Considering most, if not all, of the songs from Eagles of Death Metal’s first two albums are about screwing almost anything with a vagina, it’s funny that lead singer Jesse Holmes never got laid until he met his wife.

“Girls didn’t want to have sex with me, and they had no problem letting me
know. The song Jesse’s Girl was the worst thing that ever happened,” he says. And of course he was the small kid with the “eccentric” family who got beat up a lot—he sort of sounds like a supermodel.

Then in high school Holmes met Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age), who saved him from getting his ass kicked numerous times and ended up throwing him in his mom’s car and driving him to L.A. The two started EODM, and Holmes grew an impressive mustache and started making up for lost time. “Now the joke of it is that girls are paying attention to me and not laughing. It’s awesome.”

Fresh from the Video Music Awards, Holmes is sitting on his deck in Palm Springs, CA. He says he’s wearing adult-sized footie pajamas, but later he claims he’s in a pair of tight Levis. He’s battling a hangover.

“[Dave] Grohl invited Josh Homme, Mastodon, EODM, and some other rockers to put on a party on the 26th floor of his hotel…Then we took over the pool and the cops came. It felt like Attica,” he says. “I’ve been on tour for a month and a half, going to Australia. I got the call to do the VMAs and flew back. It’s one of those moments where you can’t give in to the exhaustion.”

Despite that, Homme and Hughes are headed back into the studio to record their next album, which, Hughes says, will be a bit of a departure from their last two. “This album will definitely demonstrate a growth. Instead of butt-fucking the Rolling Stones with Bachman-Turner Overdrive, I’m butt-fucking the Rolling Stones with Devo, Little Richard, a sprinkling of Steely Dan and a healthy dose of Mary J. Blige.” He hopes this will lead to what he calls a more “thoughtful” album, but one that will still keep people dancing.—M.L.