for everyone.
IR!: Thank you very much, we’ll talk soon.
QOTSA: Goodbye, it’s nice to see you again.
