Artikel © Rock Hard Italy
by Barbara Volpi, September 2024

www.rockharditaly.com

FACE TO FACE WITH CHRIS GOSS

Chris Goss, the man who produced three Kyuss albums, who founded in spite of himself the ‘music of the desert’, is much more than the godfather of stoner rock: he is the presence behind some albums by Queens Of The Stone Age and Screaming Trees, Melissa Auf der Maur, and Mark Lanegan, Stone Temple Pilots and Ian Astbury. He is the guru of his band Masters Of Reality, and a wise man in life. After an extremely hard period, he has decided to perform again, waiting for the release of the new MOR’s album, which is supposed to happen soon.  I had the honor to talk to him at the Desert Fest Berlin.

How does it feel to be considered as ‘the godfather of stoner rock’?

“I am grateful and proud to be appreciated, especially in Europe, where the Desert Fest was born to pay homage to a scene that in Joshua Tree developed naturally, without any real intention. However, if I am the godfather, Mario Lalli is the father”.

A Masters Of Reality album will be released soon, preceded by the single Sugar, the first since 2009. What happened in the meantime?

“In 2004, after the release of Give Us Barabbas, I got seriously ill. I was in a coma for thirteen days and I still carry the consequences with me today. It was all extremely hard. I was lucky, however: I could have had cognitive damage, or gone blind, but the problems are concerning mainly the mobility of one leg”.

What is Sugar about?

“It is about strong women who try to keep their backs straight in the chaos of the world. I was raised by strong women, and my wife is one of them too. I have an almost sacred respect for them and for all those who can fight in order not to lose their soul”.

Why is the album release being delayed?

“Because while I was in Las Vegas recording the vocals I got backpain, so strong that I could not sing. I started to take painkillers with the only result of compromising myself even more, so I had to stop. It was really frustrating. I didn’t even know if I would be able to leave for the European dates but, now that I’m here, even if with some difficulty, I’m very happy”.

What would you be if you weren't a musician?

“Definitely a cook. I was one when I was about eighteen and I love cooking. I grew up in a family of Calabrian origins where food was a particularly important thing. I learned to put chili pepper everywhere. I love all Italian food but also sushi. I like to eat, and I can gain weight anywhere and in any situation”.

Then music prevailed.

“This year I celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of my first show. Back then, music had an aura of romanticism, while now it's pure consumerism. For the product of the moment, built at the table, you need a pretty face, nice tits and a nice butt, then if you can't sing it doesn't matter, because with technology you can solve every problem. If there's no soul, even better: it's easier to exploit and soon after, here we go with another fresher one. The music business has become a mincer that moves at the speed of light. I fight a battle that is perhaps lost from the start: I try to keep the music real, starting from the fact that I don't propose the same setlist every night".

You started in the New York area in the ‘80s where the humus was very fertile, with underground scenes like the ‘no wave’ and ‘minimal wave’ ones.

"Music was a cultural expression back then, it knew how to break pre-established syntaxes and absorb new moods, anticipating even social phenomena. Experimentation and contamination were in force, I'm thinking for example of Talking Heads".

You are a critical observer of what is happening in the world.

"I think so and in fact for a certain period I had to stay on the sidelines, to observe what was happening with lucidity, staying in the nest with my wife and my cats. At a certain point I felt that I had to take action and try, at least through my songs, to solicit consciences".

Consciences are clouded by so many falsifications and mystifications: we no longer know what the truth is.

“The media explosion has not helped to refine the instinctive intuition that people have regarding the truth; on the contrary, it has totally anesthetized it. There are levels of manipulation that have never been reached before because the means are more pernicious and pervasive: all you need is an internet connection and the game is done. Rudolf Steiner, one of my masters, had anticipated what would happen today at the beginning of the last century. The concept that fear and division are the greatest tools of control always applies”.

Antidotes?

“We need to feel like we have a soul again and nourish it with good things, like good music. Music works on a subconscious level and reaches where the rest can’t. I try to move in that space. It’s important to do it for children, who grow up fragile and confused. Education and health care should be the first issues on a political agenda.”

If you were invisible, what would you do?

“I would like to understand what a cat thinks. I have a deep connection with cats. They are magical: they know how to transform negative energy into positive.”

What bothers you the most?

“Stupidity and materialism.”

You said that being on tour is tiring. Is there a positive aspect?

“Playing live. Being on tour is twenty-three hours of heaviness and boredom for just one hour of paradise. Being on stage is an exorcism and the exchange of energy with the audience is a vehicle for collective healing in the deepest sense.”

Which are five things you would take to a desert island?

“Cigarettes, coffee, my wife, my cats and chili peppers.”

And which records?

“All the Led Zeppelin and David Bowie ones. An album by Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra. It’s music that feeds the spirit.”

In addition to having collaborated with bands like Screaming Trees, Stone Temple Pilots, Queens Of The Stone Age, you have also produced three Kyuss’ albums, Melissa Auf Der Maur’s album, Mark Lanegan’s Bubblegum (with Alain Johannes who plays with you today) and Ian Astbury’s Spirit/Light/Speed. You have basically your signature on the best works of the ‘90s and early 2000s.

“It was 1992 when Blues For The Red Sky by Kyuss came out and it was an incredible time for music. There were so many good bands around, such an authentic attitude. Then, the law of business and success ruined everything. Kyuss didn’t have the global success that Nirvana had, so they were able to maintain their integrity longer. When you have fame and money, you are immediately surrounded by parasites and vultures: you must know how to keep them at bay, but it’s not always easy. I have always advised the artists I have collaborated with not to compromise, not to sell out, to fight for their integrity, especially if they want to last over time. Ian Astbury introduced me to David Bowie, my lifelong idol: I am still grateful to him for that today”.

Have you had other musical idols?

“John Lennon, Jimmy Page and Brian Jones. I saw the Rolling Stones in 1966 in Syracuse: Brian wore his white hat on his blond bob of hair; he was so stylish and full of talent that he struck me. There was so much soul in art back then! Jimmy Page once said that for him music was mainly an emotion: that attitude allowed him to age gracefully”.

Lennon and Lanegan didn’t make it.

“Lennon died for his vision, while Mark’s heart was too compromised by a really hard life and in the end it gave up.”

The first thing you do when you wake up?

“I drink a coffee while I cuddle my cats and smoke a cigarette with my wife, with whom I then talk for hours. After so many years of marriage it is still an incredibly beautiful and precious thing. I met her in 1988 and I immediately understood that she was my soul mate. For a while I went from New York to California to visit her, then we decided that we could no longer stay apart.”

Do you believe in an afterlife?

“I believe that our energy will simply transform. I am not afraid of death, but I am scared of the direction that humanity has taken; it seems pushed with one foot on the accelerator towards the abyss. That’s why I got back on track: I had to do something. As James Brown said: I would rather die while dancing on my feet than live on my knees.”

Thank you Barbara from Rockhard Italy, for sharing this great Interview.
Chris Goss & Barbara Volpi Desert Fest Berlin 2024