Former Kyuss frontman John Garcia and Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher have a new band in the pipeline, though there's still no firm word on when fans will get to hear it. In a recent interview with Loudwire, Garcia opened up about the much-anticipated collaboration, shedding light on the creative process and team behind it.
"You had the rhythm section, the original rhythm section for Karma to Burn, Rich Mullins and Nathan Lumbaugh," Garcia explained. "And when I first was turned on to them, they opened up for Kyuss back in the early 90s and I was floored by their music. I became really good friends with them."
"Rich, we've always kind of kept in touch with each other. And Rich had this idea of working with Bill and Bill was into it. I talked to them both and they said, 'Yeah, we have these ideas. Why don't you come to Atlanta?' So I flew out to Atlanta and we did quite a few tracks. I think we did six or seven tracks. And they turned out to be really well."
"As for Bill, that guy. Let's talk about legends. That guy is a living legend. What a great guy he is. I can't speak highly enough about him. He's very talented. He's a family man. He's just an overall powerhouse of a guitar player. And he's a family man. I like that. He's not a drug addict. He has his head on straight. He's peaceful, he's kind. I'm now really good friends with Bill, and we just got along in spectacular fashion. And hopefully one of these days, more sooner than later, that music will see the light of day."
"But between his schedule and my schedule, it's pretty tough. Again, maybe one of these days we'll be able to get it out and I certainly hope so."
The collaboration was first teased in a 2023 episode of The Rockman Power Hour. Host Jason Rockman recalled a private conversation with Kelliher: "You and I have a friend in common – Bill Kelliher from Mastodon," said Rockman. "I got a call from him maybe about a year and a half ago and he said to me, 'Hey man, I'm gonna be working on this really rad project with a singer I think you like.' He told me that it was you and I was like, 'What the fuck? You're working with John Garcia?'"
Garcia confirmed the project and his excitement about teaming up with Kelliher and the Karma to Burn veterans: "I'm just super stoked to be involved with Bill, Rich, and Nathan from Karma To Burn. Rich and Nathan and I, we go way, way back. So when Rich said he was gonna be involved with the project with Bill from Mastodon, I was like, 'Where do I sign?'"
He also praised Kelliher's engineering team, calling them "wizards," and noted that the Atlanta sessions produced some truly compelling material.
As for when fans will finally get to hear the music from this desert-meets-doom rock dream team, Garcia remains cautiously optimistic: "Hopefully one of these days it'll see the light of day. We're just taking this step by step and day by day… We're gonna be movin' and groovin', and hopefully rockin' and rollin'."
Whether it drops in 2025 or later, fans of Kyuss, Mastodon, and Karma to Burn could be in for a thunderous, riff-heavy surprise.
