Eagles of Death Metal [ tickets ] singer Jesse "The Devil" Hughes has a simple solution to almost every problem: write a song.

"I was trying to date a girl, and my friends told her I was bad news so she wouldn't go on a date with me. So I have an objective. I have to make me being bad news a fun little sing-along thing so that I can get it in her head and get her to go out with me. It worked like a charm," Hughes said.

"Then, I was dating a girl who could legally be told by her parents to come home early. And I wrote this song to make her family have a good, fun sense of life concerning me when I picked their daughter up. It worked like a charm."

Hughes' musings can be found on "Death by Sexy," which hits stores April 11. It was produced by EODM drummer Josh Homme, who's better known as the Queens of the Stone Age's singer.

Shortly after launching EODM's current tour with The Strokes, Hughes talked to liveDaily about his band's love of women, its mission, and "Death by Sexy." The group plays South by Southwest in Austin, TX, on March 16.

liveDaily: How's the tour going so far?

Jesse Hughes: Full-tilt boogie. It can always do better. The first night's always a little weird. But it rocks, and so do The Strokes. And the ladies are beautiful. Ladies are beautiful in general anyway. But there's something about a lady when she smiles, and when you have the Hammerstein Ballroom [in New York] filled with beautiful smiling ladies, it doesn't get any better than that. That's what rock 'n' roll is really all about. To make ladies smile and dance.

That's what music does to me.

See baby. Mission accomplished.

Music is all about having fun.

And I think rock 'n' roll forgot all about having fun. I think it forgot about ladies.

Tell me about your new album.

Oh man, I'm so excited. "Death by Sexy"? I mean, come on. That's what we're delivering to the world. In order to make Little Richard proud, we had to do this. We didn't want to, but we had to. I'm just kidding. To be able to start the tour cycle for the album with The Strokes, it's a blessing. It's wonderful, wonderful thing. I love rock 'n' roll, and it's been good to me. It gave me this beautiful mustache, a pair of leather gloves, the cape, motorcycle boots. I'm set for action.

How long ago did you write your album?

Three of the songs I wrote in the studio. The majority of the album I wrote after "Peace Love Death Metal's" [2004] release. I'm just about finished writing the third album too. I like to be prepared for that stuff. Because I'm really living the things I'm writing. ...I don't want to call anyone out, but I think a lot of people are kind of phony, a little bit. I don't think they're really as dangerous as they pretend to be. I certainly cannot believe that some of these rock bands are into girls as much as they profess to b,e just by virtue of the fact that there's no girls at their shows. That being said … I don't even know what I'm going to say. I'm so overwhelmed with how sexy your voice is.

Thank you.

You bet baby. When you did that little laugh I was like, "S---. What do I do now?" Help me get back to what we were talking about because I think it was important and you made the thought go away. I'm just kidding.

That's a lot of pressure.

I live what I'm writing, so I write whenever I feel like it. That's why I'm writing all the time. Last night I went and got a new tattoo. I hung out with this sweet little girl from New Jersey, and we went on a little rock 'n' roll adventure under the influence of the night life. I wanted to write a song about it because she's worth a song, you know what I mean? If you listen to the songs, you'll notice that a lot of them are directed specifically at girls or events.

What did you get your tattoo of?

I got a pirate ship with a skull and crossbones underneath it, and my grandmother Emily's name on a banner. On my left arm, I have my grandmother Sara's name. My mother is my best friend, and she raised me alone. She taught me how to dance. She showed me a lot of things. She also showed me, most importantly, that women are the greatest things that have ever hit the earth.

I think you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mother.

Oh my mother is a sweetheart, man. She is my best friend. Honestly, when I get off the phone, I'm going to call her and go, "Mom, I did another interview, and, oh my God, it was cool." Then she's going to give me s--- that she really doesn't totally mean.

So you write when you have the desire, not when you have to?

I always have an idea for a song that I want. I always kind of know what I'm looking for. I'm normally writing a song to give me a sensation. I think I write a lot of songs so they have the maximum posing ability on the stage, for all those great rock poses--the Majesty of Rock pose, hand outstretched, the Foot Kicked Back and Pure Joy of Rock pose. All those different poses. I always have an idea.

What was it like working with Jack Black and Dave Grohl on "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)"?

They're my dear friends, but they're exactly what you would expect them to be by what you see in their public persona--big, lovable sweethearts. My son was on the set of the video, for example. Jack went out of his way, and so did Dave, to have a good time with him. They're wonderful people, and I feel lucky and fortunate to count them among my friends. But even more fortunate that some of the biggest bad-asses in rock 'n' roll today decided to come in and make my album sound that much sexier and that much better. In the studio it was like, Jack was so amped and excited. It was infectious. It was like, "Wow, thank you man." It makes you excited for your own stuff.

How did you guys decide to work with Jack Black and Dave Grohl?

They wanted to work with us. There's a great renaissance in rock right now. Basically, birds of a feather are flocking together. And Jack's always been a fan of the Eagles, and so has Dave. Obviously, they're my heroes. So it was like, "You guys want to come in and see what we're doing? While you're in the studio, whenever anything goes down, they say, 'Wow, you know what would sound cool?' And yeah, let's try it." That's the only way you're going to make the best song you can is if you're open to everything, but have the ability to cut out what doesn't work. No matter who recorded it.

Are you looking forward to playing South by Southwest?

I'm looking forward to doing every gig. The South by Southwest gig is going to be amazing. It's just fun to get up and rock. Blowing in like a bat out of hell--or like a ball of pure boogie fire--into a town and jumping up on stage shaking your ass, seeing the girls smile, and then hopping back in the [bus] and getting out. That's hittin' it and quittin' it. That's what rock 'n' roll's all about. Being able to hit and quit South by Southwest, come on. This isn't Bible study, girl. This is rock 'n' roll.