Dave Grohl revealed that Them Crooked Vultures worked on an ‘8 minute opus’ during their time together, and hinted at a reunion in a new Apple Music Hits special:
Them Crooked Vultures was just a dream come true for me. For years Josh and I had talked about doing some side project. Something that wasn’t Queens of the Stone Age, something that wasn’t Foo Fighters. Maybe it was just Josh and I. Maybe he plays drums, I play guitar. Maybe he guitar, I play drums. Just something that was just an experimental project.I was invited to go to London to give an award to the members of Led Zeppelin.
I had met John Paul Jones before the bass player of Led Zeppelin because he had performed on a foo fighters record and he had performed with us on the Grammys once. John Paul Jones is one of the most wonderful, generous, kind people you’ve ever met. He’s he’s just a great guy. He’s obviously brilliant, but he’s just cool. He’s fun to hang out with. I said to Josh, I’m like, “Hey, I’m about to go give the Zeppelin guys this award. Do you want me to ask John Paul Jones if he’ll play bass?” Josh was like, “You know John Paul Jones?” I’m like, “Well, not really, kind of. I’ve jammed with them before.”
Josh said, “Yeah, let me know how it goes.” I went over to London, I give them this award and I pulled John to the side and I said, “Hey man, I’m starting this side project thing with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age.” He’s like, “Oh, right. Queens of the Stone Age.” He’d heard of them. He thought they were cool. John Paul Jones is very hip by the way. He’s not just some dude that played in Zeppelin. I mean, the guy has produced some amazing records of his own outside of Led Zeppelin, but also for other bands.
I mean, he produced a Butthole Surfers record. Come on. If you can be in Zeppelin and produce a Butthole Surfers record, you win dude. That’s it. You’re the King. You win. Anyway. He said, “Yeah, I know Queens of the Stone Age.” I said, “Well, we’re thinking about starting a project.” He’s like, “Oh.” He’s like, “Well, let me think about it. I’ll let you know.” I didn’t take it as a yes. I just thought, “Okay, well, there you go. I just asked the guy from Zeppelin to start a band.” Anyway. He emailed me not long after that and said, “Yeah, I’d be into it. Let’s do it.” I said to Josh, I’m like, “Oh my God, Josh, John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin, he wants to come over and jam.” We set up a time for him to come over and jam with us.
I mean, the best part was that it was right around my birthday that he flew over. My 40th birthday. Them Crooked Vultures is a dream band for any drummer because I got to be a part of this three piece rhythm section because Josh isn’t just a soloist. Josh plays the drums. He plays the guitar like a drummer and John Paul Jones is the greatest rock and roll bass player in the history of music.
When we sat down to start playing, it was about 30 seconds to a minute and we realized this is a real band. This is the real deal. We would walk into the studio every day with no ideas. We would sit down, we’d have tea, we’d have coffee, we’d start jamming. By the end of that night, we’d have an eight minute long Opus. Just a rock masterpiece.It was incredibly inspiring. It was a really incredible time. I hope that someday we do it again, but anyway.
