The Desert Sessions
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The Desert Sessions
The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, founded by Josh Homme in 1997. Artists such as Brant Bjork, PJ Harvey, Twiggy Ramirez, Dave Catching, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, John McBain, Ben Shepherd, Josh Freese, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Ween, Les Claypool and many others from the Palm Desert Scene have contributed as songwriters and musicians. History The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree when Josh Homme brought together musicians from the bands Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Kyuss (his own band, which had split in 1995.) The ranch is an old house filled 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", often in a matter 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 p ...
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Queens Of The Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line-up changes. The current line-up consists of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboard, percussion, backing vocals), Michael Shuman (bass guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, percussion, backing vocals), and Jon Theodore (drums, percussion). The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales. Formed after the dissolution of Homme's previous band Kyuss, the band originated from the Palm Desert music scene. Their self-titled debut album was recorded with fo ...
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Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been one of the state's fastest growing since 1980, when its population was 11,801. A major center of growth in the Coachella Valley, Palm Desert is a popular retreat for " snowbirds" from colder climates (the Eastern and Northern United States, and Canada), who swell its population by an estimated 31,000 each winter. Palm Desert has seen more residents become "full-timers", mainly from the coasts and urban centers of California, who have come for both affordable and high-valued homes. History The ancestral homeland of Cahuilla, a division of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Their bird songs and funeral songs share the oral tradition of how they were present on these lands for over 10,000 years. The area was first known as the Old Mac ...
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Hater (band)
Hater was an American rock supergroup that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. The band formed as a side project mostly under the direction of Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd. Additional members included Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, guitarist John McBain (ex-Monster Magnet and, later, partner of Cameron and Shepherd in Wellwater Conspiracy), bassist John Waterman for the self-titled album, Devilhead vocalist Brian Wood, brother of Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood, and Alan Davis on bass for '' The 2nd''. History Formation and first album (1993–94) In 1993, Soundgarden members Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron formed a side-project band, which they called Hater. They were joined by former Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain.Huey, Steve. "Hater. Allmusic. Retrieved on January 31, 2009. The band's music featured a psychedelic garage rock sound, taking influence from The Stooges. Shepherd sang vocals and played guitar in Hater, in addition to writing several songs ...
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Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has been involved with acts such as hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, PJ Harvey, Chris Cornell, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Lanegan and The Desert Sessions, both as a musician and as a producer. Alain Johannes is nephew of Chilean musician Peter Rock. He was born in Santiago de Chile. He was married to Natasha Shneider from 1987 until her death in 2008. Career In his teen years, Johannes formed the band Chain Reaction (later Anthym) with Hillel Slovak, Todd Strassman, and Jack Irons. This band was later renamed What Is This. Todd Strassman was replaced by Flea, who was replaced, upon leaving the band, by Chris Hutchinson. In 1987, Johannes and Natasha Shneider released the album ''Walk the Moon'' under the MCA ...
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Chris Goss (U
Christopher Ryan Goss (born August 17, 1958) is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of stoner rock and desert rock genres. Goss is also the lead singer and guitarist of the hard rock band Masters of Reality. Recording career As well as being the founding (and only constant) member of influential desert rock outfit Masters of Reality, Goss is also well known for his production work on albums by Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. Largely credited as the ''Godfather of desert rock'', Goss has on several occasions played down the importance of his role in this musical movement. In 1999, he stated, "I can't make any claim at all to inventing desert rock, or stoner rock, or whatever you want to call it. I make rock n roll records, and hopefully try to make the listener feel like I did when I heard my favourite music." In 2004, Goss highlighted exa ...
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Josh Freese
Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having formerly played drums for Guns N' Roses from 1997 to 2000, A Perfect Circle from 1999 to 2012, Puddle Of Mudd from 2000 to 2001, Nine Inch Nails from 2005 to 2008, Weezer from 2009 to 2011, and Sublime with Rome from 2011 to 2017. He has appeared on over 400 records. In December 2010, Freese began touring with Paramore on their South American tour. In fall 2016 he returned to playing full-time with Sting, with whom he toured and recorded in 2005. Freese performed with Foo Fighters for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts. Early life Josh Freese was born on December 25, 1972, in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. His father, Stan Freese, conducted the Disney World (Florida) and Disneyland (California) band, and his mother was a classical pianist. Frees ...
