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The Desert Sessions

 
Artist: Desert Sessions
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Trouble Dolls, Motörhead, Soundgarden, Eleven, Sleep Capsule, Kyuss

Formal Connection With:

Ween, John McBain, Mark Lanegan, Eagles of Death Metal
See Desert Sessions Lyrics
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Desert Sessions, Vols. 7 & 8", "Desert Sessions, Vols. 1 & 2", "The Desert Sessions, Vols. 9 & 10

Biography

The seeds for the ‘revolving door' line-up method that Queens of the Stone Age has become famous for were originally sown in another related project, the Desert Sessions. Dating back to the ‘80s, guitarist Josh Homme and his pals would throw what would become known as ‘generator parties' - consisting of live music played for a bunch of friends out in a secluded part of California's Palm Desert, the electricity for the amplifiers being supplied by a power generator. Between his exit from stoner rock groundbreakers Kyuss and the formation of Queens, Homme found himself with plenty of free time on his hands, and he decided to start up these get-togethers once more. The only difference was that this time, Homme would record the proceedings -- dubbing them ‘the Desert Sessions' - while a rotating list of quite recognizable names of hard rock would be invited to participate. Working at a breakneck pace, a total of six volumes were issued during a one year period (1998-1999) for the indie label Man's Ruin, and featured input by the likes of Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden, Hater, Wellwater Conspiracy), John McBain (Monster Magnet, Wellwater Conspiracy), Fred Drake (Earthlings), Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu), Alfredo Hernandez (Kyuss), Dave Catching (Earthlings), Chris Goss (Masters of Reality), and Pete Stahl (Wool, Earthlings), among others. In addition to being released on CD (each CD release paired two ‘volumes' together), the early entries in the series were also issued on double 10" vinyl. But when Man's Ruin went out of business and Homme founded Queens of the Stone Age with former Kyuss band mate (and Desert Session contributor) Nick Oliveri, the Desert Sessions series took a break. The break didn't wasn't long however, as the Southern Lord label picked up Volumes 7-8, which saw such renowned names as Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Samantha Maloney (Hole, Motley Crue), and Alain Johannes (Eleven, Chris Cornell) join up with Homme. With Queens of the Stone Age scoring a major hit with their 2002 release, Songs for the Deaf, the Desert Sessions garnered quite a bit of interest from newcomers. Volumes 9-10 was issued on Mike Patton's Ipecac label in 2003 - and featured input by Dean Ween (Ween), Josh Freese (the Vandals), PJ Harvey, Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson), Joey Castillo (Danzig, QOTSA), Natasha Shneider (Eleven), and Troy Van Leeuwen (A Perfect Circle, QOTSA), among others. Another attraction of the Desert Sessions series for QOTSA fans is that several songs debuted on Desert Sessions releases have since gone on to reappear as newly recorded versions on subsequent Queens albums (namely "Millionaire," "Avon," "Hanging Tree," etc.). ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: The Desert Sessions
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
The Desert Sessions
Origin Palm Desert, California, USA
Years active 1997 - present
Labels Rekords Rekords
Man's Ruin Records
Southern Lord Records
Ipecac Recordings
Associated acts Kyuss
Queens of the Stone Age
earthlings?
Masters of Reality
Eagles of Death Metal
Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator
Website www.desertsessions.com

The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, founded by Josh Homme in 1997. Artists such as Brant Bjork, PJ Harvey, Jeordie White (a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez), Dave Catching, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, John McBain, Ben Shepherd, Josh Freese, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, Dean Ween and many others from the Palm Desert scene have contributed as songwriters and musicians.

Contents

History

The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree when Homme brought together musicians from the bands Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Kyuss (his own band, which had split in 1995) and Soundgarden.[citation needed] The ranch is an old house filled to the brim with rare and unique recording equipment and instruments and was owned by Dave Catching and the late Fred Drake. Songs are written "on the spot", and in matters of hours. Many stories have grown around the Sessions. For example, the song "Creosote" from Volumes 9 & 10 was written by Dean Ween and Alain Johannes on the ranch's front porch within four minutes of meeting each other.[citation needed] Similarly, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey wrote the song "There Will Never Be A Better Time" for I See You Hearin' Me after going out onto the porch of the ranch for four minutes with an acoustic guitar; they re-entered the house and recorded the song in one take, the only time the song was ever played by the collective.[1]

The first Desert Session was not actually a "session" per se, but Homme and his band at the time (The Acquitted Felons) playing for three days straight on psychedelic mushrooms.[citation needed] Since then, the Desert Sessions have become legendary, growing in intensity and artistic merit.[1]

“ At Desert Sessions, you play for the sake of music. That’s why it’s good for musicians. If someday that’s not enough anymore, or that’s not the reason behind you doing it--that’s not your raison d’etre--then a quick reminder like Desert Sessions can do so much for you, it’s amazing. It’s easy to forget that this all starts from playing in your garage and loving it. - Josh Homme ”

