Kyuss Lives! Now ‘Vista Chino’

Three founding members of California stoner rock band Kyuss, not including Queens Of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, will tour and record in 2013 under the name Vista Chino.

John Garcia, Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri have in recent years toured under the moniker of Kyuss Lives! as a mini-reunion and to promote Garcia’s new material.

Now, that project gets its own name. Vista Chino also includes guitarist Bruno Fevery, who toured with Kyuss Lives!

Photo: K. Campbell
Bruno Fevery, Nick Oliveri, John Garcia & Brant Bjork

The band’s announcement claims that “major touring plans” are forthcoming. The final Kyuss Lives! date is in early 2013 at the Soundwave festival in Australia.

All has not been harmonious with Kyuss since the band’s messy breakup in the mid-’90s. Former guitarist Josh Homme and bassist Scott Reeder sued over the use of the Kyuss name in 2012, which was resolved with the band being able to tour as Kyuss Lives! but not release or record music.

Oliveri, who was also the bassist for Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004, was arrested in 2011 after a domestic dispute with a girlfriend that brought out the SWAT team and prevented him from playing any overseas dates with Kyuss Lives!

Earlier this week a post on the Facebook page of Oliveri’s band Mondo Generator noted that Oliveri recently recorded vocals for a new Queens of the Stones Age tune. QOTSA announced earlier this year it was working on its next album.