Rob caught up John Garcia from Kyuss Lives! to talk about the band getting back together, the chances of Josh Homme ever returning, if a new album is in the works and much more.

You guys split up in 1995, at the time did you think it was the end of the band forever?
John Garcia: Yeah I did and it was the end of it there and then, between me and Josh, a lot of people think there is a lot of animosity between me and Josh, but when we met in the bar in desert, 5 minutes into the conversation, we were talking about great old times, that was the end and continues to be so.

After 15 years what made you guys decide to reform? And how have you found the reunion so far?
Its been great, my relationship with the other guys in the band is great, its been fantastic, were jumping right back into the middle of things, every night its getting better and better as far as out performance goes, I'm excited to be excited to be on stage with these guys, these guys are my Idols, they inspire me and im lucky to be around these guys, The catalyst was Kyuss in France, It all satarted out with me promoting Garcia VS Garcia, then Kyuss in France, next thing we know were only supposed to be doing 22-23 shows, as the offers came in, we sat on it and said, can we do this, Do I want to push my album back, its gonna be pushed back a little bit, next thing we know we got Australia sold out, New Zealand sold out, were now booking shows in South America, the US, Canada , that's gonna be a fucking trip, a lot of good things have come from us getting back together and were looking forward to it.

Josh Homme hasn’t joined the band for the reunion, do you know the reason for this and can you ever see him joining the band in the future?
That's a good question, I don't know, the only person who can put Kyuss back together Is Josh, Its one of them things, Josh always looks forward and never back, I cant see it happening, I really don't. If you don't go to a show your gonna miss out on the closest thing your gonna get to Kyuss.

Out of all your material what would you say your favourite songs are and why?
There are favourites to me, like One Inch Man, Green Machine, Suppa Scoop and the mighty scoop, that changes on a nightly basis, some of them are just more fun to sing, Its as easy as that, I'm not gonna get all Jim Morrison on you, with a shamanistic view of this way, I love Jim, I'm a simple easy going family man, with 2 kids that still changes dipers, I enjoy that shit, songs that I enjoy are maybe ones that I had something to do with, Suppa Scoop and the mighty scoop, was written by Josh, but that's a great fucking song to sing, its fun to sing, I look forward to singing songs that are crowd favourites, some songs just go over better as live songs, we've just started playing 50 million year trip down side up that's been getting great responses so we threw that one back in the mix, Is it a favourite of mine to sing, no, do I sing t well, no its horrible but I do my best, people want to hear it, its part of the past, we could celebrate that, and I will gladly oblige.

What was the inspiration behind the track ‘Yeah’
You get 4 guys in a studio, countless cases of beer and you do weird shit, we weren't tripping on mushrooms or anything, but we smoked a little bit of weed from time to time, that was just one small out take, that we decided to put that in there, perhaps we had one too many beers that night, but we were still young kids, that we thought it would be funny, cute or smart but in reality it was something dumb, that we threw in there.

You have just completed many shows throughout mainland Europe, how have they been and have any shows stood out more than others?
I think, Berlin, Milan, Athens, Munich, those shows were off the fucking hook. Sometimes everything lines up perfectly, the monitors are great, the response is great, the vibe on stage is great, every one is feeling each other, no ones looking at each other for changes, you just feel them, you let songs breath, you let musicians do what they wanna do, everyone has the opportunity to that. Amsterdam was good one too.

Tonight is your second show of the UK leg of the tour, how does it feel to be back touring the UK? And what can we expect from your show tonight?
Its feels great to be back in the UK, I actually had a proper breakfast this morning, A full English breakfast, no black pudding, that's the one thing I can't do, It feels great, I've always had a special place in my heart for the UK, Its the beginning of the end, so you guys are getting the best of us, were tight in the groove, were a well oiled machine, I expect to kick ass tonight, and have a good time, and hope people leave hear with a bit of a buzz and them being blown away. Some guy came up to Nick the other night after the show in a Burger King and goes, I just wasn't feeling it, there was nothing magical, Nick goes why don't you fucking bend over so I can stick my magic wand up your ass and see how much magic we can create, Fuck you and get the fuck outta here. For some people there gonna feel it and others ain't gonna feel it, but that's the way it is, but be careful what you say to Nick, he doesn't take that shit likely, I'm surprised he didn't pound that guy into the ground and stick a stick up his ass. It think most people are gonna enjoy it.

Burden have been supporting you on the tour how did this come about and how have you found being on the road with them?
I've watched them a few times, they come to bring it, they rock hard, there doing there thing, more power to them, they really fought hard to get on this tour, we obliged them, there here to bring it, they play different music to the ol'KyU. There not up there pussy footing around, so they respected and embraced this opportunity and a lot of people will go away being Burden fans.

You seem to have tour dates booked up right until the end of the year, do you have any plans to return to the UK before the year is out?
I don't know, I don't think this year, so this will be it for this year unfortunately.

How have you gone about picking a set list for your shows so far?
Its sort of a best of, but I'm not is not a best of song, Its something that means something to us, well, pull that one out every once in a while, buts its always gonna be songs that have shown a lot of response from people that kids seem to like and request, we want to give a bit of the best from each of our records, sometimes your gonna get some B-sides or all heavy hitters, it really goes on a night to night basis, there's nothing scientific, its something that we like to ease into, Green Machine is saved to the end of the set, so that's nice to go out on a bang,

It has been 16 years since you released your last album ‘.... And The Circus Leaves Town’, do you have any plans to release a new album in the near future? And if so what information can you tell us about it?
We want to do another record, but we all have our own records we want to release, so of us its contractual some of us don't, but that's on the cards, we want to do another records,

Have you started writing any material at all?
There's no ideas at all at the moment and no writing has started, but there will be another record at some point.

You guys Started out doing generator parties , is there any chance you will ever do a one off one for a special occasion?
I don't see that happening, that was a magical thing, If that guy wants a magical thing, he'll have to go back to the desert, the funny thing is that guy was an American too. But no I don't see that happening, we were kids. A bunch of stupid people started coming and it got out of control and it wasn't cool any more, people started bringing guns and knives shit like that, It wasn't that we were hippies out there, we were young punks, and we wanted to have a good time, hang out, drink some cold beer and listen to some good music, and going off behind some cactus with your girlfriend and making out with her. That's what it was all about.

Where do you hope to see Kyuss Lives in a year’s time?
That's a good question, we've got a lot of things to go over but the main thing right now is getting this tour done and everyone want to release there own solo record, including me, but we have to look at it business wise, but all of us have to agree on it, there's 4 completely different lives, we just jumped into this thing and its a new experience. Were just tying to keep it together as the year goes on.

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
The whole reason I started back at this is because of Garcia VS Garcia, I want people to know about it, that the record is gonna come out soon, check the website out for more info abou that and Kyuss Lives and that we plan to do another record, there's gonna be some good music out in the next couple of years. And we look forward to seeing everyone come out again.

Interview By Robert Lawrence