Mondo Generator

Mondo Generator
Mondo Generator in 2015
Background information
Origin	Van Nuys, California, United States
Genres	Alternative metal punk rock stoner rock hard rock alternative rock
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Southern Lord Rekords Ipecac Mother Tongue Suburban Noize Self Destructo Records
Members	Nick Oliveri Mike Pygmie Jeff Bowman
Past members	See below

Mondo Generator (sometimes known as Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator) is an American rock hybrid band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri. The name of the band originated when Brant Bjork spray-painted the words on the side of Oliveri's Sunn amplifier. Mondo means "world" in Italian. The Oliveri-penned Kyuss song appearing on the 1992 album Blues for the Red Sun also took its name from this event, and the amplifier itself appears in the artwork for the album.

History

Formation and Cocaine Rodeo (2000-2002)

Nick Oliveri (under the moniker Rex Everything) formed Mondo Generator in 1997 and with friends Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Rob Oswald, Karl Doyle and others, recorded the debut album, Cocaine Rodeo. The album wouldn't be released until 3 years later due to Oliveri and Homme being full-time members of Queens of the Stone Age. The album was released by cult-favorite Southern Lord Records in 2000. There was little support of the album by the way of live shows, and the band gained cult status among the most devoted Queens of the Stone Age fans.

A Drug Problem That Never Existed (2003)

In 2003, the band again emerged with a new album, A Drug Problem That Never Existed. This time, Oliveri hired on more friends for recording duties including Dave Catching, Troy Van Leeuwen, Mark Lanegan, Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Molly McGuire, and Dwarves frontman Blag Dahlia for co-producing duties. It was released jointly by Mike Patton's label, Ipecac Recordings, and Homme's Rekords Rekords. The live band, which included Oliveri, Catching, Bjork, and McGuire, went on a three-month tour of North America and Europe to support the disc. That summer, the band also played on the second stage of the Lollapalooza festival. Oliveri would do an afternoon set with Mondo Generator, then at night he would play with Queens of the Stone Age, who were appearing on the main stage.

Demolition Day (2004-2005)

In early 2004, after Oliveri was fired from Queens of the Stone Age by Homme, he announced that Mondo Generator would become his full-time project. He recorded an acoustic record, Demolition Day, and toured Europe with Brant Bjork and Mark Lanegan Band. He then recorded an EP with Catching, McGuire, and Alfredo Hernández. On July 21, 2004, during the summer tour to promote the disc, Oliveri physically assaulted a sound crew member of the South German night club Canapé (Trossingen) after complaining about his sound through a few songs during the band's set. The other members of the band were furious and left Oliveri behind and returned to the United States.

In 2005, Oliveri once again toured Europe frequently, opening for such bands as Motörhead, and playing alongside and on stage as a member of Dwarves. Oliveri also recruited UK band Winnebago Deal's Ben Perrier and Ben Thomas to join Mondo Generator on tour. They were frequently dubbed "Winnebago Generator" by fans and even themselves. The three-piece entered Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles in December 2005 to begin work on the next Mondo Generator album. Oliveri also hired on several friends from his hometown to record parts of the record, which was co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz and Oliveri.

Dead Planet (2006-2007)

In July 2006, it was reported that Perrier and Thomas had exited the band under unknown circumstances. Oliveri then renamed his band "Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator" and signed to Mother Tongue Records, who released the new album, Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails in the UK and Europe in September 2006. Current touring members of the band include Ian Taylor on guitar, and Hoss, former drummer who recently rejoined the band after leaving in early 2007 to join The Exies.

On March 21, 2007, they were added to Ozzfest 2007 as one of the non-rotating acts on the Second Stage. Their invite and subsequent tour with Ozzfest was thought by many to be a direct slap at Homme, who rejected offers for Queens of the Stone Age to tour in the 2007 line-up. The rejection sparked a war of words between Sharon Osbourne and Homme, and shortly after, Mondo Generator accepted QOTSA's slot. Ozzfest began on July 12, and on July 26, Oliveri released a statement announcing that the band had left the tour due to things "out of [his] control". It was announced on July 28 that their spot would be filled by DevilDriver. After which Mondo Generator went on a U.S. tour supporting Turbonegro.

Suburban Noize Records released "Dead Planet" in the United States on July 17, 2007.

On September 25, 2007, Courtesy of Suburban Noize Records, Mondo Generator was the featured band on Poison Tree Records Compilation called Road To Nowhere.

Hell Comes to Your Heart (2008-2015)

October 2008, After a long two-month break, Nick and drummer David "Hoss" Wright began the recording of a new Mondo Generator record with longtime friend, J. Bradley Cook as engineer and co-producer. In a July 2009 Myspace blog, Oliveri announced that the next Mondo Generator record would be titled "Shooter's Bible," but removed the post a day later.

In 2010, Nick Oliveri appeared as a singer on the track "Chains and Shackles" from guitarist Slash's self-titled solo album. The track was released as a bonus track on the Australian edition of the album.

