Troy Van Leeuwen

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Troy Van Leeuwen
Troy+Van+Leeuwen.jpg
Van Leeuwen performing with Queens of the Stone Age in 2007.
Background information
Birth name Troy Dean Van Leeuwen[1]
Also known as T.V. Leeuwen, Troy De Van Leeuwen, TVL, Tweezil Von Smoothy
Born (1970-01-05) January 5, 1970 (age 54)
Los Angeles, United States
Genres Alternative rock, space rock, stoner rock, desert rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, art rock, neo-psychedelia
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, harp, lap steel guitar, bass guitar, percussion, drums, violin, banjo, cello, vibraphone
Years active 1983–present
Labels Warner Bros. Records, EMI, Virgin Records, Interscope Records, The Control Group
Associated acts Queens of the Stone Age, Desert Sessions, Enemy, Failure, The Wondergirls, A Perfect Circle, The Gutter Twins, Eagles of Death Metal, Mark Lanegan, Sweethead, Puscifer
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster
Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Signature Jazzmaster
Gibson Les Paul
Squier Jazzmaster

Troy Dean Van Leeuwen (born January 5, 1970)[1] is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the guitarist for the rock band, Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA), for which he has served since 2002. He is also known for his work with the seminal rock band, Failure, and with alternative rock supergroup, A Perfect Circle, as well as recordings with QOTSA members' side projects such as the Desert Sessions, Mondo Generator, Eagles of Death Metal and the Gutter Twins. Van Leeuwen created his first side-project, Enemy, in 2005, and a new side-project, Sweethead, in 2008.[2]

Biography

Early life and career

Van Leeuwen was born January 5, 1970 in Los Angeles. His surname is Dutch (he has ancestors from the Netherlands and has described himself as a third-generation American).[3] He became interested in music at an early age and his dad would play early rock and roll records such as Chuck Berry. His first big influence in learning how to play rock came through listening to Led Zeppelin records. Playing drums initially, Van Leeuwen sought to imitate Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham,[4] but later switched to guitar and discovered that he had an aptitude for it. He cites Jimmy Page as a big influence:

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I would have to say that Jimmy Page was the first influence I had as a guitar player. There were so many textures and different sounds that he got. The riffs that he made were undeniably great. Every one of them. Even the mistakes he made were great. So to me, that was a great first influence.[4]

In the late 1980s, Van Leeuwen played in Jester, a successful southern California band fronted by vocalist Eric Book. Jester released an EP, which is the earliest and most rare recording of a 16-year-old Van Leeuwen. He then played in a small band called Little Boots, with which he recorded a number of demos and played a few shows before the band's breakup. His next band was 60 Cycle, which released their debut "Pretender" in 1995, and their self-titled album the following year. It was during his time in 60 Cycle that Van Leeuwen met Kellii Scott, and the two started working on a project (later to be known as Enemy). Van Leeuwen went on to play in Failure. The band released three records and didn't enjoy any commercial success, but was praised by critics as a talented and almost revolutionary group.[5] It was during a tour with Failure when Van Leeuwen met former Kyuss guitarist Josh Homme, who was presently playing rhythm guitar with The Screaming Trees. After the breakup of Failure, Van Leeuwen became a session musician and recording engineer, working with groups such as Orgy, Crazy Town, Coal Chamber and KoRn.

A Perfect Circle

It was during his time as a session musician that Van Leeuwen met Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, who offered him a spot in his and Billy Howerdel's new band, A Perfect Circle. Due to the band's lineup of talented musicians and good chemistry, Van Leeuwen accepted the invitation. The band played their first show at LA's Viper Club Reception on August 15, 1999. After playing shows in Los Angeles, the band entered the studio to begin work on their debut album.[6] Soon, drummer Tim Alexander was replaced with session drummer Josh Freese; however, Alexander's performance can still be heard on the album version of the song "The Hollow". After completing the recording of the band's debut album, Mer de Noms,[7] the band began touring, initially as the opening act for Nine Inch Nails in 2000. Later, the band embarked on a number of headlining tours around the world, including the Canadian festival, Summersault.[8] Mer de Noms was released on May 23, 2000, while the band was on tour. The album marks the highest ever debut for a new rock band, selling over 188,000 copies in its first week, and appearing at number four on the Billboard 200.[9]

