Soundgarden men Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd have joined forces with Queens Of The Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures' Alain Johaness and Dimitri Coats of Off! in a supergroup.
And the “fun little project” started out as a Facebook conversation with drummer Cameron, guitarist Coats has revealed.
He tells Billboard: “I was like, ‘Dude, I’m a huge fan! I consider myself to be a really excellent air-drummer, and I have trouble air-drumming to some of your fills.’ He was like, ‘Wow, that means a lot coming from you, because I’m huge fan of yours.’ We became instant friends.”
The conversation restarted a project Cameron, Shepherd and Johannes abandoned in 2008. “I’m kind of along for the ride,” Coats admits. “Those guys have known each other for years. I really enjoy hanging out with them and I’m leaning a lot. We’re working quickly – before I even feel like I’ve learned a song we’re hitting the record button.”
He reports that ten tracks have been laid down in rough form, and that they all seem to be enjoying the relative freedom from their usual outfits. “This is an opportunity to let some of those other colours out in our songwriting,” he says. “We’re all fans of a broad spectrum of music.”
He describes their output as “really heavy and doomy” but also “all across the board.” When it comes to the chances of playing live he says: “I don’t know what the deal is.”
In the meantime he’s enjoying being part of what he calls the “grunge Beatles.” More details will be revealed in due course.
