Josh Homme thinks the Arctic Monkeys are ''fantastic''.

The Queens of the Stone Age frontman - who produced the rock quartet's third album 'Hamburg' and offered his vocals to their track 'All My Own Stunts' from their 2011 record 'Suck It and See' - loved working with the band and insists he didn't have a ''heavy impact'' on their music.

When asked what it was like to work with the Sheffield-born musicians, Josh replied: ''They're fantastic. People have this incorrect assumption that I had some heavy impact on them, but as a producer I prefer to be more transparent, like a transparent cake dish put over the top of bands to protect them from outsiders, so they can be themselves.

''That was the record they needed to make - they wanted to get weird.''

Josh and his bandmates - Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita and Michael Shuman - were lucky enough to record tracks with Jake Shears and Sir Elton John for their new album '... Like Clockwork' and enjoyed how naturally everything came together.

The flame-haired rocker told ShortList magazine: ''Jake is my TV-watching buddy, we have dinner at my house and watch 'Game of Thrones'. He's also talented as well. Nothing strengthens a friendship like putting your artistic faith in your friend's hands and saying, 'Don't make me look bad.'

''Elton actually called me at my house on a Sunday and said, 'Josh, it's Elton,' and I said, 'No,' and he said, 'It's Elton John,' and I said, 'Yeah, I know.' We just clicked on the phone right away.''