In the same time period, Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider contributed to another of my favorite albums of the early 2000’s, Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age; Johannes co-wrote one of the songs on the album, “Hangin’ Tree” with Josh Homme. Alain Johannes played guitar and bass on the band’s next album, Lullabies to Paralyze (2005); he and Natasha Shneider were also in the touring band that supported the album. Alain Johannes apparently became an official bandmember in QOTSA for the Lullabies album; as best I can figure it, he basically replaced bass guitarist Nick Oliveri (who had also been in Kyuss with Josh Homme).
Natasha Shneider played keyboards on the Queens of the Stone Age track “Never Say Never” that showed up on a single and EP called Feel Good Hit of the Summer (2000); and also piano on “Who’ll be the Next in Line” that was on their album Rated R (2000). The latter song was also on a Kinks tribute album called This Is Where I Belong: The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks (2002).
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Additionally, Natasha Shneider played piano on the “Josh Homme and Alain Johannes Backwards Remix” of a song by Unkle called “Eye for an Eye” that appears on their album Never, Never, Land (2003).
For another Josh Homme project, Eagles of Death Metal, Alain Johannes plays piano and Natasha Shneider provides vocals (both uncredited) for the song “Who’ll Kiss the Devil” on their debut album, Peace, Love & Death Metal (2004).
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The formation of Queens of the Stone Age grew out of a series of pick-up concerts between 1997 and 2003 that were documented in a series of 10 albums called Desert Sessions. Josh Homme organized the concerts at a ranch near Joshua Tree, California after the breakup of his band Kyuss, and the rotating line-up of musicians who were in Queens of the Stone Age mimicked the large number who were involved in the Desert Sessions.
Josh Homme is quoted in Wikipedia as having said of the Desert Sessions: “At Desert Sessions, you play for the sake of music. That’s why it’s good for musicians. If someday that’s not enough anymore, or that’s not the reason behind you doing it — that’s not your raison d’être — then a quick reminder like Desert Sessions can do so much for you, it’s amazing. It’s easy to forget that this all starts from playing in your garage and loving it.”
Natasha Shneider provided vocals on “Up in Hell” on Desert Sessions, Volume 7: Gypsy Marches. Natasha Shneider and Josh Homme co-wrote the song “Nenada” that appears on Desert Sessions, Volume 8: Can You See Under My Thumb? . . . There You Are. According to the liner notes, Shneider provided “Foreign Vocals, Bass Keys, Rhoades, Stuff” for the recording of “Nenada”, where she is credited as “Natasha the Great”.
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Natasha Shneider passed away on July 2, 2008 after being stricken with cancer. The news was first broken on the MySpace site of the band Sweethead; Troy van Leeuwen, who had been a second guitarist with Queens of the Stone Age, is a member of that band and had been a close friend of Shneider. As shown on Wikipedia, the post read: “Natasha Schneider [sic], musician extraordinaire, former actress, singer of the ground-breaking band Eleven, and one-time Queens of the Stone Age keyboard player, died today at 11:11 am of cancer. She was a brilliant, beautiful, and ballsy woman who will be missed deeply by all those who knew her. Send your loving thoughts her way in the universe.“
As reported on Wikipedia: “On August 16, 2008, Queens of the Stone Age performed a concert in celebration of Natasha Shneider’s life at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. They were joined on stage by Alain Johannes, Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass, Matt Cameron, Brody Dalle, Jesse Hughes, Chris Goss, and PJ Harvey, playing a variety of QOTSA and non-QOTSA songs. Proceeds from the concert went to defray the costs associated with Natasha’s illness.”
(April 2015/2)
