Troy Van Leeuwen
Troy Van Leeuwen (born January 5, 1970) is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. Joining the band in 2002, he is the second-longest-serving member of the band, after founding member Josh Homme. Van Leeuwen is also a member of the supergroup Gone Is Gone and has fronted his own projects, Enemy and Sweethead. As of 2021, Van Leeuwen is a co-producer and musical contributor to the anonymous American hardcore punk musical collective the Armed. Originally a member of Failure, Van Leeuwen joined the alternative rock supergroup A Perfect Circle in 1999, contributing to their first two studio albums, Mer de Noms (2000) and Thirteenth Step (2003), before joining Queens of the Stone Age to tour in support of their third studio album, Songs for the Deaf (2002). Van Leeuwen has remained in the band ever since, recording five albums with the band to date: Lullabies to Paralyze (2005), Era Vulgaris (2007), ...Like Clockwork (2013), Villains (2017) and In Times New Roman... (2023). Van Leeuwen has contributed to several other Queens of the Stone Age-related side-projects, including The Desert Sessions, Mondo Generator, Eagles of Death Metal and The Gutter Twins. In 2016, Van Leeuwen was a member of Iggy Pop's touring band, supporting his album, Post Pop Depression (2016), recorded with his Queens of the Stone Age bandmates Josh Homme and Dean Fertita. Biography Van Leeuwen has a Dutch surname (he has ancestors from the Netherlands and has described himself as a third-generation American). He became interested in music at an early age and his dad would play early rock and roll records such as Chuck Berry. His first big influence in learning how to play rock came through listening to Led Zeppelin records. Playing drums initially, Van Leeuwen sought to imitate Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham, but later switched to guitar and discovered that he had an aptitude for it. He cites Jimmy Page as a big influence: Music career In the late 1980s, Van Leeuwen played in Jester, a successful southern California band fronted by vocalist Eric Book. Jester released an EP, which is the earliest and most rare recording of a 16-year-old Van Leeuwen. He then played in a small band called Little Boots, with which he recorded a number of demos and played a few shows before the band's breakup. His next band was 60 Cycle, which released their debut "Pretender" in 1995, and their self-titled album the following year. It was during his time in 60 Cycle that Van Leeuwen met Kellii Scott, and the two started working on a project (later to be known as Enemy). Van Leeuwen went on to play in Failure. The band released three records and didn't enjoy any commercial success, but was praised by critics as a talented and almost revolutionary group. It was during a tour with Failure when Van Leeuwen met former Kyuss