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Ben Shepherd
Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden. Early life Shepherd was born in an American military base in Okinawa. His father worked in the Nike missile program and played the guitar. His family moved to Allen, Texas, then settled in Kingston, Washington, where Shepherd grew up. Shepherd became interested in music after listening to Johnny Cash on television. When Shepherd asked his father for a guitar, his father complied only after insisting he must learn every chord in a large book with nothing but a guitar neck. Shepherd did so—with help from his cousin Ralph "Tony" McMullen—and his father bought him his first guitar. Shepherd played in numerous punk-rock bands with friends as a teenager like March of Crimes, Mind Circus and 600 School, meeting future musicians such as Stone Gossard, Krist Novoselic an ...
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John McBain (musician)
John McBain (born April 23, 1965) is an American musician, producer, and mastering engineer from New Jersey. He was guitarist for Monster Magnet, Hater, and Wellwater Conspiracy, among others. He is also active as a solo artist and has contributed to The Desert Sessions. Career Hater After leaving Monster Magnet, McBain moved to Washington State to create the garage rock group Hater, along with Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden) and Brian Wood (brother of Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood). The band released two albums of their brand of garage/psychedelic rock: their self-titled debut in 1993 and their follow-up, '' The 2nd'', which was recorded in 1995 but released in 2005. In 1997, after Hater broke up, McBain participated in the first Desert Sessions, a musical project led by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. There he befriended ex-Kyuss/Fu Manchu drummer Brant Bjork. He was a live member of the Queens of the Stone Age for ...
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Mark Lanegan
Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Gutter Twins. He released 12 solo studio albums, as well as three collaboration albums with Isobel Campbell and two with Duke Garwood. He was known for his baritone voice, which was described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather" and has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Cave. Lanegan began his musical career in 1984 with Screaming Trees, with whom he released seven studio albums and five EPs before their disbandment in 2000. During his time with the band, he also started a solo career and released his first solo studio album, ''The Winding Sheet'', in 1990. He subsequently released a further 10 solo albums, which received critical recognition but only mo ...
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Nick Oliveri
Nick Steven Oliveri (born October 21, 1971) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a former bassist of Kyuss and later Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and frequent contributor to his friends' albums and tours, including Winnebago Deal, Masters of Reality, Turbonegro, Moistboyz, Svetlanas and Big Scenic Nowhere among many others. He is currently the frontman of his project, Mondo Generator, a punk (music), punk and metal (music), metal hybrid that he formed in 1997,"Nick Oliveri"
AllMusic. Retrieved on October 5, 2013.
and the co-founder of the stoner rock power trio, Stöner. He has also worked periodically with the Dwarves (band), Dwarves since 1993.


Early life

Nick Steven Oliveri was born in Los Ang ...
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David Catching
David Catching (born June 7, 1961) is an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of the California stoner rock band earthlings?, a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal and the co-founder of the Rancho De La Luna recording studio. Career Catching has played the guitar for well-known hard rock bands Eagles of Death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age, Tex and the Horseheads, as well as The Ringling Sisters, earthlings?, Mondo Generator and the Masters of Reality. He is also a member of Yellow #5, and the Gnarltones. Catching has been associated with the desert country rock band, Smith & Pyle. He contributed to the debut album of country rock duo Smith & Pyle, ''It's OK to be Happy'', which was recorded at Rancho de la Luna and released in 2008. He currently resides in Joshua Tree, California. Catching was on stage with Eagles of Death Metal during the November 2015 Paris attacks, and escaped the Bataclan with the rest of the band. Catching talked abo ...
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Twiggy Ramirez
Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the rock band Marilyn Manson. Previously, he was the bassist for A Perfect Circle and a touring member of Nine Inch Nails, and is currently the vocalist for Goon Moon. He left Marilyn Manson in 2002, later rejoined the band in 2008, and was dismissed in 2017. He has been a principal songwriter for the band and has also contributed to some of the Desert Sessions recordings. He also hosted the Hour of Goon podcast with fellow musician Fred Sablan, on the Starburns Audio network. Early life White was raised in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during his childhood. Influenced by the likes of Mötley Crüe, Van Halen and Iron Maiden, he first picked up a guitar at age thirteen. White spent most of his youth in the Fort Lauderdale area, and by age 15, had joined his first band, The ...
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