| The Desert Sessions | |
|---|---|
 Josh Homme alongside some of the contributors. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Palm Desert, California, USA |
| Genres | Desert Rock |
| Years active | 1997 - 2003, 2018 - 2019 |
| Labels | Man's Ruin Records, Southern Lord Records, Rekords Rekords, Ipecac, Matador |
| Associated acts | Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Ché, Mondo Generator, Earthlings?, Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, Yawning Sons, Across The River, The Dean Ween Group, Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, Them Crooked Vultures, Nine Inch Nails, Peaches, Ween, Eagles of Death Metal, Soundgarden, Wellwater Conspiracy, Scream, Wool, Screaming Trees, Goon Moon, Failure, PJ Harvey, Scissor Sisters, ZZ Top, Primus |
| Website | Official Webpage |
The Desert Sessions are a series of albums and a side project of Josh Homme. Rather than an actual band it's more of a collective of musicians though a collective band have played live on two separate occasions. To date the project has released twelve volumes with a wide range of musicians and would win a Grammy Award for "Best Recording Package" in 2021.
History[]
The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at 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. 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. The first six volumes would be released via Man's Ruin Records, with subsequent volumes released by Homme's own label Rekords Rekords. The first ten volumes were all released as 10" EPs along with compilation CDs featuring two volumes each.
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 porch within four minutes of meeting each other. 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. Notably The Eagles of Death Metal was initially founded as a project spawned from The Desert Sessions.
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. Since then, the Desert Sessions attained a notable reputation growing in intensity and artistic merit. Volumes 3 & 4 notably feature four different bands between the two volumes, including Earthlings?, The Eagles of Death Metal and a one-time project known as The Green Monarchs. Many songs from The Desert Sessions would be re-worked for future Queens of the Stone Age albums. Josh Homme has expressed interest in releasing a box set of the first ten volumes along with more Desert Sessions in the future.
The Desert Sessions have only performed live twice. The live incarnation, which included Joey Castillo, Troy Van Leeuwen, Brian O'Connor, Josh Homme as well as a variety of musicians performing different songs, have performed on an episode of the British music television show Later... with Jools Holland as well as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2004. Following the release of Volumes 9 & 10 and these two performances, the project would go on hiatus.
On 3 May 2019 on the Queens of the Stone Age Instagram a picture of a horse and a bird is shared with Josh asking “I wonder if anyone’s been recording in the desert?” before adding the hashtags #desert #sessions #11 and #12, possibly hinting at a new Desert Sessions release.[1]
On 13 September 2019 it would be announced that new Desert Sessions recordings are confirmed, set for an October release via Matador Records. the latest session, which took place in Joshua Tree, California late last year, found Homme working with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Primus' Les Claypool, Jack White drummer Carla Azar, Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, the Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears and more. These two new volumes will feature eight new songs and would be released in the Fall of 2019.[2] Notably Dave Catching would engineer and be the only musician from any of the prior sessions to appear on Vol. 11 and 12. Volumes 11 and 12 would attain generally positive reviews and notably win a Grammy on 14 March 2021 for "Best Recording Package".[3]
Discography[]
Original EPs[]
- Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music For Felons (1997, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered (1998, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volume 3: Set Coordinates For The White Dwarf!!! (1998, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volume 4: Hard Walls and Little Trips (1998, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volume 5: Poetry for the Masses (SeaShedShitheadByTheSheSore) (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
Compilations[]
- Volumes 1 & 2 (1998, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volumes 3 & 4 (1998, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volumes 5 & 6 (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
- Volumes 7 & 8 (2001, Rekords Rekords; Southern Lord Records)
- Volumes 9 & 10 (2003, Rekords Rekords, Ipecac)
- Volumes 11 & 12 (2019, Rekords Rekords, Matador)
Other Releases[]
- Crawl Home (2003, Ipecac)
Members & Contributors[]
- Josh Homme - All Volumes
- Fred Drake - Volumes 1 - 3, 5 - 8 (Died 2002)
- Dave Catching - Volumes 1 - 3, 5 - 6, 10, 12
- Brant Bjork - Volumes 2, 5 - 6
- Alfredo Hernández - Volumes 1 - 4
- Pete Stahl - Volumes 2, 3
- Ben Shepherd - Volumes 1 - 3
- John McBain - Volumes 1 - 3
- Nick Oliveri - Volumes 4, 5
- Mario Lalli - Volumes 4, 5
- Larry Lalli - Volume 4
- Jesse Hughes - Volume 4
- Craig Armstrong - Volume 4
- Loo Balls - Volume 4
- T. Fresh - Volume 4
- Blag Dahlia - Volume 5
- Gene Trautmann - Volumes 5 - 6
- Barrett Martin - Volume 6
- Adam Maples - Volumes 5 - 6
- Teddy Quinn - Volume 6
- Tony Mason - Volumes 5 - 8
- Chris Goss - Volumes 7 - 10
- Alain Johannes - Volumes 7 - 10
- Natasha Shneider - Volumes 7 - 8 (Died 2008)
- Mark Lanegan - Volumes 7 - 8 (Died 2022)
- Brendon McNichol - Volumes 7 - 8
- Samantha Maloney - Volumes 7 - 8
- Nick Eldorado - Volumes 7 - 8
- PJ Harvey - Volumes 9 - 10
- Troy Van Leeuwen - Volume 10
- Joey Castillo - Volumes 9 - 10
- Dean Ween - Volumes 9 - 10
- Josh Freese - Volumes 9 - 10
- Jeordie White - Volumes 9 - 10
- Brian O'Connor - Volume 9
- Billy Gibbons - Volume 11
- Libby Grace - Volume 11
- Les Claypool - Volume 11
- Matt Berry - Volume 12
- Stella Mozgawa - Volumes 11 - 12
- Jake Shears - Volumes 11 - 12
- Mike Kerr - Volumes 11 - 12
- Carla Azar - Volumes 11 - 12
- Matt Sweeney - Volumes 11 - 12