In what is the true definition of a Supergroup, members of Soundgarden, Off! and Queens of the Stone Age have joined forces for a “fun little side project”, and are expecting to release music sometime this year.
According to Billboard, the as-yet-unnamed group features Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd, Off! guitarist Dimitri Coats and Alain Johannes, of both Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures.
“I think we’ve laid down the foundation for, like, ten songs,” Coats tells Billboard. “I’m going to be singing. Alain’s definitely singing a bit. We might invite a couple of guests at some point. I don’t know if we’re gonna play live or what the deal is,” he adds. “I just know that I really enjoy hanging out with them and I’m learning a lot and we work very quickly; before I even feel like I’ve learned a song it’s like we’re hitting the record button.”
Coats explained the project came about after he and Matt Cameron met and reciprocated appreciation for each other’s music via Facebook. Cameron then invited Coats to join the musical project he, Shepherd and Johannes had started back in 2008.
“They invited me to Seattle and it was really incredible,” explained Coats. “There was just an instant chemistry and a really creative and open situation where everybody’s passing around the guitar and throwing in ideas. I sort of felt like I was in the grunge Beatles.”
In terms of the sound, Coats says it tends to be “really heavy and doomy” but still varied. “There’s some kind of heavy, bluesy moments and then there’s some really beautiful stuff, too,” he explains. “It’s a little bit like Superunknown, that kind of era of Soundgarden, mixed with Alain’s kind of Stevie Wonder vibe.”
“And they call me the secret weapon,” he continues. “I’m a little bit rough around the edges, but I have a lot of good ideas.”
Watch: OFF! – Red White and Black
