It’s a dark week when we’re quoting TMZ twice in a week, but according to the scabby internet scandal scavengers, former Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss and current Kyuss Lives! bassist Nick Oliveri was arrested Tuesday night – after an “intense standoff with a S.W.A.T. team at his Hollywood home”.
Oliveri’s neighbor called police after hearing a “disturbance” between the bassist and his live-in girlfriend. A lengthy two-hour standoff between S.W.A.T. team forces and Nick ensued before Oliveri finally agreed to let his girlfriend exit the duplex.
The tense situation came to a close when Los Angeles police officers knocked down Oliveri’s front door and he was taken into custody, at about 10:30 p.m.
Nick’s girlfriend reportedly told police that Nick hit her during an argument the previous day. She had returned to collect her belongings and move out of the home, when the conflict escalated.
Even more disturbingly, Nick has battled a negative reputation as a violent aggressor towards women over the years. In a 2004 interview with BBC’s Radio 1, QOTSA frontman Joshua Homme and lifelong friend to the bassist explained that Oliveri was let go from the band for similar reasons:
“A couple years ago, I spoke to Nick about a rumor I heard,” Homme recalled. “I said, ‘If I ever find out that this is true, I can’t know you, man.’ Because music and my life are the same thing, there’s no rules until something massive happens. [Nick] was over here [in England] with [QOTSA vocalist Mark] Lanegan and something happened again, and he almost didn’t make it out of the country. That’s not music anymore.”
Then there’s this Homme-featured video from several years ago, in which the singer responds to a girl who says “I miss Nick” by suggesting that “Maybe he can beat the shit out of you, too.” Watch below:
During a search of Nick’s home on Hobart Boulevard Tuesday night, cops reportedly found a fully loaded high-powered rifle.
Oliveri was booked on felony domestic violence. He has since been released after posting $100,000 bail.
