Pop puts it simply: “I’m old enough to
three weeks that he, Homme, and
be his dad, but I reached out to him
their bandmates—QOTSA and Dead
because I wanted to raise my bar and
Weather multi-instrumentalist Dean
saw him as a very good musician. If
Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer
I had understood how successful he
Matt Helders—recorded new material
was, I wouldn’t have reached out. But
in secret.
I only see Rolling Stone these days
when I go to the dentist’s office.”
Adhering to one of the ground
rules that Pop and Homme laid out
As luck would have it, Homme
for the project, they didn’t know at
not only considered The Stooges
the beginning of the collaboration
one of his favorite bands but also
whether
had Pop on a shortlist of hopeful
scrapped sessions, a song or two, or
future collaborators.
a proper album.
“For twenty-two years, I’ve said to
“We did it in secret to make sure
my closest musical co-conspirators,
before we really knew each other that
‘It would be great to work with Iggy,’”
we could throw away our hang-ups,”
Homme says. But while he was gung-
Homme says. “We promised to not
ho to work with the rock icon, he
put a box on anything, to not define
didn’t fall into hero worship.
it, and put our egos aside.”
“I respect Iggy, but that means it
Any ego that may have been brought
was my job to push him, too. You
to
can’t kiss someone’s ass, because
upon arrival at the site where the
it’s not going to get you anywhere,”
musicians recorded: the mythical
Homme says. “People who reach
Rancho de la Luna. Pop recalls a
icon status don’t want to drop their
point when there were ten guys—
habits and take a chance. He knew
including engineers, repairmen, and
if he went out to the desert, he’d be
the six-foot-five Homme—jammed
doing just that.”
into a single tiny room.
Pop indeed went far outside his
“Because it was a small scale, there
comfort zone to record with Homme,
was nowhere to run and hide,” Pop
traveling from Miami to Joshua Tree,
says. “When we recorded ‘Break Into
near where Homme grew up. The
Your Heart,’ you could smell the balls
worldly Pop, who prefers the heat, had
in the room. We shared a bathroom,
never been to the high desert, which
farts and all. We couldn’t wait around
in January 2015 was frigid. He draped
for inspiration—it was a matter of
himself in a kimono for much of the
‘Let’s get to it.’”
the
it
would
desert
was
amount
to
eviscerated
F LO O D
47