Queens of the Stone Age

Van Leeuwen recorded guitar parts on only three tracks of A Perfect Circle's second album, Thirteenth Step, before successfully auditioning for a spot in Josh Homme's Queens of the Stone Age. After outperforming Jeordie White and others in the audition, Van Leeuwen was welcomed as the band's second guitarist for their Songs for the Deaf tour. Besides playing guitar, Van Leeuwen also performed on lap steel guitar, keyboards, backing vocals and occasionally bass guitar. Due to the band's schedule, Van Leeuwen had only one week to learn 30 songs before the tour began. For the European leg of the album's supporting tour, Dave Grohl left to return to his main band Foo Fighters. He was replaced with former Danzig drummer Joey Castillo. Songs for the Deaf was a critical and commercial success,[10] and the singles "No One Knows" and "Go with the Flow" became hits on both radio and MTV. The tour culminated in a number of headline dates in Australia in January 2004.

Van Leeuwen's first recording with QOTSA was Lullabies to Paralyze. The band entered the studio with long-time collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes, who replaced Nick Oliveri on the album. Van Leeuwen aimed to fill in some of the gaps in the music where he felt the sound could be expanded through atmospheric and ambient textures made by guitar, lap steel and piano.[4] The album (the title of which is taken from a lyric in Mosquito Song from Songs for the Deaf)[11] featured several guest appearances, most notably ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who performed backing vocals and lead guitar on "Burn the Witch" and the ZZ Top cover, Precious and Grace. Despite reportedly turning down an invitation to remain with the band, Mark Lanegan recorded vocals on new tracks, and appeared with the band on the supporting tour when scheduling and his health permitted. The album was leaked onto the internet in February 2005, and was aired by Australian radio on March 3, 2005 as an unsubstantiated 'World Premiere'. The album was then officially released on March 22, 2005 in the USA, and debuted as number 5 on the Billboard Music Chart: the greatest initial success of any QOTSA record to date. On November 22, 2005, the band released a live album/DVD set called Over the Years and Through the Woods, which featured a live concert filmed in London, and bonus features (including rare videos dating from 1998 to 2005).

After touring to support the album, the band headed back into the studio in July 2006. A year later, Van Leeuwen reported that the band had written new material that was "still in its infancy",[12] which Homme later suggested might be released as an EP. This matured into their 2007 release Era Vulgaris, to which Van Leeuwen contributed a significant amount of material.

Van Leeuwen performing with Queens of the Stone Age at the Southside Festival near Tuttlingen, southern Germany, June 24, 2007

Several sites reported that the album would include many guest vocalists, including Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, Julian Casablancas from The Strokes, Mark Lanegan, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top,[13] and wittingly, deceased humorist Erma Bombeck.[14] Josh Homme described the record as "dark, hard, and electrical, sort of like a construction worker".[15] Era Vulgaris was completed in early April 2007[16] and released in June 2007 in the US[17] The tracks "Sick, Sick, Sick" and "3's & 7's" were released as singles in early June.[18] Bassist Michael Shuman (Wires on Fire, Jubilee) and keyboardist Dean Fertita (The Waxwings, The Raconteurs) took over touring duties from Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider respectively.[19][20]

Following a subsequent interview with Homme, The Globe and Mail reported that the EP "could contain as many as 10 B-sides recorded during the Era Vulgaris sessions."[21] It was since reported however that the EP would not be released due to the record label's unwillingness to put out another QOTSA release at this time.[22] In a September issue of NME Magazine, Homme stated that he was going back to make the new QOTSA and Desert Sessions records, along with remastering the 1998 (QOTSA) self-titled album for an early 2009 release. Homme also stated Queens' new album is going to be a "desert orgy in the dark".

In 2013, QOTSA released ...Like Clockwork, Van Leeuwen's third full album with the band. On the album, Van Leeuwen plays guitar, percussion, twelve-string guitar, twelve-string slide guitar, lap steel, synthesizers, acoustic guitar and provides vocals. The album was the first QOTSA album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. It also reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album.

