"You move at the speed of inspiration very quickly, and so things feel very possible." Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme on the lasting impact of working with his friends Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor

Reznor, Grohl, Homme — (Image credit: Kevin Winter/WireImage)

Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme has spoken about the inspiration he has taken from working with Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor.

Speaking to journalists from across Europe at a press conference before his band's appearance at Hellfest on June 30, the 51-year-old vocalist/guitarist hailed the influence of friends and peers on his own work.

Asked by a journalist from Loud TV if any of the guests on his various projects have had any "enduring and on-going impact on your process", and if so, who has had the greatest impact, Homme responded, "Honestly, playing with Dave Grohl has been incredible, because he's just so good. You move at the speed of inspiration very quickly, and so things feel very possible, and that tends to have a lasting impact. But playing with guys like Mark Lanegan and [ZZ Top's} Billy Gibbons, these people that have such an interesting voice, is incredible, just because someone like Billy Gibbons is very strange, a very unique, sort of gentle antennae you feel like he could break at any moment but by the same token he is one of a kind.

"Also guys like Trent Reznor: the way he breaks machines, its hard not to have an influence. It's nice to be influenced by people, it feels good, so we've been very lucky that way."

Watch the Loud TV footage of the QOTSA press conference below:

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Speaking to this writer in 2009, Dave Grohl described Josh Homme as "my favourite guitarist" and hailed Queens Of The Stone Age as "the coolest band in the world".

"When I joined Queens to play on the Songs For The Deaf record I think it was the first time I've ever felt truly confident and strong in a band," he said.

"Walking through the backstage area of a festival with Queens Of The Stone Age is like the moment in a Western where the saloon bar doors swing open and the piano player stops playing and everyone just stares. You have Josh, [Mark] Lanegan, [Nick] Oliveri and me walking in a straight line and it's like being in the coolest gang. We never had a bad show, and every show just got better and better.

"Beyond that, Josh and I had a connection musically that I just don't have with anybody else: as a drummer, playing with him, we share this frequency that I haven't shared with anyone else. It's intangible and unspoken, almost like ESP. He likes Black Flag and bad disco and so do I."

Homme and Grohl also played together in Them Crooked Vultures, and the pair recorded a song with Trent Reznor, Mantra, for Grohl's Sound City documentary.

The three musicians also shared a stage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on January 26, 2014.

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.