Mondo Generator
(sometimes known as Nick Oliveri And The Mondo Generator
) is an American metal/punk 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 and 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.
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MONDO GENERATOR TICKETS
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History
Oliveri/Homme band (2000-2004)
Nick Oliveri (under the moniker
Rex Everything
) formed Mondo Generator in 1997 and with friends
Josh Homme,
Brant Bjork,
Rob Oswald, 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.
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.
End of Homme era
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 the summer 2004 tour to promote the disc, Oliveri physically assaulted a sound crew member of a
German night club 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.
Recent activities
In July 2006, it was reported that Perrier and Thomas had exited the band under unknown circumstances. Oliveri then re-named 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. supporting Turbonegro.
Suburban Noize Records released "Dead Planet" in the United States on
July 17, 2007.
[1]
On September 25, 2007, Courtesy of Suburban Noize Records, Mondo Generator was the featured band on Compilation called
Road To Nowhere.
In an August interview with
AltitudeTv, Nick said that after the Australian tour, Mondo Generator would be "taking a big long break," allowing him to focus on his new band
The Knives.
October 2008, After a long two month break, Nick and drummer David "Hoss" Wright began the recording of a new Mondo Generator record with long time 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.
Members
Current lineup
- Nick Oliveri
- Ian Flannon
- Hoss
Former members
Guitarists
- Spud - (2006-2007)
- Ben Perrier - (2005-2006)
- Marc Diamond - (2004-2005)
- Dave Catching - (2003-2004)
- Josh Homme - (1997-2002)
- Brent Malkus (a.k.a. Burnt Mattress) - (also vocals) (1997)
Bassists
- Molly McGuire -(2003-2004)
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Drummers
- Giampaolo Farnedi - (2007)
- Ernie Longoria - (2007)
- Ben Thomas - (2005-2006)
- Josh Lamar - (2004-2006)
- Alfredo Hernández - (2004)
- Brant Bjork - (1997-2004)
- Dave Grohl - (2003)
- Rob Oswald (a.k.a. Up N. Syder) - (1997)
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Discography
- '' Split with the Jack Saints (1997, Milk*Sop Records)
- Cocaine Rodeo
(2000, Southern Lord)
- A Drug Problem That Never Existed
(2003, Ipecac)
- Use Once And Destroy Me
(2004, Tornado) (DVD)
- III the EP
(2004, Tornado)
- Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails
(2006, Mother Tongue) (UK/Europe) / Impedance Records (Australia)
- Dead Planet
(2007, Suburban Noize)
- Australian Tour EP
(2008, Impedance Records) (Australia)
- Cocaine Rodeo (re-issue)
(2009, Impedance Records) (Worldwide)