Eagles of Death Metal on Their ‘Potluck of Awesome’

Hughes: Full circle.

Homme: Yeah. 

So essentially Zipper Down is the Eagles of Death Metal response to terrorism?
Homme: Yeah. We put out a record and human rights are better, the world feels better, people make more money, there’s less anger, people are more respectful to women and to homosexuals, and they’re generally nicer each other, they’re kinder to each other, and that’s why we really felt like it was time to let the healing begin.

One thing that’s always fascinated me with Eagles of Death Metal is that you’re obviously selling the band as this kind of shot-from-the-hip act. It’s funny and it’s enticing, but the music is well done and something that’s resulted from a great deal of talent and effort. How does that creative process work for you guys?
Homme: Well, can I start this one, Boots? Would you like me to? OK, I’ll do the first part. Normally, I rip off the first three Rolling Stones albums, but this time I went from the greatest Rolling Stones albums of all time and technically ended up doing the greatest album ever made, because I stole them. Other than the blatant theft, which really has been going on for years, I think it’s the fact that he and I have so much fun together. We take music seriously because we’re lovers of music, and the music that we like, we really are into and we’re fans of it. And we want to be a great band, so we put that effort into it.

I just think at the end of the day we don’t really take ourselves that serious, you know? That just means that tons of desire and passion for music goes into making it, but we also realize that the best possible scenario for fans of music is when you’re kind of like, “Don’t worry about it. It’s cool, man.”

Hughes: Absolutely. We kind of have a rule with Eagles of Death Metal that it’s the fun show, and we want everyone to belong. You know that kind of attitude where it’s like, “If you’re wearing a Clash T-shirt, you’d better be into the Clash of ’81”? We don’t care if you just got into the Clash yesterday, as long as you’re here.

Homme: Yeah, I think it’s just that sort of inclusive attitude instead of exclusive. For us, it doesn’t matter when you get to the party — just know that it’s here, and here we go. I think that lack of pretension is enticing and sort of a relief when the music’s a little bit serious. Things can get way more, like, consumer-based if you’re into other stuff, you know what I mean? And we’re just not that way. I always look at us like a bit of ginger, no pun intended, on the palate of what’s going on musically.