On April 6, 2010, it was announced their fourth full-length album would be entitled Time to Destroy with a release date slated for July/August. The first single, "Dog Food" will be released May 21, 2010, and features Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures), Happy Tom (Turbonegro), and The Fresh Prince of Darkness (The Dwarves). The band begun a world tour in Australia in May, hitting Europe in June and July, and the United States in August.

In March 2011, Oliveri stated that the band had recently recorded yet another album at his former band mate Josh Homme's studio: "I just did a new record called Hell Comes To Your Heart. So far, I'm talking to a couple of small labels to put it out, and I might just put it out myself with some distribution. So it's one of those things I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get it out there. It will be out soon. [...] It's definitely the best one yet, I really feel good about it."

In April 2012, Oliveri announced in an interview and on his Facebook page, that his forthcoming release Hell Comes to Your Heart, had recently been completed. Notable contributors to the album are CJ Ramone, Josh Homme, Blag Dahlia, and John Garcia. The album was released on iTunes and cdbaby.com for download on May 22, 2012. The cd version was released via Mondo Media and Cobraside Distribution on July 3, 2012. Colored vinyl versions are expected shortly after. The track "The Last Train" features Josh Homme on lead guitar and John Garcia on vocals. This track was recorded shortly before Homme filed suit against Garcia and Kyuss Lives!.

In September 2013 it was announced that Oliveri and Hoss would join the new touring lineup of Moistboyz.

In 2014, during a hiatus from Mondo Generator, Oliveri released a solo album under the name Nick Oliveri's Uncontrollable, entitled "Leave Me Alone", on which he sang, played all instruments and featured guest guitar solos on each track. For live shows he recruited Mondo Generator and You Know Who lead guitarist Mike Pygmie and drummer Jeff Bowman from Mighty Jack and Unsound, a desert area punk band who played many shows with Kyuss in the early 90's. Stephen Haas from the Moist Boyz also played guitar for a brief time. Uncontrollable played several shows in the desert, Los Angeles and Bay areas, most notably opening for Queens Of The Stone Age at the LA Forum on Halloween night. That night also featured a reunion of Nick Oliveri with Queens, when Nick joined them on stage to sing several Oliveri-era QOTSA songs.

In 2015, Mondo Generator went through a line-up change, with Ian Taylor and Hoss Wright departing, and Jeff Bowman joining full-time on drums. The power trio of Oliveri, Pygmie and Bowman that was Nick Oliveri's Uncontrollable was now formed as Mondo Generator.

In October, Mondo embarked on a monthlong United States tour, with supporting act Peter Pan Speed Rock from the Netherlands.

In November, just a week after the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris, including the Bataclan where fellow desert rockers The Eagles of Death Metal (who feature former Mondo Generator guitarist Dave Catching) were playing, Mondo kicked off a European tour at Speed Fest in Eindhoven, Netherlands, to a crowd of more than 5,000. The tour ran through 10 countries and concluded in Paris in mid-December.

Upcoming album (2016-present)

In 2016 Mondo Generator is gearing up to record new material and tour again in Europe the fall, through 7 countries starting in Black Bass Festival in France.

Band members

Current lineup

• Nick Oliveri - bass (1997-2003;2004-present), guitar (2003-2004), lead vocals (1997-present)
• Mike Pygmie - guitar (2012-present)
• Jeff Bowman - drums (2015-present)

Former members

Guitarists

• Ian Taylor (2007-2015)
• Simon Beggs "Spud" (2006-2007)
• Ben Perrier (2004-2006)
• Marc Diamond (2004-2005)
• Dave Catching (2003-2004)
• Josh Homme (1997-2002)
• Brent Malkus (a.k.a. Burnt Mattress) (1997)
• Derek Myers (1997-1998)

Bassists

• Molly McGuire (2003-2004)

Drummers

• Hoss Wright (2006;2007-2015)
• Giampaolo Farnedi (2007)
• Ernie Longoria (2006-2007)
• Ben Thomas (2004-2006)
• Josh Lamar (2004)
• Alfredo Hernández (2004)
• Brant Bjork (1997-2003)
• Dave Grohl (2003-2004)
• Rob Oswald (a.k.a. Up N. Syder) (1997)

Discography

Studio albums

• Cocaine Rodeo (2000)
• A Drug Problem That Never Existed (2003)
• Demolition Day (2004)
• Dead Planet - Sonic Slow Motion Trails (2006, UK) / Dead Planet (2007, US)
• Hell Comes to Your Heart (2012)

EPs

• III the EP (2004)
• Australian Tour EP (2008)
• Dog Food EP (2010)
• Hell Comes To Your Heart EP (2011)

Singles

• Split (7" single w/ Jack Saints) (1997)
• I Never Sleep (7" single) (2006)
• Split (7" single w/ The Chuck Norris Experiment) (2013)

Compilations

• Best Of (2016, Heavy Psych Sounds)

DVDs

• Use Once And Destroy Me

External links

• Mondo Generator official homepage
• Mondo Generator official Myspace
• Mondo Generator article for Billboard.com (by writer Greg Prato)