Chris Goss is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sl ...

and desert rock genres. Goss is also the lead singer and guitarist of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Masters of Reality.

Recording career

As well as being the founding (and only constant) member of influential desert rock outfit Masters of Reality, Goss is also well known for his production work on albums by Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. Largely credited as the ''Godfather of desert rock'', Goss has on several occasions played down the importance of his role in this musical movement. In 1999, he stated, "I can't make any claim at all to inventing desert rock, or stoner rock, or whatever you want to call it. I make rock n roll records, and hopefully try to make the listener feel like I did when I heard my favourite music." In 2004, Goss highlighted exactly what kind of music he created, "There's a bunch of weirdos that I work with all the time, and we make what I call 'out of whack' Rock records. That's what I do. When people want an 'out of whack' weird Rock record, they call me, and I take an 'out of whack' amount of money to do it, and I'm glad to be there. It's cool." In late 2004, Goss had to be hospitalized due to severe internal infection and the European leg of his tour in support of the new Masters of Reality album '' Give Us Barabbas'' had to be postponed indefinitely. After his recuperation, he joined

Jeordie White Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known as Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Marilyn Manson (band), Marilyn Manson. Previousl ...

and Zach Hill to release '' I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine'', a "mini LP" released under the name Goon Moon. Goss appeared with his longtime friend Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age as " The 5:15ers" at the "winter edition" of ArthurFest, performing an intimate set which was "crafted in less than a month as the duo was a rather late addition to the Arthurball line-up as Sunday's headliner". Continuing with Goon Moon, Goss, White and Hill released a full-length album in May 2007 entitled '' Licker's Last Leg'' containing many guest artists synonymous with the desert rock scene. Goss also joined Queens of the Stone Age and Billy Gibbons to perform " Burn the Witch" on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

''. In 2013, regarding Josh Homme's supposed decision to sequence the album Era Vulgaris using songs originated in a "Los Angeles studio without a single thing written, just to see what it was like to force songs out of his psyche", Goss was quoted saying: "I've seen him do that before with the Desert Sessions but never with Queens. The Queens of the Stone Age is a business, where he's the CEO. It's not run the same." In 2014, filming was completed in Las Vegas for ''Death in the Desert'', a full-length movie for which Goss wrote an original song titled "Only the Lonely", performed by singer Roxy Saint, who plays the character Corey in the full-length film, which is directed and produced by Saint's husband, Josh Evans. It stars

Michael Madsen Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. Alongside his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino—''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Kill Bill: Volume 2'' (2004), ''The Hateful Eight'' (2015), and ''Once Upon a Time in Hol ...

, Shayla Beesley and Paz de la Huerta. The movie is inspired by the book Death in the Desert by Cathy Scott, with the screenplay by John Steppling. In 2024 Goss and Alain Johannes contributed the Jethro Tull song " Aqualung" from the 1971 album '' Aqualung'' to the tribute album ''Aqualung (Redux)'' released through Magnetic Eye Records. It was performed in

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

style using voices for the instrumentation along with various electronic percussion noises.

Selected discography

Throughout his career, Goss has worked with a wide range of musicians in various genres. AllMusic – Chris Goss discography/ref> *1989: '' Masters of Reality'' by Masters of Reality *1992: '' Blues for the Red Sun'' by Kyuss *1993: '' Sunrise on the Sufferbus'' by Masters of Reality *1994: '' Welcome to Sky Valley'' by Kyuss *1994: ''All of Us'' by I Love You *1995: '' ...And the Circus Leaves Town'' by Kyuss *1995: ''Marie Mozege'' by Les Super Stars *1996: ''

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

'' by Screaming Trees *1996: '' Leave the Story Untold'' by Soulwax *1996: ''Daaly'' by Thione Seck *1996: '' Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop'' by Stone Temple Pilots *1996: '' Amusing the Amazing'' by Slo Burn *1997: '' How High the Moon: Live at the Viper Room'' by Masters of Reality *1998: '' Holiday Man'' by The Flys *1998: ''Gaslight'' by 30 Odd Foot of Grunts *1998: '' Volumes 3 & 4'' by Desert Sessions *1998: '' Queens of the Stone Age'' by Queens of the Stone Age *1999: ''Kimi No Oto Ga Kikoeru Basho'' by

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

*1999: '' Welcome to the Western Lodge'' by Masters of Reality *2000: '' Spirit\Light\Speed'' by Ian Astbury *2000: '' Cocaine Rodeo'' by Mondo Generator *2000: '' Rated R'' by Queens of the Stone Age *2000: '' Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss'' by Kyuss *2000: ''Outta My Way'' by The Flys *2001: '' Toasted'' by Fatso Jetson *2001: '' Volumes 7 & 8'' by The Desert Sessions *2001: '' Deep in the Hole'' by Masters of Reality *2002: '' Songs for the Deaf'' by Queens of the Stone Age *2003: '' Flak 'n' Flight'' by Masters of Reality *2003: ''Tell Them Hi'' by Campfire Girls *2003: '' Vol. 9&10'' by The Desert Sessions *2003: '' Atomic Ritual'' by

Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

*2003: '' Here Comes That Weird Chill'' by Mark Lanegan Band *2003: ''The Underground Personality Tapes'' by Roxy Saint *2004: '' Never, Never Land'' by

UNKLE Unkle (often stylised as U.N.K.L.E. or UNKLE, occasionally known as UNKLE Sounds) is a British musical outfit founded in 1992 by James Lavelle. Originally categorised as trip hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a ...

*2004: '' Give Us Barabbas'' by Masters of Reality *2004: '' Bubblegum'' by the Mark Lanegan Band *2004: ''

Auf der Maur Auf der Maur is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Melissa Auf der Maur (born 1972), Canadian rock musician **Auf der Maur (album), ''Auf der Maur'' (album), debut album of Melissa Auf der Maur *Nick Auf der Maur (1942–1998), C ...

'' by

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

*2004: '' Demon Crossing'' by Yellow #5 *2004: '' Mister Mental'' by The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster *2005: '' I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine'' by Goon Moon *2005: '' Lullabies to Paralyze'' by Queens of the Stone Age *2005: '' Ocean of Confusion: Songs of Screaming Trees 1989–1996'' by Screaming Trees *2007: '' Licker's Last Leg'' by Goon Moon *2007: '' The Cool'' by

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

*2007: '' Era Vulgaris'' by Queens of the Stone Age *2007: '' War Stories'' by

*2008: ''It's OK to be Happy'' by Smith & Pyle *2008: ''

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

'' by The Duke Spirit *2008: '' More Stories'' by

*2008: '' End Titles... Stories for Film'' by

*2009: '' Pine/Cross Dover'' by Masters of Reality *2010: '' Out of Our Minds'' by

*2010: '' Where Did the Night Fall'' by

*2010: ''Everyman and Woman Is a Star'' by

The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

*2011: ''Enjoy Your Psychosis'' by Drums Are for Parades *2014: '' Sonic Highways'' by

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

*2016: '' Your Desert My Mind'' by The Mutants *2020: ''Lavender Blues'' by Big Scenic Nowhere

References

External links

Chris Goss' homepage
(archived)

with Brian D. Holland of Modernguitars.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Goss, Chris Living people American record producers Goon Moon members Queens of the Stone Age members American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American hard rock musicians American male singer-songwriters 20th-century American guitarists Masters of Reality members Year of birth missing (living people)

Recording career

Selected discography

See also

References

External links