MAGNET: How did Josh convince you to both join the Queens and come and do the Desert Sessions?
Lanegan: He had asked me a long time ago if I would do the next Desert Sessions, and it turned out I had a day to do it. Then he asked me if I would come do their U.K. shows with them and go out and sing the song I’d done for their last record.

“In The Fade” it’s called, right?
Yeah. He had asked me to do stuff for the first Queens record way back when, but I ended up not being available for that. Anyway, it was a popular song for their fans and they’d never done it live. Then he asked me to do stuff for their next record, and I said, “Sure.” They’re a great band and we’ve known each other for years; it sounded like a great time. Boy, how wrong could I have been.

It seems like doing a Desert Session is worlds away from doing a Queens record - the Sessions seem more like plug in and play.
I was only around for a day of it, but there’s a flurry of activity in every room, these guys are writing songs on the spot. Something’s being recorded and they’re writing the lyrics for the next one. It’s a lot of fun, a real creative environment.

Sort of a song factory in the middle of the desert kind of thing.
Yeah, and that’s probably the way Josh intended it. Also, now that there’s a history of these things and a history of the Queens, it’s sort of a proving ground for certain tunes that end up making their way onto a Queens record. That’s happening right now. So I don’t know what the fuck he’s thinking, but it seems to be working for him.

What’s it like working with Josh?
It’s like hell on earth, really.

Is he a massive dictator?
He is a dictator, but I need to be told what to do. I like to be told what to do, basically. It’s like I said, “If you can be my master, I’ll do anything.” [laughs] It’s fun, there’s a lot of joking around, a lot of fucking around, and that suits me as a guy. If it was all dead-serious - well, it swings wildly from balls-out craziness to real serious. It’s a recording session, what can I say?

I should ask whether you’re working on new solo stuff, too.
Yeah, throw me a bone, man. At some point, I’ll do that again. I have no real concrete plans at this point, though.

Are you sort of in two different modes - one where you do the “rock” thing with the Queens or the Screaming Trees, and then one where you’re this serious songwriter type?
For me, it’s all the same. I only really do one thing and the setting sometimes changes. If I’m left to my own devices, the setting is different than it will be in this scenario or any “rock” scenario. But I still consider the things I do on my own to be rock music, not folk music or whatever anybody calls it. I’m like a one-trick pony. What I’ve done for these guys really feels the same for me, as far as where I’m coming from.

It’s not like you put on a mask or anything.
I strap on my studded leather codpiece and dye my hair, get the grey out and proceed to live an undignified existence.