ShockHound

“I came to LA to make rock n’ roll/Along the way I had to sell my soul,” sings Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse “The Devil” Hughes in “Wanna Be In LA,” and we kinda don’t think he’s kidding. Because while Hughes — also variously known as Boots Electric and J. Devil Huge — possesses only admittedly rudimentary songwriting skills (he confided to ShockHound that everything on his band’s three albums is either blatantly knocked off from the first Ramones album or the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar”) and looks more than a little like a Village People cast-off, the man is quite capable of melting the female contingent of any concert audience down to a steaming hot pool of liquid desire.
    But whatever demonic assistance he’s calling upon — and we’re not talking about the contributions of Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh “Baby Duck” Homme, who has been Hughes’s main partner in musical crime since 1998, when Eagles of Death Metal were first formed — it seems to be working. The band’s third album, 2008’s Heart On, has been their most successful to date, rising to #57 on the Billboard charts, while “Wannabe In LA,” the album’s first single, has racked up a ton of Modern Rock radio play. The tour for Heart On has been tremendously rewarding as well, taking Hughes and band around the world and back, with the percentage of screaming and swooning lovelies in attendance seemingly increasing at every stop.
    Hughes and current EoDM drummer Joey “Sexy Mexy” Castillo (also of Queens of the Stone Age) recently stopped by ShockHound to whip out a sizzlin’ six-song Shock Session that included such career-spanning faves as “I Only Want You,” “Wannabe In LA” and “I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News).” And since we (by which we mean you) have much to learn from Hughes, the mustachioed Wizard of Romance also sat down in front of our cameras for a special heart-to-heart Valentine’s Day talk, in which he shared his "probing" insights on everything from aftershave to gift-giving to prepping for a first date. He even made us a smokin' hot make-out playlist! Can you feel the love tonight, people?

— Dan Epstein



WATCH: Eagles of Death Metal's Shock Sessions Performance




WATCH: Our exclusive Valentine's Day-themed interview with Boots Electric

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