Current status

“ There's nothing going on [now]. I wish, but I've run out of time. I'm talking to this one guy about adding four more hours to each day, but he's not real positive about it. Those are never going to end, because there's no reason for them to end. But I'd like to make them more regular. --Josh Homme interview with Billboard.com, April 13 2007[2] ”
“ The Desert Sessions are gonna go on forever. There's no reason to stop them. No, it wasn't me that said there would be only 12 volumes — I'm gonna do 112! It's just a mix tape — the longest-running mix tape in existence. It's awesome: doing them is just a matter of making the time frame come together. I was really wanting to do one before the new album "Era Vulgaris" came out, but we didn't put a time frame on it and it consumed what would have been that time. I didn't want it to take away from what we were doing. --Josh Homme in May 2007 as recorded by Blabbermouth.net.[3] ”

In a 2007 interview with Rockline, Homme stated that he was going to be working on a new Desert Sessions album in December 2007, and the first ten will be re-released as a box set.[4]

Discography

Original 10" vinyl releases

Title Year Label
Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music For Felons 1997 Man's Ruin
Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered
Volume 3: Set Coordinates For The White Dwarf!!! 1998
Volume 4: Hard Walls and Little Trips
Volume 5: Sea Shed Shit Head By The She Sore 1999
Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego
Volume 7: Gypsy Marches 2001 Southern Lord/Rekords Rekords
Volume 8: Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are.
Volume 9: I See You Hearin' Me 2003
Volume 10: I Heart Disco

Compact disc compilations

Title Year Label
Volumes 1 & 2 1998 Man's Ruin
Volumes 3 & 4
Volumes 5 & 6 1999
Volumes 7 & 8 2001 Southern Lord/Rekords Rekords
Volumes 9 & 10 2003

In November 2005, RekordsRekords announced that Desert Sessions Volume 1 through to 6 would be reprinted and available by 2006 on both vinyl and CD, though this never came to fruition. Instead, the remaining original copies of the Man Ruin's releases were put on sale in the official RekordsRekords shop in April 2006.[citation needed]

Collaborating artists

Member Associated acts 1 & 2 3 & 4 5 & 6 7 & 8 9 & 10
Josh Homme Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, Screaming Trees, Them Crooked Vultures X X X X X
Alfredo Hernández Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, Orquesta del Desierto, Yawning Man X X
Dave Catching Queens of the Stone Age, earthlings?, Mondo Generator, Eagles of Death Metal, Yellow #5, Goon Moon, Peaches X X X X
Fred Drake earthlings?, Ministry of Fools X X X X
Brant Bjork Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Brant Bjork & The Bros, Mondo Generator, Yellow #5 X X
Ben Shepherd Soundgarden, Hater, Wellwater Conspiracy X X
Pete Stahl Scream, Wool, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Orquesta del Desierto X X
John McBain Monster Magnet, Hater, Wellwater Conspiracy X X
Jesse Hughes Eagles of Death Metal X
Craig Armstrong X
Nick Oliveri Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, The Dwarves, Mondo Generator, Masters of Reality X X
Mario Lalli Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man X X
Larry Lalli Fatso Jetson X
T. Fresh X
Blag Dahlia The Dwarves X
Gene Trautmann Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal X
Adam Maples earthlings? X
Teddy Quinn Dig Your Own Cactus, Ministry of Fools X
Tony Mason Dig Your Own Cactus X
Barrett Martin Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age X
Alain Johannes Eleven, Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age X X
Natasha Shneider Eleven, Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age X
Mark Lanegan Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, The Gutter Twins, Isobel Campbell X X
Brendon McNichol Rattlebone, Masters of Reality, Queens of the Stone Age X
Samantha Maloney Hole, Mötley Crüe, Eagles of Death Metal, Peaches X
Nick Eldorado LIKEHELL X
Chris Goss Masters of Reality, Goon Moon X X
Dean Ween Ween, Moistboyz X
Josh Freese The Vandals, Devo, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails X
Jeordie White Nine Inch Nails, Goon Moon, A Perfect Circle, Marilyn Manson X
Joey Castillo Zilch, Wasted Youth, Danzig, Goatsnake, Sugartooth, Queens of the Stone Age X
Brian O'Connor Eagles of Death Metal X
Troy Van Leeuwen Failure, A Perfect Circle, Enemy, Queens of the Stone Age X
PJ Harvey PJ Harvey X

References

  1. ^ a b Blandford, James (2004). PJ Harvey: Siren Rising. London: Omnibus Press. p. 153. ISBN 1844494330. 
  2. ^ Reznor Guest Spot Adds Mystery To QOTSA Album, Billboard.com, April 13, 2007
  3. ^ "QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's JOSH HOMME Rules Out KYUSS Reunion". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-05-08. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=72065. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 
  4. ^ Coburn, Bob; Josh Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen (2007-07-30). "Queens new material" (radio interview). Rockline radio. http://www.rocklineradio.com/modules/mod_mp3player_files/mp3/QOTSA.mp3. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 

External links

v • d • e
The Desert Sessions
 
Personnel
Founder
Contributing musicians
 
Discography
Original 10" vinyl releases
Compact disc compilations
 
Related bands

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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