Other musical work

In 2005, Van Leeuwen released Hooray For Dark Matter with his sideproject Enemy. The album features bassist Eddie Nappi from the Mark Lanegan Band, and his former bandmate from Failure Kelli Scott on drums (who had replaced Quicksand's Alan Cage). Van Leeuwen describes Enemy as his "big, dumb rock trio",[23] and "a vehicle driven by pure and utter disgust of mediocrity and general frustration with the human condition". During Van Leeuwen's time with A Perfect Circle, Enemy recorded a five track demo in what he called "Guerilla-style recording" at various studios.[24] The band (unusually) offered to be signed by a record label by advertising for the princely sum of $250,000 on Ebay.[24] Enemy was ultimately signed by Control Group/TCG, who released their debut album. After joining the Queens of the Stone Age, Van Leeuwen has also contributed music to band members' various side projects: such as The Desert Sessions, Mondo Generator, Eagles of Death Metal, The Gutter Twins and Mark Lanegan's solo album Bubblegum. After the Era Vulgaris tour's end, Van Leeuwen began touring with his current side project, Sweethead.

Musical equipment

According to Van Leeuwen, Queens of the Stone Age (and Homme in particular) have a "veil of secrecy" regarding their exact setup, in order to maintain a unique guitar sound. However, over time Van Leeuwen eventually disclosed some information regarding his gear.[25]

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"A lot of guitarists only use solos to define who they are. I can shred when I need to, but, ultimately, I'm interested in playing what the song needs—even if that means not playing at all."

Troy Van Leeuwen .

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"I like to have stuff in the studio that's vintage and I like to keep things as pure as possible. But when it comes to the road, I like to use stuff that works consistently. I don't like stuff that's vintage and cool, but breaks down. So that's why I'll use a switching system and new pedals. I don't care about using vintage pedals over new pedals. The difference live is so minute. First of all, you're in a hall or a theater which changes the sound. Then it's going through a mic, then through a PA. And live, it's not as much under the microscope as in the studio. "

Troy Van Leeuwen

Selected discography

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See also: A Perfect Circle discography and Queens of the Stone Age discography

Van Leeuwen has appeared on wide range of albums from various bands and performers from a wide range of genres.[26][27]

Year Band or artist Song or album Credits
1986 Jester Jester Guitar
1995 60 Cycle Pretender
1996 60 Cycle
1998 Korn Freak on a Leash Engineer
Orgy Candyass Guitar
1999 Coal Chamber Chamber Music Keyboards, technical assistant
Crazy Town The Gift of Game Additional guitar, programming assistant
Deadsy Commencement Guitar
2000 Professional Murder Music Professional Murder Music
A Perfect Circle Mer de Noms
Orgy Vapor Transmission
2001 Limp Bizkit New Old Songs
2003 UNKLE Never, Never, Land
A Perfect Circle Thirteenth Step
Slaves on Dope Metafour Production
Mondo Generator A Drug Problem That Never Existed Additional performer
The Desert Sessions Vol 9: I See You Hearin' Me Guitar, lap steel, bass
Vol 10: I Heart Disco
2004 Failure Golden Guitar
A Perfect Circle aMotion
Orgy Punk Statik Paranoia
2005 Queens of the Stone Age Lullabies to Paralyze Guitar, bass, lap steel, piano, keyboards, handclaps, vocals
Over The Years And Through The Woods Guitar, lap steel, bass, vocals
Mark Lanegan Band Bubblegum Guitar, piano
Enemy Hooray For Dark Matter Vocals, guitar, mixing, production
2006 Failure Essentials Guitar
J-AX Di Sana Pianta Chitarrone
Eagles of Death Metal Death by Sexy Performer, piano, backing vocals
2007 Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris Guitar, bass, lap steel, piano, keyboard, vocals
2008 Eagles of Death Metal Heart On Vocals
The Gutter Twins Saturnalia Guitar
2009 Sweethead The Great Disruptors Guitar, bass, backing vocals, production, mixing
Sweethead
Hello=Fire Hello=Fire Bass
2013 Queens of the Stone Age Like Clockwork Guitar, backing vocals, percussion, keyboard, lap steel

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 California Births, 1905 – 1995, Troy D. Van Leeuwen (Birth Date: May 1, 1970, County of Birth: Los Angeles) Retrieved 2009-07-16
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 [1] Archived February 28, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

style="background: #ffbbbb; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-failure" | Failure

Preceded by Multi-instrumentalist for Queens of the Stone Age
2002–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
no one
 Rhythm guitarist for A Perfect Circle
1999–2003		 Succeeded by
Danny Lohner
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